Successful Crabbing

Safety on the Water ; Before we get into HOW TO crab fish, maybe we had better talk a bit about safety on the water. Here is not the place to use a small, shallow draft aluminum lake boat. Sure, I know that most of you may have put lots of time on the water fishing, but this may be your first attempt at crabbing. I recommend that your first attempt at crabbing be during a calm day with minimal run off. And do it close to the launch, just in case the wind picks up.

If you are crabbing on a calm day, and you use standard safety precautions, the probability of problems will be diminished. However WHEN the wind picks up and or tide begins to run hard when you intend to do the recovery process, you may need to consider what may happen when you are concentrating on pulling a pot. For one, your boat will probably be broadside to the wind/waves as you recover the pot. And most pots need to be weighted, adding to the total weight when being pulled. This may be OK under calm waters, but if you are using s smaller shallower sided boat plus the weight of you/and possibly your helper, plus the weight of pulling a pot, would put a lot of weight on one side, tending to tip the boat a considerably more than you had intended. And you are pretty pre-occupied so do not realize the problem until it is too late.

One one day of crabbing with my fishing club on December 31st, it was surprisingly calm, but one boat that I observed was about a 16' Jon Boat type open sled with about a 90 hp jet outboard that had 4 persons aboard. Not really the ideal boat for this type of work, along with all the gear and bodies aboard, it appeared to be near, or overloaded. If the had weather turned sour, they may have been in trouble.

The next trip our club went crabbing a month or so later, one of our members recovered two persons from an overturned (apparently a 16' aluminum open boat). They then proceeded to tow the upside down boat back toward shore before the Coast Guard got there and took over. The guess was that the occupants were trying to pull the pot off one side of the boat and enough weight that it buried the gunnel enough to have it take on a lot of water very quickly and flipped. The good thing is that all small boats up to 20' (by Coast Guard Regulations) has to have built in floatation foam.

Further investigating, I found from a local person there, that the apparent reason was, the tides at that timeframe were what they call King Tides, meaning a real high runoff. It seems that these crabbers may have been letting their pots soak overnight and they had became sanded in during these high runoff tides. Meaning in a SMALL boat the pot was STUCK to the bottom and in their trying to retrieve it, was too much for a small shallow sided boat, flipping it.

Also if using a smaller boat, as suggested from the above photo, is to be very careful in how you pull the pot. It is suggested that you pull by hand, but you will have to decide, do it from amidships, or from the stern. You need to be sure that you DO NOT change the boat's buoyancy/balance (two people on one side pulling or assisting) enough to have it take on water, shifting it's buoyancy enough as seen in the photo above. Because IF situations become bad and the extra weight, things can happen fast. Even if pulling on a rear corner, this has less floatation capacity which could easily suck that corner under if a wave hit it in a lowered condition, sinking the boat.

Now comes the question for even a larger boat, do you have the ability to manually pull a pot or do you need a electric or gas engine powered puller unit? If you are only crabbing in water depths of 30' or less, (sometimes even 10') and have the ability to manually pull the pot, that is what most occasional crabbers do. However if you need to go down to 100' or150' or so and may set out more than one pot, then a mechanical puller may be a worthy investment. Or, if you or your crew are physically able to manually pull pots? You might be able to manually pull a couple pots, if your crabbing is secondary to fishing. But if you are solely after crabs, setting possibly 4 pots, and if crabbing that day is not excellent, where you need to pull and reset them numerous times, the electric puller will save the day for us old geezers.

Now is your boat large enough to handle the extra weight of a mechanical puller which will be mounted on the side of the boat? The one thing crabbing has over shrimping is that if you manually pull the pot, there is no real need to pull it speedily as any legal sized crab will not escape before you get it up as compared to shrimping.

Many saltwater salmon/bottomfish fishermen will also drop off a couple of crab pots when they head out in the morning, then pull them on the return trip, and if not fishing overly deep, they will usually just pull the pot by hand, or by using a device as shown below. In pulling without the pulley device, it is suggested that you have some sort of rub mounting on the outer edge of the gunwale that has a notch in it to keep the rope located and not mar the side of the boat.

Then we need to consider what if you happen to get your prop tangled in a crab pot line. This may not even be your line if other crabbers do not use sinking line or attach a weight to a non sinking line. If the weather turns nasty and this happens, what do you do since this essentially will anchor you AND you now will have the stern into the waves. This needs to be thought out ahead of time. Can you pull the pot and untangle it from your prop without endangering the seaworthiness boat in the process? If not, be prepared to cut the line, and at least free your boat, where you can put all your attention then on the freeing the tangled line.

Emergency Long Handled Knife ; There WILL become a time if you boat long enough when you could get a anchor line, crab pot line or even a dangling mooring line, wrapped around your propeller. It could even be in a situation where if in a swift river current or ripping ocean tide where the situation could become NASTY very fast. Just how far can you safely reach from your boat with a knife in your hand and who is going to hang onto your feet? The photo below is pretty self-explanatory to an seasoned boater.

It also works great for removing a lot of wound on fishing line from the prop hub that you are afraid will get in to and ruin the seal shaft when you are 20 miles offshore and it is only 8AM. (Been there -- Done that)

You do not want a regular sharp edged knife, but the serrated blade type. The one below is an all stainless lock blade sold thru West Marine. This particular one has a couple of slots along the back that make it easy to attach to a boat hook with tie tapes. With the knife closed the boat hook can still be used for what it was intended. But it (the knife blade) can be deployed in a very fast time if need be. The brown coloration on the knife itself is from a heavy duty corrosion inhibitor spray compound that was used to ensure that it does not become inoperable at the wrong time. Yah, I know stainless is not supposed to rust, BUT !

It has come to my attention that West Marine is no longer carrying this knife as it must have been a special when I bought 2, sorry guys but there has to be other brands out there. However I have found that they still occasionally come up with a knife sale similar to this.

