Leaving a leg or the claw intact often entices the bite. Protrude the hook from the outside of the crab through the leg socket and out from another leg socket.
Larger crabs should be halved with either the legs or claw left intact or removed. Small greenies can be fished whole by placing a 3/0 to 4/0 super sharp Gamakatsu octopus hook through the back in between the last pair of legs. It’s a standard bait for most open and charter boats during tog season and can be an extremely effective bait in the right hands. Again, a couple of filleted fish racks will keep them going. A burlap sack kept in a cool dark place and dunked in some cool saltwater every few days will keep them alive for a couple of weeks, as will a cooler. Throwing in a fish rack or two every so often will keep them frisky and happy. They will live forever submerged in the water in a cage next to your boat. They are easy to keep alive in a number of ways.
#Blue crab bait full
Just about any decent bait shop carries them throughout blackfish season and they can be purchased by the dozen or by a half or full bushel at a moderately fair price. All are successful depending on the likings of the tog. They can be fished whole, cut or custom trimmed. Greenies come in many sizes and can be presented to a tog in many forms. Green Crabsīy far the most common and popular tog bait introduced by way of foreign ships back in the 1800’s and have since been a staple of bays and harbors up and down the Northeast Coast. Sharp number 5 Mustad Virginia or 1/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hooks are ideal sizes and will not crush the bait in your hands as would larger size hooks. The best way to bait these little critters is to run the hook right through the center of the crab from the bottom and up through the top shell, leaving the large claws intact. Fiddler crabs are basically a one shot deal when targeting tog, therefore anglers must stay alert. They also have a primitive lung, which enables them to live on land. Fiddler crabs are colonial, often living together in large clusters, traveling in groups of thousands and can stay out of the water in damp ground for months at a time.
They are found living in burrows near the water’s edge feeding on decaying plant material present in salt marsh mud and sediment. Therefore if tog fishing is on your agenda, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to read on and perhaps pick up a tip or two of how the tog specialists bait their hooks and consistently put slob tog in the box. In fact, the difference between slamming a tub of bully white chins versus a pail with barely any keepers comes down to how you present those crusty crustaceans to the liking of the structure loving warriors. Well not exactly, at least where fishing for jumbo blackfish are concerned.
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