We got crab legs

There is a lot of Columbia River shoreline in Clark County, but I am afraid it is a long way from the salty part where the crabs hang out. You might as well get your name on the waiting list for a slip in one of the basins down here.
 
OMG you still got razors down there! Good to see you Mike! :thup I have been really enjoyin the shell fishin new-to-me since Feb of this year if I recall right, but I'm in me 'jolly years' now :xlol mid 50's and still don't care much anymore about precise dates. :embarrased

Looks like we have the same commercial pot too boot me lod! For the most part and to my dismay, I get 9 out of 10 dungies, over what I really want to see - snow crab :smilep :star :xtongue

I get so little time for c-bratn, used to have a lot of it before technology progressed into this madness. I miss the good ole days. I owe you some good beer. :beer :mrgreen: :| :xlol
 
New hot pot! We had more than enough for two limits of 12 in this pot alone! All total for Monday morning we probably tossed back 30 legal crab to keep the heaviest 24.

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Nice! So what are your thoughts on Crab Rings? I'm seriously considering buying one, just to have for next time I head out west. I used to have one some time ago, that actually folded up in half. I'm looking at one now that just flattens out it appears. But the top ring is 30". That's still a lot of space needed for storage on a 22. Colby
 
Just this season I started using what we call a crab ring similar to this:

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We are allowed three crab catching devices per person so I carry five pots to toss out for a while then we anchor and fiddle around with the ring gizmo in shallower water. It gets us a few crab and is kind of fun. The only hassle with it is the smaller crab getting all tangled up in the net strings.

I also have a couple of the snare gizmos to use with a fishing pole but don't use them much since getting the ring.

Those folding traps don't hold up too well around here because the river current requires they be weighted down quite a bit to be able to use a float large enough to be seen. The extra weight makes the wire cage start falling apart after a few uses.

Also, Colby, I have to tell you the side curtain setup Lois saw in your boat is a real hit! We stuck a fiberglass bike flag stick in the bottom pocket on each curtain, snapped them on at the top, and attached some velcro strips to hold them in place when rolled up. Thanks for that tip!

The lighting isn't too great and my picture taking skills are lousy, but here is one of them rolled up in place. We put them up while we were waiting for the crab pots to fill. We could probably roll them up neater if we tried.

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Five pots for the two of us and one crab ring used at anchor.

Crabbing is open year round in the river and they are just now starting to get full of meat. The commercial season has been delayed until at least mid December and I hope they wait until the end of the month. They want the crab to be nearly full before opening the pro season.

Once the big boys start crabbing in the ocean, the larger crabs will start disappearing from the river. They have to be a quarter inch bigger for the commercial crabbers so the one ones left will be barely legal or just under the size limit. We usually give up on the river about two weeks after the pro season starts.
 
colbysmith":8nawxgis said:
Nice! So what are your thoughts on Crab Rings? I'm seriously considering buying one, just to have for next time I head out west. I used to have one some time ago, that actually folded up in half. I'm looking at one now that just flattens out it appears. But the top ring is 30". That's still a lot of space needed for storage on a 22. Colby
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I don't crab often, but when I do, I prefer to use crab rings! Been using them since the late 80s (I think they were mandatory at one time back then), and have been using them ever since. With 2 rings, we'll drop one in one spot and another in another spot, and just motor back and forth checking them, about 15-20 min between pulls.

When the limit is only 5 per person, and only 2 people on board, we've never not limited after a couple hours of crabbing. Makes it more "fun" in my opinion and 2 rings stacked don't take up much space on the boat or in the garage.

Some crab will escape as you pull them up, but when in 50-60 feet of water, it doesn't take long to pull up, so the rings are usually still quite full. As long as you're into them in the first place.

-Mike
 
Tyboo, that ring is pretty much what I'm looking at buying. The one I had before, was a long time ago, from when I was in Alaska. But it also folded in half, so you ended up with a "half moon" to store. Not being real patient, the 15-20 minute wait is long enough. lol I figure when I get to Alaska or a Friday Harbor gathering, it'll just be something I can throw over to kill some time. Guess I'll need to research the crabbing season and requirements a bit more. Glad the curtain thing worked out. Looks nice in the photos. Colby
 
Up until TyBoo Mike took me to get 2 more crab pots in Oct. I would put down 2 pots then use 2 rings while the pots were soaking. This was legal in northern WA with 2 people onboard. If the crabbing was very good the rings would get your 10 crabs and leavethe 2 pots for next day. The rings will keep busy. Bring the rings up as fast as you can and the water pressure will keep most of the crabs in. Lew
 
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