Crabbing the day after a full moon? 7-15

[CrabDog]

Guys play nice.  I actually avoid going crabbing directly after a full moon due too light crabs.  I like to go for the new moon up until about 3 days before the full moon.  BTW, hey pinchy glad to see ya back.

That is a nice photo you post.. that is one sweet hat!!! Anyway glad you reappeared.

..Cdog

[Pinchy]

so pinchy have you ever heard of a fullmoon tide?for whatever the reason crab activity increases during the full moon.......this dosent mean crabs stop growing at other times it just means that there is more activity amongst them during the full moon.....and anyone that peeler fishes or crabs regular will tell you crabbing is better and starts getting better on the new moon

"Crab activity"? What does that mean? Do you mean that they are swimming more? Entering traps at a higher rate? Going out to dinner instead of staying at home? If there are more white crabs after a full moon, one would think they would be easier to catch and therefore crabbing would be "better" than during a new moon. Don't you people understand that it is the same moon up there regardless of the amount of light reflected from it? That its gravitational pull on a crab is effectively zero? No offense, but the problem with this topic is that most recs seem to have an idea about it simply because they once heard something from someone on a pier and refuse to even think it through.

[Potty Mouth]

 
So, crabbin's the same any ole time?

[CRABGUY]

http://aom.giss.nasa.gov/tides.html

OK SO THE MOON HAS NO EFFECT ON CRABS........RIGHT
THE MOON EFFECTS TIDES  RIGHT
ISNT CRABBING BETTER/ WORSE ON A TIDE

THERE IS A CONNECTION, A GRAVATIONAL ONE

[Potty Mouth]

    here we go.... 

[tattoo]

Yep . what round is this on the MOON debate. i have lost count . Anyway Who really cares just go whenever you can and have fun. 

[Pinchy]

Yep . what round is this on the MOON debate. i have lost count . Anyway Who really cares just go whenever you can and have fun. 

If you don't care about this topic, why do you add numerous unhelpful comments every time it comes up?

[tattoo]

I love to comment on it just to get you started . 

[jack1747]

If you don't care about this topic, why do you add numerous unhelpful comments every time it comes up?

I agree, if you are not interested in the debate dont read it.  The problem is we have discussed this so many times in so many place it gets tiring.. We should have stuck to just one thread and referenced anyone that brought it up to that one.. Lots of good points are lost in old posts. 

[jgar529]

The 40 to 60 crabs was (per day at its peak) over a two week period.

OK that adds up.  I used to make about $300.00 a summer back in the late 60's and early 70's and I thought that was a lot of money back then.  Now I spend that if I even think about going to Sams Club!

[Pinchy]

I agree, if you are not interested in the debate dont read it.  The problem is we have discussed this so many times in so many place it gets tiring.. We should have stuck to just one thread and referenced anyone that brought it up to that one.. Lots of good points are lost in old posts. 

Thanks Jack, one thread is a good idea. Maybe one of the mods can combine them? Let's face it, there are a limited number of topics we can get into*, and the moon questions continue to reappear.


*chicken vs. bunker, steam or boil, JO or Old Bay, low vs. high tide, snood length, etc.ad nauseum

[Seanile]

Thanks Jack, one thread is a good idea. Maybe one of the mods can combine them?

Good idea, but when we merge topics, the replys are all sorted chronologically when the new topic is created. - some of those threads ran for months.... could get real confusing sorting out the replies.

[jack1747]

Yep, it would be almost impossible to do..

[shadowcrabber]

Can anybody give me some insight or opions about crabbing the day after the full moon?  The full moon is July 18th ( friday) wont to go on sat.

Crabbed with the kids Sat from 10am-2pm from dock in Toms River.
Observations:
Kept 36 Jimmies 5-6.5"
Most were full, only 3 had recently molted.
Very few shorts or females ~12-18
Slow crabbing but ultimately had a decent catch of good eating crabs. 

[tattoo]

Nice catch. glad you and your kids had a good time. 

[dredgecrab]

i crabbed the whole week of the full moon. same amount of crabs everyday. there are so many crabs they are killing each other in the pots. same the week before and so far looks the same this week. like they say...you have to be on the crabs.

[Pinchy]

Crabbed with the kids Sat from 10am-2pm from dock in Toms River.
Observations:
Kept 36 Jimmies 5-6.5"
Most were full, only 3 had recently molted
Very few shorts or females ~12-18
Slow crabbing but ultimately had a decent catch of good eating crabs. 

This tends to fit with my own observations. At any one time, regardless of moon phase, blue crabs are extant in every phase of the molting cycle. Other people observe something different.

i crabbed the whole week of the full moon. same amount of crabs everyday. there are so many crabs they are killing each other in the pots. same the week before and so far looks the same this week. like they say...you have to be on the crabs.

The problem (Is it a problem?) is that the mind wants to organize sensory data and experience. If the crabbing is slow or inconsistent, people naturally want to know why. The lunar cycle has been conveniently blamed for everything from crabbing results, to witches' covens, to insanity, and so forth. It is easiest to attribute crab behavior to lunar activity because it can appear to be plausible - as children we heard these stories from adults which we tend to believe if we don't examine our own biases. The blue crab is a complex little chemosensory machine which reacts to salinity, dissolved O₂, temperature, current, olfactory input, and probably dozens or hundreds of other factors of which we know little. The whole lunar delusion comes down to: "I had a poor crabbing day, it's the moon's fault" which is a lot easier on the ego than admitting "I am a lousy crabber" or "I don't know why they're not biting" and "I never will understand why crabbing turns on and off."

[tattoo]

good point. 

[tugcapt]

I just got off my two weeks on the boat and had two trips to piney pt , Md., one before the full moon and one during.  I could not believe the amount of crabs that were on the surface swimming.  On the first trip, if I had a net I could have filled a basket in no time.  On the secound, it was all baby crabs.  Strippers were breaking and feeding on them. I hit the spotlight on the surface and there were thousands of 1-2" crabs on saturday night.
Why?  I can't tell.  As far as the moon being there all the time, well, we need to also look at the SUN.  Why is the moon full, because the sun AND moon are in position to light it up and also change tides.  Yes, the moon is always there, but when it lines up just right with the sun, we have different tides.  Those from Fundy Bay that may read this may agree. What it has to do with crabs I don't know.

BTW, Did you guys leave me any crabs to catch this week now I'm off?

[Pinchy]

Yes, the moon is always there, but when it lines up just right with the sun, we have different tides.  Those from Fundy Bay that may read this may agree. What it has to do with crabs I don't know.

No one denies that the tides are caused by the effects of a triple-body system: the relative positions of the moon, and sun, and rotation of the earth - and their combined gravitational forces exterted upon vast sheets of water. But as you also know, locally tidal ebb and flow is also affected by wind and probably temperature. But the non-variable periodicity of the lunar orbit has nothing to do with the highly variable metabolism of the blue crab, upon which its molting cycle depends.

[tattoo]

Oh NO , here we go again . we get the point, 

[tugcapt]

It's hard for me to tell what their cycle is.  When they see me looking over the side of the boat at them it scares them out of their shell.

[rdbeard]

 full moon causes somewhat extreme tides, and holds those tides at those at those extremes for a longer than normal time. for this reason i don't like trotlining for hard crabs because of the extended period of time between tidle movment. put that in your pipe and smoke it ,sir pinchy.

[tattoo]

Thats telling him REDBEARD , 

[Sunpal]

rdbeard,
The period between high and low tide is always constant!  What have you been smoking, my friend?