North Australian FISH FINDER forums

I have been looking all over the forum trying to find some details of when is the best tides, best moons, best time of the day, best spots and were to put the pots?? seen the best bait column but need some tips due to the fruitless session on Saturday crabbing in the creeks off the ord mouth only got 1 crab out of 6 pots... and tips for drop nets due to the laws in W.A. we cant use normal crab nets..

Incoming tides are the best , not to sure with drop pots though. Usally out side small feeder creeks is a good spot to set them as well.
I acidently found couple of my old darwin ones in my boat over hear in the west when i dragged it over, i should go hand them in

If your referring to drop nets as in a dilly pot then you need to check them every 15 minutes. Incoming tides and best to get the bait in a container or small metal cage so that they can't just pull it off and Pisa off with it.

A few years back a mate of a mate from WA was up here and I took him out crabbing, and he got talking about tactics as they use only dillie pots out that way.
Some of the same rules apply, launch the boat on the bottom of the low. Fresh chicken or fish bait wrapped in chicken wire and held in by steel clips.
He would drop the dillies in front of feeder creeks, but he said a trick was to use a longish rope that he would hang over a big branch directly over the pot.
The float end of the rope was dragged as far from the pot and left in the branches. He said that this was the only way not to scare the crabs with your boat.
Never done it myself as the only use I have for dilly pots is to help me lift fish from bridges or the jetty at Lizzy when there are people either side of you.

Was just int he Kimberleys and we used the dilli's and not pots. It was good fun with the dillis as it would take us about 3 stubbies to place all 12, then a stubby for intermission before checking the first dilli. We did three drops and managed to get a feed - just. The Kimberleys sees a lot of pressure from charter boats and most of the crabs we pulled where undersize. Had more luck in East Arm soaking 4 pots for one night and getting some monster bucks both Brown and Green.

Dilli crabbing is a bit more fun and interactive but thats all you do - no fishing in between.

Also we would only crab the first 3 hours of the incoming tide as this would produce Bucks, after that was all Jennies!

Happy Crabbing!

yeah it really sux that you have to use the dillie they should at least have number limit like 10 dillies and 5 pots

working in karratha at the moment blokes at work recon it easyer to hook them up here and no crocs to worry about.

yep u got that right! just using a hand hook... but up here nah i dont think so!

Find a reasonable sized gutter that has steep sided banks and holds water through most of the tide. Gutters with gravel, rock are good or banks with a shitt load of mangrove roots and structure for the crabs to hide in at low tide.

On the lower tide look for diggings in the bank with fresh mud turned over (fresh mud is a blue/grey colour where old mud is usually pale grey). It usually looks like a small dip in the mud with chunks of mud near by the size of 50cent coins (Sometimes big mud skippers cause it but over time you will learn the difference between crab and mud skipper). When you find a good amount of digging set the dillys close by it on the edge of the current but not in too much as to lose the pot. Wait for 20 minutes and check. if you get crabs keep working them regularily. if not leave them for a longer period of an hour. If still nothing change locations. keep moving them till you suss your area out.

Incomming tide is best but 2 hours before low can be productive as well. I find that when the top of the banks only just dont get covered is the best tide for crabs. And make shaw you drop the dillys on flat mud and not in trees or saplings that wont allow the dilly to sit flat.