This past weekend my son-in-law, Thomas Sailor, joined me on a crabbing trip.
We launched at the Bayou Blue boat launch west of Larose. Making the 10-minute boat ride to the Pointe-Aux-Chenes management area, Thomas cut the chicken leg quarters we were using for bait.
He baited the 36 dropnets and we thought we were going to catch a lot of crabs.
When we reached the main opening past the first dam, we began setting out the dropnets approximately 40 to 50 yards apart. Then we went back to the first net and began raising them.
“I’m excited, we have always caught our limit of crabs at Pointe-Aux-Chenes,” I told Thomas.
At the end of our first run we had caught 12 crabs, all big ones.
“It’s going to be a long afternoon.” Thomas said.
Sure enough, we ran the nets six times to catch four dozen.
The Pointe-Aux-Chenes management area allows only 12 dozen to be caught per boat. Glad to have four dozen we headed home for our first crab boil of the spring.
Our method of boiling is:
•One box of salt, 1/3 of a 16 ounce jar of cayenne red pepper
•Five pounds of potatoes
•Cut-up sausage, and bring to a boil
•Then add the crabs
Let the water return to a boil and begin timing for nine minutes. Shut the burner off and cool the side of the pot with a water hose to slow the cooking process.
When you remove the crabs remember to keep them upside down because this keeps the seasoned water in the shell.
After 25 minutes, they are ready to eat.
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