newbie crabbing regs questions

Hey folks

new guy questions again...hard to learn all this on my own but fun..I spent hours reading and searching before trying to ask here

I just bought a set of traps at costco and want to go out sat -sun and drop them and give this a try...monterey bay...carmel river???
I am trying very hard to find threads or actual info and the dfg site is confusing for me on the crab rules

anyone got link to monterey bay crab info/threads/ spots to try or links to some exact regs for my central area

excited to give this a try...just still not clear on some stuff...simple /stupid stuff like

do i need my name and phone on my bouys
how many limit
what size fro what crabs
where is there a color i.d species link
how many traps can i use
f.o.w regs   distance apart regs...out of certain lanes etc
is it legal to use rock fish carcass after fillet

thanks folks

Carmel River is inside the Carmel Bay SMCA...no invert (crabs, scallops, octopus) take allowed, so crabbing out of there would be a no-no...

I don't crab much so I'll let other guys help you out with the regs there.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

You'll have a better chance catching crabs in Half Moon Bay (HMB). 

yep make the drive to HMB. Almost no point in crabbing in SC area.

do i need my name and phone on my bouys
how many limit
what size fro what crabs
where is there a color i.d species link
how many traps can i use
f.o.w regs   distance apart regs...out of certain lanes etc
is it legal to use rock fish carcass after fillet

thanks folks

q1-required name no, but helpfull if trap becomes dislodged and an honest person finds
q2-10ea per day for dungie and 35ea per day for rock
q3-5.75in from base of shell points, not the end of points for dungenous and 4.75in for red crab
q4-dfw site has a chart
q5-im not sure but i think its ten, but four is about perfect for use on a kayack for me
q6- no real distance apart, i drop every 50ft or so apart, and always keep out of shipping lanes and harbor entrances
q7-yes

my .02, hope this helps, cameron

No limit on the number of traps.

Don't forget a crab gauge or some other measuring instrument. Have a blast and hope the weather will be good for y'all for the crab opener.

The only limiting factor on traps is how many you are willing to pull up. I usually do four since I'm old

well that was fast

thank you guys...

the carmel river thing is good tip jim ,i missed that part, I will double check my regs readings on that area..thanks

I have measure tool and will double check it with my tape

I am only gonna drop two trpas but wanted to know just the same how many in case i get two more
Cameron thanks for the answers ,that seems like what I had read but I wanted to double check

no crabs in monterey bay to try for????...rock crab any good....anywhere out of shipping lanes or off rocks...any tips

thanks again guys

dungies prefer sandy areas and rock crab prefer.....ROCKS!  If you are going for dungies and keep getting rockies, move the traps. 

You can definitely get rock crabs in Monterey. But you will have a tough time finding dungies. Almost all of the boaters who drop traps in Mo bay are going into 200+ feet depth! Waaay too much rope for a kayak. And even those guys have to run 5-10 traps to make it worthwhile.
I would go out of MBK and paddle north a mile or so. That's your best bet for dungies. For rock crabs, I would normally say to try off Cannery Row...but that is the Ricketts SMCA which only allows take of finfish...so you'd have to drop traps outside the blue zone here, which is probably like 100ft deep minimum. http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/images/mpamaps/montereypeninsula.jpg

There are dungeness crabs in Monterey but they are really deep so nobody targets them from kayaks. You can target rock crabs in Monterey in shallow water. In SCAL, they don't have dungies and they have convinced themselves that rock crabs are really great eating. They actually commercial harvest them.  Actually they are OK eating, crazy hard shells, weird yellow liquid, not much meat.

well that was fast

thank you guys...

the carmel river thing is good tip jim ,i missed that part, I will double check my regs readings on that area..thanks

I have measure tool and will double check it with my tape

I am only gonna drop two trpas but wanted to know just the same how many in case i get two more
Cameron thanks for the answers ,that seems like what I had read but I wanted to double check

no crabs in monterey bay to try for????...rock crab any good....anywhere out of shipping lanes or off rocks...any tips

thanks again guys

Rock's are OK really thick shell. If I keep any I break the claws off and cook them with dungies. The bodies I use to make crab/seafood stock which makes awesome clam or corn chowder.

years ago(like 20 yrs) a friend worked on a two man crab boat and he invited me to ride along on an overnight to get their pots of the back of the channel islands...i could not touch anything as i was not part of the fishing crew..but took a sketch book and just enjoyed the day and slept for the first time on a boat....they sent me home the next day with a bucket full of crab....until i moved to monterey i thought those were dungies that day long ago...but they must have been large rock crabs...they looked like this pic below and were great to eat

I would be happy to catch some monterey rock crab...whatever they may be in size as long as it's legal size...and I can fish while the traps are down too so no worries....

thanks again...sounds like I better read the regs maps and get the different species take understood in the spots I go

well that was fast

thank you guys...

the carmel river thing is good tip jim ,i missed that part, I will double check my regs readings on that area..thanks

I have measure tool and will double check it with my tape

I am only gonna drop two trpas but wanted to know just the same how many in case i get two more
Cameron thanks for the answers ,that seems like what I had read but I wanted to double check

no crabs in monterey bay to try for????...rock crab any good....anywhere out of shipping lanes or off rocks...any tips

thanks again guys

Rock's are OK really thick shell. If I keep any I break the claws off and cook them with dungies. The bodies I use to make crab/seafood stock which makes awesome clam or corn chowder.

yeah i use rock crab for my base for crab bisque also great for using to make crab butter for toast for boulibasse, cameron