When is best time for crabbing?

[Ryanthecrabber]

Slack tide? Tide going out tide going in?

[Harford Crabber]

Weekdays.  Weekends suck at the ramp!

[vw_buggsy]

I go when I can go. I'm a rec and have lots of other stuff going on all the time. I enjoy being on the water and I enjoy TRYING to catch crabs even if I'm not catching well.. so I just go when I can whatever the tide might be doing.

That said, I have better luck when the tide is moving either way. Slack tide is the worst by far but doesn't last real long so you can usually just wait it out. True slack tide only lasts like a half hour but I find crabbing drops off a little bit before and doesn't pick up until a bit after that so it's really up to about an hour, hour and half that crabbing really slows down around the slack.

In or out doesn't seem to matter much as long as there is movement.

I've never really seen it discussed on here but in my (very limited) experience I think there are better places to set gear depending on whether the tide is coming in, or going out. It's minor though, mostly a good place to crab is just a good place to crab.

[Wallco99]

You will ABSOLUTELY have to shell out the lifetime membership fee after these questions.

[Samaritan]

crabs detect the "smell" of food better when the water is moving past them so crabbing with the tides moving is a must. Seems early mornings are ideal, but location is also key. I try to lay traps and/or trot at different depth and across inlets diagonally to try to get a sample catch between both shores and all depths. Then relocate to the hot spots.

[Crabberjack]

early morning incoming tide