Drifting Easy by Sue Foster

“What are the crabbing regulations!”

It’s that time of year when the crabs start crawling out of the mud and 
anglers think about stuffing their flounder fillets with fresh picked crab 
meat.

“What are the regulations concerning commercial type crab pots?”

Anglers that live on the water in Maryland can keep two commercial type crab 
pots tied off their dock or bulkhead. Or they may attach their two crab pots 
to poles in front of their property.  The crab pots cannot be more than 100 
yards from the shore. If you set them out on a pole in the water you have to 
write your name and address on a buoy or sign in 6-inch letters.  By law, 
you are required to have two culling rings (2 5/16-inches) in your crab pot. 
One should be in the lower chamber and one in the upper chamber. This lets 
the little crabs crawl out of the pot.

The law also requires “turtle reduction devices” which are wire or plastic 
rectangles (1 and three-quarter inches by 4 and three-quarter inches). You 
are supposed to attach these to each entrance or funnel in the crab pot. 
These are not hard to attach. Use fine wire to attach them or simply bend 
the wires at the end of each funnel around the wire rectangles with a pair 
of needle nose pliers.

“Are these regulations different in Delaware?”

Yes, in Delaware you are allowed to take the two crab pots out on the water. 
They must be attached to a white buoy with the owner’s full name and 
permanent mailing address written on the buoy or on a waterproof tag 
attached to the buoy. The “turtle reduction devices” have to be installed 
but culling rings do not. The crab pots must be attended every 72 hours or 
the angler can be fined.  Apparently these rules are strictly enforced when 
you put the crab pots out into the waters of Delaware.

“Can I carry crab pots out into the water with my boat in Maryland?”

Absolutely not!  Only watermen with crabbing licenses can put crab pots out 
into the water. And sorry, but you cannot buy a license in Maryland to do 
this.  If you do take them out into the bay and the Maryland DNR finds them 
without a crabber’s license number on them, they will seize them.  At the 
price of crab pots these days, this can get expensive!  I’ve heard anglers 
complain that “someone’s stealing my pots!” when it is actually the DNR.

Many anglers do not know the law and have been setting crab pots for years 
without much incidence. Now the Maryland DNR is more diligent in their 
search for illegal crab pots set in the Coastal Bays.  It’s not that the law 
has changed; it’s just that now it is being enforced!

So if you’re going to go crabbing in your boat in the Maryland Coastal Bays 
you either have to use hand lines, collapsible crab traps, or a trot line. 
If you spend the time crabbing this time of year, you can catch a mess of 
crabs. From now through July you can pretty much guarantee some good 
crabbing action. It seems to slow down in the heat of August so if you’re 
into crabbing, do it now!  The only other time crabbing can slow down is on 
a full moon.  Crabs go through a “shed” during the full moon and a certain 
percentage of them will not “feed.”

“My friend and I are going to set a trotline for crabs. How long of a 
trotline am I allowed?”

If one person is in the boat you are allowed up to a 600-foot trotline. If 
two people are in the boat, you can have two trotlines, up to 600 feet long. 
You are supposed to have a float on each end of the trotline that is the 
same color and shape.

“What the heck is a trotline?”

A trotline is a long line, usually made out of nylon, cotton, hemp or any 
line that does not float in the 1/8 to 3/8 inch diameter range). It rests on 
the bottom floor and is anchored at both ends with some kind of weight. 
Baits are attached every couple feet. These baits are attached to the main 
line by slipknots or by shorter lines called dropper lines.  (Crabbers use 
salted eel or chicken necks for bait.)

To check the trotline, the crabber works his line “with” the tide or wind, 
netting the crabs as he works down his “line.” Trotlining takes practice and 
coordination. If the wind or tide is moving “fast” don’t try to dump each 
individual crab. Scoop several at once before dumping your net. 
http://www.blue-crab.org/crabbing/trotline.html  is a good link to read up 
on before trotlining.

“How many crabs are we allowed to keep?”

Crabs must be 5-inches from tip to tip of their shell.  You are allowed to 
keep one bushel per person.  If there are two people in your boat, you are 
allowed to keep two bushels, but no more than that no matter how many people 
are on board.  Female crabs can be kept as long as they are not egg bearing.

“How about collapsible crab traps?”

You can take these crab traps out in your boat or onto any public pier. 
Crabbers are allowed to take 10 traps per person onto any public pier or 
bridge.  If you are on a boat and two crabbers are on board you can take as 
many as 25 traps. That’s a lot of traps!
If you are using “crabbing rings” they are counted as “traps”.

There is no limit to how many handlines or dip nets you use on your boat or 
from a public pier. If you do go crabbing buy more than one line per person 
to keep it interesting.  If you have 4 lines per person and each crabber 
checks them every 5 minutes or so, pulling them in slowly so the crab does 
not fall off, the crabber can keep busy all day.  That’s important if you 
are entertaining the kids as well as trying to catch dinner!

I like handlining, but it is very important to pull them in slowly.  A big 
crab will drop off in an instant if it senses something is amiss.   The 
heavier the feeling is on the end of the line, the more likely it is a big 
crab. Be patient… be slow… and don’t let the crab see the shadow of the net.

Collapsible traps are a more foolproof way to catch crabs.  Bait the trap in 
the middle with chicken or fish, the sides pull up and trap the crabs when 
you pull it up. Crab rings work the same way except that there are no sides 
to trap the crab so you have to pull them up fast.  They work very well 
though, and the cloth ones are inexpensive and can be thrown away after the 
vacation is over.

If you are lucky enough to live on the water, the two commercial type crab 
pots tied to your dock or bulkhead can provide you with crabs all summer. 
The crabs will come in with each tide plus they will come in at night while 
you sleep.  The best bait to put in the cylinder is bunker or other oily 
fish.  Chicken is OK, but does tend to smell bad when the water gets warmer.

If you want to save your crabs for a day or two, invest in a “crab keeper.” 
Some are simply crab pots with no entrance holes. Others are fancier with 
floats and a door to get the crabs out. Don’t leave the crabs in there more 
than a couple days, and if you feed them, just give them enough so they eat 
it all up.  Old bait left in with crabs make the crabs taste “marshy.”

Some people take out the crabs each day and clean them. (Take the shell off 
and remove the guts and dead man’s fingers). They can be kept in the 
refrigerator for two or three days this way. Then you can steam them just 
like crabs with the shell on. This works fine!

Good crabbing and fishing….







 
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