CrabbingInTheHood.com

During an upcoming public meeting scheduled for Feb. 4 thru 6 in Olympia, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider adopting a new package of sportfishing rules for 2010-12, as well as updates to the Columbia River sturgeon management policy.

Of particular interest is a proposed change to the Dungeness Crab Season and Daily Limit. This past year when the season opened, recreational crabbing was allowed each week from Wednesday through Saturday, with a legal limit of 5 per day, per licensed person. The newly proposed rules would change the allowable days for crabbing to Friday through Monday, and reduce the legal limit down to 4 per day, per licensed person.

While the day changes are certainly welcome, it’s hard to swallow (or maybe I should say ‘not’ to swallow) the reduction in daily limits. This is the second time in recent years that the limit amount has been lowered.

The commission, a nine-member citizen panel appointed by the governor to set policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), will convene for its regular meeting Feb. 5-6 in Room 172 of the Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. both days.

For more information, go to WA Dept of Fish & Wildlife

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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, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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Well, July 29th couldn’t come any faster to the Jacobson household. That was the day that the recreational crabbing season for Marine Zone 12 (Hood Canal) officially opened!

Our first pull of the season made the nearly month long delay well worth the wait. Our first pot yielded 8 exceptionally large keepers. Several were off the gauge, measuring over 8 inches in body shell span. We easily limited out at 15 and actually had to throw a couple smaller males back to remain within legal catch limits.

The second week proved almost as productive, catching 8 one day and 11 the next.

With the WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife extending the current  season out until January 2, 2010, our mounting freezer stockpile  is guaranteed to keep us crab happy during the off-season.

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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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Opinions on how to properly cook/boil/steam your freshly caught Hood Canal WA Dungeness crab can vary greatly among local yokels.

Many hardcore traditionalists insist on using some kind of crab boil spices like you would find offered by companies like Zatarains.

Some people insist on boiling/steaming the entire crab, relishing the prized ‘butter’ that collects on the outer edges of the inner body shell.

Personally, my preference is to clean the crabs while we’re still out on the water. A quick axe chop to the center of the underbody kills the crabs instantly. Each side is then easily peeled out of the body shell and cleaned.  We put the cleaned sides into a 5 gallon bucket filled with saltwater from Hood Canal. The bodies are retained until we get back into port, in the event that local Fish & Wildlife officers are lingering around, checking to see that everyone is following the rules.

Depending on the extent of our good fortune that day, we boil our bounty using the large aluminum pot and propane burner, using the saltwater we brought back with us from the Hood Canal. Cooking up just the cleaned ’sides’ allows you to cook more crab and eliminate loads of messy clean-up that result if you cook the crabs whole. We don’t add any spices into the water, preferring the natural flavor that boiling in the saltwater provides.

There is much debate over the actual time you should cook/boil your crab. We prefer to bring the water to a boil, drop in the crab half sides, bring them back to boil, drop the flame slightly, and cook for 10 minutes.

Once the crab is cooked, we dump them into a large bowl and cover with ice.

Some people use various untensils like crackers, mallets, or seafood forks, and dip their cooked crab into melted butter or cocktail sauce.

I just don’t have the time or the patience. I crack the crab legs with my teeth and simply pork out to my stomach’s content!

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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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Okay, so what’s wrong with this picture?

Here is it July 13th, and my boat (the ever-faithful 16 foot C-Dory Angler) hasn’t graced the waters of Puget Sound for the 2009 crabbing season!

Where the HECK are my priorities???

Normally by this time we’d have dropped and pulled our pots a half dozen times or so, porked out to our heart’s content, and started to replenish our our stock of frozen seal-a-meal bags.

But unfortunately, the opening of the recreational crabbing season has been delayed for Marine Zone 12 (Hood Canal), and doesn’t begin until July 29th.

Add to that the fact that I’ve been literally SWAMPED here of late working with 4 different Buyer clients. Luckily though, two of them should be under contract shortly, so I may finally have a few spare moments to run out and snag a few Dungies!

