How to bait your crab traps

I am going crabbing for the first time at Crabfest this weekend. I have read the kayak crabbing article and many other posts. I have an understanding of different baits that are good to use. I am hoping to get some help with presentation and quantity. I will be crabbing with a Danielson trap and 3 crab ring traps. I purchased some squid and salmon heads at the market. I am not sure how best to place it in the trap. Is the bait supposed to be chopped up so it can leak out of the mesh bait bag? Do I need to make a "bait soup" to put in a bait jar? Is a salmon head best pinned inside the box trap? I know there are bait jars, boxes, mesh bags etc. I haven't gotten anything to use with the ring traps yet. Is one style of bait holder better than another?

I hope to go crabbing Saturday to learn a little before I crab for the tournament. I want to have enough bait for both days but have no idea how much I'll need. I plan to drop the box trap and let it soak while I work the three ring traps on a rotating basis. So I need enough to bait the box trap once and I guess the ring traps maybe 4 times each for Saturday and Sunday. Thanks

If you have mesh bait bags I would cut the salmon heads in half and cut the squid into 2" chunks. Attach your bait bag to the center of your pot. Put 1/2 your bait in the bags for the first hour then add a little more each pull. Bring 4 cans of cat food in case you run out of bait.

If you have mesh bait bags I would cut the salmon heads in half and cut the squid into 2" chunks. Attach your bait bag to the center of your pot. Put 1/2 your bait in the bags for the first hour then add a little more each pull. Bring 4 cans of cat food in case you run out of bait.

Good idea about the cat food, since it won't be wasted if I end up not needing it. Thanks

3# squid, 4 salmon heads and 4 cans of cat food would be good for Sunday. For Saturday, I would get a 10# bag of frozen chicken quarters. Luckys carries them and it costs about $10. Thaw out the whole bag and use half for bait on Saturday and cook the rest for dinner.

There are sneaky furbags at Doran so your bait needs to be centered and protected in your hoops.

3# squid, 4 salmon heads and 4 cans of cat food would be good for Sunday. For Saturday, I would get a 10# bag of frozen chicken quarters. Luckys carries them and it costs about $10. Thaw out the whole bag and use half for bait on Saturday and cook the rest for dinner.

There are sneaky furbags at Doran so your bait needs to be centered and protected in your hoops.

Good to know. Put the chicken quarters in a bait box instead of just pinning it to the trap?

In a crab pot you can either pin it or put it in a bait bag/box but I prefer putting it in a box or bag. Bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer on your yak if you are using raw chicken and clean your hands after handling the chicken. I wear gloves now and they work great.

I was offered a salmon to use for bait. It was very dark and half dead when it was caught. Will the crabs go for it?

I was offered a salmon to use for bait. It was very dark and half dead when it was caught. Will the crabs go for it?

Any protein will work so yes, a zombie salmon head will work.  I would still put a jar of squid in your traps in addition to the salmon head. 

I was offered a salmon to use for bait. It was very dark and half dead when it was caught. Will the crabs go for it?

Crabs love dead fish especially Salmon 

Crabs are scavengers of the sea. They will eat anything. One day I got up way too early and mistook my frozen leftover Chinese food for squid. They still ate it.