Scent: The Key To Successful Crabbing! 6

One of the greatest things about living near coastal waters is enjoying the world-renowned delicacy that is dungeness crab. However, the tasty crustacean is highly sought-after and those anglers that fish the best bait are, more often than not, the ones who will be enjoying a crab dinner!

Successful crabbing begins with fishing the best available bait in the correct combination.

With any type of bait fishing, establishing a long-lasting scent trail quickly and dependably is a key to success. The bait’s natural lipids, also known as “fats” or “oils” is the most significant element to forming a scent trail as water cannot mix with any type of oil. This resistance to mixing -and therefore diluting- makes oily baits the most desirable and effective for most if not all types of fishing.

Next time you watch The Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch”, take a close look at what the professionals bait their pots with: A one-two punch of “broadcast” and “hanging” baits.

The Bering Sea crab fishermen use a combination of ground, frozen herring which quickly spreads a scent (the “broadcast” component) and a whole cod which gives the crab something to eat (the “hanging” component). The “broadcast” portion rings the dinner bell making your gear easier for the crabs to find. The “hanging” portion of the bait keeps the crab in our pots longer. Make no mistake, when there is no bait or scent, crabs will find a way out of your pots!

Lurking in the deepest part of most fishermen’s freezers is undoubtedly some old bait herring, sardines or even salmon eggs which is a bit on the freezer burnt side and no longer suitable for use as effective fishing bait.

Pro Cure to the rescue! The oils and semi-solids in Pro Cure Crab & Shrimp Attractant can replace most if not all of what the freezer removed and then some! The trick to making an effective, long-lasting scent trail from old bait is maximizing it’s surface area… which is a fancy way of saying that we’re grinding it up! Grinding the bait serves the dual purpose of getting the oils from within the frozen bait out to the surface and giving the Pro Cure Crab & Shrimp Attractant something porous to soak in to.

Get an old hand crank grinder or check out garage sales for an electric food processor and set up your bait “disassembly” station.

We’re turning our bait into a fine grind and adding Pro Cure Crab & Shrimp Attractant to the mix, so we have to use something that will keep the mixture from washing away too quickly…

Commercial crabbing bait cups are closed at the bottom and have a vented lid. This configuration allows a controlled release of your broadcast bait and will not spill in your boat before deployment!

Grind your “freezer fodder” into the bait jugs, filling them half to 3/4 full of the ground bait. You want to leave space in the bait jug to allow water to mix within the cup and slowly release the scent trail.

By grinding herring, sardines or even unwanted salmon eggs, you bring fresh oils to the surface providing the best scent trail possible!

After the grinding you can add Pro Cure Crab & Shrimp Attractant immediately to the jug, or wait until you are ready to drop the pot in your location of choice!

Pro Cure Crab & Shrimp Attractant absorbs into the frozen, ground bait producing a very effective, long-lasting scent trail that will keep bringing crab to your gear long after other’s baits have washed out!

The crab bait “one-two punch” is Pro Cure Crab & Shrimp Attractant soaked ground bait and a “hanging bait” of fish scraps or chicken parts which allow the crab a little something to grind on while they wait for you to pull the pot!

The “one-two punch” of a hanging bait (in this case a salmon head in a bait bag) and a bait cup containing Pro Cure Crab & Shrimp Attractant soaked ground bait is the best way there is to ensure that you’ll never pull a “zero” pot again!

Here’s the “after” shot of the baited Stearns nesting crab pot above after a several hour soak in a very heavily fished crabbing area in Puget Sound.

Seven keeper male dungeness crab greet us as we open this pot! Pro Cure Crab & Shrimp Attractant gives you the effective scent trail you need to keep crab coming to your gear… and then to your dinner table!

Taking the extra effort to prepare your bait a few minutes ahead of your crabbing trip is well worth it! When you consider the time and cost of simply running your boat out to the crab grounds, the cost of bait is small potatoes and the wrong place to try and save a buck. If you try a Pro Cure Crab & Shrimp Attractant spiked bait mixture on your next crabbing trip, I’m willing to guess that you’ll have the same results I’ve enjoyed and several crab dinners that your friends and family will enjoy even more!

Tom Nelson

710  ESPN Seattle

www.TheOutdoorline.com