Crabbing at Turkey Point, New Jersey

 

“Crabs remind us that sometimes the best way to handle a situation is to sidestep it peacefully.”

One past time that Joe and I used to do was to spend time crabbing when we were dating and first married. We really enjoyed the sport of it and well as dining on the delicious sweet crab meat after the day was through. Since we had some extra time in New Jersey this summer, we decided to check our luck and try again.

We drove through rural south Jersey. Yes, New Jersey has beautiful rural areas featuring gorgeous farmland, quaint towns, and huge salt marshy areas. No, it is not like the Newark area throughout the state. There are still plenty of farms that grow corn, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, squash, zucchini, and much more. Farmers market are located all over south Jersey selling the farm produce. There are also many apple orchards and farm markets that sell lovely apples and homemade apple cider.

We drove down country roads that lead us through of some of New Jerseys finest fertile farmlands and scenery. We headed for a crabbing area that day which was on the 7,500 acre Glades Wildlife Refuge which is owned by the Natural Lands Trust. This area is a haven for wildlife and is a great area for bird watching as well as a home for coyote, deer, fox, muskrat, and otters. Turkey Point was our destination for the day.

This area is a beautiful area in any weather. You can see marshlands for miles and the bright green sea grasses that blow in the wind making a whooshing noise. Standing there looking out over the vastness of this beautiful spot brings a kind of peace and tranquility to your soul. This area is managed by the NJDEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife.

We picked a day in the middle of the week that rain was threatening which we hoped would keep a lot of people away. We were correct as when we pulled up to a lone wooden bridge, there was only one man crabbing. He was a very nice man and gave us many pointers of what to do and where we would be most likely to catch crabs. There is also an observation deck where you can climb up to get a better view of the marshes and even see the town of Fortescue off in the distance.

We set up our crab nets with some chicken we had just bought from the store and sat down and waited to see if we’d catch any. Sure enough, we started catching crabs slowly but surely. Just sitting and waiting for the crabs to come in was a joy. The crabbing slowed way down near low tide but then as the tide came in, it picked up.  It was fun watching the fiddler crabs running around in the mud flats.  At times it seemed as if someone signaled them to all move at once.  All in all, we got about a dozen crabs which was enough to make a great meal. As they day wore on, the sun came out and gave us a show beaming off all the bright green colored grasses and slow moving marshy streams. It was just stunning.

We went back another day to try again. Today there was a young couple and their daughter there crabbing. They had done pretty well all ready and were nice to talk with. We set up our nets and waited. Today we got about 10 crabs, all on the small size but legal. Good thing as a game warden showed up and wanted to see what we had and the young couple. We were all good. Before he left, he jokingly told the other couple to share. We laughed but when the young couple left, they gave us a bunch of crabs. We would have a feast today. We stopped at one more place to try for a little more but we didn't get crabs.  Instead we caught a fish and a good size turtle which were both released.  

Before we left that day we saw two men with nets get into the water to catch Minnies also know as minnows. They walked down the stream a ways when it was low tide and then dropped their nets and headed back. They did this twice and they caught a huge amount of these small bait fish. It was fascinating watching their process and their success.

New Jersey has Blue Crabs which are smaller than most other types of crabs but are even sweeter. The rules of this state is as long as you are catching them for you and not reselling them, you are fine. Otherwise you need to get a commercial crab pot license. If you catch a female crab with eggs, you must put them back in the water since they can produce between 750,000 and 3.2 million eggs. But you can keep a female crab. The minimum size for a hard shell crab from tip to tip is 4.5 inches. You can keep up to a bushel of crabs. That is quite a feast.

Even if you are not into crabbing, go visit this area as it is gorgeous and so picturesque. Just beware, of the green head flies. If there is no wind, they will bite you up. We were lucky on the days we were there as we had a good wind both days. Bring good bug spray. New Jersey is full of surprises and this area was one for me as I had never seen it before and it was stunning. The crab dinner that night made the day even more special. Now to go home and heat up the butter. Yum.

Till next time. Bye for now.