Any crabbers out there?

[rajnerb]

I've been thinking about getting some crab gear and going out this year. Does anybody have a general area they can point me to try to catch dungeness crab from the shore. I am located in Sonoma county. I can either buy the round hoops or the small cages that you cast out with a pole. Not quite sure what I would need yet. What do you use for bait and how long do you wait to pull your rig in if your just going out for the day?

[Farallon]

If you want to try crab rings, you need to find a sandy bottom, best choice would be from a pier. Let the gerar soak for a couple of hours before pulling. As long as you have bait, the crabs will stay in the ring.

The crab catchers work, I know 3 guys using them. One method is to use high vis line and reel in when you see the line moving, another method is to reel in every 15 minutes or so. "Set the snare" before reeling in. You want a sandy bottom for the snares too.

Squid is a very productive bait, but if the marine mammals are around, try raw chicken; leg/thigh quarters are usually inexpensive.

I know of a couple of San Mateo County places; Pacifica Pier, Pillar Point, but none north of the Golden Gate.

[rajnerb]

Thanks for the info Farallon!!! I'm going to give it try next week.

[Orygun]

Use at least as much line weight as the casting traps reccomend.

This one: Crab and Lobster Catchers for Crabbing - Not Crab Traps - Great for Dungeness Crab, Blue Crab, Box Crab, Stone Crab, Red Rock Crab, Mud Crab, Swimmer Crab and others while crab fishing and lobster fishing. Crab gear and lobster gear that's castable. or another brand like it is the way to go. The rings and cages with snares are much trickier to use. The crab hawk and similar ones have inbcreased my catches substantially. They are not as durable as the rings and cages, but buy do they work.

Chuck it out and take out the slack. When the crab comes in the line and pole tip start bouncing a bit. Lift and keep the pressure up and keep reeling. We can have up to three devices in the water per person for crab. I use a couple rings traps and the crab hawk. It helps pass teh time while waiting for something to crawl onto the traps. The rings can get spendy but you can find them for under $20s. Or if your bored and can weld, you can make your own with rebar, rubber tape, and nylon string..

Crab rings are easy to store and use. I recommend a bait cage to tie onto the bottom of the trap. That way you don't go through as much bait.

We have to deal with sea lions a lot. I've had them grab bait and take the ring and snap nylon rope on me. Fresh fish is best. Frozen is good too once it thaws. To keep the sea lions away we use fresh chicken, legs are more durable. Frozen meat works ok if that is what you have. Beef doesn't do was well.

Slack tides through incoming tides are peak if your going off a pier in a bay. Up here you need a few days of no rain to let the bays get a bit salty. Fresh runoff pushes the crabs out to sea.

Lastly and most importantly, learn to sex your crabs and buy a measuring device so you know what's legal. .

[rajnerb]

Thanks Orygun!!! That crab hawk looks like a neat contraption. Might have to get me one of those.

[bux-n-dux]

I have crabbed extensively over the years, and have always used hoop type crab rings. Off of piers like Ft Baker pier or Ft Point pier, sea lions can be a problem. I have used everything from chicken (I leave it out in the sun to rot for a few days) to block squid and salmon heads. The sea lions seem to leave the chicken alone but if you rot it a bit that can really help attract the crabs. Crabbing from a boat in Tomales Bay we use rotted chicken and hoop nets. The hoop nets work really well for us and always have. I have never used the castable traps but have seen others have success with these. I soak my nets anywhere from 1-3 hours. If using fishy baits or squid blocks, a bait cage is really really helpful. As a kid before the sea lions became suck a big problem in SF Bay, i would just tie salmon heads in the net with wire and had great success, but have since had sea lions tear the heads right out of the nets. And nearly pull me over the side of the peir while doing it.

My best advice: hoop nets with fishy baits and a bait cage. Good luck!!!!

bux-n-dux

[bux-n-dux]

Just to follow up we took 42 red crabs yesterday from the boat. We used 3 hoop rings and did 4 one hour soaks on the 3 nets. We used fish heads as bait and sea lions were not a problem in this area so we just tied the heads in with baling wire. We were crabbing in about 10-12 feet of water.

bux-n-dux