Shad vs. Chicken

Salmon Stryker · 06-20-2002, 06:29 AM

A buddy of mine went crabbing at Yaquina Monday and Tuesday. He got 24 keepers in 2 days....19 on Shad, in about 4 total hours of crabbing for the 2 days. He dropped a pot of chicken and pot of shad right next to eachother and the shad pot caught 16 crab 5 keepers. The chicken pot caught 6 crab no keepers.
He had his wife with him so he used 6 pots.
He always kept 3 baited with chicken.
I thought this was interesting. Next time I go shad fishing I think I'll keep them!!! [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img]

Pilar · 06-20-2002, 08:48 AM

Salmon Stryker .. fresh bloody fish works best in our coastal bays and the ocean. In Hood's canal they use cockle clams and they work good there.

Shad is soft and gets used up fast. Rockfish backs and heads is better as they are much tougher. Halibut and Tuna carcs are good. Some say Tuna carc is the best. I have to agree.

Off Tillamook last summer ... 17 keepers in one pot ... all bigger than the gage .. no shorts and all for one tuna head.

Barnacle Bill the crab likes tuna.

seasquid · 06-20-2002, 09:26 AM

No question Pilar is correct. I don't care what anybody says about chicken, mink, turkey, etc...fish is the way to go!

Pilar, have you ever crabbed in the bay with tuna? My experience has been, seals and sea lions don't touch the Albacore -- the few times I have crabbed with rings, in Alsea or Netarts, the salmon is gone in seconds, but the tuna is left alone. Maybe not a natural food for those pinnipeds -- that's my guess anyway.

ss

Scaup · 06-20-2002, 01:36 PM

I also agree that fish outperform all other baits.

I personally think salmon heads and tails work the best. My belief is unscientific at best, but it's been my experience that they out crab all other fish baits, although I haven't tried fresh tuna. I have also tried tuna in a can, dog food, cat food, chicken, turkey, roadkill, and some of the other recommendations, but salmon heads always seem to get the most crabs.

In my experience they always outperform rockfish, although it doesn't last as long. I think it's the oilyness of the meat that attracts the crabs. If you're actively working your traps, I think salmon is the way to go. If your going to leave them down for a long period of time you might want to try something else. The main problem I've had with salmon heads is that they also attract seals.

I keep and freeze all my salmon heads, tails, and fins for use as crabbait. The advantage of the tails and fins are they don't seem to attract the seals as much, but they still attract the crabs. It doesn't make the wife too happy to have a freezer full of fish heads, but I think it makes the best crab bait.

You can also buy salmon heads at Safeway on occasion. It's often cheaper than the crab bait sold by the bait store on the coast and works better.

[ 06-20-2002, 02:37 PM: Message edited by: Scaup ]

Pilar · 06-20-2002, 01:41 PM

SeaSquid, yes I use Tuna anywhere I fish when I can get the carcs. It is very oily and bloody. You can barely pull the traps because they get filled up clear full of brine spiders.

Halibut is great as well.

.357 is working on the seals :grin:

corrirod · 06-20-2002, 03:28 PM

I haven't tried tuna but my favorites are shad and salmon carcasses. I talked to a commercial crabber out of Garibaldi a few weeks ago and shad is his preferred bait.

I crabbed out of Newport last Sat. and had 3 pots out for 4 hours. First trap full of crab-9 keepers, second pot full of large crab but almost all females-1 keeper, 3rd trap full of crab-7 keepers.

Nice thing about shad is that after they have been frozen you can cut them in half, or quarters, to make them fit in the bait boxes.

Richter · 06-23-2002, 08:40 AM

At least for me, I've had my best luck with Tuna. Shad is a close 2nd, Salmon Heads 3rd, chicken 4th.

However, last year there was one day when we were crabbing in in Willapa Bay near Tokeland that Chicken outfished everything hands down. Don't figure.

Rich

Bait O' Eggs · 06-23-2002, 05:57 PM

I think clams will out crab most anything. I like to make a mesh bag out of chicken wire and fill it with whole cockles in the shell. Everytime you pull the pot, bust a couple more clams with a hammer and you got quick fresh bait on the reset.

I think tuna makes the best fish crab bait and will out crab my shad and salmon. Shad and salmon are a close second behind the tuna for fish.

Those mentioned get my best bait seal of approval.

Timber · 06-23-2002, 07:53 PM

Duck without a doubt.

Salmonator · 06-23-2002, 09:54 PM

BOE, where do you buy your salmon carcasses?? :tongue:

sorry couldn't resist!

Pilar · 06-24-2002, 06:12 AM

Duck? No way! Tell me more ......

Pitch Pocket · 06-24-2002, 06:55 AM

I think if the crab are there and you are pulling pots around slack tide, most any bait will get them. I've used shad, salmon, sturgeon, rockfish, smelt, sardines, herring, clams and they all caught crabs. The fresher the better. Once I found some frozen mackerel in a bait freezer in Hammond. That has to be one of the oiliest and stinkiest baits around. We had over 120 male crabs, 6 pots, 2 pulls. Where do you catch mackerel?

Threemuch · 06-24-2002, 07:31 AM

SJP brings a great point. Fresher is better. Most crabbers think, stinky rotten fish is better than fresh, and they are wrong. Crabs love fresh bait.