Lost 2 Crab Traps at Tillamook Bay

[MarkC]

I lost 2 new crab traps at Tillamook Bay yesterday (crab bay)--they were new heavy pots. If anyone happens to find them, I would be more than happy to pay a reward--my name/number is on the floats (or E-mail me). I suspect they may have washed out in the rip. This was my first time out--and a hard lesson.

Thanks!

[Dave's not here]

I lost six outside of Humboldt bay and found five of them . One was two miles north west in 94 feet of water and one north east in 66 feet. Keep looking tasy may pop up.

[1pump]

Most lost pots at T-Bay wind up over in Crab Harbor. I'd look for them at low slack. Unfortunately, everybody else will be looking as well.
They might not have moved- there's so much grass and crap in there that the ropes might have been dragged under.

[Thumper]

Has anyone ever dived in crab harbor? Must be an interesting collection down there.

[MarkC]

I Just got a call from an honest guy by the name of "Dan" (a gentleman and a scholar, I'm sure)--he found one of them, and will be returning it! Maybe the other one will surface eventually. If anyone is out there, it is a big red and white float with my name and number on it--MarkC

[bait boy]

Mark, sorry to hear that you lost some of yer new traps... You really need to have someone show you the ins and outs of crabbing in T-bay.. hopefully the other trap will show up as well....

have a merry christams,

[Pilar]

MarkC, glad to hear you got one back. The tides are pretty extreme for about 7 or 8 days and were just now getting to the end of it.

Read the tide table and try to avoid crabbing on new or full moon tides. The current is strong on the big exchanges and your crab bobber can get sucked under, especially if it loads up with grass and seaweed. If you have too many floats on your line the trap can be dragged for miles by the current. I almost always avoid the ebb tides (going out or from high to low) because the crabbing sucks and the current is usually pretty strong with lots of seaweed to foul your lines.

If you go back on the slack tide (either one, but low is best) you will often find 'lost' crab pots. Brshooter is giving you some good advice. I use a regular crab pot float and then about 6' of line and 3 or 4 little round floats at the bitter end. Make sure the floats are not enough to float your trap off the bottom if they go under. That is how traps move far from where you dropped them. This is what has really happened most of the time you think your traps were 'stolen'. I see these migrating traps bobbing off to Japan as I cross the bar on almost every trip during the summer at Yaquina and Tillamook.

Like my shipmate Baitboy is saying you need a crabbing lesson with some experienced hand showing you how to fill your cooler with brine spiders. (Yum! :grin: ) Crabbing is not real hard but there are some lessons that others have learned that you can skip by learning the basics. Most of these lessons involve either getting skunked, your traps thrashed by sealions or lost or stolen. At $100 a trap for the best ones an expensive learning curve for sure. There are way better and less crowded places than crab harbor on T-bay.

[brshooter]

it is a big red and white float with my name and number on it

A single float could be the problem. I use two float on my traps. Doesn't take much to make one float go under the surface especially if they pick up much seaweed on the rip. My firt crabbing trip, I though I had lost some traps also. They reappeared when the tide turned. I now run two floats and 50 feet of line on the light folding traps with 5 pound weights in them. I have never had them move in the tide. I doubt if your heavy traps are really moving.