Crabbing in Texas: lines, traps, nets and the gear rules

Crabbing is the easiest way to put dinner on a Texas pier. A string, a piece of meat and a long-handled net will do it, and it works for a kid, a visitor or someone who just wants a break from waiting on a bite. It also has a short list of gear rules that catch people out, mostly about traps.

General technique, plus rules from TPWD's Crab & Ghost Shrimp Regulations and legal devices pages, both valid September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2027. This is not legal advice. Rules change, so check TPWD before you go.

A blue crab on a dock at Freeport, Texas.

What you need and what you can keep

• License: TPWD says anyone taking crabs or ghost shrimp from salt water for non-commercial use needs a valid fishing license and a saltwater fishing endorsement. The TexCast license page shows the package that includes it.
• Personal use only: crabs taken on a recreational license are for bait or food and cannot be sold.
• Blue crab: no daily bag limit and no possession limit. The minimum is 5 inches across the widest point of the body, measured from the tip of one side spine to the tip of the other.
• Undersized blue crabs: no more than 5% of the crabs you have, by number, may be kept for bait, and they go in a separate container.
• Never keep an egg-bearing (sponge) crab, or a female with the abdominal apron removed.
• Stone crab: no bag or possession limit, with a 2-1/2 inch claw minimum, measured from the tip of the claw to the first joint behind the immovable claw. Only the right claw may be kept, and the crab itself goes straight back into the water.
• Ghost shrimp: 20 a day, with no minimum length, and 20 per person in possession.

TPWD says it is unlawful to place, fish or leave a crab trap or any trap part in Texas coastal waters from February 19 through February 28, 2027. Pull your traps before then.

Start with a line and a net

The simplest crab gear is a baited line with no hook. TPWD defines a crab line exactly that way and puts no restrictions on it. Tie a weight and a piece of bait to a length of cord, lower it to the bottom beside a piling or bulkhead and wait. A crab that grabs the bait holds on while you pull the line in slowly and steadily. When it comes near the surface, slide a dip net under it. Raise the line too fast and the crab lets go.

• Bait: oily or smelly bait pulls crabs in. Chicken necks, fish scraps and cut mullet are the usual choices, and a piece you tie on tightly lasts longer than one that falls off the line.
• Where: pilings, pier legs, bulkheads, dock edges and grass lines in the bays. Crabs sit where there is cover and move with the tide, so try a few spots rather than waiting on one.
• Weight: just enough to hold the bait on the bottom where the current is running. A heavy lead makes it hard to feel a crab lifting the bait.
• Net: a dip net is legal for crabs. TPWD also lets you use one to help land fish caught on other legal gear.
• Handling: pick a crab up from behind, across the back, with the claws pointed away from you, or use tongs. A crab keeps pinching after it leaves the water.

Cast nets, umbrella nets and folding traps

• Sand pump: TPWD lists a sand pump among the legal devices for crabs and ghost shrimp.
• Cast net: legal for crabs, crayfish and shrimp. It may not be more than 14 feet across. In salt water you may take nongame fish with it for bait only.
• Umbrella net: a non-metallic mesh net hung flat on a rigid frame. Legal for crabs, with a frame area of no more than 16 square feet.
• Folding panel traps: only crabs may be taken in them, and the overall surface area, panels included, may not exceed 16 square feet.

Crab traps: the rules that matter

A crab trap, left in the water for hours, takes crabs without you standing over it. That also makes it a regulated device. These are TPWD's rules for a non-commercial trap:

• Six traps at a time at most.
• You may only pull a trap or take crabs out of one between 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset.
• Each trap needs a gear tag valid for 10 days, attached within 6 inches of the buoy or the pier the trap is tied to.
• A trap may not exceed 18 cubic feet.
• At least two escape vents in each chamber that holds crabs, on the outside walls, each at least 2-3/8 inches across.
• A white floating buoy at least 6 inches high, long and wide, with a contrasting stripe 2 inches wide through the center. Buoys and floats may not be made from plastic bottles.
• A degradable panel, so a lost trap stops catching. TPWD describes three ways to build one: a lid strap held by untreated jute or sisal twine or thin untreated steel wire, a sidewall opening of at least 3 by 6 inches closed only by that kind of twine or wire, or a hinged flap held that way. Check the exact wording on TPWD's page when you build or buy a trap.
• At least 100 feet from any other crab trap, unless the traps are tied to a pier or dock. No crab traps in public fresh water.

Places with tighter trap rules

• Aransas County and part of Aransas Bay and Copano Bay: no crab trap within 200 feet of a marked navigable channel, and within the area TPWD describes near Rockport, Fulton and Goose Island you may fish up to 3 traps, and only if they are tethered to a fixed object such as a dock, pier or bulkhead. TPWD gives the boundary in words, so read it before setting a trap there.
• North and west of Highway 146 where it crosses the Houston Ship Channel in Harris County: no more than 3 traps.
• Public waters of the San Bernard River north of the boat access channel at Bernard Acres: no more than 3 traps.
• Cedar Bayou fish pass: no trap of any kind.

What to know before you go

• Check the size and keeping rules above against the TPWD page for the license year you are fishing.
• A crab line needs no tag, but a trap does.
• A pier may have its own posted rules about lines and traps. Read the sign at the entrance.
• Keep crabs cool and damp in a cooler, out of standing water, until you are done.

On TexCast

• Pier fishing on the Texas coast
• Check which license you need
• Texas saltwater tags
• Find a coastal water

For more reading, we suggest these articles

• TPWD: Crab & Ghost Shrimp Regulations (valid Sep. 1, 2026 through Aug. 31, 2027) (checked 2026-10-19)
• TPWD: Legal Devices, Methods & Restrictions (valid Sep. 1, 2026 through Aug. 31, 2027) (checked 2026-10-19)

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