Here, when pulling your pot, approach it from the upstream side so you avoid the possibility of tangling in your own pot line, to identify this direction, it is best to use 2 floats, or at least a smaller (tag float) which helps let you know the direction of the current. Whereby you can identify and stay away from the submerged line on the other side. It also helps if you pull your pots off the Starboard side as using this method, you can see your pot and line, where if you try it off the Port side, you do not have as much control in being able to not observe the pot and line. And I will guarantee that if you try to pull off the port side long enough, YOU WILL tangle the line in your prop. You need to be able to maneuver close enough for your helper to be able to reach out, preferably with a boat hook to get ahold of the float line more easily, like the line between the floats.

The photos below are from shrimping, but the process of pulling the pot is the same. The boat on the left is a 12' Livingston while the one on the right is a 26' Duckworth. Note the belt mounted inflatable life preserver on the fisherman in the small boat.

If you are one who likes to drop off a crab pot or two on your way out to the fishing grounds, here is an idea that makes it easier to pull it back in. And is a lot better than pulling the pot UP hand over hand. And it does not take up the room aboard your boat as a gas engine or electric powered pot puller would during a day of fishing. And even if you are pulling a number of pots, IF you are crabbing in shallow water (10' to 25') rigging up a electric puller wastes time (of course doing it by hand may not be in the cards), if your age and physical condition limit it.

This unit, shown below, is made to attach to a standard Scotty downrigger base. It is made of heavy aluminum 1/4" angle, 1/4" plate with 2" pipe with a 4" dia. pulley. All the parts are Heliarc welded together. It uses a standard single Scotty downrigger retainer bolt for attachment. The pulley sheave is made of two pieces of 1/2" aluminum, epoxied together and having the groove lathe turned deeper than an ordinary pulley. It has Nylon bushings pressed into the sides of the pulley making for smoother pulley rotation. The pivot bolt is 1/2" dia. using a Nylock nut. It is small enough to be stowed when not needed, but sturdy enough to do the job of assisting on pulling about any pot. You will notice the latest version of this unit has a wedge type line chock near the rear of the support pipe to secure the line if a rest period is needed during your pulling.

Scotty also makes a Nylon hand puller that fits into their rod holder bases. It is "Scotty Trap-Eze Crab Trap Roller" and sells for about $50 including the base, using the same principle as shown above, however it does not have the "wings" on the outer end to help keep the line on the pulley if you do not yet have the boat broadside.

However in my usage of this Scotty unit (on a friends boat), it extends too far out and is not strong enough, and not having wings to secure the pot line on the pulley if a sideways pull.

With So Many Different Type of Pots, Which One Do I Buy? Here I am sure that if you talk to 10 different crabbers, you will get many different suggestions. Probably the most important is the ones that catch crab. But this is a very broad subject. My suggestion is to talk to different crabbers, even bum a ride to see first hand, learn from their experiences, and from that, then decide your battle plan based on your boat and finances. One idea is purchase the more economical gear first (even used if possible), try it out and then as you gain experience, formulate your own final plan. It would be foolhardy to spend lots of money, only to find that you, or your boat may not be compatible with this endeavor, or your spouse/ companion does not like, or is allergic to crab meat.

You will find the economy fold up pots made by Danielson (or copies of them), up to expensive stainless steel pots. Some will be square, octagon, while others will be round. Here the definition of a folding pot may be misleading. I have never seen one of these FOLDING pots collapsed between usages, the folding language merely identifies a pot that does not take up a lot of space when being shipped to the retailer. Once they are assembled, the owners usually just keep them that way. When baited properly and placed where there are crabs, they all will bring home enough for a crab salad. In my experience, if there are any crab there AND you have good bait, it does not really matter which style (brand) of pot that you use.

One company that builds a variety of crab traps (or pots if you prefer) is Willapa Marine Products Inc. It is important to pick a pot that has a large enough door, (some being on top, while others one end opens up) to easily remove the crab. Either way, when unlatched, you can simply shake the crab out onto the deck for sorting. The Danielson square folding pot can easily be set up to accomplish this. Trying to remove a live unwilling crab from the entrance door or just reaching in a smallish access hole does not really cut it when you are trying to remove something that has claws that can badly cut into a finger if you get it in the wrong spot and the crab does not want to be captured. Once dumped on your deck, if you roll them on their backs, they can't go anywhere. To pick them up either come in from behind and grab the body/shell from the rear, OR simply grab on of the rear legs. If they get ahold of a finger with the main pinchers, they can inflict GREAT BODILY HARM.

I have some of each type of pots, but recently I am leaning more to the more inexpensive ones simply because of the crab pot thieves out there. I have had them, the thieves (however never catching them in the act), but with only a couple undersize crab left in the pot, where from experience the day before there should have been maybe 8 or 10) just steal the crab from a cheap pot, but if they pull your expensive pot, you can be assured that the probability of the crab will not be all they will take with them. Here it would be a lot easier to cut your line to the floats and just take the pot (which usually do not have ID on them, and it wouldn't make any difference to them anyway).

One way to tell if someone has pulled your pots is if you set them out in a specific location by triangulation, or GPS and when time to pull them, they come up about 100 yard away from where you left them, someone has probably checked them for you. What they do is pull the float on one side of their boat, then pull the line in and throw the float back over the other side. They just keep pulling line from one side and throwing off the other. When the pot comes up, they "Borrow" your crab then throw the pot over the other side following the float and line.

In circumstances like this, if some boater comes close, they just throw the line and everything overboard as if it was theirs, then motor off. You can not get close enough to them to actually see what they just did, or probably not be able to recognize them or the boat. This 100 yards is about how long it takes them to pull your pot then get it back in if any tide is running.

Difference Between Pots & Rings ; Some states may have different requirements for different areas or times of the year. A season may be open for rings longer in some areas than for pots or not open for pots at all.

(1) A pot or trap as it is sometimes called, will (should) continue to catch crab as long as it has bait in the bait container, and is still in the water. So they do not need to be pulled as often a rings. All pots use entrance locations to allow the crab to get in, but not to escape. The round pot in the photo below has two entrance tunnels that are pretty well centered vertically, and up off the floor of the pot, so it is hard for the crab to find the way to exit. Square pots usually have 4 swinging wire doors (one on each side), these doors are made to work only one way -- IN.

