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The crabbing in the bay is still OK but it's getting harder to catch them. Numbers in the bay ran from 0 to 16, in the outer bay, 3 to 30, and the one guy I spoke with that tried off of Abbot's Lagoon, 0 on an overnight. Due to the number of empty pots, both in and out of the bay, many people are suspecting crab pot pirates. Usually it's not the case, but sometimes you catch a boat with a guy with your gear in his hands and you start to strongly suspect that something is up. People that are thinking about poaching other people's pots should be aware that almost everyone packs a camera now. Is this guy a pirate? I don't know, but if you read this and recognize yourself, please feel free to explain what was really happening anonymously in the comments. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation.
20 comments:
I presume this is a red-handed WTF.
Looks like kind of a nice boat for that kind of nonsense. Ya just never know.
We have had our pots moved and worked by others. How do we know? We haul them up in a diffeent spot than we left them (15 pounds of weight in each pot, so I'm pretty sure they didn't "walk" that far) and different bait than we left in them.
I had two of my pots opened on sunday after the opener. They were re-baited at least. Still, this is stealing, and the perpetrators are to be cursed by the fishing gods for the rest of their lives.
info only but they caught a boat out of bodega doing this yesterday so it maybe related to your case, people saw there pots being raided and had the rangers put them under a citizen arrest. might want to contact fish and game and see if this can add to there case. cant tell in your picture but they people arrested we of asain decent
This picture came out of Bodega Bay. That's the Head on the left and Doran in the background. They were following the boat in and sent this picture. Could be the same.
22I have had my pots poached the two times I left them for an overnight soak (last two Sundays) in the area just south of Hog Island. The pots were well weighted and found far from where they were set. If you do lose your pots I would suggest expanding your search area. One of mine walked about a 1/4 mile.
I keep a hawk eye on all my gear when I'm out there, but can't help but notice a lot of Asians eye balling other folk's gear in small aluminum boats and looking over their shoulders! I hate to seem racist, but it seems to be Asians that do most of the poaching and stealing. It ruins it for everyone.
I took that picture, Caught those guys Red-handed with my crab pot on their boat. And when I ask those guys what they were Doing with my crab pot on their boat. They said they were checking to see what kind of bait I was using. I immediately Called their bluff. By the time I got my phone out to take a picture, They Through my crab pot back in the water and took off in a hurry and I snapped that picture while they were leaving. We chased them half way to tomalas. And we couldn't keep up. Disappointed with what had happened. We pulled the rest of our pots. About the time we finished pulling the last pot, we caught those guys trying to sneak back in to Doran, Then we followed behind them and contacted the Coast Guard. Got fish and game out there and cited all of them. It felt good to catch guys in the act. The boat was a 20 foot Hydro cat, And yes they were Asian dissent. And they were from San Lorenzo. We need to stick together to stop poachers.
Thanks for Lawsons Landing fishing report for reporting these poacher
I am glad you were able to catch them. we have been raided all year long. We fly our colors on our antenna and know where we drop our pots by gps marking on each drop. it is not fun to spend time and money for some scum low life to benifit from our work. I blame the coast guard, fish and game and sheriff all for saying they would not get involved a few years back. Hope they get maximum fine.
I'm glad you guys caught the thieves. But I don't think you guys should single perpetrators to one race. Remember, thieves come in all shapes and colors.
Wow identical to the one that had my pot on board the weekend before. They also took off toward Lawsons when we turned to head their way to get a photo.
tunsucc 7455Yeah. Blame everything on the Asians. Stupid assumption.
It's not right to point fingers for sure. Picture don't lie! I am sure all nationalities are guilty. Point being, just leave others stuff alone. Didn't your mom teach you not to play or take other peoples stuff! Really be fair, play fair, and fair will happen to you...
Racist? Look at the facts! 9 times out of 10... It's about time this get's looked at for what it is - thievery! Most people clearly identify their pots; there is no excuse for pulling other peoples gear. I say they should get the same thing that used to happen to cattle-rustlers!
I've done plenty of crabbing up and down the coast from Monterey, Half Moon Bay, Bodega Bay, etc., for the last 20+ years. I've seen thieves of all ethnic backgrounds pull my pots(Asians, Mexicans, Caucasions,Filipinos, etc.) We shouldn't point our fingers in any single direction.
Why the race card? I guess I must be the one out of the 9 out of 10 asian that is not poaching. Give me a break dude! I guess you know the meaning of " STEREOTYPE "
ARE YOU KIDDING WHEN YOU SEE A BOAT FULL OF ASIANS WITH NO POTS GO OUT OF DOARN AND RETURN WITH LIMMITS FOR THE 2 ADULTS AND 6 KIDS MY ? IS WHERE IS THEIR GEAR IM SURE THIER NOT LETTING THEM SOAK UNTIL THE NEXT WEEKEND.
SO / THE BOAT THAT CAPSIZED LAST WEEKEND WHERE THY CRABBIN WITH KIDS?
Are you at the launch ramp 24/7 to monitor everything? I don't think so. You are only assuming things here. Maybe that boat full of Asian people did raid someone elses traps or maybe they didn't? What if they set the traps the day before or just a few hours before? What if they had commercial buddies set the traps for them? YOU JUST DON'T KNOW.
Sure, you caught someone of Asian decent pulling your traps. BUT, that doesn't make all Asian people thieves. I've said it before and I'll say again, I've seen people of ALL ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS pull my pots.
Please stop with your stupid assumptions. You are making the fishing community look bad.
WOW LETS SEE I WORK OUT HERE IN BODEGA BAY AND HAVE FRIENDS WHO WORK FOR SONOMA COUNTY PARKS DEPARTMENT. AND WE SEE THIS ALL THE TIME.tHIER ARE GUYS COOMING FROM THE CENTRAL VALLEY TO CAMP AND LAUNCH THEIR BOATS. AND THEY DO NOT HAVE POTS BUT THEY SURE HAVE LIMMITES WHEN THEY COME BACK IN.
Some commercial crabber pulled my pots and disabled them by bending one of the trigger prongs over to the other side of the entrance, thereby leaving the trigger closed shut. My pots have been in the same place the entire season, a full two weeks before the commercial crabbers arrived. Furthermore, my pot that catches the most crab was moved well away from where I left it, had a trigger door disabled, and the crab were removed. Doesn't anybody fear the wrath of the fishing gods?
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