Crabbing in Waldport, Oregon

We finally got to do some crabbing today.  It was way too windy the past couple of days and even colder. The high tide was at about 6:30 PM today and we were told that the best crabbing is one hour before and one hour after high tide.  We arrived here at 5:00 PM and stayed until 7:30 PM.

We drove across the bay to Dock of the Bay to rent our equipment and start crabbing. It cost us $11.50 for a 3-day license for Lee and $16 to rent the rings, bucket and bait. The 3-day license is for tourists. You can then have up to three rings going. You have to throw back all female crabs and anything under 5 3/4" wide. 

This is where they clean and cook your crabs for you.  You can cook 1 to 12 crabs for $10.  It is $10 whether it is 1 or 12!

Lee is getting ready to throw the ring in.  It is baited with mink wrapped in paper that is still a bit frozen.

 And it is in the water - bring on the crabs!

 Other Crabbers

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It was fun talking to the different crabbers out there. You could sure tell who meant business. This one guy came in with his three cages. He used bait that he got at the Newport docks. It was the remains of the tuna after it was cleaned - the guts and heads. He really loaded it down. We used mink would you believe! It was frozen and wrapped in some kind of paper that disintegrated in the water. Other people used chicken.

Not much of a catch.  The bait hasn't been attacked much yet.  It is still wrapped in paper.

 A Cormorant

 Still No Luck - They are too small

 You can see McKinley's where we are camped
across the water

The day was a lot better than the last couple of days but I still wore three layers: a long-sleeved shirt, a big furry sweatshirt with a hood, and a windbreaker with gloves!! Actually, I got a little warm for about an hour and then it cooled down again so I was comfortable in all of it. Lee is a lot more warm blooded than I am that is for sure.  When we got back home, I ran to turn on the fireplace and turn up the heat! 

 Seagulls

At least the bait is getting unwrapped and attacked!  We got some small ones and a female in this batch.

This was our largest haul.  Still none big 

enough but they were bigger!

We had fun but we didn't go home with any crabs. We had a lot of females that were close to 5 3/4" and one male that was about 4" and a ton of little crabs of both types. We both decided we'd do it again. Maybe next time we'll get lucky.

Afterwards, we stopped at a little cafe for some burgers and came back home.  Tomorrow we are leaving Waldport and heading to Long Beach, Washington.