The Art of Crabbing with Chad Cornes: In the Yorke Peninsula region of South Australia

One of the joys of visiting the Yorke Peninsula is the opportunity to go crabbing. Getting among the blue swimmer crabs is a keenly sought after pass-time but be warned - you need good footwear.

Unlike on the football field, the enemies in the shallow waters of the gulf remain unseen and they’re pretty quick to give a pinch when disturbed.

I enlisted the help of a couple locals to get me started. John Neale is a builder from Ardrossan and Bill Cane is a local farmer and they know their way around the water of Black Point.

The equipment is basic and simple - a pair of old sandshoes, a floating crustacean container - or crab bucket as we in the know like to call it - and a rake.

After that it's basically - man versus beast. The trick is to look for open patches among the expanses of sea grass and watch for discolouration in the sand. That's where you'll find the blue swimmer crabs. It’s a matter of raking them up and tossing them into the bucket.

But the big problem with raking is that the bigger grabs are in deeper water so my lesson continued in Bill's boat. Soon we were pulling in plenty of legal Blue Swimmer Crabs. You're allowed forty per person or one hundred and twenty per boat and at the right time of the year you can chalk up your limit pretty quickly. Out here John and Bill use lamb bones and chicken carcasses with great success.

They reckon any month with an "R" in it is a crabbin' month. Which basically means winter's the time they head for deeper water.

“It's almost like a hibernation I guess,” said John. “They come in when the water warms up I think to breed and lay their eggs in the shallows.”

Females with eggs are protected and the crab measurer is simple to use so there's no excuse for taking undersized blueys. But just remember the big ones have got a grip like Warren Treadrae - so watch out.

This whole crabbin' thing is really about improvisation. Some make their own crabbin rakes; other's their own crabbin cookers. John reckons he should patent his cooker, which he made out of an old beer keg. Three to four minutes in boiling salty water and they turn red and are ready to eat.

It's a great way to spend the day and, with practice, get a feed as well. If you haven't got a boat you can buy crabbin rakes at most fishing tackle shops. If you’re looking for Black Point accommodation drop into the nearby Pine Point Store.

Yorke Peninsula Crabbing
For Black Point accommodation contact Pine Point Store 88 382 200