Dungeoness Crabbing with my buddies in English Bay, BC
| Shane has been kind enough to leave his father's old school crab trap on Pegasus. It has successfully captured legal sized crabs and we have enjoyed many tasty dinners. The problem is it's heavy, and does not fold down because it is a plastic half dome with a hole on top which makes it difficult to store, particularly when storage is at a premium on a boat! In the Marine stores and at the Vancouver Boat show I saw a new design that really intrigued me. The high volume newly designed round traps that fold down into a size you could put in a backpack. Problem was the price tag... |
| After the last two unsuccessful crabbing sets, I decided to bite the bullet and pay the extra for the round fast set trap that has three entrances. After waiting only 1.5 hours tacking up English Bay on Pegasus and storming back to the trap with the Genniker Sail doing 7.4 knots I was very happy to find three large dungeoness crabs. *Very important tip* - When throwing the crab trap overboard, be sure to press your "Man Overboard" on your GPS chart plotter, otherwise you may have a difficult time finding your crab trap! |  | ||
The Flex Fold Trap outfished the older style of trap that Shane borrowed from his father. For the record Shane's trap did contain more crabs with 6 crabs of various sizes (5 of which we had to release) vs. 4 in the Flexfold (3 of which we lovingly devoured). SCORE = 3 keepers for flexfold vs 1 for old style plastic trap
I am very happy right now with my new crab trap. Lesson Learned: | ||||
Update from March 19, 2009
I purchased a second Flex Fold crab trap from West Marine in Kits. Found the staff very friendly and helpful. West Marine was also the only place to have this style of trap in stock. After going out and having such a successful trip, I just had to have another one.
Here are 2 Flex Fold crab traps set and ready to go crabbing in my chill space on my sailboat. I left the covers on top to show the increase in size when these high volume traps fold out. Circular designed traps are used exclusively by commercial crabbers for a reason. There is a great book on "How to catch Crabs, A Pacific Coast Guide" by Charlie White that I have read as my bible on bringing lots of tasty crab onto the boat. In the book it references a study that placed a video camera above a variety of trap types. The footage found that round traps captured a higher percentage of crabs that approached. The square / rectangular traps would bring crabs to it but the crab would not make right angle turns. So the crab would just continue moving away from the trap entrance. The Flex Fold Crab Trap utilizes three gates that are located on the bottom of the trap making it really easy for the crabs to get in. There are also exit holes for small crabs to leave the trap when larger crabs arrive. |
| |
After our last adventure sailing and crabbing in English Bay, Vancouver BC I decided to make some modifications to the weighted nylon rope that attaches to the crab float. Stocked from the store the single top loop proved to be a very small target when the sailboat is bouncing and the waves were dropping the float 2.5 ft in an instant. On the last set of the traps it took us 7 attempts to hook the line with the boat hook on the second trap.
A relatively simple modification made hooking the float a much easier task. Take the existing knots out and the tape off...Adding half as much line again, tie the buoy/float on again with the same kinds of knots. Loop the longer tail of the rope up to the top knot and tape in place.
The smaller loop is now twice the size of the original and the larger loop proves way more options for the person wielding the boat hook.
Readers do not fear! The old school crab trap is going to another of Shane's friends to help him get excited about crabbing.
| Last night I had the company of Pam to go and set the 2 flex fold crab traps. It was rainy and very cold, we took turns hiding behind the dodger and steering Pegasus. I have been more and more selective on where I am placing the traps. I place a man over board waypoint and the traps are placed about 200 feet apart. The how to catch crabs book suggests placing them 100 feet apart on a connected line. I choose to put them within sighting distance of each other on individual lines but not in the way of the boat as I approach one or the other. This helps in making it easy to spot the crab floats because you are looking for two in the general vicinity of each other. |
|
I did have some hesitation on placing them this close together but the results today proved more than I could legally possess according to the Department of Fisheries.
4 Legal sized males per day limit for each fisherperson
8 in possession
The results for this 18 hour crab trap set are amazing!