(2) A ring trap on the other hand may just be a large ring with netting (usually Nylon) attached to it, when baited and thrown into a likely spot will also attract crab. Except if the season specifies rings instead of pots, the law says for these, the crab have to be able to have free access to and from the ring while in the water. This changes things immensely. These are normally found being used by crabbers who crab off docks where they throw then out, wait 20 minutes or so, then pull them back in. Here you will need more bait as the crab will eat it. In practice when you pull the ring in, the sides raise a little making a kind of a shallow netted bucket. The crab will usually clamp onto the bait allowing you to pull the ring in with them still in it.

One more complicated and effective ring that looks like a pot, has a sliding outer netting that when on the bottom, the ring falls to the ocean floor allowing the crab free movement, when the pot is being pulled this sliding ring and netting is raised creating a trap as it is pulled in. However this is also one that needs to be pulled often as compared to a actual trap.

These rings (shown in the LH photo below) use a 3 line bridle with a small float at the junction and where the float line is attached. This small float is needed to raise the lines so the crab will be under the lines when you pull the pot, otherwise you may flip any crab off if they are above these 3 bridle lines. Shown in the RH photo below is a folding pot. This one is small, 10" across and 6" high, and probably being designed to be used off a dock.

There are more than one ways of rigging up a bridle on a new pot, You will see two, three, or four bridle ropes to the attaching eye. All work, but the theory of using just two ON A POT is to NOT having it centrally located, but offset to one side. This is done so that when the pot hits the bottom, it does so that it will always land right side UP, otherwise (if upside down) the doors will be open and the crab can enter or leave with you not knowing if there was ever any there other than the bait gone. The ring style (shown above) may be an exception to this as here you want the ring to lay on the bottom AND the small float on the bridle ensures any crab does not get thrown off as it is lifted basically straight up, again so as not disrupt the crab that are on the ring.

Costs ; Rigging up from scratch for crabbing can be anywhere from economical to expensive, for new, like possibly $150 to $200 + for each pot, line and float. But if you like crab meat, at whole crab going for about $15 to $20 each and with a limit of 6 for the ocean, (the Columbia River area is more generous - like 12) you should be able to justify some expense. Or if you watch yard sales, sometimes you can pick up used this gear considerably cheaper.

You may not be able to purchase a complete fishable set that fits YOUR needs at all outdoor stores, but may have to put together your own usable crab capturing system. Or purchase used gear, however inspect it carefully, as unless it is made of stainless steel it will RUST, which is fine to season the steel, but not to the point that it is falling apart. And if the Nylon/Poly line has sat out in the sun for extended periods of time, it also deteriorates. At times I have been able to purchase well used Danielson crab pots, along with a float for $10 at a yard sale, or other times again a decent Danielson pot and float for $20. Normally they retail for from $40 to $60 for just the pot and $18 got the float plus the another $25 rope. Then another $25 to $40 for a bait container and snaps/tag float.

Improvements ; The square economy fold up pots like the Danielson, shown below (and possibly others also) will usually need modifications to make them function best. These doors do have a stop so they can not swing out, but they CAN swing swing inward with just a small current. Also crab can get out because every time the door opens to let in a crab if there is a current, it creates a doorway for the ones inside to leave if they decide to. To modify these, you can attach a length (14") of 3/16" pencil lead near the bottom on each side door. Just wrap it around the center mesh bar and then they (the door) won’t swing open in the current. The extra weight doesn’t seem to matter at all to the crabs when they enter. This lead usually do not need to be crimped in place because of the soft formable lead shape.

Another thing that I have found that make sure that the upper hook end of these old crab entry doors (on older pots) needs to be turned so the short looped end that is crimped over the bar above, is placed so that these ends are pointing on the outside of the pot. Then when they are bent over to be retained and make the pivoting entry door, that the door closes more closely to the rest of the bars and more securely. Sometimes if the door does not easily close all the way even after being weighted, check the length of the upright bars, where they may be too long and dragging on the bottom of the frame. I have even seen these doors installed backwards by the factory, (Yah, I know they are made in China) which really effects the effectiveness.

In the photo below on the left, this Danielson pot has been further modified by cutting out part of the top center, allowing a plastic mesh bait container to be crimped in place using "Hog Rings" and a lid again using the same type rings. The clean out door on the left was also made from that part of the top being cut out then welded onto a 1/8" wire frame that again is held in place by Hog Rings for a hinge. A bungee cord is attached to one side with the hook crimped so it will not come off, with the other end going across both doors then into the outer edge.

With this new top unloading door, and the shallower pot below, I can insert a couple 50' pot lines along with the 2nd float inside, even load the bait before leaving the dock, removing clutter on the deck.

If you look close, you can also see the 3 /16" lead wire wrapped onto the crab entrance doors to keep these doors closed and not blown open by the current.

In the photo on the Left below this Danielson was modified greatly to help load and unload it from a door in the top. These modifications work, and some pots are made that way, but I have ultimately abandoned this style for the end door type openers. These end doors are a lot more effective as the whole end opens as compared to a smaller top opening when you are trying to dump your catch onto the deck. The one thing that is important on the end door openers is that you need to provide a secure bungee cord type retainer. Do not rely on the "snap over hook ends" as I have seen numerous times when you get your pot up, that the door is open and minimal crab inside.

On the right photo below, a Scotty screw on lid bait container was zip tied to the top of the pot, a Willapa Marine bait bag, rattle can and (4) 4 1/2# lead scuba divers weights were also zip tied to the bottom making this pot weigh in at 23#, along with 50' of line and floats inside ready to load on the boat.

Here a top lid modified bare Danielson recreational crab pot is shown.	Here again a Danielson type pot, rigged, and the float with 50' of line all inside the pot ready for transporting to go crabbing

You will notice on all the pots in the above photos, the bridles attached to the pots are attached more to one side, that is to prevent the pot from tipping over during the sinking and assures it lands upright on the bottom. Some crabbers will also, when the pot hits the bottom, lift it up a couple of times so that they can control and ensure that it is indeed setting on the bottom correctly. It is also preferable to have the bridle attached to the pot on the opposite side as you have selected for the door. Then just for jollies, I use a small bungee type cord as a secondary door retainer, not relying totally on the hooked side door closures.

