Scuba diver at Doran crabbing

Saw a guy diving in full tanks for crabs at Doran last Saturday. Talked to him when he came out. Said he stayed in about 15' of water. Had 5-6 in bag. He said it was a challenge to catch them, fast, and had to sneak up from rear. Interesting. Never seen this before. Anyone try it?

I done lobster but never try for dungies.
But I am willing to try, the regs say that we can NOT have a net or anything to assist.

who knows, we may find a couple of traps or in Timber Cove a speargun

My buddy used to free dive for crab around the jetty while the rest of us fished. Likewise, he said unless the crab are actively feeding on something, they're just scurrying across the bottom and are really hard to grab. He liked the challenge though and always came away with enough for a meal and usually a lost hoop net or two and a hand full of snagged crab snares.

Funny you mention finding traps. Two guys came up and asked him to go back out and look for their traps. He didn't't have net, but did have game bag. He also mentioned it was tough to grab them, measure them, and then get them in game bag wearing all scuba gear.

I think it was Andy that was telling me how diving the Albion river for them was a blast.  In the current your swooping along and have to grab them real quick and try not to get pinched!

Back in the day, like 20+ years ago, I used to scuba dive for crab back in the Puget Sound.  I found that if you hovered above them, and quickly dropped down on the one you selected, it wasn't too difficult to "trap" one to the bottom.  That being said, I did use up a lot of air much more quickly than on a casual dive.  But it is an effective means to catch crab.

-Allen

I wonder if you can ask him to mark the spot where you can drop your traps that it is most productive.

 

I've only free dove for them.  My buddy had rings out and I got some legal crabs off of them.  It was fun and challenging, but abalone diving is better.   

As a matter of fact, that was 364 days ago.  http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=50666.msg564371#msg564371

I've dove for them in the Puget Sound on sandy bottoms (Fort Flagler).  They make you work!  You'll burn through a tank in no time at all while sprint-swimming after em.  My technique was to swim up on them and pop them up into the water so they can't run and juggle them.  Then my dad would open the game bag and let them drop into it.

I got a trophy-sized Dungy when I was a kid.  Never measured it but it every bit of 10 inches.  It had barnacles and even kelp growing off it's back.  We had to cook it half at a time in a stock pot,  it was that big!   Man, I wish I'd measured it.....

The biggest thing I learned from diving for crab is that crab run in veins (long narrow trails) of similar size, sexed, hardness, and species of crab.  That's not to say they don't intermix, especially when there is a scent trail involved (yeah, I'd sometimes drop carcs to see how the crab responded), but the trend is definitely evident.  So now you know why I like to run and gun on crab while looking for the right kind, and why you could be drawing blanks, while your buddy 100 feet away is pulling up a plugged pot.  You either give it time and let the crab come to you, or get on it and actively seek them out.  I hate waiting around, so I do the later.

-Allen

The biggest thing I learned from diving for crab is that crab run in veins (long narrow trails) of similar size, sexed, hardness, and species of crab.  That's not to say they don't intermix, especially when there is a scent trail involved (yeah, I'd sometimes drop carcs to see how the crab responded), but the trend is definitely evident.  So now you know why I like to run and gun on crab while looking for the right kind, and why you could be drawing blanks, while your buddy 100 feet away is pulling up a plugged pot.  You either give it time and let the crab come to you, or get on it and actively seek them out.  I hate waiting around, so I do the later.

-Allen

Having never seen crab in a dive setting myself, that's really good info to know. Thanks !

I've pulled dungies a couple times, but rock crabs are more fun! Kinda like hunting for scallops, and just as hard to see. You look for a flat rock in a hole that has two little black eyes

I dive for dungies every year. Dropping fish carcasses down prior to diving will enhance your success rate.

Dove for dungies in pacifica once with a buddy. Have to second what everyone else said about how hard they are to get in a game bag. Definitely a different struggle than when they are on land.

That said, anyone want to try diving hmb somewhere around Christmas time? I'd be interested to see what the distribution is like (in all of 5' of viz)

Have to second what everyone else said about how hard they are to get in a game bag.

The secret is to use a spring loaded lobster bag.  They are solid material at the top, with mesh only at the bottom to drain.  Once you have these, you won't ever think about going back to a mesh goodie bag.