Where to Catch Blue Crabs in Louisiana (The Complete Guide)
Louisiana, the leading exporter of Blue Crabs in the United States, has plenty to offer when it comes to crabbing spots. To help you with your next crabbing trip, I put together this guide. I hand-picked some of the best spots to set crab traps in the state, included tips and tricks from Lousiana locals, and made sure you knew what to expect with each spot. Enjoy!
Lousiana Crabbing Spots Map
I color-coded the spots on this list to give you an idea of what each spot has to offer.
- Public piers which are perfect for crabbing are labeled with a blue pinpoint.
- Bridges you can throw a collapsible trap off of are labeled with a yellow pinpoint.
- Boat Landings to go crabbing by boat are labled with a green pinpoint.
- Shoreline crabbing spots are labeled with a red pinpoint.
The spot you end up choosing depends on how you want to go crabbing. There are several methods to catch a blue crab, three of the most popular being hand lines, collapsible traps, and crab pots.
If you want to go crabbing with a hand line or ring net, pick a red pinpoint. If you want to lower ring nets or other collapsible traps to go crabbing, pick a blue or yellow spot. If you want to set a crab pot and come back later, I recommend you go crabbing by boat at one of the green pinpoint locations.
Disclaimer: It’s your responsibility to be up to date on Louisiana’s crabbing rules and regulations. Click here to read Louisiana Crabbing Regulations.
Louisiana Crabbing Charters
Before you decide to go through the process of finding a crabbing spot, purchasing crabbing gear, and going down the rabbit hole that is recreational crabbing, you may want to consider a crabbing charter. A crabbing charter is a private crabbing trip with an expert captain. He or she will take you on the water with their boat to set crab traps and go fishing. You’ll spend the day on the water and learn a thing or two, and you get to keep whatever fish or crabs you catch!
I highly recommend this experience to anyone new to crabbing. There is a huge learning curve when it comes to figuring out crabbing techniques, buying the right gear, the right bait, finding the best time to go crabbing, and the list goes on. With a charter, however, you’ll get to have an expert at your side to answer any questions as you learn how to go crabbing. They’ll provide all the gear necessary, a license, and everything else you will need for this trip.
I don’t say this to overwhelm you, but just to introduce the idea of a charter boat. I found a few captains who are beginner-friendly and have years of experience when it comes to catching blue crabs.
Pelican State Fishing Charters, Barataria, LA
Captain David Terese is a fishing veteran with over 40 years of fishing in the South Louisiana Marsh systems. He captains a 23′ saltwater fishing boat that’s equipped with GPS, a live-well for the fish you catch, and plenty more.
I recommend this captain because of his overwhelmingly positive reviews from his passengers. He’s known for being a friendly, knowledgeable captain who is great with children. This is definitely a contender for a family-friendly experience of a crabbing trip.
He’ll provide all the items needed to go crabbing and fishing, and you get to keep what you catch! He fillets the fish so you can eat what you’ve caught that night! There’s nothing better than fresh seafood.
Click here to see Captain Terese’s Availability on FishingBooker.com.
Best Crabbing Piers
It’s difficult to list the best piers to go crabbing from in Louisiana. It’s not because the state is lacking decent piers, but rather every other hurricane that hits poor Louisiana closes them down! For this list, I found a few of the most hurricane-resilient, well-kept piers to set traps from.
The piers on this list are situated a bit higher off the water, so it’s best to use collapsible traps with longer lines rather than hand lines and dip nets. I wouldn’t use a crab pot at these spots unless you plan on babysitting it. I wouldn’t want someone stealing your crab pot.
Bonnabel Boat Launch Pier
I wanted to pick a spot for those in New Orleans who want to avoid driving south into The Bayou. Boannabel Boat Launch, located along the southern shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain, has a fishing pier that would be perfect for ring nets and collapsible traps.
Besides that, the boat launch has walking paths, picnic tables, and plenty of parking. There are public porta-potties as restrooms and a small playground.
What’s nice about this spot is that it’s free to crab from and it’s open 24 hours. You’ll have to compete with the anglers for a spot and listen to people in the dog park on the playground. All in all, it’s a nice spot to go crabbing if you don’t mind a busier spot. Otherwise, you’ll need to drive into the Bayou for some peace and quiet.
