How To Crab With Kids – 10 Tips To Introduce Kids To Crab Fishing

It is easy to learn how to fish for crabs and introduce them to your children.

1. First, make sure you know the crabbing regulations in your area, what species you can catch, and what the bag limits are. You will also need valid fishing licenses for adults and older children.
2. Your state regulations will specify what type of gear is legal, whether it’s crab traps, seines, lift rings, cast nets, or hand lines. Or a combination of techniques. You can usually get this information from your state game and fish department.
3. One of the easiest ways for children to learn how to fish for crabs is by using a lifting ring. It is basically a woven nylon net attached to 2 rings of different sizes, with a rope to lower it into the water. Load the net, lower it into the water, have a little patience – dinner is on the table!
4. For very young children, make lines with your hands. It’s like an old fishing rod. Take out a 4′ long stick, tie it with a 4′ long rope. Tie a chicken neck to the other end of the rope and lower it into the water. A crab will grab the neck of the chicken and hold it. Just gently pull it up and out. Use a pole net to harvest it.
5. Bring along a good lawn or camping chair, a book for yourself, a fun game for the kids, and a small cooler to put your catch in, in case the crabs aren’t hungry and the action is scarce.
6. Use the right baits. Crabs like pieces of squid or fish. Chicken is also in his diet. Buy and cut the cheap pieces: backs, wings, collars, and the like. Slightly “off” bait will work wonders – crabs locate their food by smell.
7. Harvest your crabs from coastal streams and rivers, or from the shoreline in bay areas or off the beach. A hoist ring is perfect for learning to crab on a stream bank or dock.
8. The best times to catch crabs are on a warm summer morning with a storm and low tide.
9. Teaching children to fish for crabs is easy. The hard part is the kitchen. Steaming is a good way to cook crabs. You will need a large pot with a lid and a steam attachment. Steamed crabs are ready when they turn red (about 20 minutes).
10. Eating crabs is complicated and fun. You’ll need to open the legs, so have a mallet, hammer, or claw handy. You can eat the meat from the legs or from the body cavity, but be sure to discard the organs.

With a little thought, teaching children to fish for crabs is easy. From buying the bait, making or buying the gear, baiting the trap of their choice, catching the first cranky critter, cooking and (yum!) eating their catch, kids will have lots of fun and fond memories. years to come when mom and dad taught them how to fish for crabs.

(c) 2010 Richard S. Freeland