This past week we went camping at Jekyll Island in Georgia (Joja as pronounced by a true Jojan). Near our campground was a fishing pier, which is where Anthony spent most of his time. The first thing he wanted to catch was blue crab. He bought the net, bought the chicken necks, and took off on his bike. By the time I got there to check it out, he had several in his cooler. To catch the blue crabs, you tie a chicken neck to the bottom of a collapsible basket, drop it in the water, and wait. You pull the basket up every 15 minutes or so to see if there are any crabs eating the chicken neck. The trick, if you have caught any, is getting them from the basket to the cooler. Anthony tried just reaching in and grabbing it but after being pinched so hard it cracked his fingernail and made the underside of his finger bleed, he took the advice of an experienced fisherwoman and held the crabs down with the toe of his shoe until he could get a good grip. He and Alex caught lots of crabs in a short amount of time.
In less than two hours they went from the ocean, to this cooler, then to this pan that we just happened to bring along.
Now, lest you think we are just coldhearted seafood eatin' fools, I should tell you that we learned a little bit along the way. This is a male blue crab. You can tell that by the T-shape on his under belly. (And we learned that if you hold him behind his legs he can't reach your fingers.)
This is the female blue crab, evidenced by the rounded shape on her belly. This is absolutely useless information unless you happen to be on Jeopardy one day with a topic of blue crabs. Then you may thank me.
This is what you do with the crabs, male or female, after you catch them and place them in the nice basket you just happened to bring along.
Blue crabs turn red when they are cooked...
Then, when you dip them in garlic butter...
They completely disappear.
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