Crabbing in Bolinas Lagoon

I'm thinking of going crabbing in Bolinas this coming weekend.  I'm a newbie kayaker so a bit concerned about launching into the surf and more importantly, coming back in with  crab pots.  Any input you all can share would be much appreciated.

Are you going into the lagoon or out into the ocean?

Into the lagoon is fairly in and out.  But the channel can be swift and it’s not productive if the water is moving too much. 

Going out into the ocean can be productive, I haven’t seen many reports from there.  Launching and landing can always be a daunting task when loaded with crab traps for any kayaker.

I had a yard sale at bolinas without crab traps. Make sure everything is tied down or leashed up. If the waves are an issue you may want to leave your fishing stuff on the beach drop pots then come back for your fishing stuff.

I've crabbed in the lagoon a couple of times and my father in law borrows my kayak to crab there on occasion.  The first time he took me there we practically limited out on dungies... every time after that has not yielded anything.

I fished there this Sunday. People were crab snaring the channel, without much luck. It was a massive tide shift however, which is not good as SimplyCook said. No one was having any luck with snares.

I saw pots out in the ocean, around 50-70 FOW, past the reef. Definitely not as pressured as HMB or Bodega though, which might mean you could score.

The real trick is getting out and back in with pots, especially if you have more than 2. It's not just the launch/landing in Bolinas. At low tide, there are breakers all over the reef. I saw some heavy breakers there this Sunday, it was intense getting back in. If you're new to kayaking, id suggest getting your surf launches down before trying it with pots. I'd also suggest a low coefficient day there, as the channel rip gets gnarly. Also dont launch/land at the tide extremes.

You might also catch one of these guys for your trouble, if you look for them

Thanks for all the responses.  I ended up going into the lagoon first and after only soaking for an hour or so we came up with three nice Dungees in the lagoon.
The following week I went out on the ocean right off of Brighton and scored two Dungees and three Rock crabs after about two hours.  From my conversations with others I found that there are more rocks to the north side, thus the rock crabs.  Next time I think a bit closer to the channel mouth might yield more Dungees.
Finally last weekend I decided to try and make it out at Stinson and got hammered going out by 5-6 ft breakers.  We made it out but decided to pass on retreiving them a few hours later as the surf was pretty high.  Came back the next morning but after getting hammered again trying to make it out, we found our pots had disappeared.  Probably because we did not weigh them down properly.  Since I'm pretty new to all this, I'm paying for my education.    Lessons learned!

Where did you launch to enter the lagoon, asolor? Can you launch from the east (Stinson) side of the entrance? It looks like it would be nice and calm there.

Thanks for all the responses.  I ended up going into the lagoon first and after only soaking for an hour or so we came up with three nice Dungees in the lagoon.
The following week I went out on the ocean right off of Brighton and scored two Dungees and three Rock crabs after about two hours.  From my conversations with others I found that there are more rocks to the north side, thus the rock crabs.  Next time I think a bit closer to the channel mouth might yield more Dungees.
Finally last weekend I decided to try and make it out at Stinson and got hammered going out by 5-6 ft breakers.  We made it out but decided to pass on retreiving them a few hours later as the surf was pretty high.  Came back the next morning but after getting hammered again trying to make it out, we found our pots had disappeared.  Probably because we did not weigh them down properly.  Since I'm pretty new to all this, I'm paying for my education.    Lessons learned!

What were the tides when you dropped the pots and went to pickup?  Might consider going back out at low tide...

Where did you launch to enter the lagoon, asolor? Can you launch from the east (Stinson) side of the entrance? It looks like it would be nice and calm there.

I tried going there once, and it's a gated community westward of where the lagoon starts.