More of the same crab report. Slow to okay in the bay, a little better in the Outer Bay when you can get there. The rockfish are still out there but I feel like they miss me as I haven't been out to visit them in a couple of weeks. Here's a report/question from a reader: "Hi Willy,

I really appreciate the blog and check it regularly.  I wonder if you might address in a future post the situation that there seems to be a lot of untended crab gear in Tomales Bay.  I was out crabbing with my brother and sister in law over Thanksgiving, using some heirloom hoop nets I stitched together since we couldn't find a store with nets in stock, and in each spot we tried (outer bay, near marker 5, and White's Gulch) we saw a fair number of what looked like crab floats that nobody came to check in a 2-hour span.  We did ok and brought home a smattering of dungeness and reds, but I was wondering if there are a lot of folks leaving their equipment unattended or even using traps and letting them soak for hours or days, either not realizing what the regs require, or just plain disregarding them.  It sure is frustrating to think others are not playing by the rules while we're honoring the gear and time limitations.  OTOH, if I'm mistaken about what I'm seeing and there's a good explanation for the apparently untended gear, I'd be glad to know it.

Many thanks and please keep posting,

Sean"  First off, Sean, for future reference, we have both kinds of nets in stock at the moment, although my guess is that by the end of the month you'll probably be okay to use traps again, legally. Probably. As far as a good explanation for all the unattended floats, well, you can be the judge. Obviously, I can't speak for every buoy, but here are my suspicions:

   Some of those are exactly what you think. There are probably a few traps out there, some from people that are blissfully ignorant of the new regs and some that are just unrepentant poachers. Some people leave nets out for multiple days thinking it gives them an edge (PS: Those people are beyond stupid. That is not how a ring net works. At all. Crabs aren't malevolent spirits that can be trapped in a circle. I kinda doubt that it works with the spirits). I haven't seen a warden here since.... September? August?
But that doesn't mean that they haven't been around. Wardens are like Great White Sharks to abalone divers; you may not have seen them, but they sure saw you. I'm guessing that trap/net enforcement on the water is less than we'd like (unless we were the ones with traps).  But I don't think that most of the buoys you saw were recent traps or intentionally set long-term-rings. As a purveyor of crab gear, I can tell you with some authority that A LOT OF CRAB GEAR gets lost in Tomales Bay. A LOT. The current sucks the buoys under or drags them to a new location. People can't find them and they go home. It is rumored that the name Tomales is from the Miwok word for "lost crab gear" (It isn't but it should be. "Didn't you leave with more gear?" "Yeah, but the current sped up and I got Tomalesed"). I lost a trap in the bay for over a week a few years ago. When I found it again I had the emotional rollercoaster of recovering my lost gear and then having to empty the rotten bait from it. I had an opportunity to go right back out and look because I'm here (and it still took over a week). For the folks that live in the valley? That gear is gone. So what can you do about it? Very little, legally, as it doesn't belong to you. You can, however, go here and report it, where someone may come to get it. Or not, but it lets those in a position to hopefully change policy know that there is an issue. We may not like their solution, however. Be careful what you ask for.