One of my COTH readers, Jeff Pascoe, a resident up in Kingston WA, recently asked:

“Do you know of any other piers or places, for guys like me who don’t have a boat, to go crabbing?”

That’s a great question, Jeff. I remember when we first moved here to Kitsap County WA how desperately consumed my boys and I were to try our hands at crabbing. So desperate, in fact, that we settled on a 2-man inflatable we bought over at Wally-World (See ‘Stupid Human Boats Tricks’ Part One). But that’s another completely humiliating story….

Crabbing from piers and docks here in WA State used to be very common and usually netted enough of the snappy bottom feeders to give everyone a good taste. Unfortunately, as human populations have increased, the crab populations have decreased, making it difficult in certain areas for even boat owners to make their limits consistently.

Still, there are a couple of area fishing piers where you might find an occasional rogue dungy lurking about. A couple that I would recommend trying is the pier at Illahee State Park in Bremerton WA or the Harper pier down in Port Orchard WA. Your chances typically improve around the peak of high tide.

I would be curious if any of my other readers have had any success crabbing off of area piers, docks, or tidelands. If so, please feel free to comment and share your locations.

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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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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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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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