General Crabbing Tips

Definitely worth it!  Here's one that was caught tonight that measured just shy of 7".

nudling, nice crab, where did you catch it ?.
 
Tim ,

Snared that one at Pacifica and it's hibernating in my fridge. There are prime spots on that pier, but I would stay away from them unless you enjoy combat fishing.  Also, make sure to bring enough lead (2, 4, 6, 8oz) in case your snares starts moving - it's a hassle to tangle w/other lines.   

HMB Jetty is another option that's less populated, but navigating on boulders takes a little getting use and I wouldn't recommend it at night unless you're really familiar with it.  There are more rock crabs past marker ~47 btw.

One of the reasons why I bought a yak was to get easy dungie limits, but the strange thing is that I enjoy snaring more than pulling up traps.

Do you guys ever have problems with crabs ripping eachother's legs off when you have high densities in a bag/bucket etc.? I've only crabbed a couple times and I remember having that problem with a bucket full of rock crabs. Any clever solutions? I'm planning on going after some rock crabs and figured I could bring rubber bands along, but that's kind of time consuming.

I carry a pair of needle nose pliers...Pinch/break off small lower claw of main pincher...Not alot of meat loss..!!!!...Good luck out there..!!!

I carry a pair of needle nose pliers...Pinch/break off small lower claw of main pincher...Not alot of meat loss..!!!!...Good luck out there..!!!

that's a good idea, I'll give that a try, thanks!

Dungies don't seem to be as aggressive and if you don't handle them too much they are fairly well behaved in a bucket. Red rock crab are just agro from the get go. I have had dungies dismantled by one rock crab, so now I seperate or throw back the rocks.

Kent

let's fire her up!  Question where in the heck can I get freakin burlap sacks, they don't make em any more? 

At one of Allen's classes he mentioned he keeps his fish in a burlap sack and douses em with water to keep em fresh.  Hey when I was a kid we could crab for dungees right off muni pier near aquatic park (SF)..okay I dated myself i'm an old dude...but here it comes kids Nov 5th the first day of the season!!

I'm gonna go for HMB for starters...

One of those independent coffee houses might be able to hook you up. I got mine from The Verve in Capitola (thanks Hotplate).

Deer bags work too. The mesh ones dont last as long, but it does the job.

Anthony

If you're going to HMB any one of the harbor stores will sell you one for a couple bucks.

thanks guys, good stuff

Is there anything I can do to keep the seals from leasing with my crab pots? I watched them methodically swim from trap to trap all day at Doran yesturday.

Enclosed bait cages or bait jars seem to keep them away    We learned at Albion from the One Eyed Crab Ring Bandit!  If its just a zip tied carcass, they will get it!

I got this from another site and just wanted to see if anyone has tried galvanic time releases? The release time varies according to the salinity and temperature.  I'm sure it can be consistent once that's figured out for our local waters.

The plan would be to set traps, pick up crabs while there, use release, leave for x days and retrieve. There's always a chance that it pops up right in front of a poacher, but at least it increases the chances of pulling up a plugged trap.

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