Crabbing in Waldport question

[sapper77]

I will be crabbing in a boat in the alsea bay/Waldport around the hwy 101 bridge. Could anyone tell me approximately how deep the channel is? I know it obviously fluctuates with the tide but was curious if 25' of rope will be sufficient? Thanks

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[40calruler]

I would say get a bit longer rope. I have only crabbed there once but I use at least 35' of rope on my traps. I do not have a depth finder so I would prefer a bit of extra rope just in case you drop it into a deep hole.

Either way it will be a lot of fun! I love the Waldport Koa that has great cabins overlooking right where you will be crabbing. Stay there often with the wife. Highly recommended small coast town for those who prefer privacy and fishing over stores and crowds.

 

[jbett98]

What kind of traps/rings are you using.
Also. I just Google mapped the river and it shows where the deepest part of the channel is.
My 14' crab boat doesn't have a fish finder, so I marked the anchor rope with colored electrical tape at 20', 30' and 40' intervals.
It's a nifty stainless steel one that folds up, so I just drop it overboard to check the depth without unfolding it.

 

[sapper77]

Thanks for the info. I have a mix of the nicer top opening round pots and some of the danielson folding square traps

 

[sapper77]

Did you do something special with google maps because it's just showing overhead views but no depths

 

[jbett98]

I just viewed the river and noticed the deepest part is on the North side.
There should be a lot of folks crabbing and you can see how deep they are setting theirs.

On the Danielson traps try adding some lead pencil weights with zip ties to the wire gates, so the water current doesn't lift them up and allow the crabs to escape.
My catch ratio went way up after I did this to mine.

I prefer turkey drumsticks over a fish carcass, because the sea lions won't bother them and they last a long time.

 

[jbett98]

When are you going?

 

[edslhead]

25's cutting it close. I don't remember a ton of currant there so maybe the buoys will stay up. I wouldn't crab into the outgoing tide though.

 

[sapper77]

I will be going all next week. The outgoing tide looks like around a 4' exchange which will be nice. The incoming will be around 8'

 

[jbett98]

I like to set them right before low slack tide.
I use two rings that I check 15 minutes right after I set the traps. These go on the outside area of the traps.
If I start to see some decent action, I leave the traps where they are, if I don't see anything promising, I start to move the rings left and right across the main channel.
Once I start catching them in the rings, I move the traps down current to the rings.
It's hard to work the motor and raise the rings by myself, so when I grab the ring buoy, I then throw the motor in reverse while I'm pulling up the ring.
Keeps them little buggers snug at the bottom.

 

[40calruler]

I like to set them right before low slack tide.
I use two rings that I check 15 minutes right after I set the traps. These go on the outside area of the traps.
If I start to see some decent action, I leave the traps where they are, if I don't see anything promising, I start to move the rings left and right across the main channel.
Once I start catching them in the rings, I move the traps down current to the rings.
It's hard to work the motor and raise the rings by myself, so when I grab the ring buoy, I then throw the motor in reverse while I'm pulling up the ring.
Keeps them little buggers snug at the bottom.

Good call to throw it in reverse. I had never thought of that and crab from my 12ft boat on my own often. The wife may come along but somehow I still end up doing all the work....Either way she could toss it in reverse for me and stop me having to pull as fast and hard as I can so much.

Good bit of advice. Thanks!

 

[jbett98]

You are motoring up against the current when you pick up the buoy, so the reverse trick works great keeping them pinned down the whole time you're handling the line.
There's nothing worse then seeing legal crab crawl out of a ring while you're fumbling around running the boat and pulling the ring.
It also helps keep the rope out of the prop.

 

[edslhead]

I will be going all next week. The outgoing tide looks like around a 4' exchange which will be nice. The incoming will be around 8'

You'll call us when you get back with the crab, right?

 

[sapper77]

Crabbing was excellent and the depth in the channel was between 15' and 20'. We did find a hole that was around 55' deep and heard the crab piled in there from some locals. We didn't get this information until we were leaving. I will try it out next time