Has anyone ever heard of a Sook? I grew up in South Dorchester County, in Maryland, and my father was a waterman. In the Fall of the year he would always catch loads of female Blue Crabs that the local people call "Sooks." I have heard the word "sook" locally, in Caroline County too. Ever hear of a Sook?
Specializing in Farm Home and land sales in Maryland and Delaware primarily in Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's, Sussex, and Talbot County on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay.
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My family has riverfront property in Southern Maryland and I spent many a spring summer and fall season there. Everyone in my family is into crabbing and eating crabs and of course Maryland has the BEST crabs in the world!!! I've never heard of the name SOOK in relation to blue crabs. I've heard of peelers and soft shells. I know the difference between a male and female crab (it's the look of their "aprons") It is probably just in "my head" from childhood but I always thought the females don't taste as good as the males. We always just ate the male crabs. My dad taught us to throw the females back and never eat them. So What is a SOOK??
Debbie - the "Sooks" are the females which shed (turn into soft crabs - not the scientific term which I think is molt) and then get a hard shell again. After their shells get hard again their aprons double in size and then the locals go from calling them females to "Sooks." Check it out some time. That is also when the female (Sook) starts to form eggs under the apron and later becomes what the locals call a "Sponge Crab" because the millions of orange colored eggs look like a sponge on the bottom (apron) of the crab. Maryland does have the "BEST" blue crabs in the world!
Hi Mickey,
I grew up on the coast of North Carolina (still live in the same vicinity) and I have never heard of a sook. It must be a Maryland term. Now, soft crabs I know about--love them. Thanks for educating me this morning.