I have never had this problem before - too many keeper crabs to keep :-)
Of the 13 we could have kept, we selected 8 of the largest specimens for sharing with family and friends.
| Flex Fold Crab Trap 1 | Flex Fold Crab Trap 2 |
| 7 keepers 8 crabs at just 1/4" inch below legal size 1 female just at the top of crab trap. | 6 keepers 1 crab at 1/4" inch below the legal size! Opened and Empty bait box |
 |  |
The best part is the dungeoness crab traps will fit in almost any sized locker on your sailboat or motorboat.
Some people may think that boating in March may be a bit cold.
When we were setting the crab traps Pam asked me if the lights on the water ahead of us were a boat...it looked too small to be a boat. As we approached, we realized there was a guy on his jet ski (remember this was a colder March evening) pulling up his crab traps! Suddenly Pegasus seemed like a very comfortable way to go through dusk and rainshowers in Vancouver, BC.
Update March 24, 2009
What to do with all those crabs that are being caught in the great new traps...Because I have learned, one can have their fill of Dungeoness crab... :-)I have been sharing crabs with my buddies and this has on most occasions prompted the question: how to prepare a dungeoness crab?
While looking through Pacific Yachting Magazine a couple of years back (my favorite boating magazine because its focus is on my sailing grounds - the Pacific Northwest) I found a cooking article by my food guru. I tore the article out and kept it in my collection of best recipes. James Barber has sinced passed away, but you can still use his knowledge on how to cook a perfect dungeoness crab. | ||||
 | After being asked by someone at work on how to cook the perfect Dungeoness Crab, Carrie (another of my boating buddies) scanned the original article and it is posted here. This cooking technique for Dungeoness Crab has been tested with many succulent crabs, and every time results in the guests claiming it is the best crab they have ever tasted. |  | ||
When I was a little boy I used to watch James Barber on the local cable channel. He was a grizzly older guy that showed how to improvise and make the process of cooking food easy and successful. James Barber still is my favorite TV cooking show personality...way before the current rage of cooking shows.
Update April 19, 2009
The last long sailing trip that I took was through Howe Sound. Pam and I set the traps a total of four times and came up with only 2 legal sized Dungeoness Crabs :-( The traps did catch some amazing starfish.
I think the problem was two fold.
- Need to be in 30 - 80 feet of water with a gently sloping sand / muddy bottom.
- The right kind and amount of bait is two whole chickens per trap.
During the Howe Sound trip we were using rockfish heads which did bring some junior sized crabs to the trap but not like I had in previous sets with mixed baits.
After visiting T&T Supermarket for some galley supplies I noticed in the meat department they had stewing chickens 2 for $4.50 so I purchased 2 packages and rode my bike back to the boat. Later that evening I dropped the traps at about 9:30pm in about 40 feet of water in sight of Kits Beach. Inside the traps were baitboxes which were stuffed to capacity with 2 chickens per trap that I had cut up with Chicken Shears. My hope was to get enough crabs to share with my parents. That night I stayed at anchor in the middle of English Bay with just the birds keeping me company. The next afternoon after checking my email (via my wireless internet connection) and doing some consulting work I pulled up my anchor and sought out the floats that were near by.
I pulled the traps at 1:45pm - they were down for about 16 hours.
I knew that chicken was a good bait for crabs but was shocked on the haul that I brought aboard!
Using 4 chickens cut in smaller pieces for bait brought onboard a total of 35 male crabs. In the entire catch there was not a single female in the crab traps. Three of the dungeoness crabs were 6 1/4 inches, just a 1/4 inch under the legal size! So I had my pick of 32 legal sized male dungeoness crabs...The largest keeper was almost 8 inches wide and well over three pounds.
Flex Fold Crab Trap One 14 keepers | Flex Fold Crab Trap Two 18 keepers |
 |  |
These Flex Fold Dungeoness Crab Traps are amazing! I need to find more friends with fishing licenses! Keeping only 4 crabs I returned 31 for the largest capture and release yet.
CRAB DIP
Fresh crab, of course, is the best but canned will work!
150 - 250g crab
1 package cream cheese
dash of worcestershire sauce
fresh lemon juice to taste
few cut up green onions, or thinly sliced leeks
Mix it all up. It can also be served warm :-)
- Log in to post comments