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October 12, 2006 - Finer points of crabbingThe Sutfolk Times - October 12, 2006 • 9A Suffolk 1Imes photos by Paul and Baroara Sloutenburgn Left: A few of these extra -big crabs were picked up In our local waters this year. Its shell has started to acquire marine growth, telling us that this Is an old - timer and one that won't shed Its shell anymore. Its end Is not too far off. Right: A tray of cooked blue crabs put outside to cool. The Crest time to eat crabs Is just as they come out of the pot, still warm. We had enough crab meat to make crab cakes, crab salad and, of course, a feast of crabs with a newspaper tablecloth, a pair of nutcrackers for the claws and a blunt knife to help get the meat out. F iner points of crabbing THE STAGE WAS SET for One Of the best crabbing nights of the year: low tide, no wind and an old Boston Whaler that didn't mind if it got mud slopped on it by two crabbers, one old and one young. What do you need to make it the most perfect crabbing night of the year? I'll tell youl First and foremost you'll need two long - handled crab nets. That's just in case during one of those mad frenzies one is broken while going after that "big one." The next piece of equipment is a deep container of some sort, some- thing like a garbage pail. Crabs don't like being caught and will try to climb out, but if the container is deep enough their efforts will all be in vain. That doesn't mean every crab is safely tucked away in our deep container. No, there are a few that miss the bucket and spend the rest of the night crawling around the bottom of the boat, claws wide open, ready to strike at any soft, warm - blooded leg or foot. Seeing our crabbing is going to be at night, we need some sort of illumi- nation. Years back we would use gas lights I can still remember how those gas lights hissed as they burned and how every once in a while you'd have to pump them up, otherwise they'd get dimmer and dimmer. Today we use a 12 -volt light that is hand held. It works fairly well but sometimes it's a bit of a juggling act when try- ing to scoop up a crab with one hand and hold the light with the other. Here's how we do it. The 84- year -old steers the boat, ON taking signals from the young crabber, who relays directions by shaking the hand -held light in the direc- tion he wants to go. This works pretty well, except occasionally when a cr ab is sighted and scooped up and doesn't want to let go of the crab net or has gotten itself entangled in the mesh of the net. Then the young crabber turns around and uses the light to see how to untangle the now very toad crab. This operation blinds the helmsman and for a short time the boat goes on its own way without any direction. This can lead to running aground or, in some cases, heading back to where we'd just come from. During the night things get a bit slipshod and my once-clean little Bos- ton Whaler takes on the appearance of a mudslide, with assorted types of seaweed that tried to get a foothold in the black slimy mud. The young crabber, who stands in the bow, looks like a Viking warrior with his deadly spear (crab net) in one hand and a container of lightning in the other (12- volt light). He often calls back to the old crabber and tells him what he sees in the water ahead. "Look. There's a small striper," as he points his light in the direction of the fish. "There's a mantis shrimp at the entrance of its hole in the mud." "Lots of small snappers seem to be resting on the bottom." "There's a new one for me. Looks like a mu let," and "Look over there. There's a garfish (what we call a bill eel) swimming along the top of the water." During our crabbing adventure oc- casionally we see fish jumping out of the water like something is chasing them. The funny part of this fish - jumping tale is when a mullet actu- ally jumps into the boat without our even knowing itl Mullets feed on the creek's muddy bottom. I've always Focus NATURE by Paul Stoutenburgh Left: While crabbing we often see these light -green garfish lying just below the surface of the water waiting for some unsuspecting killifish to pass by. Notice the needle -like tooth that make It such an efficient predator. Right: The claw of this cooked blue -claw crab gives you some Idea of the size of some of the crabs showing up In our creeks this sea- son. A crab of this size could Inflict real damage to you If you're not careful In handling It. considered mullet as a southern fish. Occasionally I see our young crab- ber signal stop and he looks into his net. There's something big in there. It's impossible to tell what it is To be sure, the young crabber carefully reaches in and picks up a large crab by its hind paddlers. When he does so he can see a smaller crab it was carrying. The big blue -claw is then dumped into the bucket and the smaller crab it's holding is set aside. The reason is it's a soft crab. Seems this soft state of a crab is the time for mating and a time to grow. Each time a crab sheds its exoskeleton (shell) it grows a bit larger. This has been a good year for crabs here on the North Fork. We got a nice mess and brought them home to Bar- bara, who had a pot of boiling water waiting for them. They were promptly dumped into the kitchen sink and washed off with the sprayer. What a mass of snapping claws as we lifted them up with long tongs over into the boiling water. Once I picked one up and it had its claws clamped on anoth- er and that one had a death hold on a third. When I lifted my first crab up, I had a string of three crabs ready to be dropped into the bubbling water. After they were cooked and ready to be taken out, the crabs were again dumped into the sink, where they were sprayed to cool them down. We then lined them up on a tray and put them outside to cool; that is, all but one that Barbara confiscated and im- mediately proceeded to eat. She remembers years ago, after a night of crabbing at her grandfather's cottage they all sat right down at a table spread with newspapers and ate crabs Nutcrackers appeared along with an array of kitchen tools that made getting the meat out much eas- ier. She also remembers they