Sand Crabs and the Pot

Graeme Lund · 11 July 2026

Less glamorous than a fish and considerably better eating than most of them.

Where to Set

Sandy bottom, moving water, and away from the main boat channel unless you want your float cut. The edges of the deeper holes in the passage are the obvious ground.

Set on the change and leave them long enough to work. Pulling pots every twenty minutes catches nothing except your own impatience.

Marking Them Properly

Pots must be tagged and floated correctly, and the requirements are specific about what goes on the tag. Get this right or the pot is legally somebody else's problem and practically nobody's.

Bright floats. Two if the current is strong. Write the tag in something that survives being wet, which rules out most marker pens.

What Goes Back

Females go back, always, and undersized males go back. It is not complicated and it is checked.

Measure across the carapace at the widest point. If you have to think about it for more than a second, it is too small.