CTFishTalk.com: Updated, June 30th Blue Crab Report - Connecticut Saltwater Reports ( CT Saltwater Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

BlueChip

The Blue Crab Year
The Search for Megalops – Report #5
June 30th 2011 Final Report – June
You do not need to be a scientist to report!

Finally the rain is over and warmer temperatures have enhanced crabbing in central CT. Most of the river mouths between New Haven and Westbrook are producing a few large hard shell male crabs. These are last year’s crabs that survived the winter in the brackish low salinity zone and avoided many of the salt waters predators. Westbrook, Clinton, Guilford and Branford all report crabs and large ones (nearly all males) but just not that many – between 6 to 12 crabs/trip.

Western reports continue to talk about large numbers of 1 to 2 inch crabs signifying a March Megalops hatch from a set last November. It takes about a year for crabs to reach legal size so all these 2 inch crabs will be 5 inch crabs by late August. A few western crabbers have already predicted a great year.

The east is another matter, the absence of small crabs is a concern to crabbers I spoke with (recently) and one at Clinton Harbor/Hammonasset River provides this account, 9am to 4pm 3 collapsible traps yielded 7 large male crabs but 3 females with extruded egg masses – the sponge crab. This is a good sign that they may spawn in few weeks. But to continue, last June 20th Clinton Harbor was full of 2 to 3 inch crabs – thousands of them. Today not one small crab was observed. It’s not to say some are not around – they are in the shallow marshes with slightly higher water temps. That’s also been reported but last year this crabber reported it was impossible to fish for fluke as the small blue crabs would almost instantly strip his hook of squid. But today not one sub legal crab was observed – he was concerned by the huge difference from last year.

There is also hope a June Megalops transport from southern waters – many suspect most of not all of our Megalops come up the coast on Gulf Stream currents. They have for instance found viable Blue Crab Megalops, 200 miles offshore – the Chesapeake Bay. Another theory is that larger numbers of crabs survive to spawn in our waters but the size of such a female blue crab population has yet to be found. Female crabs tend to leave shallows and head for deeper waters to hibernate during the winter, straight into a predator quartet that includes striped bass, tautog and the most feared, starfish.

What this crabber was most concerned about was the “run,” the count relationship between legal size crabs and sublegal ones. A high count with a high keeper run can tell you a lot. If you are catching a good number of legal crabs and returning far more sublegal ones chances are crabbing will improve. Last June 20th in Clinton Harbor the sublegal catches were great 50/50 at the high point of last year’s (August) run it was 100% legal – none sublegal. With the 3 traps it was possible to catch 30 to 50 crabs/hour, doubles and triples (3 crabs per pull) made that possible. He had averaged 1 crab/hour today and saw no sublegal crabs today. He predicted a poor season at least compared to last year.

While nowhere as numerous as the west, reports of small 1 to 2 inch crabs have been observed in the east. Western reports however now report huge numbers of sub legals with a run of 50/50 chances are crabbing will continue to improve in the west. The east prediction with the exception of a sudden Megalops hatch or transport is far less certain.

Some locations this week in Eastern CT
Westbrook large crabs in the vicinity of Wetmores Marina
Lower CT River – no reports
Oyster River, Old Saybrook – no reports
North Cove Old Saybrook – no crabbers/no reports
Essex Town Dock – no crabbers/no reports
Old Lyme some large crabs (males) observed and captured
Smith Cove Niantic River – no crabbers/no reports
Niantic River North of Causeway – no crabbers/no reports

It is still possible for eastern CT to “catch up” but it would take a huge new juvenile population. That did happen in 2006 and was the foundation for the Search for Megalops – that will be covered in the next report.

Thank you to all the crabbers who emailed in observations – every report is helpful to understanding our Blue Crab population in Connecticut.

Hope for great crabbing!

Thank you for your cooperation. Email blue crab reports to tim.visel@new-haven.k12.ct.us The Search for Megalops is part of a Project Shellfish/Finfish Student/Citizen Monitoring Effort Supported by a 2005 grant to The Sound School from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant #2005-0191-001.

kayakcrabber1 · Joined: 09 Jul 2011 Posts: 1

I think I will wait for the next full moon to determin the way this season will go, last year It started good and then got excellent after July 2010's full moon, I netted over a thousand (1000) blue crabs last year off my Kayak, I started in the Branford River earley Jun 2010 and had some decent catches, as the new moon approached and the weather got hotter I started to see some monster male crabs in the mate, some were so large that they had barnicals on them, this was in the causeway at Saybrooke Point, most of the time though I was crabbing off my kayak from the madison boat ramp working my way up the Route 1 bridge. I also bagged over 100 soft shells last year making it the best year for crabbing since 1999 which I called and remember as "El Nino" year, again I was filling my 6 gallon bucket to the top everytime that I crabbed. Lets hope this year Is good, in this part of the country every year for crabbiing is not as productive as Jersey or Va, Md or De. I think that anyway this season goes, it's still one of the best ways to go out and hunt these blue beauties. I hope all goes well for all you crab lovers out there.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

Okay, now I gotta know. Exactly how do you net blue crabs from a kayak, kayakcrabber1?
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TravelingSeas · Joined: 06 Jul 2011 Posts: 42

Anyone got a good recipe for them? Last year they were practically jumping into the boat at my marina in Sheton and all we did was land them on the docks and have races with them jumping back into the water (my children were doing the catching). I certainly would have kept some to make for dinner for the fellas at the firehouse if I knew any recipes for them. And, how many crabs would I need to feed four large firefighters?

SeaDog1 · Joined: 21 Dec 2009 Posts: 2629

Recipe

Easy -> Like they do at the Blue Crab Festivel in MD.
Steam the crabs ! "Lots of them !"
Table, spread news paper, wooden malet, fingers, stick bread, melted butter, beer.

ENJOY Exclamation

SeaDog1