Some nice crabs came in last week, including the largest dungeness I've ever seen caught from the pier. It was well over 7" wide. The numbers of crabs dropped off toward the end of the week but they should rebound with the numbers of crabbers dropping off. Still a few perch coming in.

It's the same story, crabbing from the pier is averaging OK with a couple of people limiting out (10 crabs) in a few hours to some people not catching any. The average is 1 to 3 dungeness per group. Boating is better with catches ranging from 3 to 30. Working the gear regularly and adding fresh bait between pulls is definitely affecting the numbers. Last week there were a few rubberlip perch caught by a boater drifting near the kelp across the bay from the Landing. No trophies, but good eating.

The crabbing was slower in the bay this weekend. Several boats had limits of dungeness but most had less. The pier was slower yet, but most of that was due to more crabbers than crabs. That should change in the next few weeks, notably after Thanksgiving week. Outside of the bay the crabbing was even better, especially down on Ten Mile Beach. Unfortunately the weather forecast for this week will prevent the sport fishermen from going there. Next week, then.

The crabbing in the bay is still good. One group with 8 traps caught 27 legal dungeness on the pier on an overnight set. Most of the pier crabbers did not do as well but still caught dinner. Crabbing by boat was, as usual, more productive. Leopard shark fishing was good near Marshall on live sardines and the surf fishermen are still catching perch on the incoming tide.

The boaters definitely had a better average than the pier crabbers. All the boats brought back some crab and a few boats had limits. Dave Alexander and crew used ring nets to catch five limits of dungeness crab in about five hours. If I find out what he was using for bait I'll let you know.

It is not a good day to be a crab, at least, not near the pier. The open ocean is a bit safer for the crabs due to the 14'+ swell. There are a fair amount of crabs coming in, just not very many per person. Some boats are out on the bay and hopefully I'll get a count from them later.

13 to 15 foot seas are forecast for Friday and Saturday so crabbing outside the bay is out. If you are planning on going to Ten Mile for the opener please go to Bodega Bay. If you want to try for crabs here inside the bay, where we have been seeing good numbers of dungeness, come on out.

The last day for rockfish was Saturday with one boat catching limits and others with none. McClure Beach gave up four more halibut on Saturday. No giant fish, but Halloween halibut are pretty rare around here. It sounds like there is some rain predicted for the dungeness opener, but if the crabs stay in the bay for next week it should still be worth the effort no matter what the weather does. Keep your fingers crossed.