SAXON'S NC crab report August 22-24, 2023

[saxon4646]

Seem like I am the only one in our state that reports anything. Maybe we can change it to NC Saxon's page. Anyways, set out 8 pots again, 6 being half sized. Checked 3 times and pulled out Friday afternoon. Ended up catching 65 crabs total with 37 keepers and almost on cue- NOT a single stone crab. They must have heard the season reopened August 15th. I did catch 4 flounder once again in the pots and 1 would have been a keeper in the 16-17 inch range. The pin fish ate the eyes out of it which I have never seen before. It was still alive when I released it but I am not sure for how long. Most likely became crab bait. Anyways- go get em and REPORT what ya catch !

[SOS]

    Yes, you are the only one  ........
It may be that there seem to be very few rec.crabbers out there in NC !  I see none in New River !  Only commercial..
A few people put pots off the docks at the place that i stay at..  I would love to use my trot line there but NC doesn't want
recreational crabbers in there waters (in my option).....  the regs there are terrible !

[seabass]

Way to go Sax, nice report. I have not posted a report because I haven't been crabbing. I brought 1200 ft of trot line with me from Delaware when I moved to NC and can't use it here. its just sitting in my shed. Hopefully something will change here. Thanks for the report.

Greg

[saxon4646]

yea these rules really make no sense. If you are limited to 50 crabs per day as a rec crabber- why not let trotlines be used. All crabs can be released anyways if you get more than your quota. There is NO limit to the number of topless traps  of the collapsible folding door traps  you can use as a rec fisherman.  You can tie ALL of those you want to a public dock/ pier but cannot tie 1 crab pot. I did go commercial so I can set all the pots that I like but normally set around 7-10. With a Rec/ Comm gear license I could set up tp 5. I used to have several buyers for my crabs but have sold a big ZERO this year.

[SOS]

   Ya, the traps are the loophole in the law that lets a guy catch a few crabs ...  I just think the trot line is way more fun for the last 58 years...
And the price for using a couple pots is ridiculous ... they just don't want Yankees to catch crabs easily.. Fl. allows 5 stone and 5 blue pots with a regular fishing license..  Like you said the amount of crab is regulated,, so why the big deal on the way there caught ? ?
    Might take some topless traps along next time and give it a whirl.........

Thanks
Scott............

[oDiE]

I'm in NC about 45 mins from Topsail. Been looking for somewhere to crab from the land with string and chicken! Always loved crabbing like that! Do you know of anywhere we can crab from the land? Unfortunately we don't have a boat. I appreciate any advice!

[saxon4646]

Hi Odie- sorry its taken me this long to reply back. I am just now logging onto this site. There is a public dock at the Surf City boat ramp that people crab off of at times. They use the collapsible traps there as the dock has boards running low which prevents you from running your arm through to use a dip net. Same way at Morris Landing. There are several public access areas on the south end of Topsail where you could throw hand lines closer to deeper water but they don't have docks/ piers. Youd have to stand on land but I'd think you should be able to get some