Best Place For Crabin' in DE, What Bait, How to Prepare (Delaware City: live, restaurants)

[rdlr]

For those of you indulging in crabin' ..... where do you go, what bait do you use, what have been your results, and how do you steam/cook them?

We go out to the Leipsic bridge, when we have time to relax, which is not often. We can usually trap or catch a dozen crabs in an hour or so. Chicken necks is our bait of choice (the more rotten the better). Some in our family prefer to just throw a line over the bridge, but we do the crab pots, too. I've heard you never want to crab up there at Delaware City.....fat, fat crabs, but is that because of Salem, New Jersey's you-know-what? You upstaters may know about that. I have a huge canning pot, boil up some water, add a generous portion of Old Bay, and drop the lively crabs in for 8-10 minutes. My first time, I forgot to put the lid on.........disatrous

[Chase_from_DE]

Go to Assateague State Park or along the Chesapeake, use turkey necks, and traps.

[Laural]

Wow that's something hubby and I definitely have to try! Is it the blue crabs your catching?

[Chase_from_DE]

I only crab every so often, most of the discussions here have already been covered on my site so I pull any info I can for you guys here. With the permission of the members of course.

I did add in the turkey neck thing though, some old timers think they work better then chicken necks...

[rdlr]

Originally Posted by Laural

Wow that's something hubby and I definitely have to try! Is it the blue crabs your catching?

Hi, Laural!
Yes, blue crabs. I used to always make my own crab cakes, but haven't in a couple of years due to time constraints........98% crab meat. My recipe came from my mother who always made and quick froze them. She sold them by the dozen to local restaurants. Here's the link to Delaware's blue crab
BLUE CRAB

[Honeycrisp]

Interesting link, Delly. Will have to make crab cakes one of these nites. Found a few recipes - the last 2 are Weight Watchers but Im not sure how many points/calories. Anyway, here they are - can't personally vouch for (yet!) but they sound good
-
This was from the foodnetwork site. Adjust the oil for Core or count pts
=================================
Killer Crab Cakes and Bitter Salad with Sweet Red Pepper Dressing Recipe
courtesy Rachael Ray

1 starchy potato, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
Coarse salt
Handful fresh flat-leaf parsley
Couple sprigs fresh thyme, leaves finely chopped
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 (6-ounce) tubs fresh lump crabmeat, available at fresh seafood counter
7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 roasted red peppers
1 small shallot, chopped
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Black pepper
1 small head escarole, chopped
1 small head radicchio, chopped
1 endive, chopped

Cook potatoes in boiling water 6 to 7 minutes until tender, drain, scatter across a large flat surface to cool and dry, 5 minutes. Smash the garlic with salt to make a paste and add to potatoes along with thyme, parsley, lemon zest and crushed red pepper flakes. Feel through the crab as you add it to the potatoes to check for shells. Mix together to combine and form into 4 (4 to 5-inch) super sized, killer crab cakes.
Heat 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium to medium- high heat. Add the cakes and cook 5 minutes on each side or until deep golden brown.

Combine the roasted red peppers, shallot, sugar, the juice of 1/2 lemon and the red wine vinegar in a food processor. Stream in the remaining 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil and form a dressing. Stop the processor and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Combine the greens in a salad bowl and dress them. Adjust salt and pepper, to your taste. Serve crab cakes on a bed of salad.

Yield: 4 servings
------
Crab Cakes
1 T. Margarine
1/3 c. Chopped onions, fine
1/3 c. Chopped celery
1/3 c. Chopped bell pepper
1 c. Soft bread crumbs
1/2 c. Bisquick
2 t. Worchestershire sauce
1/4 t. Ground black pepper
1/4 t. Salt
2 lg Eggs, slightly beaten
1 14 oz. Crabmeat, chopped

Heat oven to 400°. Generously grease 2 cookies sheets. Melt margarine in skillet; add onions, celery and bell pepper, cook until crisp tender. Mix vegetable mixture and remaining ingredients. Shape mixture into 1 1/2" patties. Place on cookie sheets, bake about 12 minutes, turning once until golden brown.
------
Crab Cakes
1/3 cup fiber one cereal put in the blender and blended to bread crumb consistency (or use whole wheat crackers or bread crumbs if you dont want to use the fiber one)
1/4 cup chopped red and or green pepper
2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dry ground mustard
1 tsp old Bay Seasoning
1/4 cup FF or low fat mayo
2 egg whites
1 pound jumbo lump crab meat
Non-stick cooking spray
Salt & Pepper
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix the fiber one, parsley, mustard, peppers, salt, pepper and old bay.

In another bowl, whisk the mayo and egg whites. Fold in crabmeat.

Combine fiber one mixture with the mayo egg white mixture. Fold in.

Form mixture into 6 patties and place on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes, turning once. Turn on broiler to brown the tops, about 5 more minutes.
------
Crab Cakes -- These are yummy!

Makes 2 dozen @ 1 pt each

1 T. Margarine
1/3 c. Chopped onions, fine
1/3 c. Chopped celery
1/3 c. Chopped bell pepper
1 c. Soft bread crumbs
1/2 c. Bisquick
2 t. Worchestershire sauce
1/4 t. Ground black pepper
1/4 t. Salt
2 lg Eggs, slightly beaten
1 14 oz. Crabmeat, chopped

Heat oven to 400°. Generously grease 2 cookies sheets. Melt margarine in skillet; add onions, celery and bell pepper, cook until crisp tender. Mix vegetable mixture and remaining ingredients. Shape mixture into 1 1/2" patties. Place on cookie sheets, bake about 12 minutes, turning once until golden brown

[CaroleM]

I've been crabbin for a long time.....I'm so old I used eels for bait and trout lines before chicken necks were in. Best crabs are caught in Aug and Sept. I use little water, vinegar, beer, coarse salt and old bay and steam them for 25-30 minutes (time depends on how many crabs are in the pot) Rack goes in the bottom of pot so the crabs are not in the liquid. We have our lines and pots ready to go as soon as the weather gets a little better.

Is the Leipsic Bridge on Rt. 9? We took a ride out there a month ago and looked around and saw a lot of old pileings in the water.

[Laural]

Originally Posted by Delly

Hi, Laural!
Yes, blue crabs. I used to always make my own crab cakes, but haven't in a couple of years due to time constraints........98% crab meat. My recipe came from my mother who always made and quick froze them. She sold them by the dozen to local restaurants. Here's the link to Delaware's blue crab
BLUE CRAB

Delly, this will be a treat for us, you have to pay a premium in a restaurant to get blue crab, and that's if you can find one that has them.

[Laural]

Can you just go crabbing or do you need a license like fishing? Does a lot of people go crabbing?

[rdlr]

I'm probably going to be arrested, but we don't have a fishing license when we trap/catch crabs. And, we've gone to two places, the bridge on Rt. 12 near Leipsic, and the other one you are speaking of, on Rt. 9 near Leipsic. Pleasanton's Seafood, near Garrison's Lake, launch from Leipsic, and that's where they get their crabs, so you know they are fresh. They are local Leipsic people. I don't see a lot of crabbers anymore, because there are not as many locals around anymore.