Humbling South Marin Crabs (11/12)

With Veterans Day off and nothing planned, I made a last minute decision to catch a few crabs.  I  don't like crab, but I have a following of supporters who really like them.

I arrived to fairly small swells breaking right on the beach.  With only about a 200 yard paddle, I decided to just put on a pair of shorts.  I then noticed that the two halves of my paddle did not fit together.  I have two of the same paddles and had grabbed two non-mating halves. I held them together, made it out without any trouble, and dropped the trap.

Coming in was difficult.  I didn't quite have the mobility with the paddle and holding them together wasn't working too well either as my hands were getting tired.  I flipped.  It was cold with just my shorts but my adrenaline kicked in.  I scraped my arm a bit, but made it to shore without any losses.

After cleaning myself up, I met my GF for lunch. 

Upon returning 4 hours later, the tide dropped and now the waves were breaking about 50 yards out.  The wind was also blowing.   This time, I put on my wetsuit, but still had to deal with the paddle issues.  I wound my Rolleeze strap around them which made a pretty short paddle but now I didn't have to hold it with a death grip.  I had some difficulty making it past the breakers, but got to the trap.  It was filled with about 10 Rock Crab and 2 Dungenous.  Of the 2 Dungenous, 1 was a female filled with eggs and 1 was an OK sized male.   

The wind was blowing so I decided to sift through the crabs on the beach.  As I paddled the smaller rock crab would fall through the trap onto my kayak near my feet. I had about 5 running free on my kayak. 

As I entered the surf zone, the strap holding my paddle got lose and unraveled. I got stuck in the white water and flipped (again) but now had crabs floating around me.  Somehow a few of the free rockcrab were still on my yak even after I up-righted it. I lost about 3 rockcrab and the female dungie which was going back anyways. 

 

Way to stick with it!  I  think I saw you on the freeway heading north around 4pm (yak sticking out the back of a truck with shell?).  Is that Muir?  I took my daughter to Ft. Baker Pier yesterday and we got one 6.5" Red Rock crab.  He was barely alive 4 hours later when we cooked him up, and he ended up with this metallic taste, just like the last time I cooked rock crab (who were also marginally alive!).  What is the best way to keep these guys alive??

yup - that was me and it was Muir.

 I began crabbing a fort baker years ago.  Even though I don't eat them, I was frustrated with all the dungies I caught from the north end (near the Coast Guard Boats)   Then I got a kayak and began crabbing from it, and then started fishing from it. 

What is the best way to keep these guys alive??

I used to keep them in a bucket with water, but they would eventually become pretty sluggish. They would use all the oxygen in the water unless I changed it frequently. Now I put them in a wet burlap sack and twist it so they can't move.  They stay alive for a long time and this stops them from tearing each other's claws off. 

Great report, Jason.  Thanks for sharing the details of your ordeal with the two paddle halves and the flipping - that sounds kinda hairy, but I'm sure you were on top of it.  I keep a spare paddle in my hull.  The other day I was crabbing and had detached my paddle leash to get it out of the way of my crab gear.  10 minutes later I'd forgotten that key move and looked up to see my paddle floating on the surface about 20 feet from me!  Luckily I was in a calm area of the estuary near the mouth of the river, so I just hopped in and swam to it.  It occured to me later that I could've gotten my spare out!  It's an adventure out there, and having options when you encounter adversity is very key to our successes.  Great job!   

Hey Marin Schoolie, either bring a burlap and soak it in salt water, and keep it in a cooler with ice, or cut em in half and clean em right there and then put em on ice. Then steam em.

Yeah that paddle thing is a bummer, BTDT, but with driftwood and duct tape it ain't so bad, I don't go anywhere without a full roll of duct tape. 

I probably wouldn't have gone out, kudos to you for perseverance.

Damn, man, way to stick it out. I prolly woulda headed to the nearest restaurant for a bowl of clam chowder then called it a day!

Thanks for sharing your outing Jason. Glad you were able to keep some
of the crabs and that you are all right.

Jedmo