My wife and I met my fishin buddy Dan and his wife out on the water for some crabbing. We had our gear was in the water by about 11:30 am fishing the incoming tide. We tied our two boats together and while waiting for the pots to do their job we bumped the bottom with herring for whatever was willing to bite. During the two hour soak we caught several dog fish in the 3’ range and one nice flounder, all released unharmed while we enjoyed each other’s company in the 73 degree sun shine. It was calm and absolutely beautiful out on the water which made the outing complete. After two hours, we pulled our gear and everyone took a limit of nice Dungeness crab. In addition to the 20 we kept between the 4 of us, we also released around 30 keepers with soft shells, and even more under sized males and females who wanted their share of the chicken. In fact one of my pots was so full and heavy I had a hard time bringing it over the side rail of my boat. Not a bad thing! So a great trip crabbing with friends.

On another note: Before the trip began we decided to use Camano Island State Park to launch since the spot we’ve been crabbing in lately is close. We arrived there and the launch was packed which I was a little surprised to see. We initially got in line, yes I said in line, and began the wait as inexperienced adults tried to launch their boats while impatient others frustratingly paced near their vehicles, glaring towards the launch while waiting. As we watched this fiasco unfold I started envisioning us trying to return to the launch in a few hours and having to battle with the masses trying to launch while we try to get to one of the two docks to remove our boat from the water. Since there is no intake and outtake here everyone just launches using both access points. This means anyone who wishes to remove their boat has to leave one boater in the boat idling off shore until the vehicle and trailer make their way to the launch itself. The other problem with this is if the person you are leaving in the boat is inexperienced (not saying my wife couldn’t maneuver out boat to the launch and thread the needle in between the two narrow docks while other boats are tied up and everyone is in a hurry) like so many we were watching, when it’s time to bring the boat to the dock, it can be a little tricky because the two docks are too close to each other (I’m not sure what they were thinking when this new and very nice launch was being constructed), so a little skill is required when it’s busy here. Clearly who ever built this dock didn’t consult with any experienced boaters or fisher people. It’s a great launch when just a few are there but when it’s super busy it’s a nightmare in my opinion. This didn’t use to be the case when the two docks were not there and you just launched and moved your boat down the beach to load and depart or remove.

So I’m getting to the good part; before anyone pulls up behind us, and after briefly discussing an alternative with my wife, I back out of the line and we head towards Utsalady Bay (North Camano Island) which offers two launch sites, the better of the two being Maple Grove. While making the short drive to Maple Grove I am thinking to myself how interesting it will be to see how the new non-resident boat launch fee has affected the usually huge number of weekend boaters who were using the three Island County boat launches before any fees were established. Non residents now have to pay $15.00 to launch and it is believed that beginning January 1st 2011 that fee will increase to $30.00 for non residents to launch. Per an Island County employee the fees were introduced to decrease the huge overuse of these small launches by non Camano Island residents in an effort to better serve the locals who live here and would like to use their parks without feeling like they are at a packed park in Seattle. Usually the parking lot at this launch would be full overflowing for a half mile up the street. We arrived and the parking lot was about half full which was great. There was no wait, no pissed off frustrated people waiting impatiently to launch or remove their boats, and no one on the small piece of county beach. It was peaceful and a very good decision to utilize this launch instead of the State Park. BTW I did recognize an older gentleman who lives in Snohomish County getting ready to launch when we were leaving so obviously non residents are still using these launches, just not in such overwhelmingly large numbers like before. All in all a great trip and a good launch experience as well.

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