As of 2011, Danielson started making replacement Ultra Violet or Glo in the dark crab entry doors and bait containers as a retrofit to the old pots. I am not sure whether this works to get you more crab, you will have to do your own experiment, but at least they have a good sales pitch. And they changed the method of attaching the entry doors instead of just bending the upright wire over the pot cross wire, now using a 1" long split plastic round tube as a hinge.

Weight the Pot ; When you buy your pots, most will not come with weights. The "folding type" are typically light weight, and may work well as is in shallow water with no large run off, IF you stay with your pots, and pull them every hour. BUT if you intend to drop them off for an overnight soak, it may be best to add weights, as explained later about them moving.

You will also notice two old cast iron window weights wired into the bottom of the pot in the LH photo above, in a location to not hinder the crab entrance doors from swinging freely. This is for added weight. A steel bar about 1/2" X 3" X 22" will also work if on both sides. A cast iron window weight secured with old baling wire to bottom inside pot works fine. One on each side is OK.

Also 4 to 5# lead diving weights work just right as they have 2 slots for belt loops, which can be used to fasten the weights to the pot's bottom. There are actual lead crab pot weights that are about 4 1/2" square and 1 1/4" thick that weigh about 4 1/2#, which can be secured using zip tie tapes through the (4) 3/8"holes. You can stack these weights to achieve more total weight. Or it is easier to find scuba divers 5# weights, or purchase the mold for about $40 to cast your own if you are outfitting numerous pots.

One well known pot manufacturer on Hood Canal has come up with a total weight of 32# being ideal so that when using double buoys, he has never had a pot move. However my pots weigh in from 18# to 23# and I have never had a problem, HOWEVER, I do not normally crab the high runoff tides or in deep water in Puget Sound either. I have decided, that for crabbing in shallow bays where I do not leave a pot over night, that a 10# added weight works fine.

In my mind it is better to have a slightly too heavy pot than to have a too light a one, that will be relocated/lost by a strong tide. However IF you only place your pots in a bay where there is minimal tidal FLOW, then less, or even no weight (depending on the pot) MAY suffice. However, once I did not pay enough attention to the amount of run off when I dropped a pot. This one was not a Danielson, but a heaver small round copy of a commercial pot. When we pulled the weighted Danielson, the other pot was not anywhere near. We found it (by accident as we had given up, but was motoring right past it on the way out), it had moved by the strong outgoing tide probably 500 yards away.

I have seen a few crabbers who do not use a lot of weight in their pots, but try to make up for it by adding snap on fishing weights, where they snap them onto the top outside of the pot if they deem necessary. In my mind this could very easily allow the pot to NOT come to rest upright on the bottom.

The Better Ones ; The better ones will have multiple entry runways that are raised up off the floor a few inches. These are not affected by current as bad and they make the crab climb up to exit when other crabs are entering. And they will also usually have a top door for easier removal of the crab.

Season Your Pots ; Most of the pots now are plastic or rubber coated. But if you do put a steel or cast iron weight in the bottom of the pot, but let it set out in the weather allowing it to rust.

Along these same lines about all the pots need more weight in them to be effective and from not having a fast moving tide move your pot even many miles. Sometimes you can get a large stack at a garage sale for a few bucks. Now when you weight the pot, it will usually be with new steel. Set the pot out in the rain for a few months to allow the steel to rust. Less new metal exposed and the rust is more conducive to what crab may encounter on the ocean floor.

The pots shown above were left outside to rust for over a year, sure the coating may have deteriorated somewhat, but there is now enough rust that there is no new dissimilar metal galvanic action possibly repelling the crab. This is an old rusting pot that the plastic coating is falling off in places. It still catches crab and is not something that most crab pot thieves really want.

Escape Hole ; Escape holes are required so that if the pot is lost, the crab can escape. Some of these holes are round rings, in the upper part of the pots held in place by rot cords, while others use a cotton cord to close a large hole. The theory is that the cord will rot if the pot is not recovered, allowing the crab to escape.

When setting up your Danielson type square pots, it might be good to consider which side of the pot that you use as a door based on where the rot cord escape hole is. I want my door to open opposite the rot cord hole, just because it will have less TRAFFIC and less possible damage to it on taking crab out.

The problem is that it seems that there is really no tested and proven cord deterioration certification and the pot manufacturers apparently are simply using a cotton cord that may take considerable time to deteriorate if left in the water. On all of the new bought pots, you would be wise to remove the rot cord and replace it with about 3 strands of good MOP head cord. This will deteriorate in about a week.

One of our PSA fishing club members related that a few years ago he lost 2 crab pots in the Port Townsend area. He assumed that thieves were at work. A few weeks later the WDFW from Sequim contacted him saying they had recovered his "FISHING" pots during a then closed season. The reason they were "FISHING" was the the rot cord had not rotted away and in the area of recovery, the season in that section of Puget Sound had closed by then. He could however get his pots back if he paid a fine of $100. OK, he sent in his money and made arrangements to get his pots back.

Then 5 years later after attending a WDFW hunter education class with his grandson, he decided he would like to volunteer as a instructor. He filled out an application and a few weeks later got a letter from WDFW saying, "Thank you but No Thank you" as it appears he had a gross misdemeanor fishing violation on his records. No, Never, so he called WDFW asking them to explain. It seems that since he paid the fine for his lost "fishing" pots that he had unknowingly admitted to the violation.

He was informed that IF he had reported his pots missing to WDFW, that this violation would not have happened. So now he had to go to court in the jurisdiction the pots were recovered in, pay another fee to get his violation expunged so he can reapply for being a hunter education instructor.

Zinc Anode ; If you look at any commercial crab pot, they will have a zinc anode attached to the metal frame. If you remember your of High School chemistry that immersing 2 dissimilar metals into a conductor, (salt in this case) you create a galvanic action. When you put a metal object in a liquid you get a small voltage. If this pot is steel frame and the wire is stainless steel wire, when you put it into saltwater, you have actually created a battery. This voltage may well be a detriment to your crabbing activities. Therefore, you may also consider placing an old zinc anode off your boat or motor on the pot's metal weight. If the right combination of metals, there can be electrolysis, which is in reality a small electrical charge that may repel the crabs.

