What’s The Best Bait For Crabbing?

Crabbers like to debate over what bait is the best for Crabbing. Recreational crabbers love to use chicken meat, fish and other creative baits. Commercial crabbers use pigs feet, chopped up eels, and so many more nasty yet effective baits. The question lies: What’s the best Crab bait?

I, along with other recreational crabbers, have found that Crabs like bait that’s natural to them. The best bait you could use is freshly caught fish from the same body of water where you are crabbing. Chicken, squid, turkey, or any type of oily meats will also get the job done. Let’s look into what makes some baits better than others, and which one is best for you.

Bait Ideas 

Crabs will eat anything! They’re bottom feeders. Eels, turkey necks, if you name it! I’m sure it’s already been tried… and caught a few crabs. Some work better than others; here are the widely agreed-upon top 4 crab baits:

1. Fresh Fish
2. Poultry (Necks) 
3. Razor Clams
4. Squid
   

Fresh Fish

Like I said before, crabs love fish. Fish is a very oily meat, which makes it scent spread like wildfire through the water. This is what attracts crabs to your trap.

Salmon, sardines, and tuna do very well in any trap. I recommend filleting any fish you put in the trap to help its smell spread.

      

Fish heads alone do a great job. They are tough and take a while for the crabs to eat and they spread a decent amount of scent throughout the water. 

I will admit I’m a little biased when it comes to using fish as bait. I’ve had a ton of luck using frozen sardines that I buy at my local bait and tackle shop. 

Fish are great, but it can’t hurt to experiment with other baits and decide for yourself which is best. Let’s look into a few other

Poultry 

Chicken, and sometimes even turkey, make some great crab bait. It’s something you can pick up in the bargain isle of your local grocery store and works great. Next to fish, it’s my number one recommendation for any recreational crabber. 

Even though chicken isn’t a natural food to crabs, they love it. When I first started out crabbing, I would catch lots of keepers using chicken breasts I picked up at Walmart. 

Overtime, I found a few tricks to help give chicken a little push to do a little better. It’s a great bait, but it’s missing the fishy smell crabs love. 

It’s nothing too serious, but worth looking into. Solution number one is to use canned tuna. Simply poke a small hole in the top and bottom of the can, about the width of a screw. This will add a fishy scent to your crab trap. 

My second solution is to use crab attractant. It’s simply a fish oil solution that REALLY makes your bait smell… crabs love it! 

Crabs will eat any type of meat, that includes a chicken’s liver and neck. These are both great, super cheap types of bait perfect for crabbing. Liver really adds a scent to the water, while chicken necks are tough and easy to tie up.

Razor Clams 

Just like chicken necks and fish, razor clams are yet another great choice for any recreational crabber. They put a great scent in the water, they’re easy to use, and the crabs love them! 

Turns out that crabs eat razor clams as apart of their regular diet, which is why the bait so popular among recreational crabbers.

It is super easy to secure it to any trap, all you gotta do is save the red mesh bag you buy your oranges in, and fill it with clams. You can tie the bag to the end of your handline, the center of your ring net, once every 6 feet or so on your trotline, and even to your crab pot. 

Here’s a great resource on how to fill and use clam bags. 

Razor Clams Common Questions & Answers: 

Q: Where do you buy clam bags? 

A: Most bait and tackle stores sell them. I found pleanty of stores around me by simply Googling “Clam Bags”. Call a few stores in your area to see if they have some.

If there’s an off-chance that they don’t have them, you can always make your own. Simply buy red netting mesh and hog rings in bulk, cut the netting into 6inch nets, then seal one end with a hog ring. The other end you tie shut with a zip tie or rope, it depends on what type of trap you’re using the bag for. I buy my netting and hog rings from Stackable Crab Traps here in Maryland.

This is also a great chance for you to reuse that red netting that holds your oranges from the supermarket. 

Here’s a video on how to make your own clam bags. 

Q. Should I Crush My Clams? 

It’s an honest question. You’re wondering if crushing the clams will make it easier for the crabs to get to them. When I first started using clam bags, I thought the same thing. 

It wasn’t until I stopped crushing the razor clams I had some luck using them as bait. When left uncrushed, they last longer and catch better.

Squid

Have you ever tried squid sushi? Yuck! Said no crab ever! It’s a more of an expensive bait, but crabs love the stuff. I’ve only used it once, because of its price tag. I did not see a huge difference with squid compared to chicken or razor clams, but it worked none the less. 

I may sound a bit biased, I’ll have to work on that when writing articles. Turns out commercial buyers buy squid by the ton during peak crabbing season, so there must be something to it. 

Most recreational crabbers usually buy one squid, then divide it up between their traps and add chicken and fish to each one. This gives it the squid scent and overflows your bait box. A perfect combination for a great crabbing day.

Quick tip: I personally have not tried this, but some expert crabbers recommend stabbing your squid a few times so that it releases more goo.  This puts more scent in the water, and more crabs in your trap. 

Squid Common Questions and Answers

Q: Where do I buy squid?

A: That’s a great question. I was lucky enough to find some at Walmart, but I understand that it may not always be the option for most of you. 

A great company that ships squid in the USA www.freshseafood.com. They ship overnight through FedEx and have great customer service. They’re based on the west coast, but ship nationwide.

If you live in south Florida, or anywhere else on the east coast, you might want to consider www.baitmasters.com. They also ship squid to every state on the east coast, including Ohio and West Virginia. 

More Baits

Like I said before, crabs will eat ANYTHING. I had some more baits I wanted to mention, but decided not to add them to the top 4 list. Here are the runner-ups: 

1. Hot Dogs – I know from experience that crabs love hot dogs, and why wouldn’t they? They’re meaty and oily, two things crabs love. Best of all, they’re cheap. I recommend using beef hotdogs rather than pork simply because they’re greasier. 
2. Bull Lips – A popular bait here in Maryland, and it works like a charm. I didn’t add it to the list because of how expensive it’s becoming, and the amount of salt you need to prepare it with. 
3. Dog and Cat Food – Weird… but in theory, it would work. I recommend poking a hole in the can to keep the scent fresh and in your trap. If you add a can or two to some fish and chicken, I bet you’d catch a lot of crabs. 

Tip: Smell

Smell is a BIG deal when it comes to bait. Crabs use their sense of smell to find their food, so your bait needs to be smelly! 

Believe it or not, the bottom feeders can be picky when it comes to food. So when I say smelly, I do not mean rancid. Crabs enjoy fresh, slimy meat that will leave a good scent in the water. I hear it all the time, most crabbers consistently have a better catch with fresher bait.

How Can I Keep my Bait Fresh? 

Simple, freeze it! Chicken, Fish, and Squid can last forever in the freezer. I heard on one crabbing forum that someone used a packet of three-year-old chicken breasts he left in the freezer and caught a bushel of crabs.

For razor clams, they don’t last as long. Keep them very cool and they’ll last up to two days. I recommend going crabbing the day you get them. 

I, however, love to buy my bait right before I go crabbing. I say the fresher the better! It has never steered me wrong when catching crabs.