Many crabs peel 3 times per year, with the first peel being around April early May, to allow the crab to grow they need to shed their shells, they do this by taking on large amounts of water, this in turn swells the inner body, forcing the shell to crack, revealing a new soft one underneath.

Collection of crab is varied, they can be found in rock pools, under rocks and around walls and pier stanchions, some anglers will set crab traps by means of laying old tyres (now illegal) around rocks or gullies as well as using guttering stuck in to the sand at about 18 inches deep, others will set rocks out that are covered in weed this helps create a natural looking habitat for the crab, collection is done at each low tide, those with traps will be down to the area before the water has uncovered them to ensure they are first to get to their traps, others will stroll along the beach lifting rocks and digging down to try and locate the crab, it is important that you replace any rocks that you move to ensure that the smaller creatures attached to the rocks survive.

There are various ways of checking if the crabs are peeler crab or not;

1. Break away a small segment of the crabs 2nd to last leg, make sure you do not do this to the crabs very last leg as this is its "swimming" leg and is important to it, once you have removed the segment if there is a new soft leg underneath then you have a peeler, if you just get a white sinu then you have a hard back crab and it is no use.
2. On inspection you may see that the rear part of the shell is lifting away from the main crab, this is generally called a "popper" and is perfect for immediate use.
3. "Softies or Jellies" are crabs that have peeled on the last tide, these are generally found on the surface, under weed or rocks, again these are perfect for immediate use.

Crab traps must be kept cleaned out, you do not want them to fill with sand as this may mean they get covered, guttering jammed in to the sand must not be set in a an area where people are likely  to walk. If you are going to walk along the beach and collect crab from the rocks etc, then it is a good idea to take a small hand held garden fork with the ends bent downwards, this will assist you in locating the crab as they can be as far down as 3 inches and were there is one crab there are probably many more as they tend to live in colonies.

Now that you have your peeler you need to keep them in tip top condition ready for use as bait, crabs should be kept refrigerated and checked daily.

Keep the crabs in a container like a cat litter tray or ice cream container, keep them cool at all times and cover them in seaweed soaked in fresh sea water, this should be changed 3 times a week.

Checking the crabs should be done daily, any dead crabs should be removed and discarded any that are starting to peel should also be removed and separated this can be kept for a few days at the most, and if not going to be used should be froze down for a later date.

Selecting crabs for use is also important, you don't want to take crabs that are not in the peeling stage out with you as these will soon die, to do this check each crab for signs of "popping" you can identify these my the following methods;

1 The crabs shell will be cracked or raised near the rear end.

2. By pressing on the shell near the rear end, it will crack to show that it is ready

Crabs that have popped and are not going to be used should be frozen down, I find the following to be the most successful. Place the crab in a freezer and allow it to freeze, once frozen remove the legs and wrap in foil, then place in a freezer bag, this helps stop freezer burn, other people peel the crab fully and then wrap in cling film then foil, and they also remove the lungs. "Softies or Jellies" I find that they need to be used immediately as they do not freeze that well due to the high amount of water content.

If you collect many peelers at various stages then there may be times when you need to bring them on in order to use them, this is done by giving them a larger amount of fresh sea water to drink and also allowing them to warm up a little, you will notice bubbles from the crabs jaws as they drink the water.

Presentation of the crab is important as collecting and keeping them, they can be used as a bait on their own or as a tip off with rag or lug, larger crabs can be cut in half and used on smaller hooks, bait elastic s required to help keep this soft bait in place while casting, but there is no need to embalm it.