Best depth for 🦀

[Gham]

Chatting with a friend about crab fishing….. what’s all your favourite depths for Dungeness crab? I find 40’ is good in a spot with crab. But I see commercial boats crabbing down to 200’+

 

[Stizzla]

Anything deeper than 50’ in the few spots I crab is just unnecessary work. That’s sooke and Sidney. I’ve filled pots to the brim in under 20’.

 

[bryce]

Depends on area I fish my traps super super heavy and deep in Rupert so the people stealing them have to work if I’m sitting on them 30-60 for king and dungees

 

[Sharphooks]

I sell bait to the fleet For a living. My high-liner guys tell me they spend a lot of time at 30 feet. That really surprised me

I drop at 100 feet, mainly because all the rec-guys around me are dropping at 50 feet

 

[Fishin]

35-45’ has never disappointed me in my local area but have caught decent numbers down to 90-120’ as well

 

[Hot-Streak]

Depends on area I fish my traps super super heavy and deep in Rupert so the people stealing them have to work if I’m sitting on them 30-60 for king and dungees

What type of trap do you use for king crab? Didn’t even know you could get them that far south from the arctic

 

[bryce]

What type of trap do you use for king crab? Didn’t even know you could get them that far south from the arctic

I’ll take picture tomorrow I think they call them tanner traps

 

[Redfisher]

Depends on area I fish my traps super super heavy and deep in Rupert so the people stealing them have to work if I’m sitting on them 30-60 for king and dungees

How deep is deep? When I fished up there the dungies were everywhere and shallow. I had friends who used to fish 200-400’ deep for king crabs using a big ring with gillnet web to tangle their legs. Short soaks for those traps.

 

[Hardy Guy]

Depends on the time of year and geographical location. I've loaded traps in 15 feet of water at times and at over 250 feet at other times. Crabs will disperse by sex and depth depending on different factors. Best depth is the one that is working at the time.

 

[Deepaaaar]

Depends on the time of year and geographical location. I've loaded traps in 15 feet of water at times and at over 250 feet at other times. Crabs will disperse by sex and depth depending on different factors. Best depth is the one that is working at the time.

That's been my experience (in the couple years I've been crabbing), but I haven't yet figured out when to go deep and when to go shallow. I mean, I've seen a correlation with the tide (high tide = shallower is fine, low tide = deeper might be better). I've also noticed that slower tides tend to be more productive. I'm still early in the learning process, though, so these might just be coincidental. I'm sure there are a ton of other variables. Any other factors you guys consider?

 

[SpringVelocity]

Totally depends on area I am fishing.

 

[trophywife]

30' in some bays and 120-150 in some channels. location.

 

[Corey_lax]

I love threads like this. You need 20’-300’ of line and drop wherever and no question is answered

 

[bryce]

I love threads like this. You need 20’-300’ of line and drop wherever and no question is answered

Lol there is no right answer

 

[Maxpri]

Lol there is no right answer

they're just gonna get "stolen" anyway lol

 

[Deepaaaar]

Honestly, it seems like most people just find a few spots that tend to work and keep going back to them, without really thinking about why they might be good spots. Is there a source of freshwater nearby? Is there a tidal eddy? Maybe a consistent eel grass bed? A few days after a big storm? Low tide? Etc. To me, that's the interesting stuff to learn, partially because it helps the success rate, but also just because it's cool to understand even tiny bits of what goes on under the surface.

Anyhoo, I pretty much always drop @ 30-50', mostly because I'm on a kayak and I only have 100' of line, ha. Aaand, I've only been at it for a couple years. The biggest change in success came when I added chicken backs to the bait.

 

[Dogbreath]

The biggest change in success came when I added chicken backs to the bait.

Yes the fat in Chicken backs really seems to attract them more than almost anything else you can buy.

 

[Capt_Ed]

We have had the odd dungee as a rider on my prawn traps in 280' . I'm considering putting a crab trap first and then 50' down the line start my prawn traps. One would think it would slow the prawn fishing but I don't think it could hurt. I've only been home from TC for 6 weeks and I already want to go back , May 1 seems like an eternity

 

[spring fever]

I like 40 to 60 feet unless there are lots of Sea Otters and then I am 150 to 200--seems to work-if the little critters are there you will get nothing at the shallower depths

 

[uclueletcharters]

Many many years ago used to walk out onto a river estuary at low tide look for discoloured sand scratch the surface and dungy pinchers pop up toss them in pail.