We hit the Des Moines pier again for crab. We were working around a late start and got there a little after high tide. We were using traditional pots with chicken legs as bait. We immediately got three 7" red rocks in the first soak. It took the rest of the day to get three more.
In addition to the two pots we dropped, myself and my daughter tried casting some Danielsen crab snares. We could get the crab to take but would lose them at the surface or slighty above. Viewing Youtube videos. perhaps we were not aggressive enough reeling them in. Still, it gave us something to do while we were soaking the big pots.
We did catch and of course, let go a helmet crab (pictured). I learned that there is such thing as a Graceful Crab in Puget Sound. These look like undersized dungies. but are their own species. They have very purple legs, but the shell is shaped a bit different. A full sized adult tops out at around 4". Lived here all of my life and never heard of them. Go figure.