Busy Saturday
July 14th, 2008 by ktula
It was a pretty busy Saturday for me. After picking up a DHL package from the West Seattle Post Office - yes, a DHL package delivered by the USPS - i went crabbing at Shilshore Bay Marina with a bunch of Smelly’s co-workers. I knew that it was possible to catch Red Rock crabs off docks/piers but i never thought it was possible to trap Dungeness crabs from the same areas until this morning.
This is the first time that i have gone crabbing. The concept of shrimping and crabbing is very similar when using pots. The idea is to attract crabs with some bait into a trap that they cannot get out of. Crabbing offers some additional advantages over shrimping. The most important one for me is i do not need a boat. Because it is possible to harvest crab off a dock or pier, less bulky trap like the ring net can be employed. On Saturday, we had two crab pots and a ring net.
Preparing the bait cage for the crab pot with some razor clams. (Picture courtesy of Smelly)
We filled the bait cages with some leftover cans of salmon-flavored cat food from my shrimping trip last year. We also tried using the leftover razor clams as well. Both types of baits worked quite well but i think a solid bait like the razor clam is probably better because it does not disintegrate into little pieces from being thrown around numerous times.
Tossing the ring net. (Picture courtesy of Smelly)
With crab pots, once they are dropped in the water, they can probably remain there for a very long time since any crab that get into the pot will not be able to get out. With the ring net, it has to be checked every 15 - 20 minutes. Our first keeper was a male Red Rock crab caught using the ring net.
Holding down the big Red Rock crab. (Picture courtesy of Smelly)
Ian showing us how to identify the sex of the Red Rock crab. (Picture courtesy of Smelly)
Ian - the crab meister - in action. (Picture courtesy of Smelly).
Ian hauled up two Red Rock crabs. (Picture courtesy of Smelly)
We caught several other Red Rock crabs but they were legally too small to keep. Washington state law requires a minimum size of 5″ for Red Rock crabs (male or female). For Dungeness crabs, they must be at least 6.25″ wide and only male crabs can be kept. The male crab can be identified by the narrower abdomen at its underside.
Mike measuring the size of the catch with a crab ruler. (Picture courtesy of Smelly).
Crab to me: You want a piece of me?
Smelly and i had to leave earlier because we had an appointment with Leslie Engen of San Jo Shibas. This was to be our final visit for our Shiba puppy prior to picking him up the following weekend. Yes, the puppy has been selected out of the four. More on that in another post.
After dealing with the blood vessel-bursting traffic from the East side back to Seattle, due mainly to the shutdown of SR520, Smelly and i walked about two blocks for the annual West Seattle street fair to have some food. The food selections appeared to be lesser than the previous year. I had a pork bratwurst from Ziegler’s Bratwurst.
Janet standing in front of Ziegler’s Bratwurst at the annual West Seattle street fair.
Munching down a pork bratwurst with Sauerkraut and onions. (Picture courtesy of Smelly)
Joyce
Says
Yum. They look tasty for a ginger and scallion crab dish. Did u catch any which were big enough to take home?
Jul 20th, 2008 at 22:54
ktula
Says
We caught a pretty big Red Rock crab but then had to leave earlier to meet our breeder. We didn’t take home any crab. All the crabs caught on that day were supposed to be cooked later at the beach in Golden Gardens park.
Jul 20th, 2008 at 23:12