Netarts Bay Crabbing 4/14-4/15/2010

I took a couple of days off and went to Oceanside, Oregon with my family and my in-laws for some R and R.  I brought along a couple of crab traps and fishing gear, but I was only able to go crabbing due to a lack of time and lack of WAF points (I've been out of town for work too much lately which seems to cause me to score negative points). 

We were off by an hour on the tides due to a reading error on my part.   Therefore, we had a nice leisurely paddle on the incoming high tide current. 

Grandpa and my 5 year old son followed me in the pirogue.  I had most of the gear loaded on my kayak.



Other than the current, it was a beautiful day for a paddle.  The winds were only about 8 mph so there was not much for waves other than boat wakes. 

We dropped the crab traps, paddled around for awhile, then headed back to Oceanside for lunch. Now, remember how I mentioned that nice leisurely paddle on the incoming tide, well the paddle back was quite the workout.  Even more so for Grandpa paddling with the single blade paddle.

We went back out to pull the traps in the evening.  The first trap was empty, but the second had this little red rock crab dude.  We we tossed him and the traps back in while we went clamming on the exposed flats.

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Upon commencing the clam digging, we were attacked by this vicious little Kelp crab

We did get a nice sunset to view while clamming


After clamming, we went back and pulled the traps again and had several smaller crab fall out upon reaching the surface. Since the traps seemed to be attracting crabs, we decided to let them soak overnight. 

The next morning, we had to pull them before we had to leave town so we couldn't wait for the low tide.  I thought the current was strong the day before, but that was nothing compared to this.  The current was so strong that even with 75 feet of rope in 18 feet of water, the buoys were occasionally being pulled close to a foot under water. By occasionally I mean at about the time I was in position to try to grab them.  Finally, I got smart and busted out the gaff and hooked the rope under the buoy. Again, no crabs were in the pots. 

It turns out, the power boaters  were not having much luck either. At least not the guys I talked to. In retrospect, we would have been ahead of the game by eating the chicken we used for bait, but that would not have been nearly as much fun.

I also remembered to purchase an additional invasive species permit for my father in-law to use. Its a good thing since we got checked at the landing.  I wonder if I could have argued that my five year old did not need one due to his age, and that his grandpa was just a passenger in his boat.  Anyways, if I am able to make any group outings and there are non-residents present, I have an extra permit.

-Craig

Very cool Craig!   Netarts is a fun place to kayak.  Try crabbing it at night by hand at low low tide with just a head lamp.  That's when it gets really cool.

Very cool Craig!   Netarts is a fun place to kayak.  Try crabbing it at night by hand at low low tide with just a head lamp.  That's when it gets really cool.

I think I will next time.  I wll have to pick up a couple of crab rings from our new sponsor, Promar.

Great report! Thanks Craig!

But how was the clamming?  I was there a few weeks ago to rake cockles, but saw a few PBer's digging on the west side of the bay and decided to investigate.  Easy digging of a limit of Butter clams!  Love that place.

But how was the clamming?  I was there a few weeks ago to rake cockles, but saw a few PBer's digging on the west side of the bay and decided to investigate.  Easy digging of a limit of Butter clams!  Love that place.

I think I just drooled a little...  Mmmmm butter clams!

But how was the clamming?  I was there a few weeks ago to rake cockles, but saw a few PBer's digging on the west side of the bay and decided to investigate.  Easy digging of a limit of Butter clams!  Love that place.

We didn't find any clams due to a navigational error on my part.  I led us to the one area not circled in red on the picture below.  We were on the small strip of sand between the crabbing areas (9 and 10) I guess I should have looked at the picture before we went out.    We only did it for about 20 minutes due to a lack of time.  Part of that time we were distracted by the feisty little kelp crab.

The bays and estuaries may not be saline enough for good crabbing. It's seems kind of early. I know it was godawful wet when I visited family down in Shady Cove (on the Rogue) a few weeks ago. After things dry out, the salt water will intrude farther into the bays and the crabs will follow.

The bays and estuaries may not be saline enough for good crabbing. It's seems kind of early. I know it was godawful wet when I visited family down in Shady Cove (on the Rogue) a few weeks ago. After things dry out, the salt water will intrude farther into the bays and the crabs will follow.

Thats probably why everyone appeared to be going home empty handed. It was still fun, though!  Most importantly, it got my oldest boy more interested in fishing.
-Craig