Crab ,Get em till there gone

kamloops · 11-24-2003, 05:54 AM

Hammond, Columbia River

Launched out of Hammond Sunday. 4 pots between buoy 20 and 22 in 35' water. 1pull for 2 people and 2 limits. We let the pots soak for 1 hour.

We threw back lots of legal size keepers and kept the largest. One pot had been pulled and emptied of crab and bait. We used the frozen Mackeral we got at Buds in Gearhart.

The commercial guys are going in the water the end of the week. They will sweep the river clean in a matter of days, so get um while you can.
Good LUCK..

greenbuttskunk · 11-24-2003, 06:42 AM

We were also in hammond sunday. Crabbed around B22
we got about 75 or so, also tossing back many keepers. Went home with 4 limits. The best pull was 9 keepers. Not as many huge crab as usual, but alot of nice ones and many keeper size.
go get em while you can.
GBS

Birdnest · 11-24-2003, 07:10 AM

Crabbin' in Puget Sound is closed to recreational guys, but you really have to be careful not to run over one of the commercial guys pots.

Reel Creel · 11-24-2003, 07:39 AM

Nice,
I've got the week of the 12/7 off. Do you think it will still be good then? or do the big boys get them that fast? Do you have a problem with current with the big Columbia? or what do you guys do to weight down your traps? I throw a river rock in my traps to keep them in place, when crabbing in some current but i've not tried crabbing in the CR. We use chicken and that seems to killem when we do go.
Thanks Perry

Miss B Haven · 11-24-2003, 07:43 AM

Glad to hear you got to go Sunday Tom. Better than moving furnature huh? Too bad the crabbing is so good though. I'll bet with only an hour soak you still had to pick up a couch and refer or 3! [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]
Thanks for riding with me Saturday. Sure is a lot shorter trip when you have somebody to talk to!

The logistics sure worked easy this year. I'll be glad to ride back with you on Minaki when she gets all back together!

Thanks again (for everything all year!)

kamloops · 11-24-2003, 09:06 AM

[ 11-24-2003, 10:10 AM: Message edited by: kamloops ]

kamloops · 11-24-2003, 09:09 AM

Reelcreel

There should be some crab left, but watch the weather.
Look for days with flood tides in the afternoon with minumal water exchange between tides..
Do not plan on crabbing on an ebb tide, at least not this time of year.

Weight your pots down with rebar #6 or 7's or 8's and strap them down with plastic strap ties. I don't have a clue as how much you need, it depends on your pots.
I use about 20lbs in my pots. If your using traps or slip rings I would also add some weight.

Reel Creel · 11-24-2003, 07:55 PM

Thanks,
ive got those black dipped traps that are pretty light. 20lbs of weight is easy to do. i have two bouys on each trap one # flag and one on the line. well both are on the line. i do have two traps that are about 50lbs each but i keep them for big blue with 100ft of line. with the other traps ive got eight but only six are ready to go. and they range from 60ft to 120ft of line, i crab up in the sound and its a little deeper than our bays, as you well know. ill try to hit a tide thats not to hard to work with, and hope to have some of the same luck.

Mr. Fisherman · 11-25-2003, 05:40 AM

For those in the know, what would ye say about this Friday?

With the rain and the forcast I am skeptical but I'll try anything once...

Mel, Kamloops, please chine in...

kamloops · 11-25-2003, 05:46 AM

Mr Fisherman

I think you'r right on Friday, but I think they can put the pots in the water on the 27?.

Well, it was a great season while it lasted. Maybe when they (commercials) get in the ocean
the pressure will slack off.

Last year we crabbed with the commercials, don't think we got yelled at or run over, but there wasn't many crab either.