Half Moon Bay Dungeness

I've been going out for crab from Half Moon Bay, launching from the HMB Kayak Co where I've got a boat stored. I always see both kayaks and boats dropping pots/hoop nets right off the southern outside wall of the harbor but I can't say I've been too impressed by what I've caught there (just rock crab and undersized dungeness). Any tips for someone who's fairly new at this? Are there better fishing spots within about 45 mins of paddling from the harbor? Ideally I'd find some reasonably productive spots where I could leave a trap for a day or so when the swells die down from what they've been recently.

It's been a slow year for crabbing in HMB and poaching has been on the uptick to boot. I'd say that an overnight soak anywhere inside the cans is a crapshoot.  I wish I could point you in the right direction, but all my old marks didn't produce anything worth mentioning.  Best course of action is to bring an assault hoop and test different spots before dropping a string.

If inside the cans is a crapshoot, do you mean that west of them is more productive? By "cans", I assume you mean the red/green buoys?

If inside the cans is a crapshoot, do you mean that west of them is more productive? By "cans", I assume you mean the red/green buoys?

Yes, I am referring to the Green and Red buoys as "Cans." Between the beach and the buoys ("Inside") used to be productive. You just had to explore and find a productive spot. This year has not been productive "inside" of the cans.  Unknown if it's because the timing was off for the migration, over fishing, or poachers. It just hasn't been a productive Nov and December.  Things may have changed though, as recent snaring reports from the local beaches have been good.  The ocean conditions just havent been safe to go out and drop pots lately.

I've never tried kayak crabbing West of the buoys, mainly because I'm lazy and don't want to set pots in 70+ feet.

Boaters head West and have been successful at 150ft or deeper... but that's a long haul in a kayak.

The other explanation is that I lost the mojo and just suck at kayak crabbing in HMB.    

  It's now an overfished area...   Last time I was there, must have been traps set every 40 yds all over (within paddling distances)

A little late to the thread, but a friend and I had luck here just south of the jetty mouth. Our traps were approx 40 ft deep a few hundred yards apart. We mostly caught keeper size Dungeness and a couple rock crabs. It was on Jan 1st, so it’s been a while. One trap was empty, another only had one crab and then we limited my license on the other two. This was before I bought a kayak and in my buddy’s row boat.