Crabs 1 - Sonya 0

I went to the beach over the weekend with my friend Kelli and Ken.  Kelli needed help with some repairs to the shed at the beach house.  This gave me an opportunity to pull out the crab traps I bought on black Friday.  


I have never been crabbing.  I have no idea where to go, when to go or even what I'm doing.  So I inquire with friends who have been crabbing about bait, length of line, when to go and where to go.  Everyone has a different idea about crabbing and what I should do.  Which for me as a novice, left me even more confused.


So I bought line, bait and a bait bag.  All of this needed to be assembled.  So Kelli, Ken and I make an attempt to attach a nylon rope to the traps.  What we learned quickly is that you cannot just tie a knot with nylon rope.  Ken of course zip tied pretty much everything together, including his knots.  What can I say, he is a true 'handy man'.  When in doubt zip tie, duct tape and paint over it!  I on the other hand, have become an expert on how to tie a knot with nylon rope.  Whether it is correct or not is another thing, but it works!  I think some of my dad's skills from being in the Navy may have been passed down to me.  Well it's a stretch but it goes along with my ocean adventure.


This is what I have learned about crabbing, however I do not claim any of the information below is accurate.


Bait

• use shad + chicken
• use tuna fish in oil + chicken
• use chicken that has spoiled
• use herring

Chicken, I have been told, is to keep away the seals.

Where to go

• Jetty Fishery before getting to Wheeler
• Off the docks in Garibaldi
• Netarts (which has a great restaurant called The Schooner)
• You need a boat (I think this is not in my budget)

When crabbing off the docks, it must be in an area that has salinity.

Traps vs Rings

Traps can be left in the water for a period of time, whereas rings must be pulled up every 10-15 minutes because the crabs can escape.  The Jetty Fishery charges a fee to use their private dock and only allow rings (which you can rent).  However, I bought traps.  At the docks at Garibaldi you can use traps and there are no fees.  You can have three traps per person

Keepers and limits

You can only keep male dungeness crabs and they must measure 5 3/4".  To identify a male crab you must look at their belly and the shape and structure is like a U.  A female dungeness crab has a V shape.  The daily limit per person is 12 dungeness and 24 red rock crab, however for red rock crab you can keep either sex.

When to crab

• An hour before and after high tide
• Incoming tide
• Low tide because there is no current

When is high tide or when do the tides come in?  That's a great question.  When I bought my shellfish license they were out of tide tables.  Looking up the tide tables online through my phone proved not to be very fruitful.  So we put in a call to a couple of friends who gave us completely different times.  Needless to say the time we went, the tide did not come in and the traps were empty.

Can I check this off the list of completing one of my 39 experiences?  Technically, I went crabbing but came up short.  I know more about crabbing than I did prior to a week ago. But the experience of crabbing with the result of crabs in the traps, whether they are keepers or not is what I'm looking for....so the long answer is no.  I will go crabbing again.  The crabs may have won this round and I may have lost, but I'm ready to come back strong and armed with a tide table!   In addition, I have received offers to go crabbing again, with a friend who has experience and success in crabbing.  Another friend of mine has offered to take me in his boat.  So my win-loss record may be changing soon.