Crab Snaring from Shore

Looking for some advice on snaring crabs from shore. I have a few crab rings kicking around which I've used on piers and jetties but I'm just not comfortable enough with my deepwater re-entry skills yet to head out on the big blue, especially with a kayak loaded with crab pots. But, I still would like to give crabbing a shot.

I know that this weekends swell may push the crabs out deeper, but I have next week off and was hoping to pick up a couple of crab snares and give it a go. Having never used a snare for crabs, is there any advice out there on places to try ? Any locations better earlier in the season ? Baker ? Bolinas ? Doran ? Tomales ? Any tips or advice would be helpful.

Thanks !

Surf rod... casts farther add some weight to keep it on the bottom. Start at the beginning of incoming tide. Crab snaring is good sturgeon eye  fishing training... little tugs on the tip. Set the snare if it feels heavy probably got a crab on. I use both squid and achovies at the same time. Chicken works too. Off the jetty is good.

Not sure if it's still this way or not but the last snares I bought had one extra snare on the box and had to cut one off to meet DFW regulations.  Probably depends on the model of trap. 

If crabbing from jetty or anywhere with lots of snags I put a couple rocks in the bait basket instead of lead.  Cheaper if you lose any. 

Hey Chattich,

I used to do a lot of snaring from the beach at the north end of Muir and had great results. Couple of tricks that I found helpful were to wear a wetsuit and actually wade out as far as I could before casting to get the extra distance. I'd also wear a glove on my hand to protect my fingers when whipping that line out there on my spinning reels. I'd use about 3 oz of weight in the snare box with a mixture of anchovies and squid. Like SlackedTide said, you want to "set" the snare when checking to see if you have a crab on and reel constantly up through to surf. No slack. You'll know if you have a crab on. Have fun and be careful! Let me know if you have any questions.

Josh

Hey Chattich,

I used to do a lot of snaring from the beach at the north end of Muir and had great results. Couple of tricks that I found helpful were to wear a wetsuit and actually wade out as far as I could before casting to get the extra distance. I'd also wear a glove on my hand to protect my fingers when whipping that line out there on my spinning reels. I'd use about 3 oz of weight in the snare box with a mixture of anchovies and squid. Like SlackedTide said, you want to "set" the snare when checking to see if you have a crab on and reel constantly up through to surf. No slack. You'll know if you have a crab on. Have fun and be careful! Let me know if you have any questions.

Josh

^ this is pretty much what I've figured out too. Watch out for large surf/ sleeper waves. The "no slack" component of the retrieve is important. I'll usually walk backwards when the crab's riding a wave inward to keep up if I've got a slow-retrieve reel. Ends up being a hell of a workout after a few hours.

Back in in pre-kayak (and P-boat) days, we use to snare off Baker and Muir.. and the best techniques that we learned were:


In addition to putting bait (chopped anchovies) inside the bait cage, was to also wrap and anchovy on the outside with magic string; alot, just enough from keeping them from stealing the whole bait a one time, but enough to keep them interested in staying put.

After casting and letting it sit for a while, we would check it by "SLOWLY" taking in some line to check for some resistances; if there were any legs inside a loop, pulling on the trap would tighten them up and hold the crab. if there was no crab snared, the crab would just drag on the bottom and you would know.

This does two things:

1.) keep the crabs in the area of your snare still close by and give you a faster chance at them find it again; everytime you retrieve your snare and re-cast, you have to give the bait time to create a scent trail for a crab to follow.

2.) saves your arms and shoulders from constantly casting  that 4oz anchor a billion times!


The last tip I can offer, is use two rods with snares, cast them kinda close to each other; but just far enough away to keep from getting tangles. And only reel in one snare at a time, keeping one in the water for referencing; this will:

-Help mark the spot where you have been laying down a scent trail and hopefully where the crabs still are hanging out..

- both snares will help put out a better scent trail...

