• Bait: Best you experiment and find your favourite choice of bait.
• Moon phase: Full moon is not as productive as crabs may moult during this period and will not readily feed
• Tide: Incoming tide is apparently better for land based crabbing. Think of it as the incoming tide is pushing crabs inshore.

Female crabs may be harvested if they are not bearing eggs. Although it is morally okay to keep non-egg bearing female crabs, it should be a conservation practice to release them unharmed. There has been evidence that the females support the population of the species. Male crabs are capable of mating several times, but females are only able to mate once, after they mature. If a juvenile female is harvested, there will be no chance that she will be able to reproduce. Additionally, mature females may store sperm in their bodies for several months after mating in order to spawn at a later date. If a mature female is harvested, though she may not exhibit eggs, there is no certainty that she has spawned. Releasing female crabs enhances reproductive capacity and population renewal.
Generally, males have a more pronounced T looking flap underside of the crab where females have a broader flap. Male Flower crabs are blue and Female Flower Crab are brownish in colour. Sample pictures of male and female crabs are of the Blue crab species below. Different species will vary slightly.

Happy crabbing...