Sept 2020- Loxahatchee River- Palm Beach, Martin county- Video link included

[Jimmies and Sooks]

I recently went out on the north fork of the Loxahatchee River in mid-Sept, dropping my kayak in at Jonathan Dickinson Park. JD Park is pretty far up the the river which is where I have had success while crabbing on the St Lucie river so I figured why not. I dropped 5 pots out for almost a full week filled with sardine, finger mullet and chicken legs. I went back to check and rebait 4 times during the week, giving the traps about 24-48 hours to soak each time. Long story short, I just did okay(see below). I was expecting better numbers but what I did notice is the crabs in the Loxahatchee are typically bigger than the crabs I catch in the St lucie river.
While the whole trip was an experiment because this was my first time on the Loxahatchee, I ended up trying out different bait once I knew I was catching crabs. During this trip I tried out Grunts(don't waste your time) and Clams as bait.
Living in Palm Beach Gardens the Loxahatchee river is the closest place I've found to catch crabs. Typically I take the hour long drive up to the St Lucie river so this was much easier. If there are other local spots in Palm Beach county I would love some pointers. Let me know!
All of the crabbing I do is from my kayak... it is no easy chore but I keep doing it because I love the thrill of the catch and the crabs are always delicious!(obviously).


Catch from 5 pots:
-Day 1: 8 keepers
-Day 2: 8 keepers
-Day 3: 6 keepers- two were big 8 inchers, pics of these guys are in the video below
-Day 4: 10 keepers

Here is a video of the last 2 days I went to check the crab pots:

[saltysenior]

go north on 95 to the Stuart exit......get off and turn left [west].....go to the St.lucie locks

.....turn into Phipps Park and go all the way [ N E]  to the end under the 95 bridge...there is a ramp and the crabbing was good 1/2 m. down the river......let me know ..

[tattoo]

nice video thanks

[SHELLFISH]

Good job, nice crabs and thanks for the video!

[Jimmies and Sooks]

go north on 95 to the Stuart exit......get off and turn left [west].....go to the St.lucie locks

.....turn into Phipps Park and go all the way [ N E]  to the end under the 95 bridge...there is a ramp and the crabbing was good 1/2 m. down the river......let me know ..

I'm down! I'll go try that waterway next week. I alway drive over that part of the river and think to myself, I bet there is crabs in there.
One reason I haven't tried is because I couldn't find a good drop in point for my kayak but this solved that problem. Thanks Salty!
The second thing... What do you think about the runoff from Okeechobee? I believe this is the main pipe for the eastcoast release. Do you think the release of lake water and the blue green algae bloom has an affect on the crabs? The answer to this will not likely affect me going out but I'm curious if you had any bad experiences with that runoff and algae while crabbing.

Thanks again for the tip. I'm alway open to try new spots!

[Jimmies and Sooks]

go north on 95 to the Stuart exit......get off and turn left [west].....go to the St.lucie locks

.....turn into Phipps Park and go all the way [ N E]  to the end under the 95 bridge...there is a ramp and the crabbing was good 1/2 m. down the river......let me know ..

I went out to the St Lucie canal this weekend. We did pretty good! Caught 15(11 keepers) on the first day I went out and checked my 5 pots. They had been in the water for 24 hours. Most of the crabs were on the smaller size, between 5-6 inches but a solid trip nonetheless. I brought 3 of my dads crab pots and dropped them in too this trip, bringing the total to 8 traps in the water.
The following trip out I checked the 8 pots I had out for 24 hours. This time I caught 2 dozen(20 keepers). These were slightly bigger than the first trip but still not very big. I caught a handful of bigger ones this time around, roughly 7 inches.
I still have the pots out there so I'll report back next weekend. Thanks again for the tip on the launch site Salty.
Traps were set at 10-15 feet of water using Mullets as the bait. My family ate well this weekend!

[SHELLFISH]

Glad to hear you are still doing well! Thanks for the update!

[saltysenior]

like all other places , the crabbing success will vary for unknown reasons.....don't know anything about this blue -green stuff that the politicians and press are making a big deal about......seems it's worst on election yrs........not to scare you , but like other spots . don't leave valuables in your vehicle while you crab..