| 13 August 2008
Tips on presenting crab lures
Swimming Crabs are a common prey of most gamefish. Understanding behavior of the crab as well as the gamefish helps you make the right lure presentation.
Callinectes sapidus (blue crab), is a swimming crab whose latin name means "beautiful swimmer, savory". The juvenile form is indeed savored by most gamefish, while humans prefer the adult forms, steamed. Blue crabs are one of many swimming crabs that draw the attention of snook.
Excerpted with Permission, A Fly Fisherman's Guide to Saltwater Prey, by Aaron Adams
Now Available in the Snook Store
Knowledge of Saltwater Prey enhances the angler's enjoyment and effectiveness in targeting gamefish. This excerpt from Aaron Adams latest book give some facts about swimming crabs that could influence how you tie a fly, present a lure or even use live bait.
Family Portunidae - Swimming Crabs
Prey Type - Bottom-Associated Crabs
Swimming crabs' primary Habitats are mangroves, seagrass, oyster bars, salt marshes, beaches, rubble, sand and mud flats. They live in warm-temperate, subtropical, and tropical regions.
True to their name, Swimming Crabs use their paddle-like rear legs to swim in mid-water and near the surface. They are on the menu of most coastal gamefish. Their high level of activity and diversity of behaviors (swimming, burrowing, and crawling across bottom) makes them good for imitating with flies and offers many ways to present the flies to gamefish.
Permit, tipping up for a crab. Bonefish, permit, and red drum have crusher plates in their mouths or throats that they use to crush the crab before swallowing it. Spotted seatrout, snook, and tarpon just swallow the crabs whole. This should effect timing of the hook set. Photo credit: belizeflatsfishing.com
A reasonable amount of action can be given to swimming crab fly patterns, unlike flies to imitate mud and spider crabs, which must have little action.
In most instances, predators will slurp in the crabs whole, but sometimes they will pick the crab apart. I once watched a group of four bonefish circle a large crab fly and pick at the rubber legs and hackle claws to dismember the crab before eating the body. Since that time, I tend to use smaller crab flies for bonefish.
Most gamefish eat swimming crabs. Bonefish, permit, and red drum have crusher plates in their mouths or throats that they use to crush the crab before swallowing it. Spotted seatrout, snook, and tarpon just swallow the crabs whole.
How the gamefish eat the crabs should be considered when fishing with these patterns - you probably have more time to set the hook on the species that swallow the crabs whole, but don't want to allow enough time for the crushers to crush the fly and spit it out.
This fly pattern is tied as a Del Brown's Merkin, with no claws and all legs trailing off the hook bend. Despite the predominance of 'dive-for-the-bottom' strategies to escape predators, swimming crabs sometimes do try to out-swim their predators, which may be why, sometimes, it is best to strip a crab imitation through mid-water.
A common response of a crab that is swimming to a predator is to dive for the bottom in search of cover. This cover can be under a rock, under seagrass blades, or to bury in sand or mud. Imitating each of these strategies with your lure can be effective.
When really cornered, swimming crabs will flare their claws and face the predator in a last ditch effort to ward off the attack. Swimming crabs are fast and strong enough that predators can become wary when a swimming crab turns to face them.
All of the swimming crabs are similar in shape to the pictured blue crab at the top of this article. Numerous species of swimming crabs are present in coastal habitats. Among the most striking differences among the species is the coloration of their shells.
The lesser blue crab, iridescent crab, ornate blue crab, blotched swimming crab, speckled crab, are just a few of the other species described in Saltwater Prey.