Click here to see this spot on Google Maps
Grand Isle St Park Fishing Pier
This next spot is a few hours south of New Orleans, and one of the furthest spots in the State from the Mainland. If you plan on finding some peace and quiet, Grand Isle St Park Fishing Pier will give you just that.
This spot includes a small fishing pier that stretches out past the surf into the Gulf of Mexico. This pier is situated pretty high above the water, so you’ll need longer lines attached to your collapsible traps as well as plenty of weight. The stronger current you’ll find here, compared to the Bayou, is nothing to ignore.
The park has plenty of parking, trash bins, and public restrooms.
Click here to see this spot on Google Maps.
Walter Umphrey State Park Pier
This last spot is actually in Texas. However, it’s on the Lousiana/Texas border so I’ll let it slide. The park has an excellent fishing pier alongside Sabine Lake, which is just filled with blue crabs.
The park comes with everything you expect to find at a well-kept park. Public restrooms, pavilions, and walking trails are plentiful.
The pier stretches 500 ft into the water, and is perfect for collapsible traps. Like the other piers on this list, bring some extra line and weight to accomidate for the tall pier and current.
Click here to see this spot on Google Maps
Best Shoreline Crabbing Spots
To get the classic crabbing experience, I recommend that you pick a shoreline crabbing spot. These usually consist of riverbanks, shorelines, or any piece of land beside crab-filled water. There, you’ll set either ring nets or hand lines and catch crabs the old fashion way (without crab pots). This way of crabbing is for more of the experience than a big haul. So, grab your friends and family and head to one of these spots. Bring a few chairs, snacks, bug spray, and sunscreen. It will be a day to remember down in Cajun Country.
Sabine National Wildlife Refugee
As long as you watch your step for gators, you’ll be sure to have a good crabbing trip at Sabine National Wildlife Refugee. In my opinion, there’s no better spot to take the family for a day of crabbing than this spot. This is a wildlife refugee, so commercial crabbers cannot set traps here. You’ll be sure to catch some real monsters.
This is a wildlife refugee which means that at the time of my writing this article, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries requires you to have a basic fishing license and a Wild Louisiana Spot (Click here to read more on that) if using collapsible traps or crab pots. If you’re using plain old hand lines or ring nets, which I recommend, you will not need a license to go crabbing here.
Three of the best shoreline crabbing spots in the Refugee are along Route 27. In order of Southernmost to Northernmost, you have West Cove Recreation Area, Blue Crab Recreation Area, Hog Island Gully Recreation Area North, and Northline Recreation Area. Each spot has plenty of shoreline spots to set handlines, while the Blue Crab and Hog Island spots have small piers.
West Cove Recreation Area doubles as the start of the Wetland Walkway, so there will be plenty of parking spots for those who are going hiking instead of crabbing. The other three locations have parking spots as well, however, the people parking there will be crabbing.
Both West Cove Recreation and Northline Recreation Areas have suspended shoreline access instead of piers. During low tide, these spots can be tricky with handlines, so you may have to stick to exclusively ring nets. This is assuming you can’t find a spot that’s a bit lower to the water, which I’m sure you can on less-crowded days.
For those wondering, out of the four spots West Cove Recreation Area is the only one with public restrooms.
If you plan on going crabbing here, I recommend you read or print The Southwest Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex Brochure. It’s full of helpful information for your crabbing trip.
Island Rd Fishing Piers & Shoreline
Island Rd is a 2.5 mile stretch of highway that connects Pointe-aux-Chenes and Isle de Jean Charles. For years, this stretch of road was a local secret of a crabbing spot. Residents would park their cars alongside the narrow road and set a few hand lines. Just last year, in November 2020, the state built 3 million dollars worth of fishing piers specifically built to be perfect for crabbing as well as fishing. You can read more about the project in this Louisiana Weekend article.
From what information I can find about the spot, there are no public restrooms. However, there are public waste bins, enough parking to accommodate 55 vehicles, and 10 piers in total. Even on busy days, there is plenty of room to set collapsible traps or a few chicken-neck lines from shore.
