North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Barra don't turn female until they reach 90 odd centimetres. That's when they start laying eggs. Female crabs stop breeding once they get over 14cm or there abouts.

Serious not a very big crab at 14cm !
I wouldn't even worry about keep crabs of that size just for there small size !
Jenny's I let go other day would have been close to 20cm and the others about 14-15 cm so let them all go! I reckon I've seen plenty in shoal bay with eggs that where bigger than 14cm ??
Just something I have always done is let Jenny's go .
Why does QLD still have the no Jenny rule ??

Doug

If you do what QLDers do you will run into trouble

Too hard to change a 100 year old law I would say.

As for the crabs having eggs, I cant say I have ever seen a Jenny with eggs (under the flap) that was bigger then 14cm. The bigger jennies still have internal egg (the orange ones inside)but they become baron.

Majority of jennys that I have seen with egg under the flap are about 10cm max. And I have often caught big bucks with small jennies under them but never big females.

Well f$%# me. You learn something every day

Lats wrote:Well f$%# me. You learn something every day

Yep might start keeping the real big jennies but still abit dubious in ten being Barron at 14cm that a bl..dy small crab really !how old would it be ae they slow growing ?

CC is right, the bucks cannot get under the big Jennies. Fisheries have told us that once they get to big they pretty much turn into lesbians and kill any buck that tries it on with them. We threw them back just due the fact we had 13 bucks and didn't want to be greedy. Nomally we would only keep our best ten but we were sending them home with our rellies.

crabs grow fairly quickleyso I have been told. A big buck is about 3 years old. Small jennies breed at about 1 year.

The only thing I could add to this debate and the bro inlaw scylia can speak with a bit of authority as he was in the dept at the time but the crab hatchery at bribe islands best producing female for eggs was over 200 mm across. Not sure how that equates to in the wild breeding with runt bucks but clearly they still do the biz.

Muddies have a 4 year lifespan.

Pedro70 wrote:I have a mate coming up from Adelaide and was keen to take him crabbing . As I haven't been out for a couple of months due to work and wind was wondering if there is still a few around or do we just go fishing ?

crabbing is always the better choice. but then again thats coming from me =) ehheeh

I wish we could keep Jennies in Qld. I crab the Central Qld area and all I catch is bl..dy Jennies. It's a very very rare day to see a Legal sized Buck in a pot in this part of the country.

My ole man told me Mortien gets rid of them (crabs), I just stand over a mirror, it doesnt sting that way.

Or you just shave one side of your pubes, then set fire to the other side. As they run out just bash em with a stick