The scent trail that peeler crab emits attracts fish from a wide area, with even small amounts of peeler crab, such as legs or claws added to a worm bait, can be enough to give anglers using this bait an advantage. The choice of hook should be based on the size and type of bait being used and the weight of fish hunted. Other smaller sections of the shell can be pulled away from the underside of the crab to complete the peeling process. At this point it is also in perfect bait condition, but it won’t stay like this for long because the new soft shell will quickly start to harden, so it should be used either immediately for bait or frozen for later use.

hook and rig Peeler Crabs | Fishing Tails How to hook and rig Peeler Crabs | Fishing Tails

Once peeler crabs have been prepared (see below) the peeler crab bodies, legs and claws should be placed in the freezer on a plate or chopping board for around fifteen minutes. There are numerous patterns available, with some of the most widely used being the Aberdeen (a fine-gauge hook ideal for general fishing), the Baitholder (featuring barbs on the shank to prevent baits from sliding down and hiding the point), and the O’Shaughnessy (a strong and thick-gauge hook). A sharp, strong pattern with a large barb, ideal for fishing at maximum range with lug, crabs and fish baits.

Crabs that are sheltering together (main picture), or berried crabs carrying eggs (inset) should be left well alone as they will re-populate the area and provide a new generation of crabs that can be used as bait. Crabs are fished on a short-shank hook, which improves presentation and stops the crab bait from sliding down the shank of the hook. Other brands, like Kamasan, offer their versions of classic designs, like the Kamasan B940 Aberdeen hook, a widely used all-round hook by British Anglers. These can cause more damage to fish you catch so they’re better for anglers that plan on eating their catch and are not ideal for general catch and release fishing. It can be combined with a crab claw to make a crabclaw and hook or with a pirate hook (right) to make double pirate hooks by talking to Patchy.

Pirate hook (left) - The RuneScape Wiki Pirate hook (left) - The RuneScape Wiki

It is usually a good idea to take frozen and fresh crabs, just in case the fishing suddenly speeds up. It’s common to use these hooks with big baits, especially with peeler and hermit crabs for larger fish like smooth hounds and bass. This involves dropping a metal lure directly down the side of the boat, then sharply lifting your rod up and reeling in before allowing the lure to sink back down again.If you don’t have any big crabs available then several smaller ones can be combined to produce larger baits. Hot Dogs- Hot Dogs are not commonly used due to the fact that they are very soft and crabs can easily tear them apart and eat them The advantage of hotdogs is that they are much cheaper than normal bait so if you are on a budget, hot dogs might be the way to go. A big crab can be cut into several pieces to attract smaller species, but remember to scale down the size of your hook to match bait and fish. Place it back on the metal tray until properly frozen and then wrap a dozen or so in a sandwich bag.