Gulf Coast - Hermit Crabs

Sheaphead season is getting underway and I have seen guys just slay them with hermit crabs. So where can I get some? I have asked bait dealers and they just laugh and say no, they don't sell them. So where do you buy them or how do you catch them?

They are abundant in the shallows in the summer but I don't see any this time of year. Any suggestions?

Seriusly? You can catch every "Bay Snapper" in the gulf with dead shrimp or squid. But good luck with the hermits!

Seriously. I fished a rig off Daupin Island yesterday with fresh dead shrimp and didn't get so much as a nibble. Another boat on the same rig was steady catching sheephead on hermits. It's not the first time I've seen this. Last year, same rig, fishing with live shrimp we caught a few here and there, but some commercial guys were there dropping hermits and reeling them in as fast as their hooks hit the water. I want to try some- just got to figure out where to get them. Then if I still can't catch a sheepy I will know it's just me and there is no hope.:grin:

Damn, those redneck Bay Snapper are more picky than their coonass cousins.

Sheaphead season is getting underway and I have seen guys just slay them with hermit crabs. So where can I get some? I have asked bait dealers and they just laugh and say no, they don't sell them. So where do you buy them or how do you catch them?

They are abundant in the shallows in the summer but I don't see any this time of year. Any suggestions?


hermits or ghost crabs??

hermits or ghost crabs??
Hermits. The kind that live in conch shells.

I guess I could put out some crab baskets and try to catch some. Would rather buy some.

Maybe a dumb question, but do they have to or need to be live?

i am 43 years old old, been fishing my whole life on the gulf coast
i have never before heard of using hermit crabs for bait

Maybe a dumb question, but do they have to or need to be live?
Not dumb at all. From what I have heard and read, frozen works just about as well as live. From what I have seen, most guys use a hammer to get them out of the shell so they are just about dead by the time they are on the hook anyway.

i am 43 years old old, been fishing my whole life on the gulf coast
i have never before heard of using hermit crabs for bait

I was 46:grin:

All I can tell you is that they are like candy to sheephead. I might drop one on a snapper reef next June and see if anything else likes them.

http://www.hermit--crabs.com/?gclid=COjG5a_kiaACFQIeDQodVilPdw

I have used hermit crabs for sheepshead since the early 70's. They always caught bigger sheeps than fiddlers. We used to get them by the dozens under and around rocks and shells...

We used to use hermit crabs fishing off the Grand Isle bridge when I was in high school. We would send down round crab nets baited with chicken necks and pick up bunches at a time. We would then use a brick to open up the shells. Catch the heck out of the sheephead when nothing else would.

I have seen "sand fleas" used as bait in Fl, does anyone use them here for bait?

I did not know that you did anything with hermit crabs other than chase them around on the beach when you are a kid.

OK, i will pick up some crab baskets and chicken necks and give that a shot.

bsmit24, yes, sand fleas are great for pompano and I am sure they would be good for sheeps too, but i haven't found any on the beach yet. I think they will show up when the weather gets a little warmer.

Thanks guys, i appreciate the responses.
David

seed shrimp will kill'em also...:thumbsup:

seed shrimp will kill'em also...

Worth a try...

If yall have urchins down there,they by far and away the best big sheepshead bait. You won't catch many under 5lbs,but when they hit these things they flat out attack them. No waiting for a nibble,they bend the rod when they hit