Linton's Seafood

Bushel basket-- a place to put crabs and a place to sit when the crabs aren’t running

Buster-- a molting crab whose shell has split

Channeler-- a large, mature male crab (also jimmie)

Chicken necker-- a weekend or amateur crabber

Crab capital-- Crisfield, Maryland

Crab factory-- a building housing crab pickers

Crab feast-- a traditional gathering much like clam bakes in New England. It’s a celebration with steamed crabs piled high and beer flowing freely.  Some excellent side dishes are corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes.  A crab feast can also mean a restaurant that features all-you-can-eat for a set price.

Crab float-- a wooden pen for crab storage; about four feet by twelve feet; used to hold “green” crabs until their molting period.

Crab knife-- a knife used to pick crabs.  Manufactured by Carvel Hall, Crisfield, Maryland. (no longer in business)

Crab mustard-- the yellow fat of the crab, prized by man and discarded by others.  Like, garlic, you either love it or hate it.  I use it in my crab cakes.

Crab pot-- a wire mesh cage, 24 x 24 x 21 inches, with a funnel and buoy for catching crabs.  The center trap is baited with fish to entice the crab inside, but once the crab caught he can’t get out.

Crab scrape-- a lightweight dredge with a toothless bottom bar and a long bag made of twine.  It is used to rake through the grass to strain out peelers and soft-shell crabs.

Crab seasoning-- a Chesapeake seafood concoction used to season crabs as they steam--a must-have ingredient that can be found in any Chesapeake Bay kitchen, where its distinctive aroma scents the air.  We call it “summer’s perfume.” Look for brands like J.O. Spice, old Bay and Wye River.

Crab shanty--a building where crabs are taken to be packed for shipment to market, usually at the water’s edge.

Crabtown-- a nickname for Annapolis, Maryland

Crisfield lawn furniture-- crab pots that have been pulled from the water and are in need of repair

Dead men’s fingers-- a crab’s gills or lungs (also called devil’s fingers)

Doubler-- a male crab carrying a female for mating (also buck and rider)

Dredge-- similar to a crab scrape with teeth on the bottom bar. For “winter-time” harvesting of crabs buried in the mud.

J.O. Spice-- a seasoning used by crab houses to spice up their crabs for customers who like them that way.

Keeper-- a legal-size catch-- “That one’s a keeper”

Molt-- the shedding of a hard shell crab

Number ones-- the largest crabs.  Remember, the bigger the crab, the bigger the price!

Old Bay seasoning-- a spice blend found in the home pantry

Paper shell-- a crab whose shell is beginning to harden after molting

Peeler-- a crab about to shed

Sally-- an immature female crab

Scrape-- a dredge or toothed rake pulled over the bay bottom for oysters, clams or crabs

She crab-- mature female crab

Slabs-- very large soft crabs (also whales)

`S not-- ‘s not a hard crab and ‘s not a peeler

Soft crab sandwich-- one of life’s greatest pleasures

Soft-shell crab-- crab that has just molted whose shell has not hardened

Sook or Sooky-- a mature female crab

Sponge crab-- female carrying egg mass

Tinker bells-- crab boots worn by watermen.  Sometimes they’re called Crisfield prom shoes.

Trotline-- A method of catching crabs using long baited lines that are buoyed and anchored at each end and rest on river and creek bottoms. The crabber scoops up the unsuspecting crab with a net while the crab eats the bait.  Crabs caught on trotlines taste better than those caught by potting or dredging.