I’ve always felt that crabs with softer shells are the tastiest and work better in soups, crab cakes and other dishes: king, dungeness, box, blue, snow, etc
East coast stone and west coast rock crabs tend to have larger strings of meat (almost like imitation crab) and the ones above are more “stringy” in a good way, if that makes sense.
We don’t pay for blue crabs 
Stone crabs are the only food I will go “all you can eat”. Billy’s stone crab is a favorite in Hollywood Beach, FL;many, many crabs consumed there. Otherwise, there is no better crab than Maryland blue though I prefer a crabcake. Woodys in Dewey Beach, DE is my current favorite.
Fresh king is the best by a mile. Still I love stone while my wife prefers dungeness. Freshness is important though. My buddy overnights them every once in a while and its incomparable.
That’s the key… Freshness. I usually get the stone crabs off the boat in the morning and have them in the afternoon.
While fresh Stones are great, I found fresh Dungeness Crab on the “spit” , in Homer, Alaska to be the best ! 
Come on up and I’ll take you ice fishing!
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I am likely the only resident of Los Angeles who owns and uses one of these. We eat them a couple of times monthly or more during the season.
The season opened a week ago and we had our first tonight from Joe’s. 5 large/jumbo per person and they were firm, sweet, and delicious. We usually order bigger claws, but these were more than enough. We buy from Joe’s and George’s, depending on size and cost. Happy crab season!
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Here’s my sauce recipe for stone crabs.
1 cup mayo (I use Duke’s)
1TBL Colemen’s dry mustard
1 teas A-1 sauce
2 teas worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half
Mix well and let chill for a bit before eating
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As a kid we had traps that we would hit up on our way to our spear fishing spots. Would stop by each trap, take a claw, return him to his hideout. Spearfish the rest of the day.
Cook it all up that evening and serve with black beans and rice. Chefs kiss the entire meal.
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This is pretty much what I do based on Joe’s recipe.
“My overly simple rule for seafood (but it might just be my palate), is the colder the water the better the seafood. Seems to apply to fish, shellfish and crustaceans for me.”
You should come ice fishing with me, nothing better than Perch or Walleye through the ice and into a skillet.
Cold water shrimp vs warm water shrimp ?
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I’d go with cold. Spot prawns and ridgeback shrimp (more work, smaller but sweeter)
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Ate Jumbo claws from George again last night. 4 per person per order. Firm, sweet, and delicious. Again.
So far this season, we’ve ordered from Joe’s and George twice each. Thus far, George’s claws have been better.
- The week before New Years. I was a young associate called in to fly to Marco Island to document the sale of the largest private airplane distributor in the US. Worked 19 hours every day in a hotel room. After 4 days, the clients invited the lawyers to dinner. Classic American oceanside décor - big thick dark oak wood tables. The President of the company on the other side ordered drinks. I declined and said I was working. He insisted. I declined again. He was an ass, so I finally agreed to get a drink and ordered a double single malt, neat, to teach him what real men drank.
I downed the drink in two swallows and asshole ordered my another, which I finished likewise. We all ordered stone crabs. They were short one cracker and the asshole didn’t get one. I said, “No problem” and I gave him mine. I then took a stone crab in my fist and smashed it as hard as I could on the side of the table to open it. I have no recollection of what it tasted like.
I got a case of 1975 Gruaud Larose as an extra bonus from my firm because they ruined my New Years. I was lucky the partner in charge did not fire me.
PS - I understand that Marco Island is a nice place. I have no idea. Other that the trip to the restaurant and a cab to and from the airport, I never left the hotel.
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Salmon caught fresh on a boat at the end of the jetty in Home is pretty good too.