Harvesting the abundant Blue Crab

I have been chasing Blue Crabs for ten years. It takes financial risk, physical labor, and overall grit. The rewards for me have been a unique connection to the natural world, learning to problem solve on the fly, and laying a seafood business foundation.

The typical tools for a Blue Crab operation are a swift shallow draft vessel, crab pots (traps), a sturdy grab hook, electric pot puller, cull box, bushel baskets, and of course bait. If your missing any of these (or they are broken) you either have a bad day or no day at all.
Crabs are attracted to our pots by scent, therefore you want to get a very oily bait. We typically use a fish called Menhaden aka Pogies, Fatback, or Bunker. These fish are found in mass schools up and down the East Coast of the United States.
Crabs aren't the only creatures that love menhaden. I typically have a fan club like this following me in winter.

These are male Blue Crabs aka "Jimmies" or "#1s". They are typically the largest crabs and are known for their bright blue claws.
These are female crabs aka "sooks" or "#3's". They have bright orange tips on their claws that are fabled to be from these ladies ending up with a bit of lipstick on their "fingers"
Sometimes I only catch a bushel other times I can catch up to 800 pounds. It is very difficult to predict but we are always repositioning and rebaiting to improve our catch. It is much like cryptocurrency investing where you have to constantly hedge your bets. Also, as with investing, sometimes it is out of your control.
At the end of the day nothing beats setting some traps out and guessing which ones will do the best!