Blue wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 7:14 pm
Hey Carman,
I could never see what the fuss was about with eating Crab, most of them anyway.
Have trapped and eaten big Muddies in the NT and at least they were big enough to get something out of them, tasty to.
Blue Swimmers and others never seemed to have much in them, maybe that,s why I never “got the crabs”
Enlighten me please.
Blue
Thanks Blue
Yes, the "Crab thing" is a labour of love, with most of the crab-meat hidden in little crevasses and a hard shell.
But there are a few things at play with Crabs.
The Blue Swimmer Crab is a modest sized Crab when you see other larger Crabs out, like the Muddie. The legal minimum size of a Bluey is 11 cm across the Carapace. At that size, I don't think they have a lot of meat in them. I keep them from about 12 cm and up. I'd rather a dozen decent size crabs rather than a quota of 20 just size crabs. The photos of the ones I keep and have put up are 12 cm specimens and larger. The above ones are 13 cm +
Crab flesh is quite gelatinous and if the Crabs are ill kept, the flesh deteriorates quickly. Some may think "Oh, these Crabs are hollow or low on meat" but that can be because of how they have been dispatched & kept. I place keeper Crabs in an ice slurry (black bucket) then after a round of net checks, I transfer them to an esky with ice. This keeps the Crab flesh as pristine as possible AND it makes a big difference to the flesh quality. I also don't keep females (to let them breed) but also they are lighter on flesh being smaller clawed and body.
You can't keep females showing eggs BUT just because they aren't showing eggs, doesn't mean they don't have eggs in them, so another reason to let "legal" females go.
This was a blokes efforts of someone on the Jetty, just dumping the Crabs on the Jetty and keeping females. Each to their own but not an ideal way of Crabbing.
BUT the part of Crabbing and eating Crabs that can't fully be explained, it can only be experienced to fully understand, is the occasion, the mate-ship, the trip with Dad, as mentioned by some of the replies , , , , not just the food.
Here's a bloke, Ol Max. Hadn't been out for a few years due to ailments, but a little assistance he was out with his mate.
Ctaching Crabs himself with his mate , , , , and an annoying Bugatti
And here's their haul of Blueys, which would have been extra tasty because of the occasion. And, they only kept the large ones too
But in conclusion , , , , these Crab scraps , , , , how can anyone say no to this as berley
They are finicky to eat, hard to get at the meat, and it seems you use up more Calories than you consume , , , , BUT a six pack of beers and a six pack of Blueys with a mate, a Dad, the family , , , , that can't be beaten
Cheers, Bill