Article by Sue Foster
A lot of people come to Ocean City to go fishing. But some vacationers come to go crabbing, also. Others like to combine the activities of crabbing and fishing.
What you need to know about crabbing is that blue crabs tend to hang out in the upper reaches of the bay. In other words, you have to go to certain places to catch them. There will be some fish available in these areas where there are crabs, but not big fish like flounder.
Areas where there are crabs are usually more shallow water areas where anglers can catch spot, croaker and sand perch on small hooks with bloodworms, night crawlers or artificial Fishbite bloodworms on small hooks. You might catch a small bluefish or flounder and occasionally a lost red drum or weakfish. But don’t expect to catch crabs and big fish at the same time!
Where can we go crabbing?
One of the best and most popular places in Ocean City is North Side Park at 125th St.
You can get there by driving to 127th or 125th Street. There is a big walking and nature park there where vacationers can enjoy a pleasant walk or other activity. North Side Park has free parking, a building and complex and other amenities. It is also a “free fishing zone” so you don’t need a license to fish there. (There is no license required to crab in Ocean City anywhere.) At the very end of the park is a long pier where anglers can crab and fish. You do have to take a walk to get to the area, but it is well worth it. There’s a deeper, saltwater pond before you get to the pier where sometimes anglers pick up little fish or crabs as well. Most people walk out on the long pier.
It’s not extremely deep at North Side Park, so the better crabbing and fishing will be on the higher tides. Get out a tide chart in the Coastal Fisherman and add about 3 hours and that will give you peak high tide at North Side Park. Once you figure out the exact high tide, you want to fish and crab 3 hours before and 3 hours after that time. Higher water gives you bigger crabs and more fish.
Where else can we crab?
If you go to other areas, use the same basic (add 3 hours) to figure out when high tide will be.
•Jamestown Park at 116th Street - The bulkheaded area on the side of the street is a city park. Parking is available along the street. This isn’t an extremely exciting place to go, but if it is close to you, you can check it out! It’s basically, crabbing in a canal.
•41st Street and the Bay - a small public pier behind the Convention Center. Vacationers can also clam here. If you want to fish here you need a fishing license. This place is on the open bay and a pleasant location to crab, clam and fish.
•Isle of Wight Public Pier - Cross the Route 90 Bridge at 61st Street and travel west. In the center of the bridge is an island. At the light, make a left. There is a sign designating “Isle of Wight.” The railing is high so you either need a long extension net or use traps. This is also a nice place. There is clamming available at low tide near the foot of the east span of the Route 90 Bridge. Fishing with little hooks and worms will catch you some fish there as well. This is actually a bird observation pier! Take bug spray. You need a fishing license for fishing, but not for crabbing.
•Assateague Island - Cross the U.S. Route 50 Bridge heading west. Make a left on Route 611 (Stephen Decatur Highway). Travel about 8 miles and bear left at the fork in the road to get to the bridge going to the island. To the left, you will see a public pier. This location is best during the higher tide. It’s a nice place but there is a fee to get on the pier and yes, you need a fishing license if you want to fish.
•Assateague National Park - Cross over the bridge going onto Assateague Island and take a right at the sign for the National Park. Travel down this road a few miles and follow the signs. There are several crabbing and clamming areas. You will need to pay a fee to get into the National Park but you can also check out the wild ponies.
•South Point Public Boat Ramp - Take a left on Rt. 611 as if you are going to Assateague Island. Rather than veering left to go to Assateague, follow the signs and go straight to South Point. There is a public boat ramp that is excellent for crabbing. It’s way, way, way off the beaten track, but a pleasant place to go. I like going there myself to get away from it all!
•Ayres Creek - As you travel Route 611 towards Assateague, make a right on Route 376. A short distance down this road, you will come to a small bridge crossing Ayres Creek. There is no public parking so you need to be dropped off.
•Herring Creek - Head west across the U.S. Route 50 Bridge. A few miles out of town you will see a small bridge crossing Herring Creek. There is no public parking here either, so you need to be dropped off.
•Public Landing - Going South on Rt. 113 just past Snow Hill, take a left at the sign for Public Landing. (about 27 miles from Ocean City.) This is a very nice crabbing pier.
•9th Street Pier - Public pier on the bayside at 9th Street and the bay. Sometimes we get crabs here and sometimes not! It’s more of a fishing area.
Although the bulkhead that runs from 2nd Street to 4th Street is a good location to fish, do not try to crab . It’s too deep and you will probably just get spider crabs!
There’s two ways to go about recreational crabbing. You can crab with handlines, a dip net or you can use crab traps.
I suggest handlines for a family with kids since it gives them more to do. You may want to try both to keep the kids active. Crabbing with handlines is very simple. You can buy string, small sinkers and chicken necks to make your own lines, OR you can buy pre-made “crab throwlines”. Pierce the chicken neck with the sharp end of the wire that is part of the crab throwline. It’s like a big safety pin! Throw the bait out in the water and wait for the crab to start tugging on the line. When that happens, pull it in VERY slowly. Get the rim of the net below the crab and scoop the crab up. If there is current, place the net down current. If the crab falls off, it will fall in the net. One of the biggest mistakes people do is to accidently hit the crab with the rim of the net. As you can see, this can keep the kids busy, but there is room for mistakes and errors.
If you use a crab trap, the bait is secured in the middle of the trap and is pulled up every 10 or 15 minutes. The sides pull up and trap the crab inside. Kind of foolproof, but not much to do between pulls, but wait.
There are also inexpensive gizmos called “crab rings.” They are simply a cloth or wire net that you tie bait into the bottom. You tie a rope to the end of the three lines that are tied to the net. You simply pull it up quick and the crabs cling to the bottom of the net. The only problem with these is you need to have some crab tongs. The crabs can scurry out of the net when it hits the dock, and crabs have some pretty quick and painful pinchers! If you don’t have tongs, you can carefully grab them from behind with your bare hands. Kitchen tongs will work fine too if you have a pair available.
Crabs in the Coastal Bays of Maryland need to be 5-inches tip-to-tip. Mature females are legal as long as they are not egg bearing. Laws in the Chesapeake Bay are different than the Coastal Bays of Maryland, so if you are reading the DNR law book be sure to look at the correct page!
Sue Foster is an outdoor writer and co-owner of Oyster Bay Tackle in Ocean City, MD and Fenwick Tackle in Fenwick, DE.
