I realized that I hadn't been posting for a while when people started texting me for crabbing reports. Sorry. The crabbing in the bay has been slow, as is the historical norm for this time of year. Generally February and March are the slowest times of year for Dungeness. Most of them should be molting/mating during this time, as I understand it. The bay tends to have a higher number of what we sometimes call "mudders", or darker crab that don't molt due to their less-than-perfect health. A healthy crab will molt its shell at least once a year. If you catch a crab with a barnacle on its shell, well, it wasn't healthy enough to store away enough fat to molt on schedule. That's what get called a mudder. Their gills are darker and "muddy". But they aren't distracted by sex or losing their skin, so they'll still climb in your trap or hoop, and they still taste pretty good. The fact that you can still catch them makes them even better. So, there's still some crab around, not pretty ones, mostly, but eaters. The best kind. 

    Salmon fishermen: Be aware that things look grim for us this year. Not too good for the salmon, either. Last week there was a California Fish and Game Commission meeting where the commissioners got a refresher on salmon in preparation for the bad news this year. The summary included one line that I will quote; " Strong measures this year and next, including fishery closures, are necessary to bring recruitment/escapement up regardless of what happens in water year 2023." The bolding is mine. To see the report, click here. Best bet is to tie up new leaders for halibut. I'll be ordering up some new jigs from Bigfoot Baits for halibut because it looks like salmon may be either out of or only a small part of the fishing picture this year. Bad year to be a halibut.