Fiddler crabs

Perry’s favorite bait for catching sheepshead are fiddler crabs he catches in the marsh close to his house. A fiddler crab is compact, which helps prevent the bait from being nibbled off — something a sheepshead is notorious for doing.

Fiddler crabs are easier to catch at low tide, so makes pre-planning is a necessity. There are miles of marshy habitat along the coast, so an area with an abundant supply of fiddlers shouldn’t be too hard to find.

“I look for fiddler crabs in any type of marsh area,” Perry explained. “I’ve seen them in sand, I’ve seen them in mud, but areas that have dense spartina grass are ideal.

“The best areas are areas that spend half their time under water and half out; that’s where they prefer. They’ll dig their holes and bury there. I think it’s just better for feeding.”

Locating a fiddler crab hotspot is pretty easy.

“You’re just looking for holes. You can’t miss it,” Perry said. “You’ll see a hole, anywhere from ¼ to ½ inch, depending on the size of the crab. You’ll notice certain areas have a lot larger population of fiddler crabs.”

Once you’ve located a concentration of fiddler crabs, Perry uses a couple of basic garden tools — a hand shovel and a small bucket — to harvest his fiddlers.

Before you get started, however, put an inch or 2 of mud or sand in your bucket to aid in keeping your fiddlers alive. Perry said if you keep the mud moist, fiddlers will last upwards of a week.

“You can actually see them in the entrance of their hole or just inside the lip of the hole,” Perry said. “You take your spade or shovel and jab it about 3 or 4 inches down at an angle outside of the hole, cutting off the crab’s hole below him. You’ll see they actually sense that their hole is cut off below, and they’ll come out.

“At that point you just have your hand there ready to grab them and throw them in the bucket.”

Make certain you catch plenty of fiddler crabs when you go — at least 25 per person. If you find you’re not going to use what you caught, simply take them back to the catch site for later capture.