Gifts Ideas for Any Crabber (Items they’ll actually use!)

Christmas is around the corner, and I still have no idea what to get most of my family and friends. I do, however, know a great deal about what a crabber needs and wants on a crabbing trip. For anyone looking for a few gift ideas, this is the list for you.

The goal of this article is to provide you with gift ideas that your crabber friend will actually want and use. There are too many gift guides with crab images on a T-Shirt or mug, which no one wants. Personally, I’d take a new crab trap over a mug any day, and I know your crabbing friend feels the same. So, let’s go over some real gift ideas your crabbing friend will actually use.

First off, I want to make it clear that if you live on the West Coast you need different crabbing gear than if you live on the East Coast. All these articles on the internet that list the “best crabbing gear” have never gone crabbing. A Promar Crab pot, for example, is recommended by most sites to anyone who goes crabbing. This trap, however, won’t work for anyone on the East Coast because it’s built for the larger Dungeness Crab. I feel bad for whoever buys it for their crabber friend and didn’t know any better.

So, to avoid that catastrophe, I broke this list up into two sections: East Coast Crabbing and West Coast Crabbing. Click one of the two images to be taken to that part of the article.

Disclaimer: This article is filled with Amazon Affiliate Links. As an affiliate for Amazon, I receive a small commission for any purchase driven through my link at no extra cost to the buyer. Thank you for supporting my website. I’ll mark each affiliate link with “(Affiliate link).”

The Best East Coast Crabbing Gifts

Collapsible Crab Traps

If you start to do research on crab traps you may get overwhelmed at the sheer number of different versions available. There are pyramid traps, box traps, topless box traps, crab pots, ring nets, and plenty more. Forget all of these terms because they aren’t important. The only trap you should get a crabber is a Foxy-Mate Topless Crab Trap.

Here’s a picture of me holding up a crab I caught in my friend’s Foxy-Mate 66 Crab Trap (Affiliate link to Amazon). It’s not the Topless Foxy-Mate (Amazon Affiliate Link) version that I like best, but it still does the job. I like the topless version because you can stack them like cups for much easier storage. I took this picture on Taylor’s Island, MD. It was a female blue crab, so I had to throw it back.

Foxy-Mates are the ideal crab trap for anyone crabbing for Blue Crabs. If you live on the East Coast, from Texas to Maine, this includes you. They’re legal in every state on the coast and don’t come with pages long of regulations like crab pots do. Plus, they’re much cheaper! They work from a pier and from a boat or kayak, you will just need to get a buoy, some rope, and possibly a crab trap weight for anyone crabbing from a boat. The weight keeps their trap from being tossed around by the current, but it’s only necessary for crabbing in the ocean or rougher waters.

I did some digging on the internet and found that Amazon has the best prices for all of the items I mentioned. Foxy-Mates (Affiliate Link to Amazon) go in and out of stock on Amazon, but that’s because they sell for the best price here. I recommend the Foxy-Mates without a top so you can stack them like cups. You will want two or three so your crabber friend can catch more crabs at once. I usually take 6 out when I’m crabbing from my kayak.

With each trap, you’re going to need a buoy if your crabbing friend crabs from a boat or kayak. States have different rules when it comes to buoys, so I would look at the ones they already have before making a purchase. You can read about your state’s gear guidelines on my State-By-State Crabbing Regulations page.

It never hurts to get more rope either. You can get fancy and order lead-lined rope for these traps (Affiliate link to Amazon). It’s useless if you’re crabbing from a pier, but if you’re using these traps from a boat it’s really helpful. This rope sinks with the trap, rather than float at the surface, which prevents it from getting caught in boat propellers.

With this trap, you’re going to want a weight if they are crabbing in rougher waters. I always recommend this Crab Trap Weight (Affiliate Link to Amazon) that you can zip tie to a Foxy-Mate. Tip: You can get away with zip-tie-ing some cut rebar to the trap as well, which is much cheaper.

A Winter Fishing Trip

Unfortunately, crabbing is a summer thing. While your crabber friend would appreciate anything on this list, they will have to wait until it’s warm out to use it. If you want them to experience the joy of your gift sooner, you can get them a fishing charter instead. Anyone who goes crabbing will love a fishing charter experience. You head out on the water with an experienced fisherman, wrestle a large fish onto the boat (not literally), and most times you get to keep what you catch!

I assume the person you’re getting this for already has their fishing license because you need one to go crabbing. That is literally all you need for a fishing charter. The boat captain will prove his or her vessel, all the fishing gear necessary, and the know-how! Sometimes they’ll even fillet the fish for you. All in all, it’s a fun experience I recommend to anyone who loves the water.

I always recommend people search for their fishing charters on Fishingbooker.com (Affiliate link). I became an affiliate for their services because of how easy to use and reliable it is. I believe it’s perfect for my readers. It’s kind of the Airbnb or Zillow of fishing charters, if that makes sense. If this sounds cool to you, take a minute to browse nearby fishing charters. This would be an amazing Christmas gift for anyone who loves fishing and crabbing.

A New Crab Cooker

Have you ever noticed your crabbing friend having to cook the crabs he caught in more than one batch? How does his or her current crab cooker look? Is it getting a bit beat up and rusty? It may be time for them to get a shiny, brand new boiler pot to steam or boil their blue crabs.

