crablines

Running a mile long crab line - Panacea

from Florida Memory

• cowgirlupCath said:

  Dinner for months!!

• Ed Dempsey said:

  These "crab lines" were usually strung between two floats, anchored in place. The baits ( often cut up sections of eels, treated with rock salt to toughen them ) were tied or hooked onto the "trot line", between the two floats, at regular intervals. To harvest the catch, you just got your dip net handy and started going over the line hand over hand, moving the boat along as you did. The trick was to spot the crab before he spotted you. If you did, and he hung on, feeding, long enough, you scooped him up in the dip net. Some commercial crabbers use a roller on the side of the boat to run the trot line under low outboard motor power, like this photo shows.