Catching blue swimmer crabs

They are also known as sand crabs. Not only are they beautiful to look at with astonishing shades of blue and purple, but their meat is also sweet and delicious.

Blue swimmer crabs have long and skinny front claws. The females are referred to as “jennies” and are darker in colour compared with males. They also have a rounded rather than vee-shaped abdominal flap.

Blue swimmer crabs grow to a maximum of about 25cm across the shell and can weigh up to a kilogram. They grow extremely quickly, maturing after one year.

These tasty little guys sound delicious, but they can be a tad tricky to locate and capture.

The rules around how you can legally catch blue swimmer crabs vary widely around Australia. The methods permitted to catch them also vary, from drop nets to crab pots.

Where I fish in Queensland, female blue swimmer crabs are protected and must be returned to the water as soon as possible.

I can also use the rounded-style crab pots to catch blue swimmer crabs – the same ones I use for mud crabs.

They are easy to assemble and sit well on the bottom, even in strong currents.

Traps or drop nets will also need a float to keep the line above the water, some bait clips, and easily seen personal details of who owns the gear.

The easiest way is to buy everything in one easy-to-use crabbing kit from a local tackle store.

A crab ruler is another helpful tool that will help you identify male from female blue swimmer crabs, along with providing an easy minimum size check.

The ones I use also have a mud crab size check on the other side, which comes in handy if you happen to snag a muddy.

I generally find blue swimmer crabs on sandy bottoms and in shallow estuaries. You can catch them in waters up to 50 metres deep. However, I commonly find them in waters around 5.0 metres deep.

The best bait for catching these tasty little guys is whole mullet or fish heads.

If using a whole fish, I will scale it and cut a few slits into the side to create a better oil stench that will attract the crabs.

You can also use fish frames as bait.

Another way to catch blue swimmer crabs is as a by-catch on a fishing line. They can latch onto prawns used as bait and will usually let go when they see you, disappearing back into the depths. If you’re quick, a landing net will do the trick!

It is worth dropping a trap off the edge of a pontoon even if the water it sits in is only a couple of metres deep. I have had plenty of success fishing this way.

Once I land a blue swimmer crab, I like to keep them in a nice ice slurry mixed with the same water in which they were caught.

Once home, blue swimmer crabs are very easy to prepare for eating.

You can cook them whole. A method I use is to pull the shell off whole and use it to scrape out the crab’s gills. I then give the crab a quick rinse and snap it half – I find this makes it more manageable to eat later on.

The crabs are boiled in a big pot and then plunged into a pre-prepared, freezing cold saltwater slurry to quickly cool them down and stop them over-cooking.

Why saltwater? I’ve found you tend to lose the flavour if you use freshwater.

As always, respect your local size and bag limits.