When is the best time to go crabbing? The best time to go crabbing is immediately before and after high and low tides because of slack water. What is slack water? Keep reading below.
Note, you’ll want to review crabbing guidelines at your states applicable regulatory agency regarding all updated rules, seasons, bag limits, etc. If you plan to cook and eat crab you catch, you should first conduct your own research regarding crab consumption guidelines and advisories.
What is slack water?
Per Wikipedia, slack water is a short period in a body of tidal water when the water is completely unstressed, and there is no movement either way in the tidal stream, and which occurs before the direction of the tidal stream reverses.
I’ve been told that slack water occurs about an hour before and after high tide and low tide. And, slack water is the best time to crab because crabs are generally walking around and foraging since they are not getting pushed around by tidal exchange. Below are some websites to find out when high and low tides will be:
https://www.tide-forecast.com/
When is the best time to go crabbing? Now you know, happy crabbing!