It’s almost Crab time!

[CP]

Got out the gear today to make sure everything is in order for the opener.  The pots are pretty rusty but they should have another season or two in them.  They look so nasty nobody will want to steal them.   

[Stein]

Funny, I just drug the junk out of the shed and was going to post something.  Crab is my favorite thing to eat that I can legally pull out of Puget Sound, hot crab dripping down your arm is the best.  Can't wait, hopefully we don't have the softie problem like last year.

[WSU]

We caught a bunch a few weeks ago camping at Westport and had a big crab boil. It was delicious after not having any since last summer!

[MADMAX]

The commercials were out in force Monday on the Hood canal
Good luck

[metlhead]

Super excited to get on the crab this summer and jig up some kings. Oh wait, no go for south sounders. Hard to recover something when the only spawning area is pounded by tribal fishers. At least let us pull Rocks. They eat fine. Prolly don't trust us heathen license buyers to toss back the few we do catch. May you folks up north have a banner year.

[WSU]

Super excited to get on the crab this summer and jig up some kings. Oh wait, no go for south sounders. Hard to recover something when the only spawning area is pounded by tribal fishers. At least let us pull Rocks. They eat fine. Prolly don't trust us heathen license buyers to toss back the few we do catch. May you folks up north have a banner year.

It’s *censored* they don’t open it for rock crabs.

[jay.sharkbait]

Super excited to get on the crab this summer and jig up some kings. Oh wait, no go for south sounders. Hard to recover something when the only spawning area is pounded by tribal fishers. At least let us pull Rocks. They eat fine. Prolly don't trust us heathen license buyers to toss back the few we do catch. May you folks up north have a banner year.

It’s *censored* they don’t open it for rock crabs.

Fifty different versions of salmon harvest and that’s manageable but a couple different viable crab species can’t be?

We focus on red rocks in the south sound and were looking forward to it.

[Stein]

We’re running a ridiculous 6 pots for the weekend, then down to 4.  The other two will be for sale here on Monday, hopefully with pics full of fatties.


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[blackpowderhunter]

I'll likely be out Thursday.
Question for all the south sounders.
What boats do you have? No trailers?
I simply ask because everyone losing their mind over 11 and 13 being closed can't make it north?  I fish ares 6/7 all the way down through 13 and don't live that close to any of them.  It's a 30 minute drive WITHOUT traffic for me to put my boat in the salt at the closest point.
I have a trailerable boat.  The run from area 11 to 10 or 9 isnt that far by water either.  There are options to get your dungee fix. Make a day trip out of it, head north, fish kings, drop some pots.
The regs in WA are ever changing and hard to predict.  For me it'd be hard to have a boat I couldn't drag around the state based on seasons and regulations.

[WSU]

I do go other places.  But, it's very nice to be able to load up the kids and go catch 50 red rocks in an hour or two 20 minutes from home.  Life is busy with work, kids sports, activities, etc. and sometimes it is nice to still go crabbing without having to commit to a day or two of effort.

[Stein]

WDFW could open it for rock crab, they are worried about enforcement.  Essentially, you are being punished for something you haven't done yet.

If they really wanted to be an advocate for the sportsman, they could open it for a trial week, heavily patrol and go from there.  If there were problems, shut it down.  If not, have limited seasons or open it up.  They could have even opened for the trial before July 2 and then they wouldn't have had to patrol the entire Sound.

[WSU]

The enforcement thing is BS too.  There are fisheries all over open for one species but not another.  It's nonsense.  I would be willing to bet at least part of it is that the tribes do not want it open and WDFW has zero spine.

[Stein]

Yeah, I was just thinking that virtually everything on the ocean is a selective fishery, this not that, on this side of the magic line or that side, fin or no fin, min or max length, max depth, bag limit, etc.

[WSU]

Exactly.  Plus the mortality rate for crabs is way lower than things WDFW lets the public catch and release, like hatchery coho.  Anyone that's fished on a charter in the ocean knows the mortality of released coho has to be astronomical.

[metlhead]

No desire to head north and join the mob for slim pickins on crab and maybe a salmon. We've got a good thing here in the deep south sound, and lately, the August kings have been pretty much a sure bet. Getting to be about the convenience for me these days. Usually on the salt before the sun, home by 9am for a nap, and off to the river with family for great fishing, swimming, and fresh bankside crab. Just sumpin we do, and miss it

[CP]

Anyone do any good so far? 

I haven't been out yet, scared off by the crowds and tides.

[duramax]

Been good and the crowds aren't to bad. We pulled 76 in 3 days all hard shell and big size.

[elkaholic123]

Been good and the crowds aren't to bad. We pulled 76 in 3 days all hard shell and big size.

You must have had a boat full of people!👍

[Stein]

Tides don’t help, but they are there.  We pulled some nice ones, only one softie.


