Crab pots and hauling advice needed

Thanks Curt. All of that does make sense. 🙂
 
Tides are wicked here some times you as much as 17ft tide change in 6:30 hours. I know I have lost lots of pots over the years of crabbing. some days you very little tide change but for today it is 10.5ft change.

Dennis
 
As mentioned, the tides, imho are one of the biggest reasons people lose their pots. Often they think they have been stolen when in fact they were put in without sufficient slack line to account for tides/waves. We have come across several ‘floating’ traps, indicated by their movement and depth of water they are in. Have also seen numerous floats hooked on to working tug loads too.
 
Thanks all.... I'm climbing the learning curve here quite quickly... :lol:

So if I'm placing my crab pot in a depth of 70 feet or less then I simply let go all of my 100 feet of lead line, right ? This should take care of tide changes and strong current from dislodging the pot and from an unfortunate loss of the pot.

I'm still trying to figure out the best strategy for placing the buoys on the floating end of the line so I can quickly identify them as being mine and to make retrieval of the line easy for me.

I have two WA state required red/white buoys (elliptical/red at one end and flat/white at the other end). What I intend doing at this point is to have the lead line attached to one of these red/white floats and the other red/white float attached to the other with around 6 to 10 feet of line. Thus, retrieving the pot line I can hook onto the 6 to 10 feet easily and start hauling...

I will place at least one 5 lb weight (maybe two) in the trap pot to ensure it sits on the sea bed securely.

I've been told to try and make the float setup easily identified as being mine and not to simply rely on the Name/Address/Tel Number on the red/white buoys. To this end I'm thinking of adding a bright yellow oblong buoy in place of the red/white buoy at the end of the 6 to 10 foot line. What is the recommendation for this strategy being acceptable ?

Thanks.... 🙂
 
HI Baz,

That all sounds good. You can use anything you want to identify your pots as long as you have the red and white buoy included.

I've seen anything from brightly colored flags to yellow rubber duck to make them unique. the yellow float idea is good. A minuture tugboat would be better! 😀

Curt
 
Is there a crab catch/keep count limit per season per person ?
 
There is a daily limit, but no season maximum.
 
What is the daily limit ? ..... not that I'll reach it.... but you never know and best to comply with the rules.

Also, is there a 'best time' for dropping the crab pots for max catch ? 😉
 
Hi Baz,

Go to the Web site for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to find all the rules.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/crab/

Here is a handy guide.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/crab/plastic_crabbing_card_final.pdf

As to your specific questions.
- There is no season limit but you do need to get another catch record card if you fill up the first. You can put up to 100 crab per card assuming you limit every day you go! 😛 You need a separate summer card from the winter card.
- the daily limit for Dungeness is 5 crab per license, males only, hard shell only, 6.25 inches across the back of the shell behind the points.
- you can catch crab during any tide on days that are open however I find that the best time is when there is the least current (usually around high or low tide). They don't like to feed in a lot of current.

Be sure to write down your catch immediately on your catch record card before leaving the pot. Your card must always match the number of crab in the boat except when actively sorting the crab from the pot. WDFW says they are aggressively checking this this year.

Curt
 
you can also add some more weight to the crab pot to stop it from drifting in high current areas.

I add some rebar that sticks through the bottom so it grabs the seafloor a little and it has weight. I've seen others add brick. all zip tide into the bottom of the pot.
 
Yes, the weight advice is good and the rebar sticking into sea bed is a good suggestion as well. Thanks. 🙂 When I visited John's Sporting Goods in Everett the other day, John mentioned the weight advice also. I bought his autographed Saltwater Fishing journal as a good measure... It just may bring some luck to my crabbing exploits. 😱
 
The WDFW rules will also show the limits and minimum size for red rock crab and, a new fishery in certain areas starting last year, Tanner crab. They don't need to be recorded on the catch record card, and don't count against your daily limit for Dungeness crab.
 
Cost of fishing.

The cost for my crabs caught at least $200 dollars per crab.
The cost on my shrimp is a least $5,00 per shrimp.
My Salmon cost at least $130 per pound.
I won't tell you cost for halibut. To high a figure.
But I enjoy ever minute of it.

Dennis
 
Yes....

Money ≠ Enjoyment 😀
 
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