Hello, everyone. Tight Line Jr. here. When was the last time you had some boiled Georgia blue crabs? If you recall, the article I wrote several weeks ago focused on the local crabbing scene. An old pal of mine read the article and decided it was time to try and catch a few. He asked me if I wanted to try my luck with recreational crabbing. I told him, "Sure, let’s give it a try."

So last weekend we baited two traps with frozen mullet and dropped the traps off the end of the dock to "soak" overnight. The term "soak," as it is used by Alaskan king crab fishermen, means to drop traps into the frigid Bering Sea.

The next afternoon, we pulled up the traps and, sure enough, we had a mess of crab. Back at the house, I put a pot of salted water on the stove and turned up the heat. Different folks have different ways of preparing crab, but my preference is plain salted water. Water that has been flavored with mixtures such as Old Bay Seasoning tends to take away from the delicate taste of the crab. Anyway, that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

Within a few minutes, the salted water began to boil and I dropped the live crabs in and watched them turn red. I let them boil, then took the pot off the stove and dumped the boiled crabs on a table outside. They were delectable! My pal and I had enough crab left over to pick out some of the meat to make deviled crab. If you want to make a lasting impression on your family and friends, prepare the following recipe for them. Everyone will be positively delighted.

Neal’s world-famous
deviled crab recipe

1 pound of fresh cooked crab meat (preferably Georgia blue crab)

1 medium red bell pepper

1 medium onion

Ketchup

Worcestershire sauce

Tabasco sauce (do not use a substitute)

1 can of Campbell’s tomato soup

1 package of Ritz crackers

1 tsp of butter

Ground black pepper

Aluminum crab shells

Chop one-third of the red bell pepper and one-third of the onion. Using a nonstick pan, melt the butter over medium heat and add the chopped red bell pepper. Continue to sauté the pepper for about two or three minutes, turning frequently.

Add the chopped onion into the melted butter and sautéed bell pepper. Sauté the onion and bell pepper for about two or three more minutes. Remove the mixture from heat and let it rest.

In a bowl, add one-third of a cup of ketchup, four tablespoons of tomato soup, three tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, three teaspoons of Tabasco and a dash of black pepper. Mix the ingredients with a spoon until blended together.

Crush half of the package of Ritz crackers, making sure the crackers are finely crushed. Add the crushed crackers and the sautéed bell peppers and onions to the ketchup, Worcestershire and Tabasco mixture. This needs to be mixed very well. Let it stand for five minutes so the crushed crackers will blend with the other ingredients.

Drain the juice off the crab and add it to the mixture. Use your hands to mix everything together. Make sure to break apart any lumps of crab meat. Put the entire mixture in the refrigerator for two hours.

Fill the aluminum crab shells with about a half cup of the mixture per shell. With your hand, mold it to fit the shell. The recipe will make about six or eight deviled crabs.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the crab for 20 minutes or until the tops are brown. Serve ’em up!

I may have mentioned this before, but can’t stress too often how lucky I am to live on Carr’s Neck River. Nearly every afternoon, I have the pleasure of watching the sun set over this peaceful, scenic waterway. Thanks to Lu Smith for the photo of this special place.

My first report is about Lu Smith, who fished solo off the dock. She landed seven nice-sized trout. That’s good news for the dock tour.

Toni Dykes, fishing on a dock in the Half Moon River, had a little fishing tale this week. She told herself that if she caught a stingray, she’d pack up and go home. Well, Toni netted eight nice whiting and hung them off the dock on a fish string. Wouldn’t you know the next thing she caught was a stingray? While removing the creature and releasing it back into the river, the stingray’s tail caught the fishing string and she lost all the whiting. Toni said she stood on the dock and watched them float out towards St. Catherines Island. Now that’s a fishing tale.

David Bush, fishing with David Fennell, caught the limit on whiting and a few summer trout. Needless to say, we had fried fish and cheese grits this week for supper and, man, they were tasty.

For all you anglers, there is a fishing tournament April 23. The entry fee is $10 and the signup starts at 9 a.m. at Halfmoon Marina. Weigh-in starts at 5 p.m. and the first-place winner gets $300. Second place will net you $200 and third gets $100. Awards will be handed out at 7 p.m. For more information, call 884-5819.

Well, friends, that is about it until next time. Remember what Ol‘ Tight Line always said: "Get out there and go fishing and if you do, always remember to keep a tight line." I say hit the docks, keep a sharp eye and watch that cork go down.

P.S. Thanks to my partner, Pat Nealson.