2025 Crab!

[CP]

Getting ready for the big day tomorrow.

 

[BLH69]

Man i wish! i'm in 10 so i have to wait 3 more days. they should have given us a 1 day opener before the 4th like they used to!

[trophyhunt]

Yeah, don’t open till Sunday in 11. 

[MLhunter1]

We got a dozen dungies in area 11 this morning.  Light effort until about 730, then it exploded.

[Stein]

We got ours on the opener, I'm guessing the 500 pots within 100 yards of ours did well too.   

[WAcoueshunter]

We got ours on the opener, I'm guessing the 500 pots within 100 yards of ours did well too.   

Haha, I was up north and dropped my pots in 8-2 on my way to the Bubble on Friday.  I don't crab up there often, so was shocked by the number of pots in every direction between Edmonds and Tulalip!  Clearly an amazing number of crab down there to handle the commercials/tribes beforehand, and then the 10,000 pots over the opener weekend.  I did MA10 on Sunday, and it was good too.  A million pots down there too though.  Crazy what it's become over the years.  Blows me away that there's that many crab down there.  San Juans are like that too - might be 10 weeks into the recreational season and after a ton of commercial/tribe openers, and you'll still find limits and the occasional 8" crab. 

[freshgrease]

Me and my Ma crushed it in 8-2 right off our beach on the 4th. All 7 1/2 -  8". Just massive crab in the passage.

The rest of the weekend I was dropping them off in a more public harbor. One went missing and the other one pulled up and the lid was strapped open on sunday .  My ma's pots were left alone but I had them set a few hundred yards off from mine.

either way I was having the best success at ~30/40 ft. Almost felt too shallow pulling them at low tide but they were loaded compared to the pots at 60ft/70ft.

Good luck out there guys

[trophyhunt]

I know it’s not what people are after, but I like the meat on reds, we caught a ton a big ones in 11 on Sunday.  Must have dropped in the red zone. 

[HntnFsh]

Pretty hard for any other crab to beat the flavor of reds,  but unfortunately there ain't much meat in them other than the claw!

[ghosthunter]

Yeah spent the weekend at my brother in laws on Camano Isl. camped 100 ft from beach.

Limits of crab everyday.

[Stein]

We kept a few big reds for the first time in many years and I do agree they are tasty.  The biggest issue is I can't crack them with my teeth, but other than that they are quite a good meal.  I'll be keeping more this year for sure.

Where we were must have been a small rockpile because 30 yards in any direction was dungies but that one hole was loaded with reds.  I did get several dungies that appeared to be crossed but they were excellent like the regular dungies.

[KP-Skagit]

4 pots on an overnight set this weekend in 8-1 had over 50 legal crab, very few soft, very few undersize. Didn't keep anything under 3/4" over minimum. Pretty lights out.

[spin05]

4 pots on an overnight set this weekend in 8-1 had over 50 legal crab, very few soft, very few undersize. Didn't keep anything under 3/4" over minimum. Pretty lights out.

How deep?   Hoping to get out soon around Camano

[KP-Skagit]

4 pots on an overnight set this weekend in 8-1 had over 50 legal crab, very few soft, very few undersize. Didn't keep anything under 3/4" over minimum. Pretty lights out.

How deep?   Hoping to get out soon around Camano

Area I crab fishes best shallower, 20 to 35.

[BLH69]

 rock crab and dungies dont cross

[CP]

 

[Stein]

rock crab and dungies dont cross

Looked it up and you are right.  I'll have to take a pic if I get another one, it was a dungie but looked way different than the typical colors and the shell even seemed harder although that could have been my mind convinced of something it wasn't.

[SeaRun1]

Graceful Crabs look like small Dungies.  Little more purple and not much bigger than 4” across the carapace.

SR1