Thanks for all the info Charley. Looking forward to the photos !
quote:
Originally posted by CharleyWestIt was quite another adventure setting that pot!
Two things I hadn’t planned for:
1.) DEEP MUD
that happens to be
2.) Slicker than snail snot!
Pluff mud. You never forget your first time!
Hydra-Sports 22 Bay Sport
225 Rude
Lowcountry 101 stuff right there! We all take it for granted 
Looking forward to the report…
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
www.ralphphillipsinshore.com | www.summervillesaltwateranglers.com
Your first Pluff Mud Baptism remember it like your first Girlfreind. LOL
Wicked fishing
175 CC Pioneer Bay sport
90 Yamaha 4 stroke
There ain’t no crabs in the Kanawha river! It’s all about learning the ropes. Hope to see you on the river.
220 Outrage
250 Verado
Had an incredible day/evening. Just a brief update on this late evening.
So for those on pins and needles wondering how the crabbing went on today’s tide cycle, in a creek, baited with frozen menhaden…
SUCCESS!</font id=“blue”></font id=“size3”>
But not without much struggle and learning.
At high tide around 3:00 p.m. my float looked like this:
When I got to the location to pull my pot, it looked like this:
Low tide was sometime around 9:20 p.m. I had planned to go a bit earlier than dead tide, perhaps around 8 or 8:30, but I was having too much fun learning how to throw a cast net and catching fresh mullet to reload my pot! I’ll throw together a more detailed post on that tomorrow - with some pretty cool pics.
Huge thanks again to MattR and his kiddo.</font id=“size2”></font id=“green”>
So back to the results…
We Got Crabs!</font id=“red”></font id=“size4”>
To put it in simple terms; retrieving, emptying, re-baiting, and re-deploying the pot - the the dark - was not a breeze, but I figure I did it in about 30 minutes.
I’d guess there were about 18 crabs in the pot. Some were easily too small, some were clearly above 5", and several were uncooperative in the sizing process.
Something I looked at three times today but thought was a gimmick: Crab tongs.
Something I would have paid twice what I saw them listed for today when I was standing on the creek bank in the dark with nothing but a headlamp and a billion gnats in my face?
CRAB TONGS.</font id=“size3”>
I swear I caught an
That’s got to be some of the funniest stuff I’ve read in a long while 
Great reports!
You should cook those crabs while they are alive, don’t let them die or they will spoil very quick. Boil them while they are kicking, then clean them and put them in the refrigerator.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Clean them while they are alive then cook them and enjoy eating them with out the guts in there.
If you need some pointers on the cast net, go down to beach access 37 today then head to the right to where big bay enters the sound. There will be an older gentleman there (68 or so) with two grand-boys close by. He can show you several different ways to throw the net. That would be my father-in-law. Good man and quite entertaining to talk to. Oh, and get the devils fingers out of those crabs.
G
I say we move this guy down here, just for the stories. Perfectly sized pics, well narrated, honest and open about his adventures.
Glad you visited the area and found this forum!
BG
CharleyWest got the VIP island tour by golf cart. All the wildlife was out (except for the eagles) swamp donkeys, gaters, jumping mullet.
I am pretty sure he got the castnet throwing down. 2 tacos and then pancakes from there on out with my 7’ sea green. I think he’s going to clean out the Edistonian of tackle today.
Hydra-Sports 22 Bay Sport
225 Rude
Good Stuff Charley ! This newbie is getting crabbing edumacation 101 ! Cast net…is 3/8 mesh what I need ? 6’ Filtec cast net from my local Academy Sports for 34.99. Or 5’ for 26.99.
This thread has kept me highly entertained. Go Charley!
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
www.ralphphillipsinshore.com | www.summervillesaltwateranglers.com
Good thread, Charlie. If we go out before you leave, I’ll definitely let you know. It may just be shark fishing.
2000 2220 KeyWest CC 225ox66 “Drippin Wet”
Quick post:
Crabs cooked!
CoastG: I’m going to swing by B.A.37 in about 15 mins to see if your F.I.L. might still be hanging out.
gregsc: not sure on the mesh size and certainly no pro here, but MattR’s 7 footer was just at my limit, height-wise. Mountaineer’s recommendation: buy the 6’.
btodag: Offer accepted. Just let me know where to pick up the keys.
jason_blocker: I’m wide open tomorrow and Friday! You could tell me we’re going to catch pink goldfish and I’d not care at all!
I’ll get a massive post built later this afternoon with the promised updates on my island safari with MattR & son, more details on night crabbing, how my morning went, with pics, cooked crab pics, and anything else I can jaw-bone about.
Thanks for the interest. Having fun sharing my week.
Watching a storm roll in, so I think there’s time for an epic update.
Last evening I got to MattR’s place at 20 'til 8:00 p.m. He and his son were ready and waiting on the camo golf cart. We literally shook hands and took off through the woods. There was great discussion about deer on the island, as we are all hunters, and the son was excited to be getting the chance to take his first deer this coming season. I feel confident he’ll get a shot.
We pull up to an incredible scene. At first I noticed a small dock with a walkway leading to the bank, and what appeared to be a small pond. After stepping on to the dock, I was able to see that in fact we were on just a finger of a lagoon that spread out in a picturesque view. We didn’t spend too much time gawking, though I found myself saying (out loud, I think) over and over how amazing the landscape was.
MattR wasted no time deploying the cast net for mullet. I had never seen mullet, so I wasn’t sure what might come up. Let me tell you, we were all pretty surprised with his first throw!
Turns out he caught not only two mullets and a shrimp or two, but also a gigantic horseshoe crab! We all got a kick out of that.
Here’s the son holding it up:
And here I am with it, with a shot of the amazing lagoon:
We then trekked a little ways down a dyke and MattR threw the net a few more times. It was pretty darn cool to see all the critters we caught. One throw produced a legal male blue crab, while others had a small croaker fish, brown shrimp, white shrimp, lady fish, more mullet, and an oyster! I grabbed a pic of the oyster, before tossing it back in (with everything else besides the crab and mullet).
[img]http://www.charlestonfish
Oh and CoastG, I made it to the point and walked around, but I don’t think your father in-law was there. Enjoyed the view though!
CharleyWest, thanks for sharing your vacation with us. We have been coming down for years but have kept to the beach, bingo and pier crabbing. Soon, we hope to be regular at EB, our home away from home and I too, will have the delight of learning how to fish, throw a net and all that is good at Edisto!
Wow! What a great story! You have inspired me to write about my adventures when I get down there though mine won’t be as interesting!
Matt, you are a fine man. Thanks for spreading the Southern hospitality
It’s nice reading these stories, all of the things that we take for granted in the Low Country as seen through the eyes of a newcomer 
I’ve got a feeling Charlie will be back to visit
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose