Let's talk Kayak fishing or...crabbing?

I can fish but don't know a thing about catching dungeoness. I have a lil hand pulled trap i got from Alder Creek but have no idea where to go? I hear the crabs are in but could use some advice. Looking for calm waters or a bay with easy launch. I assume you anchor up, load a chicken drumstick and lower away, keep the males 5" or better. Looking to ttry this next week if anyone is going or can give some tips, thanks
JT
 

Keep up to 12 Males >5 3/4" only. Make sure to carry a crab gauge and know how to use it.

Try Nehalem Estuary, launch at state park ramp. No need to anchor, put a float on your line and a weight about 5' below the float. Try just south of the ramp in 12-20' of water. Drop your trap and fish while it soaks. Or use 3 traps and cruise among them. good luck.

Crab rings can also be fun to work, and it's much easier to fit 3 of them on your rig. Be aware of what the currents are doing that day as well, even on flat water they can rip pretty good. I've only crabbed in the Ocean but hopefully a few of the other guys can dial you into a few good spots to try on some of the bays. Nehalem would probably be a good bet.

Tillamook Bay can be a good producer also. If you drive around to the south jetty spit and launch from the beach, it is just a short hop to the mouth of the jetty channel. Drop you rings around the rocks at the beginning. AND Watch, Watch , Watch the tides. The outgoing current can get fierce.

Wobbler

Thanks guys, ripping tides are not my specialty, the ring idea sounds good but I have one of those small jaw snap traps I'd like to try and hand fish, will try and get out this week, thanks for the ideas and info!
JT

Danielson folding traps.  They are 2'x2'x1', and they work.  Ziptie a couple of 23" lengths of rebar on the bottom, and use a plastic bait envelope. 

First photo is of two traps on the Revo, both baited, one folded under the erect.  Second photo is a limit haul.

Wow, nice haul, D!!

I've had good luck with the Danielson traps as well.  Don't forget to tie them to your yak before you go out.  I mostly just balance one pot on the front of the yak and on the tops of my feet.  If I take out a 2nd pot I put it in back with a couple of PVC pipes put into scupper holes to help keep the pot on the boat.

Don't forget to bring a pair of gloves with you to keep your fingers un-damaged when taking the crabs out of the pot.  After I put the pot with crabs back into my yak the smaller crabs often will crawl out of the pot onto my lap or into the yak and need I do a quick grab and toss before I get pinched.  I got a couple of nasty cuts before I started using gloves.

I use a drybag to put the crabs in after I take them out of the pots, maybe 12" diameter and 2 feet long that I got at Walmart.

Be sure to check for large swells, boat wakes, etc heading your way just before you lift the pot into your yak.  If the pot has a starfish or two  plus a bunch of crabs it can be pretty heavy and in unbalances the boat for a few moments.

I put a 1-foot long piece of pool noodle below my float to make it easier to ID my pots from a distance and use a GPS to mark a waypoint when a drop a pot.  Makes them much easier to find when you go to check them. 

I leave my pots out anywhere from 30-45 minutes to overnight.  If you leave them for longer periods remember to bring out fresh bait with you before you check them in case they need to re-bait them. 

Good luck - it's a lot of fun.

I've had good luck with the Danielson traps as well.  Don't forget to tie them to your yak before you go out.  I mostly just balance one pot on the front of the yak and on the tops of my feet.  If I take out a 2nd pot I put it in back with a couple of PVC pipes put into scupper holes to help keep the pot on the boat.

Don't forget to bring a pair of gloves with you to keep your fingers un-damaged when taking the crabs out of the pot.  After I put the pot with crabs back into my yak the smaller crabs often will crawl out of the pot onto my lap or into the yak and need I do a quick grab and toss before I get pinched.  I got a couple of nasty cuts before I started using gloves.

I use a drybag to put the crabs in after I take them out of the pots, maybe 12" diameter and 2 feet long that I got at Walmart.

Be sure to check for large swells, boat wakes, etc heading your way just before you lift the pot into your yak.  If the pot has a starfish or two  plus a bunch of crabs it can be pretty heavy and in unbalances the boat for a few moments.

I put a 1-foot long piece of pool noodle below my float to make it easier to ID my pots from a distance and use a GPS to mark a waypoint when a drop a pot.  Makes them much easier to find when you go to check them. 

I leave my pots out anywhere from 30-45 minutes to overnight.  If you leave them for longer periods remember to bring out fresh bait with you before you check them in case they need to re-bait them. 

Good luck - it's a lot of fun.

I bungee mine to the tank well.  So far that has worked well for me. 

I don't bother with gloves.  Just make sure you grab them by a back leg or the back of the body between the last legs and won't be able to reach you with their claws.  Not that they won't try.

Rather than a dry bag I've been using an old pillow case.  You can easily dunk the crabs every so often to keep them alive that way.  Plus the evaporative cooling of wet cotton helps them stay cooler than they would in a dry bag (unless you put ice in there).

If you use a folding Danielson trap just remember to lean back far enough to counter-balance when you get it out of the water.  I almost huli'd my first time because I forgot to do that.

Crabbing is one of my favorite things to do! This isn't gospel, but just my take on crabbing from a kayak-

I usually prefer rings over pots if you are JUST crabbing as you need to pull them up every 15 minutes or so. Your catch #'s increase nicely if you can manage a few rings at a time over just letting a pot soak for a couple hours. However pots are preferred if you want to drop them off while you go fish for a couple hours(X2  on the 2x2 colapsable pots demonic suggested!). The trick is on a kayak: pots and rings are bulky and awkward, and you need space and room and method to transport, secure, and set them up, especially if you use more than one at a time. I have a couple of the little "snap traps" you speak of that are small and made for use with a fishing pole and they work pretty good, but they can only fit 1-1/2 legal size crabs in it! I have outfitted mine with 50' of  florescent nylon garden string and a small float so I can drop them off for a while. Recently I have gained much more confidence in my abilities to manage the 2'x2' Danielson foldable pots, now I don't even bother to use the little ones any more.

I buy bags of frozen chicken hind quarters when I find them on sale. Don't bother with fish heads or carcases as the seals will go for them and clean you out! I was turned on to using Mink by an outfitter that sold it, and found it definately outproduced the chicken, and lasted longer- especially when letting a pot soak. Normally, I just clip on the chunk of chicken with the metal safty pin, but if you use a mesh bag or bait holder that will allow your bait to last longer in a pot, they will be fuller when you pull them up. I have been experimenting with putting different baits and smelly stuff in a sock- canned cat food-WOW!

Erik

One thing I do w/ the Daneilsons is add some lead to the door, I just use electrical tape to attach it.  I've seen the doors flapping open in stronger currents, and it'll help 'em close again if any eelgrass gets on the door.  Another thing to consider is attaching the harness on just one side as opposed to across the top so that when you pull the catch all falls to one side and slams that door closed for you.

The Danielson's work well but....  Last weekend I dropped one while I was out not catching landing salmon.  My consolation prize was to be a bunch of crab for crab cakes.  I pulled my trap and one whole side had popped open and all the crab were gone.  All that was left was one angry starfish.    From now on I will zip-tie all sides shut after baiting.

The Danielson's work well but....  Last weekend I dropped one while I was out not catching landing salmon.  My consolation prize was to be a bunch of crab for crab cakes.  I pulled my trap and one whole side had popped open and all the crab were gone.  All that was left was one angry starfish.    From now on I will zip-tie all sides shut after baiting.

My first thought when I got my traps was that had better zip tie all edges.

I kind of skimmed through the thread, but one bit of wisdom was missing. Don't store your ropes inside your pots/traps/rings on the paddle out or back. If your bungies come loose and your traps sink with the rope and float inside, buh bye traps.

I kind of skimmed through the thread, but one bit of wisdom was missing. Don't store your ropes inside your pots/traps/rings on the paddle out or back. If your bungies come loose and your traps sink with the rope and float inside, buh bye traps.

Been there done that.  Netarts claimed one of mine.