blue crab

In the Picture below this is not two Crabs this is a blue crab
walking out of it's shell, To Grow larger they must shed their entire
Hard shell, At this time they are a "Soft Shell Crab" I only bring this up
because I have had people ask for them as if they were a different type
of Crab,
As a soft shell if you can get them to stay on a hook, it is the best of baits
for almost every fish, like People it is a delicacy for them .

Here you can see where the legs meet the body it is a soft spot in the armor of a crab
It has to be soft or they could not move their legs.
Insert the hook in-between the legs. going from the under side towards the top.

Here the arrows point to the white spots on the top of the crab, this is again a softer spot
in the armor of the blue crab. so put the hook into the crab from the bottom, the bring it out
the top through the white spot.

 Once you have the hook in and you are ready to fish, often I will take a pliers,
 and crush some of the crab on the other side of the crab from the hook.
 I believe it makes him a tastier bait, letting some of the juices run out.

 Crabs can be used in pieces or smaller ones we use whole,
 here is a video I found on U-tube  this guy tears up a blue crab making small
 chunks of bait out of it.  It has sound and is sort of loud when the guy talks.
 It is also graphic he rips apart a crab.

  Last of all see the "Big CLAWS"  yes they will hurt you, be careful.