Blue crab bait!
     A pre-peeler, peeler crab, and buster crab are processes for a blue crab preparing & molting its hard shell. Upon completion, the crab is left with a new soft shell that expands before hardening. Crabs can molt year round, but the optimum time is from April through November. Crabs 3 to 4 inches molt more frequently than the larger ones. When actual molting starts, the crab is called a buster crab.
    Blue peeler crabs will always seek protection from fish such as tarpon and red drum. They hide in the grassy shoals, squirm down into a shallow depression, or hide in a partially submerged structure that provides a shelf-like shape to hide under. Look carefully and pick them up with a net. The best choice in placing the hook is thru and near the tip of the shell at the furthest width of the crab. Let the crab swim beneath a bobber at a depth suitable for the habitat of the fish.