Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim in CT
how do you get them, chicken wings on a string?
I don't really know where to get them around here, so when I want to make sauce, there's a seafood market in my town that sells them frozen, and the sauce is still great. but I started with live crabs when I was in NC, and the sauce was noticeably better.
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I have only tried frozen blue crab once and the meat was hardly worth eating. That may explain why you found it flavorless regardless of cooking it in sauce for hours.
Most estuarine areas of the sound should have them. Rivers and coves on the CT River from Essex south are hotspots, though I think the males move farther up river late season so haddam may be worth a shot too. Any river or creek near the sound is worth a shot. I have caught or know people who catch them I.Norwalk, Westport, Milford... pretty much all the way to barn island in Stonington.
CT laws are different than down south so check them out before going. When I go with my kids, we will typically drop a couple of drop sided traps off the boat, then set up handlines off the cleats. We use bunker, but chicken necks are excellent if you have a market or grocery that carries them. Ask at the meat counter.
Another favorite way (not as good with younger kids who can't stay up late) is to scape (aka scoop them with a net.) From land you can walk a marsh, creek, or grass bed at night with a bright headlight and a long handled net and scoop them. There is challenge to it, but it is fun. If you have a boat that can go in shallows, you can do the same thing while floating the edges of a creek, marsh, or the outlet of a cove. In the boat we use a handle held rechargeable spotlight.
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