Back in in pre-kayak (and P-boat) days, we use to snare off Baker and Muir.. and the best techniques that we learned were:


In addition to putting bait (chopped anchovies) inside the bait cage, was to also wrap and anchovy on the outside with magic string; alot, just enough from keeping them from stealing the whole bait a one time, but enough to keep them interested in staying put.

After casting and letting it sit for a while, we would check it by "SLOWLY" taking in some line to check for some resistances; if there were any legs inside a loop, pulling on the trap would tighten them up and hold the crab. if there was no crab snared, the crab would just drag on the bottom and you would know.

This does two things:

1.) keep the crabs in the area of your snare still close by and give you a faster chance at them find it again; everytime you retrieve your snare and re-cast, you have to give the bait time to create a scent trail for a crab to follow.

2.) saves your arms and shoulders from constantly casting  that 4oz anchor a billion times!


The last tip I can offer, is use two rods with snares, cast them kinda close to each other; but just far enough away to keep from getting tangles. And only reel in one snare at a time, keeping one in the water for referencing; this will:

-Help mark the spot where you have been laying down a scent trail and hopefully where the crabs still are hanging out..

- both snares will help put out a better scent trail...

Like the thread idea.  I picked up mesh for roe from the fabric store and wrapped my bait in that, then magic thread the closing and shove that in the snare and it is a little more difficult for the crab to destroy.

Thanks, all ! This is GREAT info. Looking at the forecast, I'm aiming for the incoming on Tuesday afternoon. Looks like it coincides with the best window for calmer seas as well. Either Muir or Doran, most likely. I'll definitely report back. Thanks again, everybody !

I havent done it in awhile, but i found squid worked well.  It didn't seemed to get picked apart as easily as the sardines.  Also I would bring a couple different size weights.  I remember when the current was moving I had to use a 6oz weight to get it too hold.

Not sure if you have rod holders yet, but if you don't, just pick up some pvc pipe 2-3' in length and cut the bottom at an angle. Find rock on the beach and bang them into the sand. A little cumbersome carrying all that stuff to the beach, but they work great.

Josh

If you go to Doran, you might as well take your kayak and pots. Have not seen many Dungies snared and you can drop pots near shore where you would be casting. The jetty protects the beach well.
If you want to snare from the beach, go to Muir.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Not sure if you have rod holders yet, but if you don't, just pick up some pvc pipe 2-3' in length and cut the bottom at an angle. Find rock on the beach and bang them into the sand. A little cumbersome carrying all that stuff to the beach, but they work great.

Josh

Or you can attach the pvc pipe to a section of rebar with hose clamps and use that as a sand spike rod holder. 

I used to have good luck snaring at Muir before I started crabbing from my yak. I made my own snares from 1/2" hardware cloth, thick monofilament (crimped to create loops), and rings of bike inner tube (durable rubber bands). Squid was my go-to bait, but just about anything smelly/oily/fishy will work. Chicken works great, too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you for all the info!

Thanks, all !

Got out to Muir Beach this morning to take advantage of the lull in the swell. A group of crabbers just ahead of me on the trail went straight for the northern end of the beach so I settled for the midsection of the beach. First cast, an undersized female. Second cast, an undersized male. I'm thinking to myself, wow, this is easy ! The next two hours go by without another crab. The other group of crabbers gave up after about forty five minutes and I didn't see them land anything. The waves picked up and it became difficult to keep the snare on the bottom with seven ounces of weight so I packed up and headed for the Bolinas spit. Four fishermen there with six rods between them, zero crabs however. Overheard one of them say that their friend spent seven hours there yesterday for two legals. Didn't bother breaking out the gear again. Talked to a commercial fisherman who came into the lagoon with a full boat of beautiful crab but he said they'd moved a little deeper in the last few days.

No keepers but it was definitely a nice day out. Thanks again everyone for the very helpful info. I'll definitely give it another shot soon and will keep working on my reentry skills to hopefully get out there soon.