Crab hatchlings

[BiteFactory]

Today I noticed something new in the south beach marina. Hundreds of crab hatchlings (technically called megalops) were swimming around. I haven't seen that before. They kind of look like pale tadpoles, about the same size.

[wthr4d]

That's cool! Were they different than the shels we saw on the beach last dive? not just tiny little crab bodies?

[BiteFactory]

Originally Posted by wthr4d

That's cool! Were they different than the shels we saw on the beach last dive? not just tiny little crab bodies?

Yes, definitely different. Last night I went for a walk on Nye beach and saw a lot of dungeness crab shells up on the beach. Must be a molt going on now too. The smaller ones molt several times a year I hear.

I've also seen several crab matings going on while diving lately. The female molts just before mating.

Here is an interesting webpage with info on crab life other than what seasoning to use (and that is important too!): http://www.netartsbaytoday.org/html/dungeness_crab.html

[Pilar]

Black rockfish go crazy and fin on the surface when this happens.

[Old Guys Rule]

Originally Posted by Pilar

Black rockfish go crazy and fin on the surface when this happens.

Rockfish on the surface, my favorite fishing. June is a great month for it as the crab spawn is everywhere. Use a trout spinning rod and a 1oz jig/rubber worm and have fun! We scratched the bottom for 3 hours Sunday out of Depoe and had only half a box, found a school in close on the surface and in a half hour had our limits and were throwing fish back for the next half hour. Highlight was a 9 pound ling on 6 pound test.

Biggest mistake most people make is to run into the middle of the school with your boat. Be stealthy, stay on the edge, coast into the school, and watch what direction they are moving so you can keep with the school.

[swampy]

I wonder if one these(or a bunch of these) are what poked/stung me one time when i was pulling the guts from a coho. Do they poke or sting during the zoea or megalops stage? I just read that the population of this stage of crab off California has a big effect on the success of silvers off Oregon.

[Larry G]

The bass were all over the top last weekend out of Newport!! I did see the little crab in the water but couldn't figure out exactly what they were. Now I know!! Thanks for the science lesson!!

[Fatdad]

We seen them today out on the North Jetty Newport. Cool as hell have never seen that before. We dipped around in the water til we caught one to see what they were, neat. Also saw thousands of small fish, kinda looked like ribbon fish?

[BiteFactory]

There are a lot of baby lingcod out there right now.