Happy Crabbing!…

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In years past, you had several local options on where you could purchase your crabbing gear supplies.

When we first moved here to Silverdale WA, I found some great bargains at a Pawn Shop over in downtown Poulsbo, just down from JJ’s Fish Restaurant. Unfortunately, they went out of business a few years back.

Kitsap Sports (just behind Macy’s Furniture store and Home Depot) has historically maintained a somewhat limited inventory, with typically higher prices.

Big Five Sports (located in the strip mall with Arby’s and Emerald City Smoothie) is known for their bargain prices, but their inventory of crabbing gear is extremely minimal.

As I had reported previously, in the face of bankruptcy proceedings, our local Sportsman Warehouse was recently purchased by UFA Cooperative Ltd., a company based out of Calgary, Canada, which currently operates 35 farm and ranch stores, 7 sporting goods stores, and 120 gas stations, mostly in western Canada. They operate under the name of Wholesale Sports.

I took a brief visit to Wholesale Sports here in Silverdale the other day (just one block east of Costco) and was pleasantly surprised to find an even greater selection of products than what had been previously inventoried by Sportsman’s Warehouse.

They carry the full range of Danielson products, including the most popular inexpensive collapsible crab trap for under $25.  You can outfit a complete crabbing rig for about $75 – which would include the trap, buoy kit w/ 100 ft. of poly rope, bait cage, weight kit, and 4-point harness kit.

The low end Danielson collapsible trap will usually last approximately 3 seasons, but Wholesale Sports also offers several other brands/styles that are more durable and naturally more expensive.

With the recreational crabbing season quickly approaching here in the Puget Sound, I would highly recommend a visit to Wholesale Sports in Silverdale WA, and stock up on all your crabbing gear needs!

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Well, we’ve come a long way since the time my son Ben and I dropped our first crab pot into the waters of Hood Canal WA.

If you’re already familiar with the story, you’ll know that the Summer after we moved here, we were desperate for crab! So we bought a ‘cheapie charlie’ 2-man inflatable boat from Wally-Mart, loaded it up with crabbin’ goodies, and launched out of Seal Rock Campground, just north of Brinnon.

Needless to say, it was a comedy of errors! But the upside was that we learned all the things NOT to do next time, as well as what ‘correct’ gear was necessary.

Obviously, the most basic thing we needed was a decent boat. Thanks to a really generous old-timer over in East Bremerton, we bought our 1985 C-Dory Angler, the perfect little utility boat.

The next thing was figuring out what crabbing rig was most effective.

In  the past, your best bet for crabbin’ gear was the Sportsman’s Warehouse in Silverdale. Unfortunately, they filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and sold 15 of their stores, including 7 in WA State, to UFA Cooperative in Alberta, Canada. It’s unclear if UFA plans to continue stocking crabbing gear and at what discounts.

I have always purchased the less expensive Danielson 24″ Folding Crab Trap. It retails for just under $30 and lasts about 3 or 4 seasons. A more durable stainless steel version will easily run $80 per trap.

In my next installment, I’ll give you some possible resources where you can purchase your crabbing gear in the Puget Sound area.

Happy Crabbing!…

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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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Yes, it’s true. I can’t deny it. I love crabs. And not just any ole’ crabs, mind you. But Dungeness Crabs. The delicious ‘mouth-watering’ variety that is plentiful here in the scenic Pacific Northwest.

When the crabbing season rolls around here on the Puget Sound WA, you can typically find me out cruising the deep, clear waters of Hood Canal in my trusty C-Dory, in search of the illusive ‘Dungies.’

As real estate professionals and blogging enthusiasts, we hear so much about ‘branding’ and how to effectively distinguish yourself from the masses.

In his book, “Realty Blogging,” well-know social media expert, Paul Cheney, talks about the importance of ‘Branding’ in your blog.

