This week wasn’t exactly nice for fishing. Even last weekends weather didn’t provide a decent opportunity to fish. Strong winds and threatening skies kept most anglers at the dock. The few that have ventured out didn’t report back with any good news. Winds made for fast drifts and a North East storm, without the badly needed rain, made for high tides and difficult fishing fast currents.
     Maureen and I worked on some stuff I hope you find helpful and informative. Her
issue is about the brown tide, (something everyone local wants to know about) and I
discuss shedder crabs(boring?), in a question and answer format--that was applauded by many readers, when I chose to write in that format last season.

Question: What exactly is a Shedder Crab? Answer: A “Shedder” is a term to describe a crab that is in a point of its life just before it sheds its shell; similar to a snake shedding its skin. Both critters shed as a stage in life to become larger. The Shedder Crab has a fully formed soft shell crab developed below its current hard shell. The crab will consume large quantities of water to aid itself in busting out of its old shell and will consume more water to inflate even further after its totally free of the hard shell. After this phase, the Blue Crab becomes about one third bigger.
Question: Why is a Shedder Crab good bait? Answer: During the phase of shedding its shell, the female Crab emits a pheromone to draw a male crab into cradling her through the defenseless soft shell stage of the shedding process. The pheromones also trigger a feeding reaction in fish, especially Weakfish. The pheromone scent is diminished after the crab becomes a soft shell.
Question: How many baits should I get out of a Shedder? Answer: The answer varies on the size of the crab and the skill of cleaning. Most times, 17 baits can be obtained from each crab. Two baits from the top soft shell, 1 bait from the bottom crown, 2 baits from each claw (4) and 10 baits from each body segment of the crab. Only a small piece of bait is required on a lure, because you are fishing scent more then meat. We have an instruction sheet on how to cut up the crab for bait available on request.
Question: Why don’t you have any shedders today? Answer: Crabs are not always in a shed cycle. A shedding cycle is more prominent around a full moon. If there is a poor cycle, the food markets pay a greater price for the crabs and the crabbers sell to the highest bidder. Many times, the shedders are just too expensive or there aren’t enough to supply both the food and bait markets.
Question: Why are shedders small or only have one claw? Answer: The crabbers who are harvesting and farming the shedders get paid top dollar for crabs that are larger and have all their legs and claws. The market value price for these visually presentable crabs is greater then the bait market will bear. It’s similar to the market price for Shrimp; the less shrimp in a pound the higher the price.
Question: I have an extra shedder or two left over after my fishing trip, what should I do with them? Answer: If you are going to be fishing the next day, then sticking the shedders in a refrigerator overnight is fine if they are still alive. Dead crabs will rot in their shell, creating a stink that is not helpful to the bait in as little as 6 hours. Clean them as soon as possible. Store the cleaned crabs in a zip-loc bag or Tupperware type container and keep them cold. I like to keep each crab separate in a Zip-loc bag. That way, you are aware of  how many “crabs” you’re actually taking with you on your fishing trip. Shedders that have been cleaned alive will last at least 5 days in a  refrigerator. If you aren’t sure when you are going to be able to fish again, clean all of your shedders and freeze them. Place each piece of bait on plastic wrap so that it freezes as individual baits. I place a row of 4 or 5 baits and roll the plastic then repeat the process until each piece of crab bait is wrapped up. Then, I place the cigar shape wrapped shedder in a gallon size Zip-loc labeled shedder crab bait and seal it up tightly. When you are fishing, keep the frozen shedder in your fish cooler on ice, so that any left-overs can be used on the next trip. Repeated thawing and refreezing of any bait is not recommended. Shedders will become mushy and difficult to keep on the a hook.