Soft-crabbing was something my pals and I did quite often.
Soft-crabbing is looking for green-coloured crabs under rocks in rock pools at low tide, shortly after they have shed their shell. We'd wander the rocks at the end of Scalby Mills Road, north of Scalby Beck, with a bucket, turning over rocks as we went, collecting soft crabs by the dozens. Sometimes we'd get lucky and find some big red crabs (good for eating) and on rare ocassions, a lobster or two.Soft crabs feel as if they are made of rubber, and make an ideal bait for fishing. We'd put them on the hook and then wrap white cotton around and around the crab and the hook to secure it, leaving the legs free to move about and attract a fish.
Sometimes we'd go soft-crabbing for bait for ourselves, and sometimes it was for my father, who fished extensively on the rocks and cliffs between Whitby and Flamorough, and caught quite large cod on soft crabs.
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