Crabbing results anybody??

[Dave]

I crabbed in area 8-2 yesterday morning in a spot south of Camp Grandy (northwest tip of Camano Island) that is supposed to be a good producer for crab. My friends crabbed there as early as last week and took 2 limits in about 2 hours using 4 pots, and released 6 additional keepers to the water. So we went there yesterday and in 3.5 hours using 4 pots and 1 ring, we took 6 crab. There were some just under legal size and some females but the keepers were few. I believe this area is fished out. nothing like the last 5 weeks in area 8-1 where multiple limits in 2 hours and releasing just as many back to the Sound was the norm.

[sunshine]

I agree that area 8-2 is probably fished out. I dropped 2 pots for 2 hours and got 1 keeper. Problem is one of my pots was picked. :pale: SO someone got more than one keeper.

[stanford]

I wasn't sure if this is normal? But this being my first year crabbing I was amazed how good the sound puts out crab. In 2 hours we got limits of nice dungeness crab and big red rocks the ones with black tipped claws. I thought that they all get fished out by the later part of August? We use coho heads. They were all hard shell males from area 10--SK

[A9]

I wasn't sure if this is normal? But this being my first year crabbing I was amazed how good the sound puts out crab. In 2 hours we got limits of nice dungeness crab and big red rocks the ones with black tipped claws. I thought that they all get fished out by the later part of August? We use coho heads. They were all hard shell males from area 10--SK

Just like in fishing, there can be certain days where the fishing is much better then usual, or you could have dropped pots in a new area or a honey hole, or the crab could have been heavily concentrated near your pots. It happens.
Where I crab I notice trends. First 2-3 weeks in July is decent, from late July to early/mid August is real good crabbing, mid August is bad, then it peaks up a bit in late August and September....

[Adam B.]

Well went out the last day of the crabbing season in area 8-2 and at least come back with my limit. But took a while to get my limit. When I would check my pots, I mostly would get females, an occasional undersize male, and maybe a keeper or two. Does anyone know when we find out if there will be a Winter crabbing season this year or how that works?

[Anonymous]

We went out both Sun Mon in 8.1 and limited .the biggest problem I had was I lost a pot to a bad tieup.The other problem was soft shell crabs.Molting had begun.I let the soft ones go back. But even the firmer ones had lil meat in the claws.2 of us limited.We saw not one Red Rock for both days.I thought that was funny seeing that this season was a good mix.

[Rollin with Rolland]

well, not great, but still getting them. One advantage of living "up north"...crab until the end of September. Pretty picked through, but managed two decent hard shell keepers in one three hour set. Probably 20 female crab to every 3 males. Out of 3 males in a pot, one would break 6 1/4. It was a quick trip, but two crab makes about 10 nice crab cakes.....


Just a quick thought though....

Sometimes we anglers don't always see eye-to-eye with the WDFW, but I really think their RECREATIONAL management of crab is fairly decent....plenty of females to keep the reproduction rates high. Just to be clear, I mean RECREATIONAL management only......(commercial is another thing). Oh yeah, and pollution doesn't help our crustacean bottom dwelling friends either.......

[racfish]

Totally agree RR. The state does as good as they can with the budget given to them.I noticed even last weekend we had nice large males with soft shells.Closing crabbing now is a great idea for our waters.I was checked by the Sheriff I stated in another thread and they were so friendly and respectfull to us.It was a positive experience being checked by them.

[Adam B.]

Just a quick question for all you crabbers. I have been fishing in area 9 and 8-2 and have still seen crab buoys out there and even a yellow shrimp pot buoy too even though from looking at the regs the seasons are over. Are these derelict pots or are they people trying to still crab? Is there someone to ask to about what I should do if I still see more when I go out next? Thanks.

[Rollin with Rolland]

Not sure Adam B.

I know where I am, I can still crab and shrimp. Personally, there are so many rules around I just try to worry about my own stuff...If someone else is breaking the law, I'll leave that for the WDFW to catch them. Yes, I hate poachers, but you never know the situation...maybe they are commercial or tribal or who knows what...

DO NOT PULL ANY POTS IF THEY ARE NOT YOURS!!! That is against the law in itself, no better than poachers. If you really have a concern that some JA is messing up your fishery, just call the police/wdfw. as E would say...done and done. More time to focus on fishing.....

good question though Adam B.....

[Dave]

Just a quick note. I crabbed on Sunday during the recent holiday before the season closed. I crabbed in our spot south east of Hat Island. In 1hr and 20 minutes with 2 pots we handled 12 keepers, keeping 10. Released the 2 other keepers and handled 8 or 10 others that were barely under legal size. What a great spot to crab. Great season. I hope we get another opportunity this winter for another couple weeks of crabbing.

[Dave]

Hey Adam,

If you see red and white buoys out there you could definitely contact WDFW and give them the pot location and the info off of the buoy. I will do the same if I see any.

Dave

[Adam B.]

Well when I went out to area 9 earlier this week, the couple of bouys I saw last week are now gone. Either someone finally realized that they could not crab anymore, the current took them away, or someone helped themselfs to someone elses pots (which I hope didn't happen). If they did, you can always hope they got caught by the WDFW checker at the ramps.

[racfish]

There is commercial crabbers out with us non commercial crabbers.They get to crab 2 weeks(I Think) before we get to.Maybe there season is extended.The other thing is people who live on wtrft prop sometimes think they are above the law on crabbing and clamming.The other possibility are the guys who go out and steal pots probably use buoys that were stolen and would lose nothing if they are found.Most thieves dont usually care about the peeps they steal from.