Crabbing With The Family

If you're looking for a little family adventure, why not grab your nets and traps and head over to the coast to do a little crabbing. The other day I was able to get a hold of Chris with the Oregon Fish and Game to explain a little more.

Matt "So, Chris how long is the crabbing season open on the coast?"

Chris "Recreational crabbing on the coast is open all year long."

So If I were to plan a trip in mid-July, how do you think the crabbing would be then?

"July is a real good month for catching a lot of crab, they are growing then. So a lot of them are soft, you'll have to sort through them because they are molting a lot. As you probably know, crabs have to molt and kick off their shell to grow. A lot of crab will be pretty soft, but really any month with an r in the name. every month except May, June, July, and August unfortunately."

Sounds like July might not be the most ideal month, but how are crab numbers during those months?

"There's plenty of crab, you can have a blast, but you might have to kick through quite a few to find some that are hardening up because they are growing during the summer."

It's been a few years since I've been out crabbing, but how do you know what crabs are legal to catch?

"We have Dungeness and Red Rock, it's unlikely you'll catch anything else. With Dungeness you can catch males only and they have to be 5 3/4 inches."

Thanks for the information on crabbing Chris, I really appreciate it.