# I want to try fiddler crabs...



## DavB (Apr 15, 2000)

... for sheepshead in South Nags Head. So what do I do?

Is there a good place I can go for a round up?


TW's or any other bait shop sell live ones???


Somebody please give me a clue...


----------



## JeepMike (Feb 4, 2008)

Any low lying creek area on the soundside. Go catch a bunch of those boogers but watch those claws, they will light you up... A much easier and just as effective bait for SH in my opinion woul dbe sandfleas and there is absolutely no shortage of them in the surf this time of year!!! Go gettum and catch some feeeshes!!


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

What Jeep Mike said,any of those creeks with muddy flats around them will do.. I've never tried catching or using them,but Va boys swear by them and say the hookups are better?? May have to try them someday,cause a sheepshead is a tough critter to hook or even get to take a bait sometimes...


----------



## greg12345 (Jan 8, 2007)

Go find any sound/marshy area, preferably at low tide, and there should be bunch scurrying around as long as it stays warm. If they are far from their burrows you can just pick them up...the claw sometimes gives a good pinch but won't break the skin. When they do go in their burrows they usually only go down an inch or two, just bring a small hand shovel and dig them out. Hook it with a #2 or #1 hook through one of the rear leg openings and then out the top/back of the shell, this keeps it alive and frisky...then on a 8" fishfinder rig on the bottom or next to a piling and hold on.

I catch equal numbers on sand fleas and fiddlers, but I find the small trash fish tend to leave the fiddlers alone whereas the fleas always get their legs chewed off, etc...especially if you are fishing for the sheeps/black drum on the bottom. Fiddlers stay alive and fresher a lot longer than fleas with less maintenance, get a 5 gallon bucket, put some damp beach sand in it, keep it in a cool place/shade, and you can throw in a small piece of fish/cut bait for them to eat and they will keep fine for a week or more. With fleas you gotta make sure that nasty orange stuff/waste gets drained out daily, etc...even then they only keep in good condition for 3-4 days at max.


----------



## JeepMike (Feb 4, 2008)

dang greg thats good solid info right there!! I've got a 55 gallon aquarium, might turn it into a terrarium and keep those boogers in there for next season. Do you catch anything besides sheeps/black drum with them?


----------



## jamesmcdanielii (Feb 25, 2008)

Nice title for the topic. When I first read it, I thought... "Yeah, maybe boiled." Not sure how much meat you could dig out of one, though.


----------



## DavB (Apr 15, 2000)

Ya gotta dangle the right topic line to get the replies! Its fishing, only with my keyboard... 

Looks like I will be trying it again this weekend. Look for me on the catwalk mid-dayish with my daughter trying to out fish me...

(Forsaking her boyfriend to fish with dad. Can't believe it!!! )


----------



## jamesmcdanielii (Feb 25, 2008)

Definitely worked on me. Good luck with the fishes. 2 days until we head out to Holden beach to stay for a week. I can't wait.


----------



## greg12345 (Jan 8, 2007)

People keep other varieties of fiddlers as pets, sometimes you will see them for sale in aquarium stores. Never tried keeping them for more than a week since I usually only go the beach for a week at a time -then usually drag the help (i.e. kids) out to the marsh on the first day and get as many as I can for the week. By the end of the week some of them are dying, guessing because I am overcrowding them (50+ in a 5gal bucket) and not really feeding them/keeping their environment clean???

In addition to sheeps/black drum I caught a undersize puppy drum on a fiddler when I was fishing shallow a couple of years ago, as well as occasional trash fish (hogfish, toadfish, etc.). I'm sure during winter up north you'd get tautog, etc. on them as well but I usually only fish in southern NC. And for black drum I find shrimp > sand fleas > fiddlers...just my experience. But sheepshead love those fiddlers.

Much more labor intensive though, one good scoop with a rake in a colony at this time of year and you have enough sand fleas for a whole day...getting the same amount of fiddlers might take 30'.


----------



## JeepMike (Feb 4, 2008)

trash fish? I don't think i've ever caught one of those!!!


----------



## Burrilliant (Dec 10, 2010)

I know this is a grossly late post and less fishing related as it is bait related but I do fancy myself some fishing on Ocracoke Island/Sound Point. That said, I also have a 50g aquarium for both fish and numerous crabs. Now that I have a gold claw fiddler crab at home, I'd love to see one in the wild too. Any suggestions to find fiddlers on Ocoke? 
-Burr


----------



## NC-Norm-WB (Jul 25, 2008)

Burrilliant said:


> I know this is a grossly late post and less fishing related as it is bait related but I do fancy myself some fishing on Ocracoke Island/Sound Point. That said, I also have a 50g aquarium for both fish and numerous crabs. Now that I have a gold claw fiddler crab at home, I'd love to see one in the wild too. Any suggestions to find fiddlers on Ocoke?
> -Burr


In the mud at the waters edge. Look for the grass beds in the mud as well. When you see little holes in the mud, you find fiddlers as well.


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Burrilliant said:


> I know this is a grossly late post and less fishing related as it is bait related but I do fancy myself some fishing on Ocracoke Island/Sound Point. That said, I also have a 50g aquarium for both fish and numerous crabs. Now that I have a gold claw fiddler crab at home, I'd love to see one in the wild too. Any suggestions to find fiddlers on Ocoke?
> -Burr


 Like I said earlier in this post of 08  Haven't went looking for fiddlers nor fished with them.. Although have seen them in those muddy creek banks as was suggested... You might want to try around one of the bridges on the road down to Ocock....


----------



## DavB (Apr 15, 2000)

*D-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-n-g!*

Yup, proof positive, it takes YEARS to get an answer to a post! 

Some poor fish addict is reading WAY back. That time of year for many of us, me included. Sure was funny to come back after a few weeks away from the site to see a recent thread I started.


----------



## Crabnasty bait (Sep 18, 2020)

DavB said:


> ... for sheepshead in South Nags Head. So what do I do?
> 
> Is there a good place I can go for a round up?
> 
> ...


----------



## Crabnasty bait (Sep 18, 2020)

I can get you all the fiddler crabs you want just give me a text 850-295-2251


----------



## Harrymanz (May 28, 2018)

The last reply was ten years ago they probably found some fiddlers by now


----------



## Trevfishin (Apr 10, 2019)

haha, had the same question as I'm going mid-october. Last time I caught any I buried a small solo cup with a shrimp on the bottom of it. Get the top edge even with the mud and they fall in and can't get out. Caught several dozen that way in a few hours. Just make sure you don't bury the cup below the high tide line or come back before high tide to collect them.


----------



## Trevfishin (Apr 10, 2019)

Are the fiddlers still in the grass/mud flats around S Nags Head? Crabnasty, what’s your price if I order some from you. 
Will be there starting October 17th

thanks’


----------

