The green crab is an invasive species that has become one of the most abundant and important food items on the Northeast coast. They swarm the estuaries, rocks and jetties, and a long list of gamefish, above all tautog, eats them. That makes the green crab both a premier bait and a forage worth matching.
What they are
Green crabs are small shore crabs, greenish (though color varies to orange and red), with a squared, saw-toothed shell. They are found in staggering numbers along virtually every rocky and marshy shoreline, which is exactly why so many fish key on them.
Who eats them, and how anglers use them
- As bait: green crabs are the classic tautog bait, fished whole or halved on a tog rig tight to structure, and they take black sea bass too.
- As forage to match: striped bass eat small crabs on the flats and in the rocks, so a crab fly or a crab-colored soft plastic can be the key when they are crabbing.
Tip When bass are up on a flat or working the rocks but ignoring baitfish flies, they may be eating crabs. A crab fly dropped and left to sit, then twitched slightly, imitates a fleeing green crab and gets eaten when a swimming fly does not.