Halloween Crabbing at the Mouth of the Eel - VIDEO on page 2

It's been a long evening, and I'll post more later - hopefully the wind will die down and I can get my kids into checking it out tomorrow.  I got the crap blown out of me at midnight, but the wind wasn't so severe that I couldn't crab.  Got several shorts and one 6.5"er in one short and hurricanish soak.   

PS:  I cooked it and ate some right before 2AM.   

Good night!   

Way to stick it out. At least you got one keeper to savor. Would love to have seen your outing on video. (New episode of Deadliest Catch Abking Style

  Nice work! That Definitely counts as Extreme Kayak Fishing!

Way to hit the opener "night opps style", despite conditions.  I feel all whimpy here having decided not to go....... maybe tomorrow I'll give it a shot if the wind lays down a bit.

Norm

Good morning!  I had to roust myself to get kiddo #1 to a soccer game this morning - I'm hoping for the reprieve call of "cancelled"!  Honeydew has had 2" of rain in the last 6 hours.  Here's some stats from the Eel River buoy last night - it's several miles offshore of where I was, but Wow!

11 01 12:50 am    S 35.0 42.7 11.5 8 6.4 SSW 29.84 -0.04 58.3 51.4 - - - -
10 31 11:50 pm    S 31.1 38.9 9.8 8 5.8 S 29.85 -0.03 58.3 51.1

That reads, "Nov. 1 @ 12:50AM winds out of the South @ 35, gusts to 42.7, 11.5' swell..."  then air and water temps and such.  See the air temp at 58 degrees that far offshore over 51.4 degree water.  It was over 70 degrees at my truck the whole time I was down there, from 11:15 'til 12:50!!!        WILD WEATHER!!!  I love T-shirt weather.   

Hopefully I got some good video, Alex!  I only took the camera out once on the water and I blew about a quarter mile while filming!

I'm getting to be too much of an adrenaline junky.   

wow!  nice crab!
now i am jealous. 

Strong work!

Hey Abking, great work on the crabs. Thanks for sharing the picture.

Jedmo

PS:  I cooked it and ate some right before 2AM.   

my mouth is watering! 

We will have to start calling you CrAbking!. It is amazing what we will go through for the first crab of the season. I have seven pots out soaking and will pull Sunday.

    I remember catching crabs in the middle of the night one or two times in my youth

Nice work  crAbking.!!!!!!      The weather kept our non-yak pots on the dock.

It is amazing what we will go through for the first crab of the season

So true, Ken, so true!   

We will have to start calling you CrAbking!.

"Abking" was no longer really about just abalone a long time ago.  It's not really about any species - it's about respect for the sacred harvest.   

    I remember catching crabs in the middle of the night one or two times in my youth

Ah, Allen, thank you for sharing that.  I think the consternation-smiley indicates something to which I can relate.  It's all good.   

I've got a bunch of followup on this report - I got done with kid's soccer in the rain an hour from here, end of season party 20 minutes from here, and was able to drop kiddo #1 at the "Harvest Festival" 10 minutes from here with Mama and #2.  It was just past high tide, so I jammed home, got supplies and gear, and headed back down to the mouth for more crabbing.  I got my gear set an hour or so after the high, and it wasn't flooding out too bad yet.  I talked to a couple of crabbers who'd been out all morning with the incoming tide and they had limits - 40 and 20 for 6 people.  Nothing huge, but a few jumbos.  I started pulling my gear and getting crabs in the rings every time.  I must've gotten a dozen or more crabs that were less than a quarter inch short of legal.  I started to get some legals, and I ended up with 6 legals - so 7 for the day including last night's (which ironically turned out to be the largest!).  I never got a single crab in the traps today - only the rings.  I had salmon carcass in bait-containers in the traps, and I had the recent greenling carcasses in the rings.  EVERY crab - with little ones that means around 60-70 - every one was in the rings.  I think that the traps need a bigger, juicier carcass hanging in there, and I think the current of an outgoing tide will keep crabs from circling the trap and making their way in when there's not a stinky enough bait in there.  So I was glad I had the rings today!

I'll have more photos and video later.  I did some crabbing how-to on video today too - I want to make more of that type of stuff. 

 

Abking, congrats on the first color of the season.  Nothing compares to fresh crab.  I too enjoyed the pineapple express wind and balmy temps.  I hope to make it out to Trinidad bay on Monday.

Abking, congrats on the first color of the season.  Nothing compares to fresh crab.  I too enjoyed the pineapple express wind and balmy temps.  I hope to make it out to Trinidad bay on Monday.

Keep in touch, Tim.  I'm planning to take my little guy down there tomorrow to pull rings for an hour or so just before high tide.  Can you make it for Crab Park lunch tomorrow?   

I think I need to devote some space to this:

My choice to go kayaking in conditions like last night's is not something to take lightly.  I hope it's fun to read about, and I also hope that anyone reading it realizes that there are many factors to consider in such a mission.  With wind speed always comes a hazard, and sometimes only wind direction can save you there.  Such was the case last night where I knew I was being blown, hard, toward ground that I could easily use to manually save the trip (walk the gear back to the truck).  Luckily, I was able to paddle against everything that blew at me, and that made my trip that much more fulfilling, and fortunate.     I had many thoughts directly regarding the safety and overall feasibility of the trip, from the time I loaded the truck at home to the time I parked and surveyed the scene at Crab Park and continuing on through the evening.  I always maintained a priority of safety, and I expect anyone who listens to my stories and sees my scenes in pics and on video to know that I place the utmost priority on personal safety.                                   

Thanks for dealing with that.