Kayak Crabbing 08-24-2012

I met FourSteps24, otherwise known as Foster, on our kayaking forum at the Wawa in Dunkirk, MD off of Route 4. We headed over to the Route 231 Bridge and launch our kayak machines from the sandy beach to the right of the pier. I launched first since FourSteps24 had some issues with his electric yak. I pasted by a lighted pier and saw dozens of fish smacking the water under the bright lights. I even saw some large dorsal fins surface like a shark. They must have been some nice size rockfish. My first spot to deploy my 600 foot trot line was taken, so FourSteps24 and I traveled a little further into the cove to where we found an unclaimed area. I immediately deployed my line in 9 feet to 11 feet of water. FourSteps24 deployed his line parallel to mine about 150 feet away. Foster had some mechanical difficulties laying out his line. He thought that he had dropped his chain and his weights were not holding his line down as tight as he would have it. He eventually found his chain on his line. It was just not connected to the right section of his trot line. The crabbing was great. There were lots of large crabs and many were dark and hard. There we tons of super sized females. We each probably caught and released a bushel of females each. By the end of the day FourSteps24 caught 66 crabs and I counted 88 in my full bushel basket. We had a banner day catching crabs. It was FourSteps24's first time to this location, and we could not have had a better day weather wise to do it. The skies were sunny and the temperature would approach 90 degrees during the day with 10 mph winds at the Route 231 bridge. I think FourSteps24 liked the quality of the crabbing so much that he is going to make a return trip very soon.

[wfauby]

I am new to the sport (kayak fishing) and new to this website and dont have a clue about kayak crabbing but your posts are making me want to give it a go. I camp on the Eastern Shore near the Assawoman Bay and there is a creek nearby where other campers crab, very successfully. I am going to have a crack at it. I was going to ask how long a trot line you set but you mention it in your detailed post...how long do you typically leave it out before making your pass?...second pass? third? anything you have offer would be greatly appreciated. Regards wfauby

[moc]

You can get hooked on kayak crabbing. I use to run a trotline from from a canoe. For the canoe I run a 1200 ft trotline. But for the kayak, I limit from 300 to 600 foot. As soon as I lay my line down, I peddle (Hobie Kayak) back to the beginning of the line and start to immediately crab. There is basically no waiting between runs, since the crabs are eating away at your bait. When the crabs are real hungry, you the life span of your chicken necks may only be 90 mins to two hours max. Then you would have to rebait.

[Yak Fish]

Nice looking crabs. It was a good day.
As far as the question about how long to wait between runs. I've experimented with it and I've found that once you finish the run, you can go right back and run again. I used to wait a little while but there doesn't seem to be a need to do so.