# ghost crabs?!?!?



## obxsharker2

Are these crabs any good for bait, maybe sheepheads? Has any of y'all ever used them before because I am thinking about trying them out myself. I always see them on the beaches at night and can easily catch the little things. 

One other thing, if I can use them for bait how do I rig them? Thanks for the help guys!

tight lines!!

DALTON


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## DERFM

naw , ghost crabs are our friends !! 
they like plover chicks !!!!


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## ASK4Fish

little guys whole work pretty good up here in va for croaks and roundhead. never thought of them for sheepies but they'd probably work. for that matter togs too...give em a try, they're free after all...


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## bluefish1928

this is kinda off topic but a very funny story. when i was like 7 of so ( im currently 14), at huntington beach state park in SC. I was using the rest room on the dunes(never read any signs at that time) and a ghost crab appeared and freaked me out into running for my parents. though that thing was a mosnter spider or so.


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## uncdub13

i've actually used them a couple times while desperate to catch bait, but never caught anything on them. havent really used them enough to reach a verdict though. i'd like to pitch one to a school or reds one day and see what happens. somethin tells me a sheepshead would have a hard time resisting them too.


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## saltandsand

Here's a pic of a common ghost crab, Atlantic Ocean

<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i27.tinypic.com/2q1xfnt.gif" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

I recently caught a cobia from a boat using two hooks, both baited with boston mac, top hook added with squid for action and bottom hoom added with ghost crab. The fish inhaled both hooks. Was my first and was a boated cobia, haven't surf or pier landed one yet. I don't ordinarily fish cobia waters but am happy to say another species is now checked off the fisherman list!! (But I sure want to get one from the beach as this, IMO, is the true test of skill.)

I've used them from the beach since they are readily available, and it's always nice to have bait options to present. Haven't caught anything on the hook with a ghost crab in the surf, but have caught fish with them on the bottom hook and other bait on the top whilst another pole without sat idle. Who knows? If it works, do it.

Seen some talk about the thumb splitter shrimp, not my choice of bait since I've been cut by one in my saltwater tank, they are just plain nasty. Pliers work well to take the claws off a ghost crab and still keep em alive for action, not the same with ghost shrimp.

The best is soft crab or peeler, when using crabs. Gotta buy em, store em, etc. Besides I'd rather eat a softcrab than use it for bait.

Bait options??? Seems like a thread is in the make.


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## saltandsand

ASK4Fish said:


> little guys whole work pretty good up here in va for croaks and roundhead. never thought of them for sheepies but they'd probably work. for that matter togs too...give em a try, they're free after all...


Green crab for tog!!


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## eaglesfanguy

Bluefish..... i had a similar experience with them.. i was fishing willoughby spit.. and kept catching movement out of the corner of my eye... was freakin me out .. thought maybe i had one 2 many beers then i finally got the flash light and went to investigate.. i too thought it was a huge spider..but soon learned what that freaky guy was.. never used em for bait though.. just thought they were cool ass crabs.


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## Drumdum

*For sheepshead togs ect it's the "fidler"...*

Never tried a ghost crab,as Derf said,they be our friends... Hard to illiminate or uthinize (msp) all of them though.. JK: I really do not want the birds harmed in any way shape or form,just want to see evenhanded approach to the situation..

Try em,could be the "newest bestest" sheepshead bait...


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## Hannibal

When fishing one evening just north of Avon (forgot ramp #), my buddy and I tried them as they were running all over the place that evening. 

I don't believe either of us caught anything but I remember one of the whole peices missing a large section of it's body after being hit.


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## ASK4Fish

saltandsand said:


> Green crab for tog!!


for me, stonies...thats it...followed by quartered blue...


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## obxsharker2

*ok guys*

Thanks for the help guys.i figured id catch about 10 or 12 an keep them in a bucket to take with me on the pier when i go. last year i was there an the water was so clear we could see schools of huge sheepshead all around the pillons. nobody could catch them, so i figured id tryed these. you never no?!?!

Tight lines

Dalton


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## SkunkApe

They are awesome bait for getting a swift kick in the grunnies....More than once have I rounded up one of them sucka's and tossed down a chick's shirt whilst sitting around the campfire....Oh the joy...

Skunk


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## bluefish1928

do notice when a cobia wants to eat, it will eat almost anything thrown. when it doesn't want to eat all bait and lures can be useless


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