Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

[MrDungenessCrabber]

I have been fishing for a few years until i started seeing people go crabbing. i quickly got the gear and tested it out.

2 months later - im knee deep in crabs (metaphorically speaking). I now enjoy it more than fishing.

I now have a new obsession for crabbing. equipped with my 4 man inflatable boat and a trolling motor, I now go crabbing any chance I get when it gets sunny. sadly crabbing season is over for me.

Anyway, enjoy some pics of some west coast canada dungeness crabs. More pics at my hobby site Mr Dungeness Crabber .

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Sat here a while trying to think of something I'd rather eat, couldn't come up with anything.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Yeah, I love those things too... but they're extremely rare and expensive here in the southeast US.

I do love catching the Blue Claws we have here, but haven't been able to go in ages.

I personally would set out the traps and then pick them back up on the way back in from fishing.

 

[ngt]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Season starts up here in a couple of weeks. Hope there are some calm days coming up that land on weekends so I can take my little boat out.

 

[pscrabber59]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Mr dungie your season may be over, but the fall/winter season crab season for me here in Washington State has just started!!

 

[floattest]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Hey pscrabber. Still 4 more weeks of crabs. We are planning on getting out soon. I was wondering if you have been out crabbing lately, and how you've done. Super cold now, but no wind, if you can stay warm out there it's actually quite nice boating.

 

[pscrabber59]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Floattest went out the week before thanksgiving and we got our limits in area 12# Hood Canal, went out 2 days ago in area 9# and it was so cold it felt like being naked in a freezer!! but we stuck it out and got our limits. I might wait for a week or two till it warms up before I get back out there. If your going out now you better bundle up because its sure is dam colder near the water!! Good Luck

 

[floattest]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Congrats on the limits. getting large crab, no soft ones? Yeah, these temps are too much for me. I'll wait until we see 40+ degrees. 19 was the low overnight in Everett! just too darn cold for man or beast.
Looking at crab and blackmouth attempt next Thursday or Friday area 8-2 supposed to be a balmy 45

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

I love crabbing too. I grew up catching these guys (Blue Crabs) down at the beach by tying a piece of raw chicken on a string and tossing it out into the water. After about 2-5 minutes its covered in crabs. You then pull the string in slowly and scoop up the crabs with a dip net. They're usually so fixated on the chicken that they don't even notice you scooping them up. You can fill a 5 gallon bucket in well under an hour using one little chicken thigh.
However, these fellas (Stone Crabs) are usually caught in traps and can literally take your thumb off in an instant. Their shells are nearly 1/4" thick and hard as, well stone. They taste divine and cost a pretty penny. They are so popular that there are entire restaurants that only serve stone crab. Oddly, the crab itself isn't harvested as it is very, very illegal. Instead, they simply remove one of the claws and throw the crab back. The claw then regenerates and the crab is no worse for the ware. As far as I know, it's the only form of meat harvesting that doesn't involve taking a life, which is a win-win for everybody.

 

[dan t.]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Yep, confirmed crab addict here, cant wait to get out of Prince Rupert and throw the traps down, time for a feed. Actually the crab pictured in hand and the 2 top pictues on the left are red rock crab. Very hard shell, very little body meat but very taisty. Lots of dungys this time of year but you have to go deep, even a few snow crab this time of year,and up on the Alaska border there are places you can catch red king crab. Got to stop this, its 11 pm and I am starting to drool.

 

[redneck joe]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

i miss the dungeness...


we used to make vacations out of it when i was a kid.

 

[CheckFire]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

MrDungenessCrabber , have you tried prawning ? (traps are different but same type of area's)

I know the prawning and shrimping can be very good in some area's of BC.
When and if I can get the boats issue's worked out I will try up the Indian Arm and Gibsons.

 

[jvanhees]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

cool pics! I would like to try this some day, but there are no crabs close!

 

[IraRat]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Actually, for the last few years, you can take both claws on the stone crab. And just to show you the (horrible) wisdom of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, here's the science:

They used to think they needed the claw for defense, which is nonsense. But taking one claw still reduces that crab's likelihood of surviving, but for reasons they don't KNOW. And a crab with both claws taken has the exact same chances of surviving as one with one claw, which is why they allow you to take two these days--the commercial crabbers as well.

The numbers have to do with weather and breeding cycles, and the Florida Stone Crab has never had higher numbers since it became what they call a managed species, even with taking both claws.

 

[pscrabber59]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Rat, I always throw back a legal sz. crab with 1 claw because I thought they needed that claw to survive. So if you take both claws off a stone crab how does it hunt its prey and survive. With that bit of info I think I'll start keeping the one pincher keepers from now on.

 

[IraRat]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Rat, I always throw back a legal sz. crab with 1 claw because I thought they needed that claw to survive. So if you take both claws off a stone crab how does it hunt its prey and survive. With that bit of info I think I'll start keeping the one pincher keepers from now on.

For whatever it eats, it just uses its feeder claws, which are like the locomotion claws. The main claws are a protection against some predators, and I think for breeding purposes.

I'm on my iPhone now and can't really check, but I'll try to post some links with the latest scientific info when I get a chance. Also remember that I was talking commercial fishing regs, as opposed to any available recreation stone crab licenses, if available at all these days.

The main point was, as I remember, that the pincer claws don't serve a major purpose--but removing both or just removing one equally damages the HEALTH of the crab.

Also think of spiny lobsters, which don't have pincer claws at all.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

Actually, for the last few years, you can take both claws on the stone crab. And just to show you the (horrible) wisdom of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, here's the science:

They used to think they needed the claw for defense, which is nonsense. But taking one claw still reduces that crab's likelihood of surviving, but for reasons they don't KNOW. And a crab with both claws taken has the exact same chances of surviving as one with one claw, which is why they allow you to take two these days--the commercial crabbers as well.

The numbers have to do with weather and breeding cycles, and the Florida Stone Crab has never had higher numbers since it became what they call a managed species, even with taking both claws.

Funky. Those crustaceans are crazy critters. They must be able to grow them back pretty quickly.

 

[blackhawk180]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

I can't wait to get back out crabbing/shrimping in puget sound. Also take a yearly trip to SE Alaska and set pots every day while we fish halibut and lings. Love to fish 'em, love to eat 'em!
Motivational (for me anyway) pic included is a couple shrimp pots with 400' shots on a rare sunny, calm day in SE Alaska. Counting down the days

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

What does a "Ling" look like on the West Coast? We have a fish called a Ling here in FL that also goes by the name of Cobia or Lemon fish. They tend to travel in pairs and looks sort of like primitive sharks with a sharp, boney ridge down there back. Some folks target them specifically by trying to spot them from a tower in the boat then sight casting to them. My dad once caught a 52 pounder from the beach using a little 1/4 oz. jig. They look something like this.

 

[blackhawk180]

Re: Dungeness Crabbing In west cost canada

West coast 'lings' are actually Lingcod, a prehistoric looking creature that can grow to over 50#. Ugly as sin buy tasty as heck.