always had a piece of bread with mayonnaise to go along with the crabs Our feast would have to wait until tomorrow. It was 10:30 pm. and the old crabber was ready for bed. The Suffolk Times • October 12, 2006 finer points oir craDDin HE STAGE wAs sET for one of the best crabbing nights of the year: low tide, no wind and an old Boston Whaler that didn't mind if it got mud slopped on it by two crabbers, one old and one young. What do you need to make it the most perfect crabbing night of the year? I'll tell you! First and foremost you'll need two long - handled crab nets. That's just in case during one of those mad frenzies one is broken while going after that "big'one." The next piece of equipment is a deep container of some sort, some- thing like a garbage pail. Crabs don't like being caught and will try to climb out; but if the container is deep enough their efforts will all be in vain. That doesn't mean every crab is safely tucked away in our deep container. No, there are a few that miss the bucket and spend the rest -of the night crawling around the bottom of the boat, claws wide open, ready to strike at any soft, warm- blooded leg or foot. Seeing our crabbing is going to be at night, we need some sort of illumi- nation. Years back we would use gas lights. I can still remember how those gas lights hissed as they burned and how every once in a while you'd have o pump them up, otherwise they'd ;et dimmer and dimmer. Today we ise a 12 -volt light that is hand held. t works fairly well but sometimes is a bit of a juggling act when try- ng to scoop up a crab with one hand and hold the light with the Here's how we do it. The 84 -yeaf -old steers the boat, ON taking signals from the young crabber, who relays directions by shaking the hand -held light in the direc- tion he wants to go. This works pretty well, except occasionally when a cr ab is sighted and scooped up and doesn't want to let go of the crab net or has gotten itself entangled in the mesh of the net. Then the young crabber turns around and uses the light to see how to untangle the now very mad crab. This operation blinds the helmsman and for a short time the boat goes on its own way without any direction. This can lead to running aground or, in some cases, heading back to where we'd just come from. During the night things get a bit slipshod and my once -clean little Bos- ton Whaler takes on the appearance of a mudslide, with assorted types of seaweed that tried to get a foothold in the black slimy mud. The young crabber, who stands in the bow, looks like a Viking warrior with his deadly spear (crab net) in one hand and a container of lightning in the other (12- volt light). He often calls back to the old crabber and tells him what he sees in the water ahead. "Look. There's a small striper," as he points his light in the direction of the fish. "There's a mantis shrimp 'at the entrance of its hole in the mud." "Lots of small snappers seem to be resting on the bottom." "There's a new one forme. Looks like a mullet," and "Look over there. There's a garfish (what we call a bill eel) swimming along the top of the water." During our crabbing adventure oc- casionally we see fish jumping out of the water like something is chasing them. The funny part of this fish - jumping tale is when a mullet actu- ally jumps into the boat without our even knowing it! Mullets feed on the creek's muddy bottom. I've always FOCUS NATURE by Paul Stoutenburgh Left: While crabbing we often see these light -green garfish lying just below the surface of the water waiting for some unsuspecting killifish to pass by. Notice the needle -like teeth that make it such an efficient predator. Right: The claw of this cooked blue -claw crab gives you some idea of the size of some of the crabs showing up in our creeks this sea- son. A crab of this size could inflict real damage to you if you're not careful in handling it. �h�ln�„gym � �N '.: I��IIU ". ,�N�l �l �l Ilr �WUru »x�ia•,hxlw�wu�wu+uwnl+wdumd +ww �, I � ��1� � ( op I / AAA yI N I IIµN i i N I I� I IIG� Ill l{{ I NN IW� I III �� w o lh III Vlh NNIIIVIIN'pNNM4A IO I ill Ih I IN�IIA4P w, V", '� I R IIN dNll I�l'M�I II �Illl Nl Left: While crabbing we often see these light -green garfish lying just below the surface of the water waiting for some unsuspecting killifish to pass by. Notice the needle -like teeth that make it such an efficient predator. Right: The claw of this cooked blue -claw crab gives you some idea of the size of some of the crabs showing up in our creeks this sea- son. A crab of this size could inflict real damage to you if you're not careful in handling it. rt C1 N rr r S C (D n fi 2) v D 3 N O a � D c '+ O ry S O CD W �. 0 S O O h N p �. CD c CD D w coo x r+ 6 ~'Sa W r+ M a 9 M °' 0 rN � N 0 L ^. O rt (1) N CD n — v D 3 0. 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Each time a crab sheds its exoskeleton (shell) it grows a bit larger. This has been a good year for crabs here on the North Fork. We got a nice mess and brought them home to Bar- bara, who had a pot of boiling water waiting for them. They were promptly dumped into the kitchen sink and washed off with the sprayer. What a mass of snapping claws as we lifted them up with long tongs over into the boiling water. Once I picked one up and it had its claws clamped on anoth er and that one had a death hold on a third. When I lifted my first crab up, I had a string of three crabs ready to be dropped into the bubbling water. After they were cooked and ready to be taken out, the crabs were again dumped into the sink, where they were sprayed to cool them down. We then lined them up on a tray and put them outside to cool; that is, all but one that Barbara confiscated and im- mediately proceeded to eat. She remembers years ago, after a night of crabbing at her grandfather's cottage they all sat right down at a table spread with newspapers and ate crabs. Nutcrackers appeared along with an array of kitchen tools that made getting the meat out much eas- ier. She also remembers they always had a piece of bread with mayonnaise to go along with the crabs. Our feast would have to wait until tomorrow. It was 10:30 p.m. and the old crabber was readv for bed.