Good Crabbing & Fishing Forecasted this Weekend

I’ve been feeling pretty festive lately with the absolutely freezing Bay Area weather and waht not. Holiday drinks and holiday food are on my mind… AKA spiked eggnog and crab. Okay that’s kind of a gross combo, maybe we can stick with a couple cold beers and some fresh Dungeness Crab.

If you’re not into crabbing don’t worry, my recommended beaches offer good surf perch fishing, and winter pier action is in full swing. Plenty of sharks and rays to be caught, alongside the ever elusive sturgeon.

But first - let’s see how the charters are doing!

Rockfish combos are still going strong… but time is running out here. No more rock and ling fishing after December 31st so if you’ve been waiting to book a charter now is the time.

Fish Emeryville, CA Dawn

Bay Area Tides Social Media Report:

Catching Dungeness Crab is one of those things that isn’t hard if you know what you’re doing, but if you’re a beginner it can be downright impossible.

That’s where we come in. With the commercial season still closed and good crabbing all around, there’s enough Dungeness for everyone. There’s three main methods for catching yourself a nice dinner here - let’s dive into it.

This is probably the most common way you’ll see people crabbing around the Bay Area, and with good reason. It’s a simple tried and true method. It involves casting out a crab net/trap/pot/whatever you want to call it. You either put some bait in a trap attached to the net or unceremoniously zip tie it right on.

After throwing the crab net out to soak for 10 - 15 minutes, use the attached line to swiftly bring it in, taking care not to tip the net and lose the crabs. Rinse and repeat until you get some keepers!

The issue here is you are very limited on where you can send these out, and the distance at which you can throw them. They are unusable on the beach, and very hard to use on jetties. You’ll see most people using them on piers to catch crabs and pull up larger fish.

This is a pretty solid net that won’t break the bank: Starter Crab Net

This is one of the best possible methods for catching Dungeness because it gives you access to deeper, harder to reach waters where the crabs thrive. You essentially take your boat or kayak out to some water with a sandy bottom, drop your pot and a marker, make a note, and move on. Come back after some time and reap the rewards of your labor.

I make it sound simple but knowing where to drop the crab pots is very important. So is being safe and aware of the conditions.

The issue with this method is most people don’t have a boat or a kayak, and if you’re kayaking in the ocean you need to be in good shape. Best practice is to always do this with a buddy, be safe out there.

Crab snaring can be pretty tough, especially without the right gear. It involved taking a crab snare (pictured above in the two for one image) filled with bait and hucking it out into the ocean from shore. Dungeness crab smell the bait and start eating out of the snare. After waiting some time, you reel in the snare.

I recommend going on days where the swell is low and at times where the tide isn’t too strong. You’ll find your snares tumbling in the surf if you’re crabbing during king tides or on rough days. I like to cast at least past the first break, and I usually wade into the water if it’s safe enough. With enough weight you can really get the snares out there.

Crab snares have loops that will close with the tension that comes with reeling it in. Any crabs unfortunate enough to have a claw or leg inside a loop will find themselves snared when you start reeling in. Technique is everything here - you need to keep tension on the line or the loops can come loose, losing you the crab.

You can do everything right and still lose the crab. What if the crab is on top of the snare but no limbs are in the loops? Odds are it will fall off after 10 seconds of reeling.

Reeling in a weighted crab snare with a fat Dungeness on it is HARD too. The surface area as they drag through the water does not help, and if you’re out on the beach all day you’ll start feeling it at the end. But these negatives aside, crab snaring gives you access to places you could otherwise only reach by boat, and it’s a ton of fun, especially with friends.

I recommend using some kind of oily fish as your bait - my favorite is tray herring if you’re buying it from the bait shop. Gear does make a big difference, and I’m in the process of finding my forever snare so unfortunately I can’t personally recommend one. I hear Durasnare is good though. Grab a cheap 10-11 foot rod and reel with some clips, pyramid weights, and whatever snares your local bait shop carries, and you should be in good shape.

Want to learn more & see this in action? Check out my most recent YouTube video here!

*Disclaimer - Sometimes we use affiliate links on referenced gear. Helps keep the newsletter alive at no extra cost to you. Thanks for understanding!

*Always check conditions before going out there, this data may no longer be up to date so please be safe

Good luck out there! 😎 🎣