How to become hooked on crabbing

Crabs aren't the "deadliest catch" in the Wilmington area, but to do it right does take some education.

About every two or three days you might catch Vick Vermanaro out on the Cape Fear River, on the sound or at the waterway checking his crab pots. Along with the owner of Coley's Crab Shack, Vermanaro takes turns doing crab duty to make sure a fresh catch comes in every day for customers.

Looking at him down by the water, his job looks simple and picturesque. Vermanaro, carefully steering a 21-foot Carolina Skiff, slides up to a small float with his name written on it. He hooks the line up to an "automatic pot hauler" and watches as the pot slowly makes its way up the stern of the boat.

On a good haul, he'll find about a dozen Blue Crabs scurrying around in the wire mesh trap. Or, he might not find any at all.

"It's like Christmas day every day," he said. "You never know what you're going to get."

That's what the job looks like from the viewpoint of someone standing on the shore or passing by in another boat. But Vermanaro's job really isn't that simple. Commercial crabbers depend on that pot coming up full more often than not. And to do that, you have to know the water and you have to know the crabs. Even then, all you've got is an educated guess.

"Basically, it's a guessing game, where the crabs are going to be," he said. "The move constantly."

Sometimes, crabs can be found in only 30-feet of water. Other times they head out into the deeper areas. Because of the deep water and the heavy currents in the river, commercial crabbers use long lines and heavy irons to weight the crab pots down. This also makes the mechanical pot hauler more of a necessity than a luxury.

The pots themselves are not very heavy. Made of mesh wire, the 24-inch square pots use four tunnels to help crabs find their way to a bit of bait in the center. Vermanaro likes to use menhaden but any oily fish will do, he said. The smellier and the oilier the bait, the easier the crabs will be able to detect it.

Once the pot is aboard, the crabber sorts through his catch. He'll keep Blue Crabs that measure at least five inches from point to point across the shell. Soft shell crabs, crabs that have recently shed their shells, have to measure at least three and a half inches. He can also keep one claw from a Stone Crab if the shell measures at least two and half inches across.

A day's work will bring in about 250 crabs.

It's not a deadly job, but it can be uncomfortable. You don't make a lot of money crabbing, Vermanaro said, so it helps if you love your job. "When it's not blowing and it's not real hot, it's one of the best things you can do," he said.

Luke Ingraham, a long-time crabber in this area, feels the same way. He said he loves crabbing so much, if he has a good haul one day he can hardly sleep that night in anticipation of what might come up next.

Ingraham has been crabbing for 30 years, ever since he learned the trade from his father. He hopes that when he's gone the profession will not die with him, it's something you do because you love it, it's hard work.

"My arms are probably longer than they should be," he said, referring to a lot of the heavy lifting over the side of the boat you have to do once in a while, even with a automatic pot hauler.

Crabbing, he said, is expensive. In addition to the cost of a 28-foot boat, its motor and rising fuel costs, crab pots cost between $38 and $40 each. He puts out about 400 at a time but has to buy more off and on all year to make up for pots lost to big boat propellers.

With that set up, Ingraham hauls in about 10 to 30 bushels of crabs a day. Most of those go to Maryland and wholesalers in other areas.

Ingraham is bashful about giving away what he calls "secrets" to his trade for good reason. Even with all the right equipment, there's no guarantee the pots will be full.

"There's a lot of crabbers, but there's not many who catch crabs," he said.

This year has been pretty good for crabbers who like to toss their pots out in and near the Cape Fear River. The drier weather has caused an increase in the river's salinity. Blue Crabs are brackish water creatures who love that change and have moved up river more than in previous years.

"It's probably more salty than I've seen it in the last 15 or 20 years," Ingraham said.

Of course, all this means is that locals may want to try their hand at crabbing as well. You can even get in on the action with the whole family. With just some rope and bait, it's pretty easy to have a tasty treat in no time (see sidebar, left).

As for Ingraham, he'll crab all the way up through Christmas and until the water gets so cold the crabs begin to slow down to an almost hibernation mode.

Until then, he'll keep getting up at 4 a.m. and hauling in the pots.

"It's all up to Mother Nature," he said.