I’m wondering if using a crab may not necessarily be the most effective kind of ‘branding.’ Do I really want to be known as the “Crabby” real estate guy? Some crusty, hard-shelled bottom feeder? I mean, seriously, it’s nothing glamorous like “The Deadliest Catch.” About the most dangerous thing that’s happened to me is when I forgot to put the boat plugs in. I have the scar to prove it too!

I guess you can probably get away with such seemingly unprofessional ’branding’ on various social networking platforms like MySpace or Facebook. I’ve had a MySpace account for quite a while, but it’s not something I use for attracting business per se.

I know it may seem silly or unprofessional to some. But crabbin’ is one of my passions. There is something very primal and relaxing to me about being out on the ocean. All the stresses of my day quickly fall away the minute my boat’s in the water. The view of the massive Olympic Mountain Range rising up dramatically from the shore reminds me that there’s a much greater design and purpose behind this life that we live.

So yeah, I love crabs! It’s just one of the many reasons why I love living here on the Kitsap Peninsula in beautiful Washington State.

But you don’t have to worry. I doubt I’d ever go so far as to have a picture of a crab on my business cards. But I may just include a really great recipe for crab cakes in my next newsletter!

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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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One of the best things I enjoy about living  out on the beautiful Kitsap Peninsula here in scenic Washington State, is taking my 16 ft. C-Dory out on the Hood Canal, part of the extensive inland waterways of Puget Sound. The Hood Canal is a long, deep, narrow strip of water wedged in between the Kitsap Peninsula and the picturesque Olympic Peninsula. The Olympic Mountain Range rises up rather dramatically from the edge of the water. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking.! 

One of the many benefits of boating on the Hood Canal is recreational crabbing. The Dungeness Crab is the prized catch in these waters. The season typically opens the first week of July and runs through Labor Day weekend. The Washington Department of Fish & Game is extremely active in monitoring sports fishing in our state, so you better be in compliance with all current rules and regulations! (WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife)

We launch our boat out at Miami Beach in Seabeck WA. We learned through experience to be mindful of the tide schedule. If you go out too close to low tide, you will have a rough time getting your boat down the ramp. So we usually launch an hour or two before the peak of high tide. (WA Tide Schedules)

Once on the water, we head over towards Dabob Bay, just around the Toandoes Peninsula, and prepare to lower our crab pots. You can purchase crabbing gear from the Sportsman Warehouse in Silverdale. You can figure on spending a minimum of $80 per rig, including the crap pot (cage), buoy & flag, 100′ of weighted line, bait box, and weights. Being bottom-dwellers, crabs will eat just about anything, but they seem to be partial to salmon guts. Several of our area supermarkets (Silverdale Red Apple Market and Central Market in Poulsbo WA) save the guts when they clean the fish, and sell them for crab bait. 

We lower the crab pots (usually in about 60 to 100 feet of water) and then head over to Pleasant Harbor, a quaint little port nestled on the Olympic side. They have a convenience store, pizza parlor, and deck overlooking the harbor. We’ll grab some cold drinks, pork-out on pizza, and catch some rays as we wait a couple hours in hopeful expectation that our pots will fill up. 

We head back and pull up our crab pots, carefully extracting the prized booty. We prefer to clean the crabs while we’re out on the water. It makes for less clean-up later and allows you to put more edible crab into the pot when cooking. We also bring salt water back with us, to use for boiling the crab in. Some people prefer to use fresh water and add a crab boil spice pouch. I have found that boiling the crab in saltwater gives it a really great natural flavor. There is a difference of opinion on how long to boil the crab. I have found that 12 to 15 minutes after reaching boiling point is more than enough time. I’ll drain the water, and put the crab into a big stainless bowl, covering it with ice to cool it quickly. Some people like to dip their crab in melted butter, but I prefer to eat it right out of the shell.

There are few things better in life than spending a few relaxing hours out on the Hood Canal, bringing home some fresh crab, and porking out!

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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.

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