Jim, I use a small net I picked up ($3) at wally mart. It is about 2 ft long with mesh as the netting material. Look in the toy or sports dept. Mine has a frog molded onto the handle. Put it against the sand "downstream" of your feet. As the wave recedes, twist your feet to dislodge the crabs, which are then washed into your net. Works great when the crabs are fairly shallow and there's strong enough wave action. When crabs are 6 or more inches deep, scoop sand(and crabs) into the net and rinse the sand out through the mesh. Cull out the barren crabs keeping the egg filled and soft shelled ones in a belt-on plastic worm box. Works for me.

Bill Hartman