Crab Thievery My Thoughts --> Stay Close

Just came back from crabbing HMB.
Had the discussion about pots getting raided with my friend the night before. He didn't seem too concerned.
We had 5 pots out on an overnight soak 8 miles from HMB about 5 miles out.
First pot was 150 yds off the mark. Three crabs and the salmon head and wire tie were missing.
Second pot had 15 crabs.
Third pot was a bit off mark, 5 crabs.
The other two were on spot and loaded.
I think pot #1 and #3 got raided.
A the zip tie is an excellent idea to at least give you an idea if you were ripped off or not.
Fishing was glacially slow. I did manage a 9.5 lb ling though.
We ended up with 30 jumbos for 3 of us. Had to throw back well over a dozen.

That's good work...jumbos are quite the reward...

Just came back from crabbing HMB.
Had the discussion about pots getting raided with my friend the night before. He didn't seem too concerned.
We had 5 pots out on an overnight soak 8 miles from HMB about 5 miles out.
First pot was 150 yds off the mark. Three crabs and the salmon head and wire tie were missing.
Second pot had 15 crabs.
Third pot was a bit off mark, 5 crabs.
The other two were on spot and loaded.
I think pot #1 and #3 got raided.
A the zip tie is an excellent idea to at least give you an idea if you were ripped off or not.
Fishing was glacially slow. I did manage a 9.5 lb ling though.
We ended up with 30 jumbos for 3 of us. Had to throw back well over a dozen.

Awesomely great to see you get out on the salt m'boy!

Bushy

Crab pot sting operation?  waterproof, live-streaming camera attached to the pot with a wired exploding ball of blue dye.   

I think this might be the right direction. Clean (haha) evidence.

Let’s say you come upon a boat that is poaching your pot....now what ?
 Back and forth arguing, you’re in a kayak them on the boat....they give you a middle finger and take off....you get their CF number....so you call which number ?....the poaching one ?....has anyone ever done this and had success giving the bad guys a fine ?

It’s all very frustrating

I have not been on this site long, and I might be quite naive, but it’s obvious that the folks here are responsible and, for the most part, rule followers. A poacher is a poacher and if they are engaged in that activity, then they’re not the type of people any of us would ever understand or be friends with.

Regardless, if you see someone poaching, try to snap a picture, get the craft number and description, and then report it to the CalTip line. They also have a text option you can save in your phone. The one thing that is certain is if it is not reported, nothing will ever happen. Maybe if the warden see’s a craft number a couple of times that would pique their interest enough to look into that one.

I like Koln’s description of arguing with a poacher in a boat while being in a kayak. Although I would usually stand up to a bully at the drop of a hat, regardless of my deficiencies, doing so from my Outback seems to be one of those decisions my wife would give me that look she gives me when she thinks I did something she thought was less than brilliant.

I like Koln’s description of arguing with a poacher in a boat while being in a kayak. Although I would usually stand up to a bully at the drop of a hat, regardless of my deficiencies, doing so from my Outback seems to be one of those decisions my wife would give me that look she gives me when she thinks I did something she thought was less than brilliant.

Well said. I have a flare gun on my kayak though:P Jk not worth it. I would probably call the harbor patrol and tell them though. they might wait at the launch

Crabbing Season is tomorrow and the weather looks perfect for the weekend. I'll jump on this topic because i know it will eventually be brought up -- It always does every year.

I've noticed an uptick in crab thievery over the last few years (Especially in the HMB area). I try keep a positive view of human nature but when your pots are empty and some ahole leaves an empty beer in your pots you know that you have been poached.  They are getting bolder and bolder each year, and i'm just not sure what the authorities are doing about it.

I know people are going to say " Stay close to your pots all day", but sometimes I like to leave them to soak overnight or when i go fishing at the reefs. Just seems like a shitty move by shitty people. The endless amounts of "Free crab traps at HMB" is just too much for them to resist.

TRENDS:
I've noticed an uptick around Thanksgiving and Christmas for poaching.

I guess just stay close to your pots and stay alert.

Open ended questions
What do you do to limit getting poached?
Can we catch these guys and publicly FLOGG Them?
Can we send a strong message letting them to know we are all watching?
Should we form a vigilant anti-crab poaching group to watch each others pots? LOL 
Should we petition DFG to put more enforcement on these punks? 

Feels like an endless cycle each year and what started as a fun/enjoyable experience is becoming out of hand.
Just my thoughts. --TLA

Maybe they will reap their Karma if they go out this week to poach pots, wiih the storm this week before thanksgiving