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Topic: Cat food for crabbing?  (Read 13051 times)

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mr5900ar

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Was at my local pier crabbing with my daughter last weekend. We had a mildly successful day, getting 4 large dungies, and 6 good sized rock crabs in 3 hours. I noticed an older gentleman was just killing it. He had almost limited in 30 mins. Asked him what he was using for bait, & he pulled out a can of friskies cat food. Anyone ever tried this method? I must admit, it made me a little squeamish.


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Yes!
SuperD or Danny always use cat food when go out with Rey (lapulapu) it works...
Live today for tomorrow's sake.
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HamachiJohn

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I think most of us use catfood to chum the water in addition to squid/sardines combo.  I've used catfood everytime, but have not always limited out.  Maybe I need to stop using the cheap stuff.   :smt044
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mr5900ar

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Thanks for the replies! He was using the flaked ocean whitefish and tuna with sauce. I made sure to write it down. He said it worked the best for him. As I recall, a cat I had several years back, was super fond of the stuff, too.
My kid loves crabbing the best, so I'm shooting for the best chances for success. Just bought some danielson traps, instead of using the hoops, and hoping I'll be able to get her into fishing for surf perch, then to the yak :smt001. She's shown no interest, so far, but I can only hope for the future.


HamachiJohn

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good luck and hope to see a report with big dungies!
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liverbass

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I know it can be fairly common down south hooping for lobster.  Just crack the can a bit and toss it in with the rest of your bait.  Like was mentioned before its to help chum in addition to bait.

Was the guy on the pier just using catfood and not additional bait?


mr5900ar

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He had an interesting setup. I saw no bait boxes etc... He punctured the can in several places using a swiss army knife can opener, then put the can in a chum bag that was attached to the hoop with thin nylon rope, with about 6-8" of slack, then attached to a float with 1-2 ft of rope. He said it keeps the bait just out of reach, & the crabs wont leave it. I thought his theory was interesting. I'm gonna try attaching it to the top of my crab traps. I've never tried traps, just hoops, but there's not enough action for me. I need to actively fish something. I love perching, just not very good at it yet.


redwoodfox

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 Crabs seem to love it


liverbass

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I would think in a trap it would work fine...a hoop it seems after awhile the crab can't get anythign it would move on


Goz

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I also use cat food in traps and rings. 10 for a buck on sale. More scent=more crab.
At Doran beach over Thanksgiving, I ran out of bait, Spam works good too!!
Jim
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piski

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Does it taste so good crabs ask for it by name?
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Chadrock

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Does it taste so good crabs ask for it by name?

Awesome pull Aaron!
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ex-kayaker

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I would think in a trap it would work fine...a hoop it seems after awhile the crab can't get anythign it would move on


Thats exactly what happens....but when you're hoopin you're checking them every 15 minutes as opposed to a pot which is gonna need a longer soak (crab gotta find their way through the doors).  You can bait em with friskies and keep some hanging bait to keep them busy until you pull. 



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ZeeHokkaido

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The same brand and flavor is the popular bait for shrimping up this way. Never thought to use it for bigger crusties but why not. I'll give it a shot on the opener in July. Thanks for posting. BTW, what AG said about hooping. If you concentrate on 'em and drop 3-4 rings in a row and continually check 'em you can come away w/ much more crab than a pot.

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