What Is This Man Doing?

What is this man doing?  Possibly fishing?  But for what? (Click to enlarge)

Give up?

The other day I grabbed a couple of cameras and drove to a couple of places I used to visit quite often.  I hadn’t been there is a couple of years and I wanted to see what I could find to photograph.  They used to have a plethora of interesting subjects.  I spotted the man, in the image above, slowly walking through the water, holding a net and dragging some sort of floating device behind him.  I’ve seen this before but this is not a common sight.  Of course, I made a number of exposures of him.  But what is he doing?

He is ‘crabbing’ by hand using a classic technique known as hand-lining (affectionately called "chicken-necking"). Instead of deploying traditional stationary crab pots or commercial gear, he is actively wading in shallow water to target blue crabs.  

The crab is in the net.  He will move the crab to the floating
basket and return the line and bait to the water.
(click to enlarge)

For those of you who may not be familiar with how crabs are typically caught, wire mesh ‘crab pots’ are lowered into the water to the bottom of the river, bay or whatever. Crabs crawl into them to get to the bait and are trapped.  There are several variations. Some have small entrance holes through which crabs can enter but not leave. Others have their four vertical sides, hinged at the bottom, open and lay flat on the bottom as well. In the center of the pot is some sort of bait. One or more crabs walk in and start eating the bait and get trapped inside either when the pot is raised as the rope closes the four sides as the pot is lifted or by design. Crabbers use commerical vessels, are licensed commerical fishermen=an and the industry is tightly regulated.  There typically put out dozens of these pots for efficiency. Obviously, the individual in the photo does not need that many crabs and catches them one at a time by hand.

One type of crab pot.  Used as described in the text. (click to enlarge)

As many of you may have figured out, I live in southeastern Virginia.  Nearby is the Chesapeake Bay, well known for it blue crabs that many of you might enjoy.  In coastal areas like the Chesapeake Bay, this method of fishing for crabs is highly popular because it requires very little gear and typically doesn't require a license for recreational use up to a certain daily limit.

This type of crab pot has 'entrance holes.'  The crabs crawl in
but cannot get out.  Kind of like a "Roach Motel" for crabs! lol.
(click to enlarge)

Here is a break down of the man's gear and actions:

 1.     In his left hand, he is holding a simple string or twine line tied to a wooden stake. At the bottom of the line, clamped or tied on, is a piece of raw bait—typically a chicken neck or a piece of fish.  In this case he is using a 'spring clip,' the kind one would use to clip a large number of papers together.  Seems effective.

 2.     He slowly pulls the line upward. Crabs are notoriously greedy and will cling tightly to a piece of meat even as it is gently lifted toward the surface. He is bringing the bait into view to check if a crab is clinging to it.  

 3.     In his right hand, he holds a long-handled wire dip net. Once the crab is visible just below the surface, he will swiftly scoop under it with the net before the crab realizes it's out of the water and lets go.  

 4.     Floating next to him is a makeshift storage container—a traditional wooden bushel basket secured inside a buoyant Styrofoam® collar or tube. This allows him to easily drag his catch alongside him as he moves through the shallows without having to walk back to shore every time he catches a crab. In this case, he has the basket tied around his waist so it doesn’t drift away.

So there you have it. Primitive, but effective 'fishing' in today's highly technological world. It works. It costs almost nothing and it feeds his family.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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