This is also true with a crab pot if you are using lead weighted doors or have a small commercial type pot that has

a steel frame and stainless mesh. This can also be detected by crab and may repel them, reducing your chances of a potential crab limit.

The commercial ports all have a zinc anode attached to them to elevate this problem. But they are constructed considerably heavier, being pulled by a large hydraulic powered motor, where the lighter recreational pots my not create that much voltage.

    Crab Pot Line ; Recreational crab pot lines will usually be nylon/poly/plastic in sizes from 1/4" to 3/8". There is also a hard weave poly crab pot line that has a lead core, these are usually made in 50' or 100' lengths, or longer bulk spools. The problem with this line, is that it is about impossible to tie it in a knot, so eyes on each end need to be crimped on.

   However, I like to use a hollow core polypropylene line, because of the ease of making knots in the ends. Here you can simply force open part of the loose weave, form a loop longer than your needed eye, burn the end of the line and insert it inside the this loose weave, forcing the tail up inside the weave. When pulled tight the outer weave grips the inner tail like a Chinese Finger Stall. No bulky knots.   However just to be on the safe side, it may be best to at close to the end to run it out and then back into the hollow, locking it more securely.

    This 3/8" line at retail sells for $.49 a foot, however if you go online to ROPE.com, you can purchase it in bulk for about 1/4 the price and reasonable shipping.   However this line floats, so see paragraph below.

Weighted You Pot Line ; Washington State law says you WILL have your line weighted. The reason is that is, if it is not, then at a slack tide most nylon/poly/plastic lines will float near your float. This can cause problems with other boaters getting it wound up in their props. Some crabbers use the snap on line weights and use them within 15' of the float. Or, in use, throw out your pot, and let out your line, when the pot hits the bottom, snap a weight on then, DEPENDING on the length of your line

Some (me included) simply wrap about 20" of 1/4" lead fishing sinker wire around the line as shown in the photo below on the right. If you are using a long line, you may have to put another weight on before you get to the float. This type of line weight goes over the pulleys in my pot pullers.

Depending on where and how deep I am crabbing, (1) I make some of my lines 50 feet in length. (2) I make another set 100' long if I am going deeper. And I always have snaps on the BOTTOM of every connection, where if really needed I can snap 2 together. This way I can adjust how much line I need for each pot in any given water depth. Also to identity the different lengths, I use yellow rope for the 50' and white for 100'.

I pull mine either by hand or a electric puller. I have found in using the small stainless steel snaps, it will feed over my hand pot puller pulley but not so easily for the electric (if I help it) so that to make them feed through my electric puller pulley, if I watch and help things along.

If I was using a pot puller, ideally the line then really needs to be continuous, OR your connection eye splices, or not use snaps so they usually will go over and around the puller rollers, but have a problem on the small idler pulley.

Float/Buoys ; In Washington State, crabbers are all required to use a primary red/white buoy annotated with full name and address (telephone # recommended) but we are allowed to personalize any additional floats/buoys. Usually smaller floats or even other regular large buoys but are used as the additional tag buoys, or to personalize your set-up I have even seen old duck decoys. Oregon apparently does not have designated colors for personal crab pot floats.

Take my word for it, the bigger/more floats the better, which in addition to keeping you pot afloat, improve visibility and help you locate them.

One thing to think about, these floats have one end flat while the other is rounded and narrower. It seems best to use these floats with the larger flat end DOWN for more buoyancy.

Pot Maintenance ; Pot maintenance is important. DO NOT take it for granted that your line or your knots are good. Inspect them at least before every season opener. It is rather disheartening when pulling a pot, that all of a sudden the line goes slack, and when you get it in, NO POT but a frayed line.

Also you need to check the doors to be sure they have not gotten bent, or broken.

Oversized Float is Bad -- Sometimes ; If the float is very large and it gets windy, the float can get tossed around in a wind, which can walk a LIGHT WEIGHT pot right across the bottom and into deeper water. It is very possible then that your one large float will then raise the pot off the bottom which then the pot floats away with the tide. Use a float that is the right size for your pot. However I find that under these conditions, 2 floats tied in tandem about 4 feet apart do work very well and can avoid pot walking. Here, I have a extra eye in the line, so I have the option of snapping the 2nd float on or not, depending on the conditions. and can avoid pot walking. And I have the option of snapping the 2nd float on or not, depending on the conditions.

In the photo on the left below you will notice a smaller tag float which is a indicator as to which direction the current or tide is running and then gives me a direction to approach the pot when motoring in for a retrieval without the chance of fouling my prop in the upstream line. AND the distance between the two gives me a aiming spot for the boat hook to get under the line to pull things in with. For shallow water, and a calm day, I have been known to use the single float system.

In the photo below on the right, you will see a improved float with a PVC center pipe, lead weight on the bottom of the pipe, and a second float connected with a 10' line. HOWEVER, when initially pulling the pot, DO NOT pull it by the PVC upright flag shaft unless you want to break the pipe.

I have 6mm stainless marine snaps on the BOTTOM of everything, the coupler line between the floats, the bottom of the main float line, and the bottom of the 50' line. If I need more line I just snap another 50' line onto the existing one. On the line about 8' or 10' down is more 1/4" lead fishing sinker wire is wound onto the line to sink any line that may float during a low slack tide. On the bottom of each line is a stainless steel snap. Tucked into this line at the top end is a strip of orange flagging, tape or a small bright pink Zip Tie, which is used simply as an identifier that this end is the top as the bottom is identified by the snap.

Use a Flag on the Float ; You can help locate the pot when returning to it by adding a 3/4" PVC pipe thru the float, attach a stop above and below the float. Let this pipe extend down 16" or so with a 3# doughnut weight around it, this makes the float sit upright in the water no matter what current, or lack of it is there. Above the float, let the pipe extend 3' up then attach a flag or different colored flagging ribbons to it. This makes finding the pot a lot easier, especially if there is a little chop on the water when you are ready to recover it, even using your waypoint marking on your plotter. You would be surprised that many times you can not spot your regular pot buoy within 100 yards of it.

