King or Spider Crab?

[IN2DEEP]

After watching ful-rac's and greg andrew's excellent videos on hoop'n for crabs, I decided to try to target one of those monster crabs.
After seeing that the really large Spider Crabs don't have to get inside of the conical nets because their claws are long enough to just hang on the top ring and reach inside, I decided to give the flat nets a try.

... It worked!!!







This was a male
It looks like the smaller spider crabs are females

[MrM]

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude

[socal_matt]

Holy SH*********************T!!!!!!!

That's huge!!!

Let us know how it tastes?

[Mahigeer]

When using the flat nets, it is best to use the new bait boxes that insure the box is in the middle of the big ring at all times.


That way the catch has to go inside of the net to get to the bait.


If the bait box is attached to the small inside ring, the ring could sit out of center and closer to the edge of the big ring. That permits the catch to eat from the bait box while sitting on the outside of the big ring.

[ful-rac]

Very nice! Thats a huge spider for sure!

I had some spider crab last saturday, and it was exellent! So much meat...but so much work... If you dont mind breaking out the sledge hammer to crack'em...you will be rewarded.

[IN2DEEP]

Originally Posted by ful-rac

Very nice! Thats a huge spider for sure!

I had some spider crab last saturday, and it was exellent! So much meat...but so much work... If you dont mind breaking out the sledge hammer to crack'em...you will be rewarded.

Yes, eating quality was very good
Different from the rock crabs... more like king crab... well, kind of

Body cavity is loaded with "easy to get to" meat if you can get the shell off!

[IN2DEEP]

Originally Posted by Mahigeer

When using the flat nets, it is best to use the new bait boxes that insure the box is in the middle of the big ring at all times.


That way the catch has to go inside of the net to get to the bait.


If the bait box is attached to the small inside ring, the ring could sit out of center and closer to the edge of the big ring. That permits the catch to eat from the bait box while sitting on the outside of the big ring.

Curious. What are the "new" bait boxes?
I do know that the inner ring of the flat nets can settle off center when it lands on the bottom

[ful-rac]

Originally Posted by IN2DEEP

Curious. What are the "new" bait boxes?
I do know that the inner ring of the flat nets can settle off center when it lands on the bottom

I believe he's talking about a bait cage suspender, and no they are not new. They clip to the outer ring, so no matter how the middle ring lands, the bait cage is always centered.

[tunaseeker]

Thats a clean spider crab! Down in SD Bay they are covered in mud.. Very hard to clean. Great job!:cheers1

[Gerry]

That is a BIG spider crab. I would get them that size on the goleta pier pretty often. But haven't seen one that size in a while. Great eats, but a lot if work

[roadx]

big boy and super clean too.

[DennisMorgan]

No way! That is insane! Way to go!


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