George Homenko sent over this report of Sunday's crabbing mission: "Went crabbing on the outer bay on Sunday, the 11th. Pulled out the old traps, left the hoops at home. Loaded them with chicken legs and fished in 50 to 70 feet of water. Had 6 traps, did a soak for about 90 minutes, and had 2 limits on the first pull. Lots of nice-sized males. For every male we caught, we threw back at least 2 females. Hell of a lot of crabs down there. Very few commercial pots were out. Still some good crabbing for us homeboys. Got home in time to see the 49ers' game.

Capt. George"     Good of you to toss the ladies back, George. Although it isn't legally required for sportfishermen to release females, we are all planning on crabbing again in the future and the ladies provide that for us. It's kind of like all of the deer we have in our hayfield now. No shooting does = more deer, especially postseason when all the bucks show up. There were easily 40 deer grazing there this afternoon without a care in the world. If more of the fish were easier to "sex" I'd do my best to release the women, as it should always be lady's night. Except for, dammit, halibut, as they are almost exclusively females and my freezer and plate both demand tribute. So, basically, I'd like to be a better person but I'm not going to be one. It's good that you are a good person, George, and nice job on the crab, and oh, yeah, go Niners, but I'm not watching the game next week for reasons. 

      Gage took a couple of days off and went out commercial crabbing with Chris Lawson. He sent me this picture, which I think means the crabbing is pretty good. I'm not sure, though, because when I called him for comments he was asleep. 

    Alec Bennett sent me this picture a couple of days back. His short report: "Neighbor Amaya (Dale daughter) got these in about an hour snaring on the day beach." The day beach is local lingo for the beach in front of the "day  use" parking lot in Dillon Beach. The surf side has been pretty solid this season with decent crab and almost no snags to lose your snare on. You probably won't do as well as Amaya but it seems like most people that are spending a few hours and changing bait regularly are catching dinner or better.