Columbia Crabbing

shoulda · 08-26-2003, 01:56 PM

Any help would be appreciated. I'm heading to Buoy 10 on Friday and wondering whether to take the crab pots. I hear they need to be weighted - how much weight is necessary, and also is two floats enough in that current.

Also are there any good spots to place on the Washington side - I'll be launching from Chinoook.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[ 08-26-2003, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: shoulda ]

lost_sailor · 08-26-2003, 02:32 PM

Look for other pots, 15' - 20' of water. Right around the Ilwaco entrance is a good place to start. Leave a few for me.

1pump · 08-26-2003, 08:02 PM

I think WA has some goofy regs, like rings only (no pots) and specific float colors. :whazzup: You might want to make sure before you crab in WA water.
I only crab the OR side and I've never had to weight the pots, BUT- I only crab on the incoming & hi slack. It really rips on the outgoing.

freespool · 08-26-2003, 08:51 PM

If I'm not mistaken,the regs are the same in the CR.

Captain Hook · 08-26-2003, 09:06 PM

The crabbing is excellent right now. I put out two crab pots last Thursday and Friday while I fished and ended up with 21 keeper crabs. I put them in Baker Bay (go out of Ilwaco, head upstream and enter the bay). This gets them out of the main current and out of the fishing zone. 25' to 30' of water was the ticket for me. I zip-tied a 64 oz. weight to the bottom of each trap and had no problems. Check the regs, but I think pots are OK for the next couple of weeks.

shoulda · 08-27-2003, 08:44 AM

Thanks for the help.

You got me thinking about the WA regs so I called both ODFW and WDFW. It looks like Washington rules apply if you land in a Washington port, so it looks like I need the WA shellfish license and catch record card. Also need to comply with WA gear requirements. The CR is still open for pots up through Sept 15 though.

Anybody have a clearer read on the regs?