Oak Hill 09/04016.

[witch1031]

10 jimmies in 3 hours not counting the one I gave away and 3 that escaped.

I caught a monster.  Biggest crab of my life.  9" at least, will measure after he goes to sleep.  He is mean!!

[SHELLFISH]

Very nice indeed!
What was the average size of the crabs.
They are mostly 5 - 5.5 inches at the north causeway fishing dock in New Smyrna.

I did check there today and there were no crabbers! Just 29 fishermen and women!
One fella caught a 40" Red and released it!
It was an outgoing tide.

[witch1031]

They are a bit bigger than what you see at the North causeway.  The water is fresher in Oak Hill you only catch the males.  So bigger and heavier than the females you see by the North causeway.

This is the smallest two that I caught and the monster. 

The shells were a bit thin which made cleaning them easier.  I picked that monster crab who turned out to be 9 1/2 inches from point to point and 9 other jimmies and ended up with almost 2 cups of crab meat. 

It was delicious.   

[SHELLFISH]

Thanks for the reply and that 9.5 incher was a monster and with the barnacles was sure to be full of meat!
Too bad they all aren't like that one!

[tattoo]

nice crab ,

[witch1031]

Thanks for the reply and that 9.5 incher was a monster and with the barnacles was sure to be full of meat!
Too bad they all aren't like that one!

If you go down to Oak Hill and check out that west side of the road where I caught him I think you'll agree there are a lot more like him in there.  It's murky and muddy and just perfect for giant crabs to hang out in. 

A few other things I learned from a local man who heard me holler about the crab I had caught is there is an 18' (at least) gator in that water.   He swims through the culvert out in the lagoon and back.  Do not step into that water under any circumstances.

There are bull sharks in the lagoon that swim around the docks.  Don't go in that water either. 

The redfish hang near the shoreline on the east side of the road.   Don't bother going all the way out on the dock because they're not that far out.   

[SHELLFISH]

Are you going back this Sunday?

[witch1031]

I went back on the 17th and had a miserable time.  Why? Because when I arrived a couple were camped out on top of the culvert.  I walked over and said hello and asked if I could throw a net over to the side and was told they were there first.  So I walked down to the path that is about 20 feet away from the culvert only to find  they had strings with chicken tied off there, too.  The man was nice enough to move them and I caught 3 crabs.   And a foot long helmet head catfish.  I had nets along the west side of the road and off the dock on that side and everything was so far apart I ended up walking over 2 miles while I was crabbing.  After averaging 1 crab per hour I packed up and left.

Then I drove south to the next road and made a right turn.  There is a 2nd smaller culvert (surprise!) that runs under that road.  Caught 7 crabs in about 10 minutes and drove home with enough for dinner.

I rarely run into people that unpleasant when I go crabbing/fishing.   I always make room for others.  Last time I was there I showed a man and his daughter how to crab, gave them bait and when I drove away she had caught her first blue crab. 

[SHELLFISH]

Sorry to hear of all the problems you had with the "campers" but glad to hear you did get enough for dinner. There are those types all over.
There is a well told story of two brothers down that way. One arrived at his favorite fishing spot only to find his brother already there. Well that really irked him so he increased his throttle and ran over his brothers boat! Yes; he was arrested and the story made the papers!
That's why the inhabitants are known as Oak Hillbillies!