Got crabs?

We did; launching out of Coronet Bay late Saturday morning we worked over the north end of Marine Area 8-1 and kicked Dungeness booty. Not a lot of science; started with a sting of traps placed in 40-70 feet of water. After a short soak of 15 minutes or so checked the traps and relocated a few to the most productive depth for males, for this trip it was around 50’. All traps in place we cruised around Hope Island then out through Deception Pass and back. After an hour or so of sightseeing we started working our traps. We placed 4 traps and each one pulled had 20 + crabs in or on top of it. In short order we had limits for 3 people of 7-8” crabs. Our bait was a mix of coho and kokanee carcasses and scratch-n-dent chicken from Fred Meyer’s. I don’t have any proof but I think that the chicken was the key; all we had left in the bait bags was salmon scraps and bare chicken bones. It was great to get out on the water, enjoy the spectacular weather and scenery with the bonus of lots of very nice dungeness for our gastronomic enjoyment.

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