As seen in the photo below, you can see this combo for a considerable distance as compared to just a poorly marked single float. It is rather frustrating (and embarrassing) to spend a lot of time running all over searching for one or more of your elusive single pots (floats)

Use Good Bait ; It’s true that crabs are bottom scavengers and they’ll eat anything. It’s also true that, just like most of us, they may prefer some things more than others. Put your crab pot out amid a bunch of other people’s posts and the pot with the best bait wins.

The old standby for commercial crabbers is razor clams, Tradition for recreational bait says use fish heads, fish guts, etc. They work, but if you want to catch more crabs use prime stuff. Albacore and halibut filets are really good, along with the fatty salmon bellies. Sweeten it up with some anchovies (chopped into thirds) and you have prime bait. One of the best is squid and herring combos (herring also chopped into thirds). If you can get clams, by all means use them. Horse clams would be easier to obtain year a round and are great if you break up the shell so the smell exits or use the cleanings of Goeduck you may have dug. Other crabbers who do not have access to Horse or Goeduck clams will freeze the cleanings of razor clams and use that. Another item would be save your mushy salmon herring/anchovy bait, grind it up, and freeze it.

OR, you could simply use canned cat food. But what brand or flavor?? The photo below has some answers. it however indicates for hrimp, but I have also used this for crab if nothing else was readily available. You will notice "Friskies ocean whitefish and tuna dinner". Do not take the lid off, here just use the old style ECKO kitchen tool, called a can piercer that punches triangle holes, using it to punch may holes around this top. Or to some of you older fishermen, the folding Pautzke's can opener as seen in the photo below.

Here you can also use the Scotty Bait containers shown below to contain these bait cans, which you can only get one can in and still be able to close the lid.

In the photo below, you will see a Scotty bait container filled with a sandwich baggy full of clam cleanings. These, when frozen can then be removed from the baggy and inserted into the container when needed. About three limits of large clam trimmings will fill the baggy (as seen below) to just under the container size for two containers.

One bait that also does work well is salmon bellies. I save the fatty belly meat off salmon then vacuum pack them for crab bait. It is also good for halibut and sturgeon bait. I cut these in strips off the filleted salmon. They contain a lot of fat, which puts off a good scented bait for lots of different type of species that I fish for.

Another are chicken backs, these usually have a lot of fat on them that adds to a scent trail. However boned chicken thighs may be easier to obtain. Or canned cat food works, here just use an old oil can opener to perforate all around one end.

Or you can try is to put some Smelly Jelly, or other scent on your bait box. Smelly Jelly does make a crab bait scent. Or you could use Alaskan fish fertilizer liberally put into foam.

One of our club members has put a product to the test and it appears to come out the winner. This company grinds up fish carcasses, palletizes and freezes them for crab bait.

Also if you pull your pot and there is a large female in it, do not cull her out or throw over the side. Leave her in as an attractant.

Some even say to add a calumine light in the pot if you are crabbing deep, sounds fine to me.

Use a Bait Container ; Use the containers with holes that are made for especially for pots, and suspend one from the top of the pot. Don’t put the bait on the bottom of the pot, the sand and silt collects in it and the first couple of crabs can eat it or move it around and out of the pot. There is one bait container that is basically a rubber 1/4" mesh mesh bag with a snap on the top, however crabs will ruin it getting to the bait. The bait just doesn’t work as well when just wired into the bottom of the pot it needs to be elevated. When using a container, you should fill the container about two thirds full. Leave room for a little water circulation to spread the scent over a large an area as you can.

When I dig clams and intend to use the bait containers shown below, I save all the clam guts/trimmings, put them in a Ziploc baggie and insert them into one of these containers, then pop it in the freezer. Later remove the frozen crab bait, which when I want to use it now just fits inside the container and lasts a LOONG time.

And DO NOT scrimp on bait. I have recently been adding a Willapa Marine Products Inc bait bag in my pots, where I can add chicken parts or salmon carcass trimmings. This bag is heavy Nylon with pull closure and a heavy duty halibut snap to attach it to a top bar of a pot, and sells for less than $15. However the cord and halibut snap are overly long. Here I like to attach it to the inside top of the pot, so that it does not interfere with shaking the crab out the door. Therefore it behooves you to wrap this line around some of the top cross wires so that it does not hang down and interfere with the operation of any of the swinging doors.

Here recently, in my pots I have both the screw on bait container (attached to the inside top of the pot) and the above bait bag. In use, if I am short on bait and need canned cat food, I use the lid bait container. If I have salmon carcasses, or other bulky bait, then I forgo the top container and just unscrew the container from the lid, and just use the bag.

I dislike (yes, evolution, and learned from being exposed) the metal or plastic bait containers that need to be attached to the bottom of the pot, as when emptying your pot by tipping it up to dump crab out, these bait containers provide places for the crab to get behind and won't shake out easily. By using the bait bag mentioned above, this is snapped to the top of the pot and is long enough to hang down, but easily unsnapped if need be.

Put a Noise in the Pot ; Here is a trick that was passed on years ago by a RV park owner at Westport. Take an empty soda can and put a few small rocks in it, drill a few 3/8" holes in the bottom, punch a hole in the top side so you can tie it inside your pot. It is supposed to make a rattling noise that nearly duplicates the noise of crab eating, and is supposed to attract crab thinking their buddies are feasting. After viewing an underwater video of a crab pot in action, yes the noise the crabs seemed to be making sounded very similar to a rock rattling in a soda can.

Crab Limits, Size & Seasons ; You will have to do your homework for this one, some areas have different minimum size limits. Purchase a plastic crab gage that are made the shape of a crab's shell and have extensions off the bottom giving different measurements. These gages are universal, meaning they can be used in many different areas where the size may be different. Like in Washington State, there are 3 different minimal sizes, depending on where you drop your pots.

One suggestion, many times these markings are hard to read, so find the size that you will be needing and mark it a lot more clearly than what it was from the manufacturer. The measurement is INSIDE the shell's extreme tips or horns. It is also your responsibility to know the law as to limit numbers and days of the week that the season may be open in the area where you are crabbing.

