How to Keep Mole Crabs

Keep your mole crabs in your mole crab rake, if you are staying on the beach. Lean your rake up against your chair or fishing rod stand, to keep it upright. Cover the mole crabs with wet sand. Prevent the sand from drying out by periodically scooping new sand and water over the mole crabs. They can die if left to dry out and overheat.

Carry a small chiller box or cool bag with you, if you want to take the mole crabs home. Scoop them up with the mole crab rake and put them into the cool bag. Put some wet sand into the bag, over the mole crabs.

Put three to six inches of wet sand into a large cool box. Use a 5-gallon size cool box, or a less preferably a bucket of the same volume. Do not add excess water as the crabs will be less able to breath. The sand should be damp only.

Keep the cool box in the shade, in a shed or the house. If the ambient temperature is very hot, put a few handfuls of ice in the cool box. The mole crabs must not get too hot as they are naturally cooled by seawater.

Change the sand daily. Pick out the mole crabs, put them in between damp sheets of newspaper, and store them in the refrigerator. Replace the dirty sand with fresh, damp, cool sand. Mole crabs will die if they are left in their own urine for more than a day, so urine soaked sand must be removed. Mole crabs will survive for about four days in captivity. Use them as bait within this time or return them to their natural habitat.

Freeze the sand crabs if you want to keep them for longer for bait. This kills the sand crabs. Blanch them, by boiling them for about 10 seconds. Drain and bag them, then put them in your freezer. Thaw the mole crabs before use.