Crabbing HMB Sunday 2/23

I bring 2 dive bags.  It is a lot easier to count 5 each, rather than 10, perhaps it was 11 in the bag.  Interesting thing though - after I bring 2 bags, the catch has been lousy.  Think I'll bring a banana to reverst the trend.

Flipped my yak last year in HMB wearing sunglasses and they were still on my head after 2x dunkings, so a gopro on a head mount should still be good.

I keep my crabs in a big dive-goody bag (mesh kind with locking handle) attached by bungie to my yak handle. Bungie is super tied to the bag so it'll pretty much not come loose. When I'm pullling pots or just waiting around, crabs stay in the water. I keep the bag hanging off the opposite side of the yak that I pull on to counter balance myself. Sometimes I'll keep the bag in the water moving from pot to pot if not in a rush. When it's really time to move and/or there's a lot of wind and swell I pull the bag in to my yak. The bungie is long enough that I can either put it up front between my legs or behind my seat and milk crate. I usually just toss it between my legs when OTW, but when I'm gearing up to head back in, they go in the back, helps keep my nose up out of the water a little more and leaves room for my rings/traps up front. Then again, my system is a little weird since the yak is weird. Check out a Native watercraft Magic 14.5

Also, just keep a good count of your crab. Counting on the beach is all well and good, but if you come up with 11, you could be SOL. I've been checked by DFG (DFW?? wtf..) right after landing at HMBK.

Oh yeah, counting on the beach was not a desirable plan. I just figured it was the best I could do at that point. Maybe I can put 10 pebbles in my pocket and toss them as I catch keepers. 

Crabbing was slow for me yesterday. I had about 40 shorts, 3 jumbos and one rock crab. I threw one of the jumbos back because it was already a bit gimpy.......missing two legs and one of its pinchers was smaller than the other.

I gifted the rockcrab to Earl and the other two dungies to my neighbor 

It was nice to see Rockman, Earl, Krusty and Tong OTW.

Also ran into BoogieboardSteve.......he decided to take the short cut and launched from the beach yesterday in front of the yellow can 

What else would you expect from a guy that boogie boards Mavericks 

Saw a bunch of you out. Hope yall had fun and got some crab. There are going to be many more crabs missing appendages from now on because the draggers have started their ictheocide. Saw the "Tabatha" out there in the drag lane destroying everything in her path. On our last pull late last week many more of the crab had missing appendages. One noteworthy individual had a claw missing and weighed in at a wopping 3.3 Lbs.

Glad everything worked out OK for you Tonggao.  You even recovered enough to get a decent crab dinner after all.  You seemed to handle your flip over pretty well and were prepared for the situation.

For me, your experience reinforced a couple of things yet again:

1) Dress for falling in (its probably going to happen at some point, for no expected reason)
2) Wear not carry that PFD
3) Wear not carry that Radio (If it is not on you it isn't as likely to be much good)
4) Go with others (Even with a lot of people at HMB that day, nobody might have noticed for a while that you were having a problem until your radio call)
5) Oh yeah, figuring out how to reliably right your boat and get in is pretty nice too. 

Weather was great that day, albeit slow for keeper crabs.  Got my brother out on a yak, though, so life is good!

Thanks Camodon. Are you the guy who came to my rescue in the Hobie AI? If yes, I like to thank you again! All you said is very true, and also I am going to take Antonio's advise, take a safety class soon.

Yikes.  I picked up Tong's floating away coffee cup.  He had stability with ??? another kayak. 

I even/really thanked him, afterwards, for his flip. I've just never used the radio much or pulled my ok p15 so fast.  So, when he called, 'help I'm flipped.  Is anyone there?'  I responded instantly to assist.

For me, it was a great feeling to be a member of such a great association.  Thank you all for the advice, the threads and all of the learning that takes place (on this computer.....grrrrr )

otw

Thanks a lot Craig for dashing over to help, and thanks to you, I still have my coffee cup today to enjoy .

Here is the short clip of me flipping the yak, hope nobody will do what I did.

From your GoPro video, it looked like you were already leaning over to your left before you made that last fateful reach into your crab pot. You have to keep your weight low and centered over your kayak at all times while crabbing, since you have no chance to brace with your paddle.

Well, a number of mistakes. First, I have the seat on my Predator at the high position, which gave it a higher center of gravity. Next, I put the pot more on the left side of the yak instead of in the center, which already tip the yak to the left. Last and probably most importantly, I was reaching inside the far left corner of the pot to get a crab, which is a little far from where I was sitting. The shifting of the weight just flipped the yak, without any indication. It happened probably in less than half a second of time. All these mistakes only became clear afterwards

try dangling your legs outside your kayak next time. It'll add extra stability. Try not to leave them in the water for too long though. Some creatures with sharp, large teeth might hang on to them.

Well, a number of mistakes. First, I have the seat on my Predator at the high position, which gave it a higher center of gravity. Next, I put the pot more on the left side of the yak instead of in the center, which already tip the yak to the left. Last and probably most importantly, I was reaching inside the far left corner of the pot to get a crab, which is a little far from where I was sitting. The shifting of the weight just flipped the yak, without any indication. It happened probably in less than half a second of time. All these mistakes only became clear afterwards

Watching video, it looks like the swell action was timed to your tipping. I think the swell pushed you over the edge.

Well, a number of mistakes. First, I have the seat on my Predator at the high position, which gave it a higher center of gravity. Next, I put the pot more on the left side of the yak instead of in the center, which already tip the yak to the left. Last and probably most importantly, I was reaching inside the far left corner of the pot to get a crab, which is a little far from where I was sitting. The shifting of the weight just flipped the yak, without any indication. It happened probably in less than half a second of time. All these mistakes only became clear afterwards

Watching video, it looks like the swell action was timed to your tipping. I think the swell pushed you over the edge.

It was pretty flat that day

Well, a number of mistakes. First, I have the seat on my Predator at the high position, which gave it a higher center of gravity. Next, I put the pot more on the left side of the yak instead of in the center, which already tip the yak to the left. Last and probably most importantly, I was reaching inside the far left corner of the pot to get a crab, which is a little far from where I was sitting. The shifting of the weight just flipped the yak, without any indication. It happened probably in less than half a second of time. All these mistakes only became clear afterwards

Watching video, it looks like the swell action was timed to your tipping. I think the swell pushed you over the edge.

It was pretty flat that day

I agree, not much swell. Just enough at just the wrong time. It's in the video clip.

So why did the yak flip over. Was it from pulling the trap or another reason.

Well, a number of mistakes. First, I have the seat on my Predator at the high position, which gave it a higher center of gravity. Next, I put the pot more on the left side of the yak instead of in the center, which already tip the yak to the left. Last and probably most importantly, I was reaching inside the far left corner of the pot to get a crab, which is a little far from where I was sitting. The shifting of the weight just flipped the yak, without any indication. It happened probably in less than half a second of time. All these mistakes only became clear afterwards

I don't reach forward into a trap.  Instead I tilt the trap toward me to get closer to the crabs.  It's a much more stable method.