Calico crabs - call them irresistible

[captnemo]

Good tip on the soft shells at the fish market. I know a Spanish guy who does that all the time catching stripers in the summer.

[jigfreak]

Good read on calico and jonah crabs by Jay Mann of LBI at www.theSandpaper.net

From a scientific angle, I can see the LBI replenishment sands ravaging the surfline crab population. Jetty-based species, such as rock and Jonah crabs, had their worlds sanded under. But far more ecologically significant, the calico crabs (Ovalipes ocellatus), aka lady crabs, had the world cave in on them – beneath up to 10 feet of sand.

Calico crabs are one of the most common foodstuff for bass, based on countless stomach content studies. Might it be that stripers, which habitually venture into the surfline to load up on calicos, moved in for a customary meal but found a barren bottom, compliments of freshly dredged sand? Being crafty consumers, they would have quickly zipped seaward to go after bait balls and any deeper-water crustaceans.

If my crabby theory holds true, it could take some time for the bass-attracting nearshore crabs to return. But return they will. Crustaceans are kick-*** when it comes to repopulating after taking a numbers-knocking hit, especially when not being heavily harvested by humans. Calicos have no yum-yum, eat-’em-up value.

As repopulating evidence, there was a hubbub in Harvey Cedars when the initial replenishment seemingly killed off the much-adored sandcrab population. And they were, indeed, gone. I checked. And they stayed gone for maybe a year or two. But, apparently, not all of them perished since they came back with a vengeance, soon recovering to a point of eeriness. A couple summers back, the wet sand of Harvey Cedars came alive with katrillions of sandcrabs, so thick underfoot if felt like the sand itself was wiggling about.

Trivia: Did you know sandcrabs run backwards after you dig them up? Yep.

The sandcrab bounce-back reflects a population pendulum effect, which comes about after a highly-reproductive species is suddenly and drastically reduced. I’ll wager that calico crabs can perform just such a bountiful bounce-back, which might coax bass back to traditional, near-beach crab-fests.

As for jetty-based rock and Jonah crabs, their return is on rocky ground. While many plowed under jetties will return to some degree, recruits to repopulate those rocks, i.e. survivors from the replenishment, will be in short supply. Any long-term recovery for such jetty/rock-based species will likely come from free-floating crab larvae.

[lostatsea]

Awesome read thank you 4 posting, dude.

[buckethead]

Friend of mine is starting to rake calicos. He said they are harder to find with the beach replenishment so he is a bit secretive. Will let you know how he is doing. Too much work for me.