I recommend to all my readers Either a Concord or ARC steaming pot. Lately, I’ve been loving my Concord Steaming Pot, which sells on Amazon. Click here to check the current price (Affiliate Link). I wrote an entire buyer’s guide on why this is better than other cooking pots that comes with a sizing chart, which you can read here. To summarize that guide in one sentence: If you want your crab cooker to outlive you, buy the thickest, heaviest stainless steel pot possible. These two crab steamer brands do exactly that, which is why I recommend it.

This year, why do you finally pull the trigger and get a crab steamer that’ll cook the entire bushel at once. A 60-quart pot will fit exactly one bushel of crabs. You’ll save a lot of time cooking all of your crabs at once, and the ones that are done in the first batch won’t get cold while you cook the second, because you won’t be cooking a second! Concord sells a 60-quart pot, which I’ll link to here (Affiliate Link to Amazon). This will feed a whopping 12 people per batch! Imagine the future family dinners this pot will serve.

Please ignore my feet, but this is my Concord crab steamer. Look at all that room! Also, notice how it doesn’t stain too badly, even with a dozen cooks so far.

A New Bushel Basket

Ever wonder how the crabs get from the trap to the dinner plate? We definitely don’t carry them back one-by-one. Instead, crabbers use either a cooler or a bushel basket to transport crabs. The thing is, these will end up smelling like crabs even if you wash them regularly. It wont be long until your crabbing friend needs a new one, and that’s assuming he already has one. If he or she is using a Home Depot bucket to transport their caught crabs, they need this gift desperately.

Here’s a picture of some crabs I pulled out of a trap that I put in our bushel basket. What I love about the basket is that it allows air to flow, keeping the crabs cool and lets them breathe. Crabs that are given proper air flow will last much longer out of the water.

The bushel basket is a useful gift that’ll last several crabbing seasons holding bushels upon bushels of crabs. I’ve bought some well-made ones on Amazon, which you can check out here to see the current price. You will also need a lid to keep direct sun off the crabs, this will make sure they don’t dry out and die once you catch them. Here’s a lid on Amazon that’ll fit the basket I recommended earlier (Affiliate links to Amazon).

The Best West Coast Crabbing Gifts

A Top-Notch Crab Snare Setup

One thing I envy about the West Coast is that they can go crab snaring. This involves a heavy-duty fishing rod with a bait cage at the of the line covered in snare loops. The activity is essentially surf fishing for crabs instead of fish. I watch some people do it on Youtube and it looks like a fun experience, something I plan on doing someday.

I talked to a few crabbers from California and they told me about the best crab snare set-up. It’s a pretty heavy duty setup, since you’re casting a heavy crab snare filled with bait, then reeling in an even heavier crab through the surf. You can’t go crab snaring with a tiny fishing rod, it’ll snap!

I found everything you’ll need for this setup on Amazon (Affiliate Links):

• A 10-foot fishing pole, The Daiwa Beefstick is the top recommended from crabbers.
• At least a size 6000 spinning reel, I recommend a size 8000 but it can get pricy. Anything smaller can’t handle the weight. Penn Pursuit is a reliable brand.
• You will need 30-lb braid fishing line. Anything less will snap!
• Last, but not least, a crab snare. Airfly sells the best snare on the internet.

A Promar Crab Pot (The only trap I recommend for West Coast Crabbers)

I stand by my claim that this is the best trap anyone on the West Coast can use. It’s made of heavy-duty metal, while not being bulky and inconvenient to transport like my current crab pot. If I lived on the West Coast (I live in Maryland) and had the opportunity to catch Dungeness Crabs, this is the trap I would use.

If your crabbing friend catches Dungeness Crabs from a pier, shoreline, or boat they can use this trap. I’ve seen videos of people pull in these traps packed-full of Dungeness Crabs. You can check out what this trap is selling for on Amazon (Affiliate Link).

If your crabbing friend doesn’t already have rope and a buoy, they’ll need that too (Affiliate links to Amazon). Check with your local crabbing laws before buying a buoy because I know different states have different regulations. I’d just check whatever buoy they already have and copy that. I recommend lead-lined rope that sinks instead of floating on the surface. Some places even require this in order to prevent crab trap lines from getting caught in boat propellers.

If they crab in the ocean or larger bodies of water, they could use a crab trap weight (Affiliate Link to Amazon). This will keep the pot from being pushed around by the current, which prevents it from catching crabs.

A Crabbing & Fishing Charter Experience

It turns out that December and January are some of the best months to catch Dungeness Crabs. So, why don’t you send your crabber friend on a crabbing and fishing charter! They’ll set a few traps, fish on the open ocean, and pull the traps after an exciting day. They’ll get to keep all the legal crabs and fish they catch, and gain a cool experience!

This is an awesome opportunity if your crabbing friend doesn’t have a boat and crabs from shore. They’ll get to go out with a knowledgeable captain and learn a thing or two. They’ll come home wanting to buy a boat of their own!

This could be a fun day trip for the whole family or group of friends. If this all sounds fun to you, take a look at Fishingbooker.com and find a fishing charter near you. I always recommend their site as they’re like the Zillow or Airbnb of fishing and crabbing charters. You’ll get to read about the captains and what marine life they’ll help you catch (Affiliate Link).

You don’t need any fishing or crabbing gear for this either! It’s all provided by the boat captain. All you need is a fishing license and a good attitude!