Severn River Crabbing (5/31/12)

[MetroMan]

Finally got the chance to hit the water and do some crabbing. My plans this week kept flip flopping, but alas I went crabbing. This was my first time this season, also the first time running the 600' line.

I launched at Jonas Green at around 6:20am. I headed to my last successful spot there, only to find a guy working the area with traps already. So I moved to the back-up spot. I began to lay my line in 10' of water. I got halfway through, then a different boat approached and asked "hey are you setting out line?" I knew this wasn't gonna bode well.

Turns out they had a line out already and I was headed toward it. I swear I looked around and didn't see any floats! I asked him where his line ended and he showed me, but I still didnt see his float. They were nice guys about it. No biggie. I pulled up my line and began to search for more real estate. I asked them how they were doing...got 18 on their last run. Exciting!!!

I finally staked my claim elsewhere and deployed my line. It was now just after 7am when I made my first run. It took a few minutes to get reacquainted with my comfort zone. But shortly thereafter, I was rolling.

After the second run:



lil later...



few runs after that…



Almost done for the morning…


And the grand finale…



I Stopped there not because the crabbing slowed down. But I stopped because it became too easy for feisty crabs to climb out of the basket and free them selves. I have to devise some sort of mechanism to keep them in. I have something in mind. I’ll be prepared next time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...te/crab002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...te/crab005.jpg

I was done crabbing at 9:45am. I was rolling out of the parking lot (line de-baited, gear packed, crabs culled, clothes changed) at 10:40am. Culled down to an honest half bushel.Great way to start the day before heading in to the office!!

[loupa5]

The Crabster

A couple of bumps in your wake didn't keep you from pulling in a nice half bushel. Crab feast tonight, I suppose? Yumm!

I've never caught crab from a kayak. Looks like a lot of fun. I think I'll try it someday. Nice setup....so that's how it's done.

[Shield]

Nice 1/2 bushel Metro.

[new2yaks11]

Nice looking crabs. I can't wait to get out. Been wanting to go. Perhaps I'll have to give it a try soon.

[Shady]

Thanks for the report. I'm between crabbing the Severn again this weekend or fishing the bay bridge for Stripers... I honestly prefer to eat crabs over Striper, so I'm leaning toward crabbing.

[jet]

nice job, i hope to crab on sunday, but will probably just handline off the sides..lol

[bdwilliams]

How was the water? Any concern over the sewage from the Patapsco? I'm debating trying it outta Jonas Green tomorrow (but I probably won't).

[Foursteps24]

I crabbed there Monday and crabs tasted great. I dont think you have to worry about that spill. I will be crabbing again out of Jonas tomorrow morning.

[MetroMan]

Yeah the water was just fine on the Severn.

Final tally was 38 crabs, all nice size...couple of bigguns. Most are dark.

[Southerly]

i like your crabbing setup. i've been debating trotline for a couple years and if you don't mind, i have a couple questions -

does your trotline have the dropper lines? did you buy it whole, or make it up yourself?? do you renew your baits each trip or just freeze the whole works an option???

re other issues raised above - if you have any concerns about the water, and sensible people should, you can check the appropriate county health dept for any updates. they take it seriously and have been monitoring the water all summer long for years. sewage spills, fish kills, low DO are bad news but they are not a new thing. sad but true.

http://www.aahealth.org/programs/env-hlth/rec-water

there's a lot of idle speculation and maybe some hype but i think water quality is serious enough to not just ignore.

ps - maybe putting a wet towel on top of the crabs would help. not sure.

[surfdog]

nice! i checked the aa county health dept water quality for the severn its pretty good actually better than the south river

[MetroMan]

Southerly,

My trotline has snoods (the droppers you referred to). I purchased it fully assembled from Captain Bruce crabbing supplies. You can google him. At his prices, it doesn't make much sense IMO to construct your own.

I de-bait after every trip. I don't have storage to stuff the whole thing in a freezer. Luckily, the bait (chicken necks) costs only around $8 per trip for me.

[Tyrone Shoes]

Could someone explain the steps to crabbing? Ive never done it and the concept is highly appealing!

[AnimalPA]

Nice!

I want to give that a try; nice job.

[DOGFISH]

Nice going Metro. Glad the whole crabbing thing is working out this year. We sell basket toppers at West Marine. It is a metal ring of sorts. It fits at the top of the basket to keep the crabs from getting out of the basket.