Northwest Fishing Reports

Well, I got a really interesting/cool phone call from a guy just now.
It was probably the second weekend of crabbing, around July 10th that I went out of Shilshoe Marina in area 10 and dropped my crab pots. I was with another guy who brought 2 crab rings. We did an overnight soak and when we returned the next night we could only find 3 of our pots/rings. My friend thought of course that his ring had been stolen, and I have to admit that I just figured the same,, although I would never really use rings from a boat, that is just what he had available. I kind of also figured that it may have drifted with the tide.
Anyway, fast forward 6 weeks to this guy calling me to say that he has found my crab ring......... found it in the strait of juan de fuca, 17 miles into the straits from the Keystone (whidbey Is.- Port Towns. ferry) Of course I said something about it must have been stolen, and then he said def. not. The twine which holds the ring together was totaly shredded and the buoy rope looked like it had been through a war. He also found one that originated in Everett, and a 3rd from somewhere else.

Well anyway, I thought that was kinda a trip to hear.

Dragged by a big boat? Who knows, heck of a move for a crab pot.

Were there any crab in it???

Sam Kafelafish wrote:Dragged by a big boat? Who knows, heck of a move for a crab pot.

Were there any crab in it???

This was one of my buddies rings, so of course I'd say no crab.

quadradomus wrote:

Sam Kafelafish wrote:Dragged by a big boat? Who knows, heck of a move for a crab pot.

Were there any crab in it???

This was one of my buddies rings, so of course I'd say no crab.

A bit of sarcasm on my part....

That is a crazy journey. I'd say swept away or picked/dumped in deeper water but something dragged it all the way out there.

Wow, that's pretty crazy. I find it unlikley that the pots made that whole journey without any help from human hands. It's refreshing to know that there are people out there that will try and return found pots!

I don't know....I'm not so skeptical. I think it is entirely possible there was no human intervention.

I once set a shrimp pot, left for a few hours, came back and it was gone. This was the FIRST time I ever set a shrimp pot. Well, the currents were heading north, so I figure "why not just follow the current and see". sure enough, 2 miles down current I find my shrimp pot with 300' of line drifting in 500' water. two miles in a couple hours. It happens.

I know this is a shrimp pot with much more drag, but I'm sure it could happen with a crab pot/ring as well. (also, that was not the first time I found my shrimp pot drifting away...just the first and farthest)

Glad to hear people returning gear...

Rollin with Rolland wrote:I don't know....I'm not so skeptical. I think it is entirely possible there was no human intervention.

I once set a shrimp pot, left for a few hours, came back and it was gone. This was the FIRST time I ever set a shrimp pot. Well, the currents were heading north, so I figure "why not just follow the current and see". sure enough, 2 miles down current I find my shrimp pot with 300' of line drifting in 500' water. two miles in a couple hours. It happens.

I know this is a shrimp pot with much more drag, but I'm sure it could happen with a crab pot/ring as well. (also, that was not the first time I found my shrimp pot drifting away...just the first and farthest)

Glad to hear people returning gear...

What do you mean by 300ft of line in 500ft of water? Was the buoy holding it up off the bottom?

JT26 wrote:
What do you mean by 300ft of line in 500ft of water? Was the buoy holding it up off the bottom?

Yep. Exactly. I THOUGHT i had enough weight in it for the location....but those dang tides change pretty quick. Also JT26, this is when i was still pretty green (inexperienced), now i know the more weight the better. Better to have the buoy go under that have your pot drift away!!

Fishing the sound last night I saw a few crab pots get the heck beat out of them. We were drift fishing by the green can and saw at least 2 that were on the move by themselves. Dunno if it's sharks going after bait or the current, but they went for a ride.

I've seen problems like that, usually when people don't use rope that sinks and it suspends/floats getting caught in a prop even though the bouy is many yards away.

Crab pots in front of the Duwamish would be scarey.I wouldnt eat a crab out of Commencement,Elliot or Edmonds bays for anything unless I was Starving.I've lost pots before.Lost two this last season.thats why I buy the $15.00 Danielson pots.If you lose it OH WELL!!!!

racfish wrote:thats why I buy the $15.00 Danielson pots.If you lose it OH WELL!!!!

I also have found that they produce better then any other pot....And I know a few other convinced friends/family members who feel the same way, and your right, $15 for pot, nothing big to sweat over at night when you lose, but those other ones with triple digit price tags on the shelves, boy I'd be heated to lose one of those...Glad I don't have any to worry about!:cheers:

I have posted this before and I'll say it again. I worked on tugboats in Puget Sound for 30 years and never saw a tugboater put down a pot in Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, Bremerton, Olympia or Bellingham Harbors. Tacoma was the most polluted harbor on the West Coast of the US. Seattle's bottom fish and crabs are a No No!...as for the Duwamish River anything on the bottom is probably contaminated with PCB's. We stayed away from these populated areas when we were getting crab and bottom fish. Most fish that were moving in and out of these areas were considered ok. However the only thing I would eat in Tacoma was Salmon returning from sea. If the salmon have sea lice then I considered it ok to eat It's pretty safe if you got anything at Johnny's Dock.:-)

Port Townsend was a great place for crab off the train dock and anywhere north of Everett . Anacortes was a killer area. I like any area around Whidbey Island. As far as south sound, I would expect any area is ok as long as you stay away from Tacoma and Olympia. Hood Canal is great for Oysters Clams and Mussels. San Juan Islands is a fantastic area for all seafood.
One last thing....If the crab, clams, shell fish or any fish look weird, discolored, or has tumors....Just throw it back! Most bottom fish have little white worms and they will die when you cook them. They are ok to eat.

As for your pots being found miles away. just remember that Towboats have a cable that goes to their barge.....It catches everything in it's way. There is no way to avoid your little $15 pot! So keep them out of traffic lanes and you should be all right.

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As for your pots being found miles away. just remember that Towboats have a cable that goes to their barge.....It catches everything in it's way. There is no way to avoid your little $15 pot! So keep them out of traffic lanes and you should be all right.

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Relax,it's ok... I just thought that it was a great true story. Nobody puts down pots out in the shipping lanes anyway, or at least I can't imagine dropping 500-600' of line. This pot was only 300 ft. off shore.

Crab pots can move with the tide if you don't have a large enough weight on them or if the bouy is large enough to lift the pot. You might look to see if the pot was near a ledge or drop off. Then they can get picked up by a larger boat and taken for miles without the boat operator ever knowing that he/she is dragging something. I would think that only three things can make a pot travel miles from it's dropping point. One is tide and the other is getting caught on another vessel. or...Of course the one thing we all don't like......Thievery.....Just plain stealing it and dropping it after taking the crab.

I have traveled from Anacortes to Cherry Point and had 10 bouys hanging on the towing bridles. It isn't done on purpose but there is no way to avoid the pot's bouy. We used to put out pots in Useless Bay and Anacortes at low/low tide with short lines to the bouy so they would sink and nobody would know that we had a pot down and come back at the next low/low tide and pick it. That would keep the theives from knowing they were there. Another way to fool a thief is to put a chunk of drift wood with bunch of kelp on it as your bouy....Illegal, but you save the pot :thumleft: