Here's a report (sent Tuesday) from Harvest Time :"Yesterday we dropped six traps in about 80 feet near Abbot’s. After about 3-1/2 hrs. we had our rockfish so went to pull the traps. Every one of them was empty. After we went in we talked to another guy who had same results. Do you think this could have been caused by Saturday’s big swells?" That is possible, as big swell will make the crab move deeper. In yesterday's comments Sucka-Fish reported "dropped 5 pots yesterday (monday) 3 hour soak. 2 at 100-115 feet. 3 at 150-160 feet. 10 keepers. 6 in one of the deeper pots." Depth seems to be a factor. I talked to a returning crabber yesterday that caught limits in 75-90 feet of water but he spread his pots out over a few miles on Ten Mile and he said that the south pots were best. So, here's your four theories of why no or few crab:
  1) Big swell. The big swell stirs up the bottom and the crab don't like it. The do like that it uncovers clams, though, so a smooth spell will bring them back in.
  2) Squid spawn. Squid eggs taste bad to many creatures and a large mass of eggs will send crabs looking for someplace better to feast.
  3) Sometimes they don't bite. Just like every other critter in the sea, there are times when they get lockjaw. Predicting those times accurately is a mystery to me. If you figure it out, call me.
  4) Sometimes they aren't there. Except for times when the crab are crazy plentiful, they just aren't spread evenly across the bottom of the sea. I've tried soaking my gear all day in places where they aren't and it doesn't work. I like the technique used by crabber I spoke with, the "shotgun" method. I dropped my seven pots over about three miles of Ten Mile beach from 60 to 90 feet of water. The best for numbers is soaking all your gear where the crabs are. If you aren't positive on the crabs' location, next best is to try several spots and then only a couple of places need to be good.
    On the fishing front, not much happening except for some good rockfishing when you can get out to them. Inside the bay the herring are starting to move in so there should be a few stripers chasing them near Marshall. I haven't seen any surf fishermen except for the ospreys. The birds are catching, at least.