For hot smoking salmonids, I always use a wet brine.  The recipe I use also includes wine in the brine. I've never tried any side-by-side comparison with and without it, but I do know that alcohol has very different properties for dissolving things and denaturing proteins than water for anything related to cooking.  So, even after any alcohol is "burned off" during any cooking process it has a different effect.

Anyway, the ratios I use are:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup non-iodized salt
1 cup wine (usually white)
1 cup water
2 cups soy sauce (clearly this is a big source of salt as well)
1-3 ts of whatever spices I might have on hand such as onion/garlic powder, black pepper, hot sauce

I've let them soak in the brine anywhere from 12-48 hours depending on if I remember to prep everything ahead of time.  I used to be concerned that longer soaking would be too salty, but it hasn't been a problem.

smoking time depends on temp.

Another thing that I've started to do is vacuum sealing the fish when it's still a bit warm if I expect to freeze it for longer-term storage.  Seems to retain moisture better when it's later thawed vs. letting it cool down completely.

It's not really clear if "Alvin" was just using the term "trap" generically to mean both traps and hoop nets, or whether he really meant just the rigid traps as per the regulation definition.

As you noted, the response is extremely convoluted.  All of the responses from these Q&As tend to just regurgitate the regulations rather than provide any true explanation or further context.  I honestly can't decide if the person (or people) writing the responses sincerely believe they are providing helpful and clear answers.

For that matter, the regulations themselves are convoluted, inconsistent, poorly worded, and probably don't fully convey what is intended. 

A lot of effort is made to define hoop nets as something distinctly different than traps. They also have slightly different requirements, so there is clearly an intent to regulate them differently. For example, hoop nets require a "surface buoy," but traps require a "buoy."  Effectively, it may be the same.  For that matter, there is no explicit requirement to have any kind of marking or buoy for hoop nets when used north of Pt. Arguello no matter whether used from a pier or not (which would be most of the folks in on NCKA).  Although, I'd bet that a warden wouldn't hesitate to give somebody a citation for it anyway and would try to re-interpret the regulations to mean ALL types of recreational crab gear must have a buoy and GO ID.  Personally, I do it anyway to avoid the hassle.  Plus, I think it's actually a reasonable practice.


Rather than the given response, I think something like below would have been much better.  Even if not absolutely true (although I think it is), at least it would provide a somewhat reasonable explanation:

"Yes, even when fishing from a public pier or similar man-made structure a crab trap must have an attached buoy marked with your GO ID.  If the line attached to the trap were to somehow slip from your hands or otherwise become disconnected from the pier, there would be no easy way to recover the trap without an attached buoy. 

When fishing from a pier, the other devices allowed for taking crabs (hoop nets and crab snares) are not required to have an attached buoy.

Unlike hoop nets or crab snares, which allow for crabs of any size to easily escape if the gear becomes un-recoverable for some reason, traps only allow smaller crabs to exit the escape rings until the required destruct device corrodes or fails.  Such lost and abandoned crab gear can lead to the needless death of bigger crabs.

See Section 29.80. Gear Restrictions for more specific definitions and differences between the types of gear allowed for taking crabs."

I know plenty of people who have purchased 1-day/2-day licenses via the website.

I think it depends on how you log into the system.  If you log in under your existing name/user id/GO ID, then you most likely already have a license for this year.  Therefore, you couldn't buy another 1-day license under that same profile.

If you log in just as a guest, then you also can't buy a 1-day license or voucher.  You would need to create a specific profile for the license.

"Guest customers are limited to purchasing items that do not require a customer profile. If you wish to purchase items requiring a customer profile, click the Add Customer tab above and log in with a specific customer profile."

My understanding is that the original prohibition on alligator parts in CA was actually passed in the early 70's when alligators were on the endangered species list (and hunting was banned in Louisiana).  They have very much recovered since then, and were removed from the list in 1987. 

What is happening is that the various exemptions to that ban that have happened 3 times over the years is expiring in 2020.

So it is NOT a matter of new, recent action by the legislature in CA.  It is more an issue of lack of action... either to extend the exemption or officially repeal the ban.

There is actually a bill that has been introduced this year to extend the exemption until 2030.  It just hasn't passed yet. 

If you really feel strongly about the issue, perhaps contact your local CA legisture rep to indicate that you'd like to see action.  Otherwise, feel free to continue to complain wasting time. 

I was scheduled for one of the charters out of HMB tomorrow, but they're canceled due to weather (all the winds coming from the South). 

How, exactly, is that supposed to prevent crab pot theft?

It's almost like this rule was never about stopping pot thieves and more about being able to track down crab pot owners whose pots have a marine mammal entanglement.

If you have any crab gear in your possession, and it has somebody else's ID number on it, it's very hard to claim "Oh, I thought this was mine or my friend's."  Similarly, if you're seen pulling somebody else's gear, you can't try to claim the same defenses.

You don't actually have to steal the gear itself.  Just messing with somebody else's gear is an offense.
That's also why some previous guidance from DFW on what to do if you think some gear is in the way of a boat traffic lane was to call harbor patrol/USCG/DFW rather than move it yourself.  That way, there couldn't be any claim against you or similar misunderstanding. 

I've actually seen somebody else pull my stuff at Noyo a couple years and told DFW (they just happened to be returning from a patrol), but the guy made the claim that he "thought it was his friend's."  Since they didn't actually see it happen themselves, and there was no requirement to mark recreational gear at that time, they didn't try to cite him.

Bummer.  Been following this on the local news.  Was planning on clamming this month but will have to postpone.  Hopefully this doesn't last too long.

You can always hope, but I would expect it might last a while.  Shellfish gets closed pretty much every summer for this, but middle of March is much earlier than typical.  The classic warning/no-take period is "months without R"  meaning May-August.

I highly recommend them.  I've been witness to two accidents directly in front of me where the CHP was able to easily close their investigations using video from my dashcam.  I've been amazed at how even my own eyewitness accounts taken before viewing the video had significant differences after seeing the video.

I consider it the best investment in "car insurance" I've done in the past few years.