Also it is illegal to retain "Softshell Crab". This is not a different specie, but a regular crab that has shed it's shell and the new larger one has not yet fully hardened. This might also explain that on a marginal softshell, that the meat has not yet totally refilled the leg cavity. CLICK HERE for WDFW softshell identification. These crab shells will be soft on the underside when tested with thumb pressure. However (for me at least) is to test the second leg by squeezing it between the body and the first joint, no flex, otherwise it is a softshell. And what I have also noticed is that this leg (at that location) is usually slightly translucent if it is still softshell.

Even if they were not legal to retain, the meat has shrunk by about 1/2 and in most situations is not in the best of condition, rather bland and stringy. I know that from a boughten crab that I purchased once.

Crab Sex ; No this is not crab porn. About all areas ONLY allow male Dungeness crabs to be retained. However some areas will allow you to retain either sex red Rock crab.

Tides Make a Difference ; If you have a high run off (difference between a low and high tide) the water is really moving and the crab will dig into the mud or sand to seek refuge and hide. OR they may move to a sheltered section of the bay. Your better crabbing tides will be with a minimal run off, OR for about an hour and half each side of high tide, low tide may extended a bit longer. As the crab will be moving more at this slack time and targets for you to attract.

Water Depth ; This will vary on where you are crabbing. If you are crabbing in the coastal bays, water depth may be 15 to 50 feet, or even down to just 10' or less. One area that I crab, I do not go deeper than a max of 26' at high tide. Don't make the mistake like many fishermen that deeper is always better. If in the coastal Ocean, you may want to be outside the breakers enough to not drag the pots and 50 to 80 feet should be sufficient. However if you are crabbing in Puget Sound, you very likely will have to drop them in 120 to 170 feet of water.

You will definitely need a DEPTH FINDER in most instances unless you have a LONG line. You need to know the water depth and the length of your line. Some crabbers if they normally fish deep may have 200' of line. Others will have theirs in 50' increments with snaps on each to extend that capability. Do not put 100' of line in a 90' depth otherwise you may never see the pot again.

Crabs Move and So Should You ; Crabs do migrate around trying to find food, and the hot spot yesterday may be dead tomorrow. Don’t continue to put your pots in the same place, but move them around. And if a spot is not hot, come back to it in a couple of weeks later to see if it has picked up. If you are in a bay where the water moves in and out with the tide, the crab will do the same, so pick a spot where you will intercept them on their return at a high tide. On a high run off tide, they may also find a slight depression and burry themselves in the sand until the tide slows down.

Also if you are getting only females or small crabs on your first pull, move somewhere else as crab seem to congregate somewhat in their own sex/size range.

One successful crabber likes to place his pots in any slight depression in the bottom. Do not drop them in a rocky bottom if you intend to catch Dungeness crab, as you will mainly get Red Rock crab.

Mark Your Pot Location ; Your best method of being able to find your pot when you return is to mark it as a waypoint on your GPS and depth. Sure you know that you dropped it off in a certain triangulation location and water depth, BUT ??? And if you are not alone here, trying to identify your pot from numerous others could get difficult. AND I have found that it is best to set your GPS plotter to 2D as it is a lot easier to see my waypoint flag on this colored screen instead of the blue/green 3D color.

Put Out Pots in a Straight Line ; If you are putting more than one pot out, don’t put your pots any old way. If a storm comes through or there’s a big swell and you can’t find them if they are randomly scattered. On a calm day things are totally different after the wind picks up. Take a reading on your GPS when you throw out your first one, (or mark it as a waypoint) then follow a compass heading to dump the other pots in a straight line. They should be about 100 yards apart, or a little more. When you dump out your other pots, take another GPS reading. Now you can then more easily find all of your pots by just following the line you took laying them out.

If you have good bait, place your pots around 100 yards apart, otherwise they will be competing with each other.

Number Your Floats ; And when you are only crabbing, it may be a good idea to number your floats, otherwise if you are using numerous pots, in the confusion you might be pulling a pot that had not soaked as long as you thought, which just wasted your time.

Pot Pulling ; As mentioned at the start of this article, pulling could be the old "By Hand" or a power driven unit off a davit. If you decide you really like crab and live in an area where you can get out frequently, possibly a gas or electric driven pot puller would be a good investment, especially if you drop them in water over 100 feet.

And then when the stars align, sometimes you just have to pinch yourself to see if you are not dreaming, kind of near unbelievable if you don't see it for yourself. In the RH photo below, all of these were thrown back as we already had our limit. Don't knock an old rusty Danielson pot.

Crab Thieves ; This can get bad in some areas. They usually do not steal your pot, but will pull your pot and take the legal crabs that are inside. If you had a decent number, they may even leave one legal one for you. If you are observant, you may be able to detect this has happened if the buoy is not where you knew it should have been. Most crabbers will drop their pots off on the way out to do a day of fishing. This leaves the thieves time alone with your pots. Their method of operation is to motor up to the buoy, pull it aboard and throw it over the other side of the boat. They can now keep pulling the line and letting the excess go over the other side. When they get to the pot, pull it in, rob the crab and throw it over the side following the line. This is quick and easy for them and if a boat comes close before they get the pot up, they throw the line over the stern and motor off. If there is any current, this will usually move your pot up to about 300'.

One method of detouring this theft is to use the bright colored plastic ZIP ties and tie everything on your pot that would allow them a speedy access to the inside of your pot. The thieves do not want to spend much time (as they would rather you thought that this particular day was not a good crab catching day). But with the zip ties in place they will usually simply throw the pot back in without getting inside as if they clipped the ties, you would know someone had been there and robbed the pot. I use the bright colored ties here and be sure you do so in a way that it if using the collapsible pots, that it does not pull the side down enough to disengage that sides hook effect on the rest of the pot. I had one pot robbed, (they left one crab in it), but I know it was robbed because one of my four flagging ribbons WAS not on the top of the flag staff, but when we pulled it, was tied onto the bottom near the weight AND my new bait bag was missing.

I also have heard of another method of the owner taking a sheet of stainless steel and etching on it the image of a hunting rifle scope crosshairs and a message, YOU ARE BEING WATCHED, and attaching it to the top of the pot, which may make them a bit nervous when they saw that.