One thing I would keep in mind about this place is the tides. A storm surge or high tide can put this road underwater! Being from Maryland, the idea of a road with high water on both sides is a bit unsettling. I’m sure it’s nothing you Louisana folk can’t handle! Just by Googling this road, I’ve found several images of it flooded. So, be sure to check the weather and tide chart before crabbing here.
Rockefeller Wildlife Refugee Pier & Shoreline
Just west of Sabine NWR lies Rockefeller Wildlife Refugee, a much smaller and lesser-known spot along the Louisiana Coast. Here, you’ll find miles of shoreline and plenty of piers to go crabbing from.
The wildlife refugee has a public 600-foot-long pier at the end of Price Lake Rd, LA. If you turn off of Grand Chenier Hwy, it’s 1.86 miles down the stretch of Price Lake Rd where the road splits. See the map above.
This is the perfect pier to set a few ring nets. It’s also low enough to the water to use hand lines! It’s situated very close to the parking area, which makes for a convenient crabbing trip. Another factor is that there are porta-potties beside the pier. These are lifesavers when it comes to family crabbing trips. All you need to worry about now is catching blue crabs and alligators!
Another 1.5 miles south of this pier are even more water-level docks and plenty of parking. They’re a bit lower to the water than the first pier, so hand lines are a must. This spot is also equipped with porta-potties.
Where to go crabbing by boat
Louisana is littered with spots to go crabbing. With a boat, you find yourself with even more opportunities to catch blue crabs! The only trade-off is you need to keep an eye out for alligators. Simple enough!
To avoid headache-inducing DNR regulations, I recommend you actively crab with ring nets and hand lines instead of crab pots. A big practice here in Maryland, where I’m from, is to set a few ring nets hooked to a weighed sinking line and a buoy. You can set them however far apart and go from trap to trap, pulling up seemingly endless blue crabs. Another option is to pull up to an island or shoreline and set some hand lines. The state limit is 12 dozen crabs per person, at the time of me writing this article, so bring some friends and go crazy!
I recommend seriously considering the spots around wildlife refugees, as commercial crabbing is illegal there. It’s free reign for recreational crabbers like yourself. Click here to find a list of all Wildlife Management Areas in Lousiana.
Without further ado, let’s go over some of the best-kept boat ramps in LA.
Disclaimer: It’s your responsibility to be up to date with Louisiana boating rules and regulations. Click here to read Louisiana Boating Regulations.
West Cove Boat Ramp
I feel as though I’ve put a bit too much emphasis on Sabine National Wildlife Refugee in this article, but I’m going even further with this boat ramp. West Cove Boat Ramp has everything you need to go crabbing by boat in Calcasieu Lake and the surrounding bayous.
The site is equipped with two boat ramps, public restrooms, and plenty of parking for trucks and trailers. The boat ramp is split, with the north end having access to Calcasieu Lake to the East and the south end having access to the Bayous to the West.
This spot is free to launch and gives plenty of opportunities to go crabbing. It’s advised that you bring a GPS, especially if you plan on crabbing in the bayou to the West.
Click here to see this spot on Google Maps.
Declambre Boat Launch
As one of the largest boat ramps on this list, Delcambre Boat Launch is a popular spot to launch for those headed to Vermillion Bay and is surrounding bayous.
The place is equipped with plenty of parking, dumpsters, porta-potties, and four separate back-in ramps. There’s a small pier at the south end of the property if you decide to crab from there instead, just keep in mind there’s a small fee to use their pier.
The site also includes a 7500 square foot pavilion where fish and shrimp boats can sell their catch. You will also find a small farmers’ market where local growers sell their crops.
Click here to see this spot on Google Maps.
Serigne Boat Launch
For those closer to New Orleans, Serigne Boat Launch is a family-owed boat ramp with plenty of parking for your truck and trailer. They have a small store that sells live bait every day of the week except for Sunday.
The site includes two back-in ramps to the bayou that feeds into the Black Bay and its connecting estuaries. There are fuel pumps to fill your boat’s diesel or gas tanks, as well as public restrooms.
This is an excellent spot to stock up on fuel, snacks, and bait for a great day on the water. You’ll be sure to find everything you need as well as a few friendly faces to wish you good luck.
Click here to see this spot on Google Maps.
