Do Crabs Eat Bacon?

I can not believe that the Summer holidays are only a few weeks away. As ever the year is going so quickly. But the onset of the Summer holiday, long days and plenty of sunshine will normally mean one thing. The boys will request to go crabbing. It is a quintessential family pass time which we all really enjoy. If I find a great place to crab close to home, I always post about it here on Mudpie Fridays. But I am often shocked by how many people say they have never been crabbing. If you want to go crabbing for the first time, I thought this post would be helpful. As it will help you have great crabbing expeditions. It covers crabbing lines, crabbing nets, crabbing bait and crabbing on the beach. At the bottom of this post, I have linked our favourite crabbing spots in the UK.

Using bacon as bait when crabbing is a popular technique among recreational and commercial crab fishermen. The savory, salty taste of bacon makes an irresistible lure for attracting crabs to traps and lines. But do crabs actually consume and eat bacon in the wild or is it just effective bait? This article explores the science behind crabs’ taste for bacon.

Why Bacon Makes Great Crab Bait

There are several properties of bacon that make it enticing bait to use when crabbing:

Smell – Crabs locate food through sensing odor particles in the water using chemical receptors. The strong, fatty aroma of bacon spreads widely.
Taste – Bacon contains compounds like glutamates that stimulate crabs’ taste sensors, The saltiness and umami flavor are highly attractive
Texture – The soft but chewy texture of bacon allows crabs to grab and latch on with their claws and mouthparts.
Fat content – Bacon fat provides a rich food source appealing to crabs’ nutritional needs.

So bacon essentially pushes all the right buttons for a crab’s feeding response. This explains why they will readily swallow a piece of bacon on a line or investigate bacon smell inside a trap.

Do Wild Crabs Consume Bacon?

While crabs certainly love bacon as bait, it is not part of their natural diet in the wild. Here are some key points:

Crabs are opportunistic omnivores, feeding on available meat plant matter algae, mollusks and decomposing organisms.
Their habitats like rocky shores, sea beds, marshes and reefs contain no natural sources of bacon or pork.
As predators, crabs favor live prey like mussels and smaller crustaceans which they can actively hunt.
Rotting fish, seaweed and seabird carcasses provide examples of nutritious animal matter crabs consume.

So bacon is an entirely novel food for crabs. They exhibit taste preferences shaped by evolutionary pressures to recognize protein-rich, high calorie food sources which bacon mimics well.

Edible Crabs Consumed by Humans

The most commonly fished and consumed crabs including blue crabs, Dungeness crabs and snow crabs also do not encounter bacon in the wild. However, when served as human food, crabs are commonly paired with bacon:

Crab cakes, stuffed crab shells and crab imperial recipes often include bacon for added flavor.
Bacon wrapped crab legs or crab claws make a popular appetizer.
Bacon gives an umami punch to crab bisques and chowders.
A garnish of crumbled bacon on crab salad or linguine is common.

So while crabs do not find bacon in nature, we have certainly discovered they pair well together on the dinner plate thanks to their complementary flavors.

Health Benefits of Bacon for Crabs

While not part of their natural ecology, introducing crabs to bacon does provide some potential health benefits:

Bacon is an extremely energy dense food, providing a rich source of fats and protein. This helps power growth and reproduction.
The high salt content supplies essential minerals and electrolytes.
Bacon may provide vitamins like B1 and B2 that crabs cannot synthesize themselves.
The change in diet from normal prey brings variety and new sensory stimulation.

However, as an occasional treat food, rather than making up a major part of their intake. Too much bacon could cause imbalance in crab’s nutritional needs in the wild.

Preparing Bacon Bait for Crabbing

To harness bacon’s irresistible appeal for catching crabs, here are some tips on preparing it as bait:

Select a bacon with high fat content for maximium oiliness and aroma. Avoid lean bacon.
Let the bacon age and cure further by leaving it uncovered in the fridge to intensify flavor.
Cut bacon into cubes or strips that fit inside bait cages or nets.
Change out bait regularly before it fully disintegrates. Fresher bacon releases more smell.
Consider adding extra flavorings like fish oil or crab attractant spray to turbocharge the bacon.

Crabs Probably Wish Bacon Grew on Trees

do crabs eat bacon

Can I go crabbing on the beach?

You can go crabbing on the beach. Although we tend to favour piers over crabbing on the beach. But it is possible to crab in rock pools. It is easier to use more traditional crab lines when fishing for crabs in rock pools. You will need hand-held dip nets, though, to keep them from running away when you take the line out of the water. Some beaches which have inlets also offer a good place for crabbing. As there is normally a slight drop between the beach and where the river joins. Which makes crabbing on the beach easier.

Crabbing Line v Crabbing Net

Personally, we prefer a crabbing net over a crabbing line. Although they are more expensive if you buy them in advance from somewhere like Amazon. Then they may be a lot cheaper than buying a crabbing line from a vendor on the beach. We have used a crabbing line before, but when you feel it up, there is a lot of range depending on how strong the crab is hanging. We’ve also found that the crabs often fall off. Which can be a little frustrating for the kids. It is likely you will only catch one or two at a time.

Crab hoop nets, on the other hand, make a bucket when you pull them up, which keeps the crabs inside. This isn’t always the case if the bait bag has been moved out of the net. It depends on the current. But crabbing nets give you a better chance of getting the crab to the top and catching more than one.