Catching blue swimmer crabs at Port Julia

Early evening close to the high tide is one of the best times to catch crab and squid from the jetty. The crabs that live there are called "blue swimmer crabs". They swim sideways. If you lean over the jetty in the right light you can see the shapes of crab walking or swimming sideways on the sea bottom below.

It is very exciting to hunt crab. You throw a crab net from the jetty tied to a long thin rope. You tie the other end of the rope onto the jetty railing so that you can retrieve the net. Its also a good idea to tie a float to the end of the rope so that if you have the misfortune to drop your pot into the sea you can still swim and catch it, rather than losing the pot and the rope to the bottom of the sea. Here is a picture of the type of net we were using. Mum has 4 nets. You are allowed 4 per person so the jetty can become quite crowded and you have to juggle for good spots.

A 'dilly style' crab net

Before you throw the crab pot you bait it with bits of fish. We saw many people baiting their traps with fish heads but our best results were with parts of a squid someone had saved in our bait fridge. Our one crab net caught 7 crabs. Five of them were big enough - over the minimum size of 11.5 cm across the shell.

Mum at the Fish Measuring Station which explains sizes and numbers for each catch.

When the baited traps are in the water you have to check them every few minutes to see whether there is a crab in the net eating the bait. The pot lies flat on the bottom of the sea but when you pull the rope quickly it lifts up and forms a basket with the crab inside. Sometimes if you are not fast enough the crab swims out as you raise the pot. Other times, the crab eats and walks off before you check your pot.

Frost loved checking the pots. He ran up and down looking for crabs and shouting out about any he saw. Mum is an expert crab hunter and gave lots of advice helping us pick spots and tug up the nets when a crab was in it.

Checking the crab nets.

Here is Mum showing how to hold a crab. They have very sharp claws so you have to be careful. This crab was caught by someone else on the jetty but Mum helped them catch it from the net and put it in the bucket.

Frost also tried his hand at squid fishing with a fake prawn lure. We didn't do it often because he wasn't safe to cast on the jetty with so many people around. I was a bit of a danger myself! However Frost and Wren both liked holding the fishing pole and the chance to catch something. I was really surprised that Frost was not upset when other fishermen caught squid and flopped them down on the deck of the jetty. He was curious and excited and wanted to catch his own. I was the one who was pleased not to catch one. They have such big eyes I would want to let mine go.