I love fishing, and today I will set out to a beach near here at high tide to try my luck – would be fun to catch a few whiting…
Yesterday I caught a crab. I know it is a bit odd for someone of my vintage to be doing these things, but I am fortunate that I can do it easily. Someone on Facebook has asked me for lessons. My procedure sort of goes like this. I have a crab pot which lives in my back yard when not in the water, and I use a can of cat or dog food with fish as bait, which I insert into a mesh “bag” which I drop into the bottom of the pot.
Then I walk for about 2 minutes to the lake adjacent to my house, walk down a little rocky bank wearing my purple rubber shoes, and I tie the rope to the railings which are attached to some contraption which allows water to enter from the river. Then, I throw the pot out into the water as far as I can!
Then back home. Yesterday, after the pot had been in for about 5 hours I went back to check, and there inside the pot was an angry male crab. If I had to get it out of the pot there on the edge of the lake it would have presented some challenges, but my procedure is to undo the rope and walk home with the pot with crab inside.
On arriving home I (a) take a photo (b) get my big bucket, tongs, and ice and (c) undo the pot and push and prod until the crab falls into the ice bucket, where the ice cools the crab and sends it to sleep. Then I put it in the freezer where it dies peacefully.
The Mud Crab – not his BIG claws!
The next task is to thaw it out and cook it. Crab for Christmas Lunch!!!
How to cook a Mud Crab? – read here
