Peeler crabs in the West

[k]

Elsewhere around the country peeler crab seems to be one of the staple baits, yet here in Galway it is very rarely used. Is it just to hard to get around this area or is it not as good a bait?

[Clam]

I think peeler crab is good for the flat fish and codling on the east coast but fish baits seem to work better in the west coast.
I often brought home live peeler crab from wexford and had 2 rods set up one with the crab and the other with mackerel.
There was a big crab population in this area and the fish bait outfished the crab.

[kieran]

hi K, Clam

I'd agree with Clam on this...

Peelers are a back pain! Aside from mackerel, the only bait worth having is ragworm. I have seen ragworm catch Haddock right on the bottom off a boat in Clew Bay in 70 metres of water when all else failed. In fact we used it to target the Haddock over the Pollack and Codling. It was a useful discovery.

I do not doubt that peelers will work, especially in the many estuaries but I doubt that it will outfish mackerel or lugworm or anything else all that much... whereas if you go down to Wexford or Waterford without peelers, it is asking for a blank, even in summer when there are so many other baits available.

HTH...

[k]

Thanks lads, I'll stick to the fish and worms