Stone Crab Season Comes to an End With Full Pots.

Prepping Our Boat Conch-Keys-Tador
for the last haul of the Season

May 15 is not one of my favorite days....Why, you ask???  Because, it marks the end of Stone Crab Season!  I really can't complain though, as we had a really good haul this year.
This year, I switched up my game and moved my pots ( pretentious fishermen talk for traps) to a new location, just north of Garden Cove, stretching about 2 miles, just offshore of the unpopulated part of Key Largo in about 7-10 feet of water.  Bonanza!!!   Great Hauls with Big crab with LARGE Original Claws!!  This is an out of the way area that gets little attention and therefore, these crabs for the most part have never been previously caught.  But hey!...This place is Our little secret ..OK?!



Stone Crab trap (Pot)

A quick note about stone crabbing.  You can ONLY harvest the claws (yes you can take both), the crab itself is not to be killed and replaced back into the water.   Stone crabs regenerate their claws..like a lizard with it's tail.  This way it remains a sustainable fishery.  The drawback though, is sometimes you can catch a large crab, only to see that he is growing back a new claw or claws that are too small to take.  Keeper claws must measure at least 2 3/4 inches from the knuckle to the tip of the bottom pincher.  Each person with a valid fishing license is allowed 5 crab pots, and the best bait, hard to believe is Pig's Feet.

My Favorite First Mate with some
Tasty Treats.

Now...getting the crabs out of the traps is a science in and of itself and can at first be quite intimidating for novices as those claws CAN do some damage! But with practice you learn how to do it safely, and keep fingers

Yesterday, it was time to pull our pots for the last go round, and we struck Gold!! So tonight, you can guess what's on the menu!


It just Doesn't get any better than this!

Now, we just have to wait until October 15, when we can start all over again.  At least Grouper Season just openned up May 1st!!

Fishing for YOUR place here in the Keys???  Put the experience and expertise of The Conchquistador to work for you! For more information on the outstanding real estate opportunities that exist in the Keys, call me at 305.439.7730 or email me at DropAnchor@TheRealEstateConch.com.