Last time I was at the Wye, 2 of the Mumbos caught died within an hour? Kept dunking them? Smaller guys seem fine all day. I am doing something wrong?
could be a number of factors like heat, stabbed by another crab piercing the armor (happened to me on 2 mumbos last season). but i think a major contributor is the fact that since the crab is so large it expends more energy to stay alive out of it's element. i've heard this from several sources and makes sense. the big ones always seems to die off first.
ps.. depending on how you eat your crab, you can get the whole buch steamed at the dock for a fee. in my case, i clean before cooking and prefer to transport home. once i get them home, i either put them all in the fridge and clean tthe next day or clean them right away then frdige them cooking them later. i prefer to clean right when i get home. last 2 times i did this, i lost 0.. it's a long day and i get dizzy trying to clean them but if you can do it, it's worth it than losing crab after working hard to get them.. GL
