Anyone been crabbing in the San Juans (WA)?

S

smckean (Tosca)

New member
Crabbing opened up here on 7/15.

I have done poorly compared to other years. People I talk to at the beach (launching and retrieving boats) also seem to be surprised at the few number of crab in their traps (with some exceptions).

What have you been seeing??
 
We just returned from Fisherman Bay, on Lopez, and we managed to only get 2 crab. There were not even smaller ones, or females. A few people did okay, but overall it seems to not be as good as in the past.
 
A friend did some crabbing this weekend off of Guemes. Several pulls with no crab, one pull had 3 total with 2 keepers, and that's all he got. Did not ask what he was using. On my recent stop at Schooner Cove, I also overheard 3 fishermen on the dock lamenting how bad the crabbing is up there.

-Mike
 
These data points conform to my experience. Since I live on Guemes, it is easy for me to go out crabbing (in these normally very productive waters). I crabbed Sat, Sun, and Mon. I did a total of 7 trap sets with 4 of them overnight (I go alone with 2 traps).....got only 7 keepers. One trap came up empty which has never happened to me before.....to boot, I placed that empty trap pull in a spot I have always gotten 20-30 crab per pull (not all keepers of course).
 
Patrick,

I don't really know. I pulled the boat several days ago to do some work on it. I will not get it back into the water until this coming Thursday's re-opening.

I did set traps early in the season up near the area you mention; I did not find that area much different than other places I've tried in the area. Some folks tell me it's been slow for them as it has been for me; others tell me this year has been good just as in years past. (BTW, I'm doing some things to my traps in hopes of improving my yield.)

The crabs you saw on Anacortes docks.....were they recreational or commercial??
 
It's been good up in the Bellingham/Chuckanut/Eliza area...at least for me. It's getting hit pretty hard right now, so I don't know how long it will last!
 
it's not the san juans but close. I have been crabbing in Utsalady Bay for years on Camano Island. More years than I want to admit....lol....
this last Thursday my friend and his wife and I put 6 pots out and left over night and picked them Friday. the 6 pots gave us our 15 crab limit and we released 4 or 5. it has been this way all season so far.
 
Thanks for the input everyone.
North end of Camano sounds good, we have friends who say that, too, as well as Roger's report. They leave their pots overnight, too.

Anacortes, traditionally, really good, but maybe due to big commercial pressure, started off slow. Sandy, those crab were being taken care of by a sportsman. I saw 2 pots on the dock ready to go with turkey legs. I use a lot of cheap chicken, clams when I can and salmon carcasses.

Sometimes, going deeper with a weighted pot really helps.
 
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