Poor man’s Crabbin’

Poor Man’s Crabbin’

First let it be known that neither of us like crab much but we like to give it to those who do and we enjoy the challenge of trying to find legal crabs. Our crabbing from the boat this year has yielded poor results so we were intrigued when someone described old fashioned crabbing and decided to give it a try.
Off to the Nimpkish River we hiked with broomsticks and a bucket in hand. The Nimpkish is one of the biggest rivers on the north island with a huge estuary and prime crabbing flats. The technique is to walk ankle to knee deep in eel grass and moss, poking the stick up and down like a probe waiting for a hollow sound. Upon hearing this hollow noise you scoop up the crab from his hiding place in the sand and weeds below, with your broomstick. As he floats in the water, you grab him and throw him in the bucket. Incidently, the crab doesn’t like this part. It was more fun than productive although we scared up three. All in all a fun experience and a must do. PS: Wear sturdy footwear and remember bears come to crab in the same manner.