spider crabs?

[Nuoc Mam]

Any around at the local OC piers?

Thanks.

[jaggerbub]

Saw a guy catch a huge one at Balboa pier a couple weeks ago. The biggest I've ever seen get pulled up. The shell was about the size of a bowling ball. He tossed it back over not knowing what it was. He was using salmon steaks for bait.

[DockRat]

Kept a huge once on a dive. Had to rip the legs off to fit it in my dive bag. The big legs had little meat in them, kinda stringy. Tasted terrible. Never going to keep another one.
DR

[Nuoc Mam]

Thanks for the reply.

I would have put the salmon steak meat on the grilled instead of in the crab net hahaha
DR - That's weird, all the spider crabs that I've gotten and kept and eat, the body meat tasted super sweet. I'm not a fan of the legs though, too much work but will occasionally crack them to get the meat =0)

[DockRat]

Thanks for the reply.

I would have put the salmon steak meat on the grilled instead of in the crab net hahaha
DR - That's weird, all the spider crabs that I've gotten and kept and eat, the body meat tasted super sweet. I'm not a fan of the legs though, too much work but will occasionally crack them to get the meat =0)

Never tried the body meat, it was back in the early 80's when I tried it.

[smokehound]

It's the males you want. Females have little meat, especially during the spawn.

Nonetheless, they aren't worth the effort IMO. I actually prefer the purple swimmer crabs much more, they are in the same genus as the blue crab, and taste identical. People often dump them as Bycatch, despite the large amount of meat.

Rock crabs are even better..