Quote Originally Posted by buckethead View Post
^^^^^ You do make a good point there. I think the difference in the catching is when they are actively feeding on them vs the other forage. An example I can think of is the calico or even the japanese shore crabs. I have not always seen bass actively feeding on them. However during the moon cycles many crabs shed and put out those special pherome scents that bass can detect. At those times fishing crabs seems to be more successful. Good luck out there blazin and keep us posted.
fishing shedders is an art form in itself, and yes, when crabs are on the shed, those pheromones attract fish to them

I believe sand crabs are different. Their shells are not hard. In fact, you can catch them and grill them and pop'em in whole yourself. Fish have no trouble eating them when they are hungry and at the right stage of tide.

I think there's a certain tide stage for the structure at the local beach that provides enough water for cover, yet enough sand crabs in that zone, with enough wash to stir them up, to put it all together for active feeding fish (on the open beach).

Around rocks, fish that are there are already actively looking for crabs of all sorts OR for bait fish which are feeding on crabs of all sorts.

This is all my junk science, but it's pretty well backed up by my own experience and discussion with other anglers.