A Time for Everything

There is a time and place for everything..sometimes it is just hard to distinguish just when and where that is. On the Bayou today, it was a time to quit. When I was on the pier this afternoon, it became quite apparent that crabbing season was finished. This made me sad as I have not gotten many of the blue crabs for our freezer this year. The season came and went without me ever getting even one nice bucketful. The season ending actually has nothing to do with the lack of crabs...they are still there swimming around under the pier. I almost felt as if I heard them snickering at me as I pulled up the traps. They knew they had won this season! They were the victors! The whole reason that the crabbing season has ended is OTTERS! Those cute, little, playful critters that I love so much! Well, they have not been playing nicely this summer! They were quite the menace to my crab traps!

There are at any given time, six crab traps tied to the pier posts during the summer months. These crab "pots" as they are called stay tied there catching crabs all season unlike the sweet, little nets that some folks use. I go for the "big daddies" of the traps! I want crabs..not "a" crab! These traps are made of heavy gauge wire and are baited with "scrap" fish or the yucky stuff leftover after cleaning edible fish. All of the nasty parts are stuffed in the bait box of the trap (nothing goes to waste here on the Bayou!). The trap is then tossed back into the water in hopes that some hungry crabs will amble in to dine.

This summer, however, my pots were raided on a nightly basis. At first, I was blaming the huge snapping turtles. I did this since several times I found them resting on top of my traps!...and...I did catch one ugly fellow inside munching on a crab! But then...the alligators were always hanging around the pier and they would not hesitate to make a meal out of any discarded fish. They are opportunists that will steal just as soon as hunt. My traps were like "sitting ducks" out there with no one to guard them! Then one morning..I spied the culprit and that culprit was not one but several! A family of otters were helping themselves to my crab bait and make shambles of the traps!

The crab pots have seen better days. There is no way a crab would be caught in a trap that has huge holes ripped in the sides! They could just walk in one side and right on out the other! The otters must be tremendously strong as they merely shredded the heavy gauge wire in their efforts to free the crabs....er....get my bait!

I sadly pulled the crab pots out of the water. Son will haul them back to the yard so we can discard of them safely. Too many (not-so-smart) crabbers will just cut the ropes and leave the traps in the water. This causes so many problems as fish, crabs, turtles, diving birds and yes, even the otters could become trapped inside and die. Our traps will be dismantled so no land animals can become snared in them, either. Hopefully,before next summer, some new crab pots will find their way to the Little Bayou House. In the meantime, what little crab meat that I have in the freezer will be saved for special occasions....and the crabs in the Bay shall snicker all they want!