CrabbingInTheHood.com

September 21st is the deadline for reporting your Summer recreational crab catch record for 2009.

A $10.00 penalty will be automatically applied to your next Puget Sound crabbing license endorsement if you fail to report by the due date!

Reporting is required, whether you caught anything or not. You can either submit your summer catch card by mail, or use the convenient on-line reporting procedure.

If you utilize the on-line reporting process, your name will be submitted for a drawing. Ten winners will receive a FREE 2010 combination fishing license!

To report your catch on-line, simply access the following WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife website from between September 8 thru 21:

https:fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov

To snail mail your summer catch card, address it to the following:

WDFW CRC Unit

600 Capital Way North

Olympia, WA 98501-1091

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Okay, so you’re probably as bummed out as me from the news that Hood Canal (Marine Area 12) isn’t scheduled to open for recreational crabbing until July 29th!

You heard it right, July 29th! That’s nearly two-thirds of your prime warm Summer crabbing weather gone down the tubes, leaving only a few short weeks in August to make a mad scramble for those coveted Dungies!

So what are your options, you ask?

Well, starting as early as June 18th, you could trailer your boat up to Neah Bay/Seiku (Marine Area 4 & 5), on the northernmost point of the Olympic Peninsula. Don’t forget that the Hood Canal Bridge might still be closed, so you’ll have to drive around through Shelton! And while you’re at it, remember its open water up there, so that 12 ft. aluminum boat with a 5 hp. kicker just ain’t gonna cut it!

Or, you could trailer your boat down to Marine Area 13 (South Puget Sound), down around Olympia. But they haven’t seen any dungies in those parts since Lewis & Clark came through!

So that leaves you with Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) that opens on July 1st. We normally launch at Brownsville Marina and motor out through Agate Pass, and drop our pots off Suquamish Harbor. It costs you a couple bucks to launch at Brownsville, but they have a nice ramp and dock.

There is always the Charles Lawrence Memorial Boat Ramp in downtown Suquamish as well, which is suitable for small-to-medium sized boats.

Of course, you could always just run out to one of the local tribal fisheries and pay $6.99 per pound. They’ve got plenty, all year round!…

For a list of all WA State Park boat launch locations, go HERE.

For the list of all Kitsap County WA boat launch locations, go HERE.

For the Kitsap Peninsula Visitors & Convention Bureau website, go HERE.

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com and SOUNDBITEBLOG, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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Well, the following news release just popped up in my e-mail in box:

Summer Crabbing Season includes Late start for Hood Canal

Yes, you heard it right. The 2009 Summer Crabbing Season for Marine Area 12 – Hood Canal will be starting ‘Late’ this year, July 29th to be exact.

YIKES!

Just about every year since we’ve moved here to the Kitsap Peninsula WA, the rules and regulations concerning recreational crabbing on Hood Canal WA have become more tightly controlled and stringent. We used to be able to crab 7 days a week. Now it’s only Wednesday through Saturday. We used to be able to take up to 6 male crabs per licensee per day. Now it’s only 5. The season used to start in June. Now were almost into August.

Now granted, even though the season is starting so late, they’re extending the season through until January 2nd, 2010. Unfortunately, depending on the weather, crabbing into the Fall and Winter months can be a rather daunting undertaking. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE going crabbing out on Hood Canal and I LOVE eating crab. But there’s a very obvious and discernible point where you have to choose between pulling up crab or contracting hypothermia.

According to a statement by Rich Childers,  the lead shellfish policy spokesman for WDFW:

“The crab abundance in Hood Canal WA has dropped considerably since 2001 and we need as many crabs as possible for reproduction. WDFW and tribal managers are taking extra precautions to help stabilize and protect the crab population.”

So I’m wondering, what exactly has been the cause in the population drop since 2001? Do we jump on the environmental bandwagon and blame Global Warming? Is the drop in oxygen levels in the Hood Canal the culprit? Have the number of recreational crabbers increased that dramatically? What affect do tribal and commercial fisheries have on the situation?

All I know is that I’m totally bummed out that we won’t be able to drop our pots out on Hood Canal WA until nearly August. Guess we’ll be launching over in Brownsville and motoring our boat out through Agate Pass for a couple of months!

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com and SOUNDBITEBLOG, or by email at rich@windermere.com

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