Help for a place to start ?

[UnsaltedChuck]

Hello Fellow Anglers

My Family and I are travelling to the Saratoga Beach area on east Vancouver Island on May 17th for a week of sight seeing and beachcombing (we are travelling from Edmonton , Please don't hold that against us LOL ) I am a Total noob when it comes to crab fishing and the kids would like to try ... I have a row boat and some Danielson traps and have read all the regulations surrounding the legal harvest ( I've pretty much got the regulations memorized ) ..
Are there any areas that a more seasoned vet would care to share for me to start looking for dungeness crab within rowing distance of shore ???
I'm not after a hundred ... Just a few to eat over the 3 -4 days that we are there... NOTE We are willing to drive north or south up to a couple hours on the island if it means we will have a better chance ... I understand if spots are best left unsaid on a public forum ... If you would prefer to private message that is ok too .. Any help at all would be appreciated ..


Thanks in advance
Chuck

 

[Corey_lax]

I'm not familiar with the area, but GO CANUCKS GO

 

[eroyd]

Funny, but now that you mention it, I've spent a fair bit of time coho fishing off Saratoga area beaches and can't recall seeing many, if any Dungenous crabs there. There are sandy spots but for the most part the substrate is gravel. Hopefully someone will PM you with a local spot as posting on the internet gets spots wiped out. A few softer beaches closer to Willow pt. me thinks.

 

[sly_karma]

You're looking for sand, eel grass, and fresh water entering the chuck nearby.

 

[KMay]

Hello. Just north or Saratoga beach theres a spot called oyster bay, its maybe a 10 min drive. Lots of times you can walk the trap out on low tide and pick it back up on the next low tide. A rowboat would give you a good chance there. Use fresh bait, chicken or fish heads/carcass.
Good luck
Kevin
Www.islandlifefishingcharters.com

 

[jackfish]

There are a few ways to go Chuck. When we used to visit the island as tourists, we'd drop crab traps from piers or docks. Best place we rented had a deep water dock and we could drop traps right out the front of the cabin. Some public piers will work.

Crabbing from a rowboat is certainly doable. You might need to accept just catching red rocks, rather than dungeness. red rocks taste just fine, but there is less meat. But they are often more plentiful, and just as fun for kids. Crabbing more than 100' down without a winch, from a small boat, will be kindof miserable. Too much pulling.

Another option is to get a ring type trap and throw it from a high point on shore into deep water. Say, 50' off a cliff or ledge. We have a nice spot for that right in Victoria, and can catch as many red rocks as I want, right from shore. Sometimes we catch dungeness.

I'm also an albertan, relocated to van isle, and I felt really dumb and clueless when I used to try to crab or fish. Like, do I just drop my traps anyplace? Do I look like a moron? After a while I noticed that people would follow and mimic what I'm doing...which made me laugh...because I know next to nothing. My point is, just get out in that boat (on fair weather days only) and get the traps in the water. Try several spots. Chicken for bait. And go for it.

Another good thing to do with kids in a rowboat, is go fish for rockfish. They are ridiculously easy to catch, legal to keep one a day per license, and they taste great. Equipment is cheap....you just need a light rod and a jigging hook, and bam. Watch out for rockfish conservation areas, which are a no go. Drop your crab traps...then go fish for a couple hours...go back and check the traps.

oh, and if you see otters around and you are trying shallowish water, forget it. They will mess up your trap, tear out the bait, and rip off your crabs. Go deeper or otherwise away from the otters.

 

[sly_karma]

oh, and if you see otters around and you are trying shallowish water, forget it. They will mess up your trap, tear out the bait, and rip off your crabs. Go deeper or otherwise away from the otters.

Interesting. We have river otters in our bay (Sunshine Coast), and they think they own the place. They'll try to den under someone's deck until kicked out, then try it again at the next cabin. I can't leave crab pellets in my boat or they chew things to pieces trying to get them. But I drop crab traps within a 200 m radius from the dock, in 30-70 ft of water, and I've never known otters to bother them. Lots of other people crab there as well.

Not saying you don't have an otter problem, just not my experience.

 

[jackfish]

I hear you Sly. I put a GoPro in my trap, and I am positive I recognize the thieves.

 

[Aces]

Interesting. We have river otters in our bay (Sunshine Coast), and they think they own the place. They'll try to den under someone's deck until kicked out, then try it again at the next cabin. I can't leave crab pellets in my boat or they chew things to pieces trying to get them. But I drop crab traps within a 200 m radius from the dock, in 30-70 ft of water, and I've never known otters to bother them. Lots of other people crab there as well.

Not saying you don't have an otter problem, just not my experience.

Sea Otters are the crab munchers and different from River Otters

 

[seahorse]

X2 for Oyster Bay near the Driftwood Restaurant, a buddy of mine would wade out in chest waders and net them years ago, there must be some crabs around there.