8/1 Kayak Crabbing Annapolis

[Jman]

"I run 600' and I feel that's my limit. I recently started using a Torqeedo, but that's not really while running the line. I use it more to save energy getting to the spot and also returning to the beginning of the line." What size bucket do you store your line in? I realized after making mine 300' that it probably can only hold 300'! The part that is the most exhausting for me is moving the line or adding more bait, when it gets to that size.

[moc]

I also run 600-700 feet of line and I have a 300 footer also. I find the 300 footer more comfortable to handle in my Hobie, but I do run the longer lines from to time. The line in my video is just over 600 feet.

[dasher]

I took a long handled crab net & found 1/2 a paddle & joined all. I now have a 8' net with a paddle & can stand & dip net & paddle. I've been picking up crabs at the surface along the back bay islands behind Ocean City. 5 dozen crabs in 2 hours. less work than a trotline or crab trabs. & it's essentially what I did as a kid with a jon boat looking for soft crabs many many years ago.

[Yak Fish]

"I run 600' and I feel that's my limit. I recently started using a Torqeedo, but that's not really while running the line. I use it more to save energy getting to the spot and also returning to the beginning of the line." What size bucket do you store your line in? I realized after making mine 300' that it probably can only hold 300'! The part that is the most exhausting for me is moving the line or adding more bait, when it gets to that size.

I actually do not use a bucket. I deploy my line from a reel and bait up on the water.

[Jman]

I was reading other posts about the reel. Once you deploy it you remain in the same location throughout? One of the issues I ran into was changing water depths. I wanted my line closer to the 10' mark, but ended up closer to 6', which prompted me to haul it deeper. Difficult to tell if that would be possible with a reel.

[jet]

I took a long handled crab net & found 1/2 a paddle & joined all. I now have a 8' net with a paddle & can stand & dip net & paddle. I've been picking up crabs at the surface along the back bay islands behind Ocean City. 5 dozen crabs in 2 hours. less work than a trotline or crab trabs. & it's essentially what I did as a kid with a jon boat looking for soft crabs many many years ago.

thats pretty slick

[buzz]

Nice. I agree, more than 300' would be difficult to manage. I'm glad to hear someone else kayak crabbing without a motor. I believe the point in owning a kayak is to self propel

Nah... here the point of owning a kayak is to fish and or crab.

[Hobie Wan Kenobie]

I use a 5 gallon bucket. Fortunately, my kayak has enough storage space, in the bow, to hold the bucket and leaves me room behind my seat to strap a basket. Makes it easy to cull the crabs and deploy the line.

[Hobie Wan Kenobie]

Hi MOC, Thanks for sharing. my set up is very similar to yours. I am using a Hobie PA 12. I just have a little more room for gear. 5 gallon bucket up front, basket and floats behind the seat, and car rotor anchors can be stowed under the seat.

[Hobie Wan Kenobie]

Nice, efficiency at its finest. 5 doz. without bait. well done

[dasher]

Nice, efficiency at its finest. 5 doz. without bait. well done

it was really funny- I only wanted 2 or 3 dozen & its been a while size I had to net 2 sets of doublers at once. ( did that twice.) I quit because I had something else i needed to do. Wife asked how i did- pretty well i said. 2 1/2-3 dozen i said. We were both surprised when my pot wouldn't hold them & then again when I counted. & this the best way i know to catch soft crabs. But they were pretty plentiful & tide was right, minimal boat traffic, right location & had right pole. Couple on a pier i passed were chicken necking had 4 crabs after 30 minutes.

now I need to mark the hatch showing me what a bushel is.

[Darryl330]

Ok all you crabbers. I have some questions. (I haven't caught a crab yet this year) Does the tide have an effect on the timing of good crabbing? How about depth?? I'm basically just putting down a few traps shooting for a half to a full dozen.

I'm guessing that there are crabs in my area, since I got run over by a crab boat

[Jman]

I've always had success on a swinging tide. I can't speak for traps, but on a trotline I aim for 8-10' of water

[Hobie Wan Kenobie]

In my experience, yes, the tides do effect crabbing. Crabs may turn off and on during tide changes. Depth matters, as well. Crabs could be in 2' or 20'. you just have to find them. I usually bring a few traps along, drop in different depths, to locate the crabs, before deploying the trotline. Of course, this is only my opinion. Good Luck, CLAWS UP!

[moc]

In my experience, yes, the tides do effect crabbing. Crabs may turn off and on during tide changes. Depth matters, as well. Crabs could be in 2' or 20'. you just have to find them. I usually bring a few traps along, drop in different depths, to locate the crabs, before deploying the trotline. Of course, this is only my opinion. Good Luck, CLAWS UP!

I have experienced the same thing over the years. Crabs, like fish, are active during certain tides. I normally run a trot line in 3 to 15 feet of water on the average. Later in the year on the Patuxent, I did crab with success in November in 24 feet of water with my trotline. I ended up with a nice 1/2 bushel of big dark heavy crabs. I really did not expect to do much at that time of the year, so it was a pleasant surprise. When I lay my line down, I try to pick a location on a ledge that covers multiple depths. Sometimes the BIG crabs are in 3 feet of water and other times they seem to be in 6 feet or deeper.