Crabbing with children is a fun way to spend the afternoon and makes for a great family activity.
Make an Easy Crab Setup that any child can use to catch crabs from the dock
Crabbing has been a favorite activity in our house for years as any child over the age of 4 can easily master and enjoy catching crabs while staying dry on the dock. Better still, extra crab setups can be quickly made for unexpected guests allowing everyone to join in the fun.
Our technique is to use a weighted clothespin to hold the bait while we lower the clothespin from the dock into the water. The weight holds the baited clothespin on the sea floor where the crabs are located. Once the crab climbs onto the clothespin to get to the bait, we slowly pull the crab line out. If we pull to fast, the crab falls off. If we pull to slow, the crab jumps off. Once brought to the surface, crabs are placed in a bucket of seawater for us to “ooh” and “aye” over size, color, etc.. At some point, the crabs are safely released only to be caught again later.
We have found that crabbing is most successful on sunny days off a dock that does not have a strong water current. Below is what you will need.
Twine, Clothespin and Weight is all you need for this easy crab setup that will give kids hours of summer fun. |  |
Material List: Twine, a Wooden Clothespin, something to act as a Weight, a Bucket and Bait.
The length of the Twine will depend on how deep the water is and distance from the dock. Be sure to plan for extra “line” so that the child has room to hold the end but not so much that the twine becomes a trip hazard. In our photo, the twine is approximately 7 feet long. The twine can be anything that you have around the house – Green garden twine, etc. In this photo, we used old venetian blind string.
For the Clothespin, we prefer to use a wooden clothespin as we can easily tie the twine and weight to it. The clothespin is a key component as it will be used to hold the bait.
The Weight can be anything. In this photo we used a fishing sinker but we have tied on bolt nuts before. The amount of weight depends on the amount of current as you want the clothespin to sit on the ocean floor and not drift above it in the current. You can certainly use multiple items to give your clothespin the weight needed.
As for Bait, it has been our experience that crabs are attracted by smell. A freshly opened clam works best and is an instant attraction. The same is true for mussels. However, in our case, without clams or mussels, we have instead used leftover chicken wing bones and hotdogs. The chicken bone does not need to be big, but it should have a little leftover meat on it. Similarly, you do not need a whole hotdog but rather just a small slice. Remember, these items are just being held by the clothespin so think accordingly. NEVER EVER USE SPOILED or ROTTEN FOOD and be sure to leave the dock as clean when done.
Last is the Sand Bucket to hold your favorite crabs. It is amazing that some children will prefer the larger crabs while others will prefer the smaller as they are “cute”. Some children will count how many they have in their bucket while others will simply enjoy watching the crabs. We typically will bring more than one sand bucket on our crabbing adventure.
The length of the Twine will depend on how deep the water is and distance from the dock. Be sure to plan for extra “line” so that the child has room to hold the end but not so much that the twine becomes a trip hazard. In our photo, the twine is approximately 7 feet long. The twine can be anything that you have around the house – Green garden twine, etc. In this photo, we used old venetian blind string.
For the Clothespin, we prefer to use a wooden clothespin as we can easily tie the twine and weight to it. The clothespin is a key component as it will be used to hold the bait.
The Weight can be anything. In this photo we used a fishing sinker but we have tied on bolt nuts before. The amount of weight depends on the amount of current as you want the clothespin to sit on the ocean floor and not drift above it in the current. You can certainly use multiple items to give your clothespin the weight needed.
As for Bait, it has been our experience that crabs are attracted by smell. A freshly opened clam works best and is an instant attraction. The same is true for mussels. However, in our case, without clams or mussels, we have instead used leftover chicken wing bones and hotdogs. The chicken bone does not need to be big, but it should have a little leftover meat on it. Similarly, you do not need a whole hotdog but rather just a small slice. Remember, these items are just being held by the clothespin so think accordingly. NEVER EVER USE SPOILED or ROTTEN FOOD and be sure to leave the dock as clean when done.
Last is the Sand Bucket to hold your favorite crabs. It is amazing that some children will prefer the larger crabs while others will prefer the smaller as they are “cute”. Some children will count how many they have in their bucket while others will simply enjoy watching the crabs. We typically will bring more than one sand bucket on our crabbing adventure.
And TaDa – with your crab clothespin contraption, you are now ready to go crabbing!
This fun activity can make for great summertime memories. Years later children that are now young adults will often mention to me “Remember when we went crabbing at your place”. Yes, I do and we still have 6 sets of crabbing “gear” waiting for their children to visit on a sunny summer day.
HELPFUL TIP - HOW TO HOLD A CRAB
One other thing to note is how to hold a crab. According to google, put your thumb and one finger either side of the crab’s shell, just below the base of the pincer legs. When you have a good grip ‘under the armpits’, you can pick the crab up without being pinched. I personally, just prefer to hold them from the back. I think either way should work fine.
 HOLDING CRAB FROM SIDES |  HOLDING CRAB FROM BACK |
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