Stone Crab Size & Season?

[BlueSpider 9/7/11]

I'm new to crabbing, yet I've done pretty well relatively quickly so far. I've caught (amongst other things) many nice crabs, mainly Blue & Spider. I know it's not yet the legal Stone Crab season in S.W. Florida (as it's closed from 5/16-10/14), yet I've noticed quite a few smaller Stone Crabs right near shore which have peaked my interests in them.

Like I said above, I've caught many other crabs, fish and the like while crabbing, yet still not my 1st Stone Crab. I'm not necessarily looking for huge keeper sized Stone Crabs right now, as I know it would be illegal to take them at this time, but I'd still like to catch some (or even just that first one) right now in my trap for 2 key reasons.

REASON 1: I simply wanna catch my first Stone Crab to know that I can catch them, knowing what bait works best for them (if anything worked differently from catching Blue Crabs to that of Stone Crabs) and be able to prepare for when I get the keeper ones in the hopefully very near future, ya see?

REASON 2: I love nature and would simply love to have a nice, close, live look at another one of God's amazing resources known as the Florida Stone Crab. Period!

Any help from others about the Florida Stone Crab would really be appreciated much. Am I just not catching any right now because they're almost all too small to stay inside the trap or is it something else? Is the bait that's been working well for the Blue Crabs (like various Chicken Parts & Hardhead Seacats) not gonna be successful at catching Stone Crabs? I'd just basically like to know what I should and/or have to do especially in preparation for the next month or 2. Thanks for all the great info my dear crabbing brothers and sisters. Praise the Lord and give thanks for all that He has provided, both land and sea! Amen!

[BlueSpider 9/7/11]

Does anybody out there have any tips or plans heading into the upcoming Stone Crab season?

[BlueSpider 9/7/11]

Boy, I just can't wait for Stone Crab season to come back in. Even still, I'm having alot of fun with the Blue Crab that I've been catching lately. Stone Crab will be a nice new addition though.

[Ronster]

There's tons of info about catching stone crabs here.    Use the search field to the upper right.

[John WAsmuth]

We caught a bunch in the blue crab pots up in Fort Myers back in the early part of July. Using the same bait, fish heads and chicken necks. Of course they were all released but they went in the pots the same as the blues.

Here on the Texas side of the gulf we had the same luck catching them along with blue crab this summer on fish heads and chicken necks, same kind of blue crab pots.

I would think down around Chokoloskee area it would work about the same, although I remember seeing a lot of stone crab traps down there in my youth I can't remember how to build them but we used to catch a lot of blue crab in the area in pots when I was a kid. I sure do miss it down there.

[ACFISHERIES]

Hard bottom for stone crab until the water gets cold, same bait as for blues in a wire pot, if you're using a plastic or wood stone crab trap(pot) then while the water is warm use a pig foot and let the trap set for 4-5 days.

[Ronster]

Mmmm...   Pig's feet.   You might end up finding me in your trap if you BBQ them before putting them in the bait box...

[ACFISHERIES]

Mmmm...   Pig's feet.   You might end up finding me in your trap if you BBQ them before putting them in the bait box...

Nah they ain't quite good enough for BBQ, some are still hariy.

[Ronster]

Nair them...

[ACFISHERIES]

 

[BlueSpider 9/7/11]

Hard bottom for stone crab until the water gets cold, same bait as for blues in a wire pot, if you're using a plastic or wood stone crab trap(pot) then while the water is warm use a pig foot and let the trap set for 4-5 days.

4-5 days? I don't mind doin' it that way if I gotta do it, yet I've normally set the trap for about 3 days tops so far. Does it take 3 or more days to really bring the Stoneys in? Now that the water's cooling down (and the legal season's right about here) I really can't wait to catch some Stoneys of size, ya know?

[BlueSpider 9/7/11]

Nah they ain't quite good enough for BBQ, some are still hariy.

Stick with the cow tongue...lol!

[ACFISHERIES]

Takes a few days for the pigs foot to begin to break down and attract crabs. Here's a tip, bait your traps with grouper or snapper heads the day before a strong cold front pushes thru(drop in barimetric pressure and a strong SW switching to NW wind, 15-25knts). The pressure drop along with mudded water will make the crabs crawl(feed). Good time to bait.

[BlueSpider 9/7/11]

^ These past few days have been kinda sloppy, muddied waters and rain practically all day too. I'm sure that the muddied waters are really getting stirred up near shore today. If it brings the crabs though, I'm lovin' it...lol!

[ACFISHERIES]

^ These past few days have been kinda sloppy, muddied waters and rain practically all day too. I'm sure that the muddied waters are really getting stirred up near shore today. If it brings the crabs though, I'm lovin' it...lol!

It did for me!

[BlueSpider 9/7/11]

Looks like a good catch there. I've been busy with many various things the past few weeks and haven't gone crabbing unfortunately. Soon enough, I'd love to get back out and (hopefully) catch some nice Stoney's already!

[tattoo]

WOW . looks like you had a good catch WTG , thanks for the pictures.

[Crabs_R_Yummy]

i would love to catch some stone crabs, where are they found

[BlueSpider 9/7/11]

There's tons of info about catching stone crabs here.    Use the search field to the upper right.

Thanks for the info. I'll try to check it out.

[BlueSpider 9/7/11]

We caught a bunch in the blue crab pots up in Fort Myers back in the early part of July. Using the same bait, fish heads and chicken necks. Of course they were all released but they went in the pots the same as the blues.

Here on the Texas side of the gulf we had the same luck catching them along with blue crab this summer on fish heads and chicken necks, same kind of blue crab pots.

The Blue's are fun, but I also really enjoy watching and/or catching other Crabs too...especially the edible one's. By the way, is there any type of fish that works/worked best for you for Stone Crabbing? I'm figuring that people use "food for thought" other than just a basic, old "Hard-Head" Seacat, right? That's probably the easiest to get, since the "Hard-Head" Seacats always seem to take your bait more often than you'd ever want them to...

[ACFISHERIES]

Mullet is good this time of year.