Up Close & Personal; Tip, IF you do get into a situation where you a crab gets you by the pincers, you will not be able to pry it's claw open as they have tremendous clamping power. The simple way to slow crab down once you have dumped them on your deck is to turn them over on their back and grab them from the rear.

However you do get a finger clamped onto, they have tremendous strength in those claws, whereby you could possibly just may be able to twist the movable part of the claw SIDEWAYS and break off if you exert enough force, but it may be best to twist the whole leg enough and pull it out of the body. And at this point you just may have the extra motivation. Again, two tips on handling live crabs, pick them up by the rear, OR turn them over on their back, then again pick them up by the rear.

Be Observant ; When dropping off a pot, check area and the tide first. If you drop off a pot in a new area to you where there is no current at LOW SLACK tide, and do not allow a extra long amount of line, you can come back at a higher tide and the water is really ripping, and your pot float will not be in sight. It is there, but under water. When this first happened to me I was sure some no-good, dirty rotten, pot snatching, SOB had done his job. No, I finally figured out it was just me, and not being observant where I placed the pot. I came back the next week-end at a lower tide and recovered the pot. They say that good judgment comes from the experience and that comes from bad judgment.

Another thing, when getting ready to bait and throw you gear over the side, do it in a repetitious manner, that you get used to AND if someone else is helping, be sure to double check that you have all your snaps in place and secured. It is very disheartening to throw that newly baited pot over the side only at that last second, you see that there is no line attached to it as it disappears from sight.

Ocean Crabbing ; Remember when crabbing the ocean you will normally be running out of a river mouth and crossing a bar into the ocean. You DO NOT want to drop your pots in a normal boat travel lane. So you will be better off to move away from the river channel, or run off a beach where you want to be in at least 65 or 70 feet of water if you return in adverse conditions you want your pots not in the surf and can be picked up without encountering any danger. Be sure to use bait boxes and not just tie a fish carcass inside the pot to keep them fishing all day.

Don’t Throw Your Old Bait Overboard ; Pretty dumb to throw the old bait into an area where you are putting your pots right back into, just add to it. As you are now not only competing with the other pots, and your own discarded old bait. However this might be OK, at the end of the day if you feed the seagulls.

Cooking Your Crab ; You will need some metal container, stainless steel or granite coated (not galvanized as it can be toxic) large enough to submerge the crab you intend to cook. I have even seen an old beer keg being used. And a fire source, even a bonfire will do, but most crabbers now days use a propane cooker unit.

It helps to have a bigger (taller) pot than you think you need, as crab pots have a tendency to boil over.

It is best to use sea water or at least fresh water that you have added salt to. Use about half a cup of salt, to 1 gallon of city water. Some also like their crab a little saltier, so you can experiment. But if you’re watching your salt intake, feel free to leave the salt out as it’s only used for enhancing the flavor. I also like to add seasoning. There are commercial crab/lobster boiling seasoning packages. However I have found that if you purchase dill pickles in 1/2 or 1 gallon bulk jars, just save the juice and add about it at a ratio of 50% to the regular water, you have all the spices.

Some crabbers cook their crab whole as done commercially, as the price is by the pound on WHOLE crab (so you pay less per pound as compared to a cleaned crab. I like to remove the backs and clean out the lungs, intestines etc. with lightly pressurized water before I cook them. I find the meat has a far better taste using this method.

In the photo, it is hard to take a good photo solo, but here a double bitted axe is wedged in the crack of two 2'X6' boards of a seat for a picnic table, then a crab is quickly and with force, pushed down with the axe in the middle od the back. You can just see a part of the blade. OR, just use the edge of a sharp HEAVY DUTY table to break the shell in the middle.

Whole Dungeness Crab will take a little longer to cook (usually 12 to 15 minutes in the boil), cleaned Dungeness halves take a little less time (usually 6 to 8 minutes).

When the water gets up to boiling, dump your crab into this water, the water may cool down a bit before it gets back up to boiling, then cook the crab for the prescribed time as listed above. Uncooked Dungeness crab shell will be be a purplish brown color, during cooking they will turn to a redish-orange color after being in the boiling water for about 4 minutes. The leg meat will usually be done at this time, but NOT the thicker body meat.

When you remove the crab from the boiling water, immediately immerse them in cold water, to stop the cooking process.

Cracking crab can be accomplished by using crab pliers for the heavy legs, or by simply laying the leg on the edge of a table then hitting it with your fist. The outer tip of the secondary claws can be used to dig the meat out of the rest of the claw bodies. Lately I have been introduced to "shaking crab" to remove the meat, which is a lot better. (more on that later)

For eating, most people prefer a tangy cocktail sauce made of a ketchup base. However I have found (by necessity) that ordinary ketchup with a MINIMAL amount of Worcestershire sauce is a decent substitute for the real thing. When using the word MINIMAL, I mean a ratio like about 4 drops of it to 2 tablespoons of ketchup.

INGREDIENTS

Originated 05-27-2004 Last Updated 02-05-2023
to contact the author click here

Doing it the hard way in a small boat	An easier method using a Ace Line Hauler pot puller, note the rubber matt on the gunnel for protection of the boat

Custom made hand crab pot puller	This puller in use by the author who made it

Shown here is a crab ring. The smaller ring is the bottom & a bait bag attached to the bottom ring	Here is deluxe fold up style

Here is lead wire weight wrapped around the line	Here is a clip on line weight, using a halibut snap

Here is my single float with a smaller tag float, this float has my ID on it	Here the main float is numbered with the second float being 6' from & snapped onto main flagged float with both a 50' & 100' lines

Male cooked Dungeness crab, note the narrow rear abdomen cover	Female Dungeness crab found dead on beach, hence the faded color, note wider abdomen cover

Here we had 10 keepers out of this pull	Here is a catch of 28 crab, not bad for a 1 1/2 hour soak time

INGREDIENTS

Originated 05-27-2004 Last Updated 02-05-2023 to contact the author click here

Originated 05-27-2004 Last Updated 02-05-2023
to contact the author click here