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[blackpowderhunter]

made it out opening day and then again on the 5th.
did well both days and now my freezer is cleaned out of fish heads/carcasses, hopefully making more room for kings 

[NRA4LIFE]

My wife and I (sadly, only 2 of us on the boat) released 19 keepers on Friday.

[CP]

Finally got out this morning for a quick limit:   

[Rufenit]

We are heading to Westport on Friday,  we’ve done a good amount of crabbing but seem to get many under sized and a few keepers. Has anyone dropped rings or pots south of the south jetty along the beach area. I’ve seen commercial pots out there but have never tried it.

[JohnVH]

Anyone crabbed 7s yet? Im looking to go sunday, not sure where exactly, yet...

[h20hunter]

First batch....all over 7

[JohnVH]

Excellent, taking some kids out for their first crabbing trip, hope we get on some.

[Magnum_Willys]

Limits today! 

[CP]

I can't find any fish but I can find crabs.

[magnanimous_j]

Does anyone ever put octopus pots down with their crab pots?

[Stein]

No, i'm pretty sure octopus eat crab so they may not be super jacked to crawl in a pot with one.

[h20hunter]

Correct! In my diving days we fed many a crab to the gpo....giant pacific octopus.

[magnanimous_j]

The octopus traps are separate.

From what I understand, what you do is get about a foot of 2-3" PVC pipe and an end cap. Put some concrete in the closed end so that when you throw it in the water, it will be more likely to land straight up, with the opening at the top. A couple holes at the top and a rope loop connect it to the float. Apparently, the octopus hide in there at night and if you can pull them up fast enough, they won't try to escape.

I've caught baby octopus while squid jigging, but I've never went after the big ones, and octopus are a very sustainable and under-harvested resource in the Sound (and one of my favorite foods).

I think they are best caught first thing after an overnight soak, so I was curious if any crabbers took an octopus trap or two along with them.

[h20hunter]

Not real likely in my experience.  Of all the octos ive interacted with and seen its not an area made for crabbing. Sure there is some crossover and eold be cool to experiment with.

[luvmystang67]

Maybe we should do an octopus-pot making party.

[magnanimous_j]

Those mesh bags are probably a godsend.

The octopus is one crafty animal. Getting it out of the water is only the first part. They will enthusiastically try to escape until they are put to sleep.

[Jake Dogfish]

Sounds like it would be fun! Does the tube opening face down or up?  Would it be legal to leave one out overnight?

[Stein]

They are about the same high intelligence as a cat, occasionally you can get one in a shrimp pot but they are way too smart for a pipe.  No skeleton and they fit through an opening a mouse would envy.

When I dove we found them cruising the bottom hunting, very cool to see them in action.  A buddy got tangled in one and it was funny trying to get 8 legs off with my two arms.  I only saw them at night, and I can count them on one hand over 300 dives.

The aquarium has videos of one unscrewing a jar lid to get some treats.

I do like to eat them though and would be happy to find one in a pot.


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[magnanimous_j]

Sounds like it would be fun! Does the tube opening face down or up?  Would it be legal to leave one out overnight?

Up, I think. And yes, you can soak it overnight. In fact, I think that's the traditional method.

Like squid, they are are short lived, have tons of young and are about as sustainable as seafood gets. The Puget Sound is one of the best places for them, and the regs say you can take 1 per day all year long, but for some reason, nobody goes for them.

When I used to squid jig on Les Davis Pier, Asian ladies would walk up and down the dock trying to buy them off the fishermen.

[Brushcrawler]

It seems a little ambiguous in the shellfish regs as to whether you can use traps/pots. From page 134:
“Must be caught with hands or instrument which does not penetrate the octopus, except that octopus taken while angling with hook and line may be retained.”

Has anyone actually confirmed allowable methods with WDFW?

[jstone]

The wife and I are going to try crabbing for the first time this Sunday for her birthday. We are going out of the Tacoma area. Any info would be great. The best bait, hint on a spot? How deep to put the pots? We are borrowing a couple pots from her coworker.

Thank you for any info And ideas if I forgot something

[jstone]

Great day on the water.
Lots of rock crabs but sunny and warm. Lots of salmon fishing going on.!!

[CP]

That's probably my last pot for the summer season.  2 hour soak and they sucked almost all the bait out of the baskets. 

[throwingsticks]

That's probably my last pot for the summer season.  2 hour soak and they sucked almost all the bait out of the baskets.

nice I normally fish 7S so we will get out a few more times this season, plus the winter if we get one. I think the boat count is around 130 crab this year, but we almost always take out friends and share tons of crab.

[JohnVH]

7N has sucked, they let the commericals go right before us, then they let them go again this week, hardly worth crabbing this year.  We usually limit out in one hour, I tried for 4 hours friday and only got 6. Dissapointing.