Need tips on Bay and Crab Fishing

[dguilbert]

I just bought a new sled and I live Bend and I've alway's fly fished. But I want to take my family out Crabbing and bottom fishing. What's the best bay for that and what time a year is the best to go? Thanks for the help...

 

[ajbetz]

You can catch crab just about anywhere there is a good pier or dock ... and if you have a boat, your options expand 10-fold! Check out the ODFW website for all information crabbing-related. I am still trying to find that perfect spot myself ... The Jetty Fishery has been a pretty successful spot for me ... Tomorrow, I will be trying my luck at the Garibaldi public pier, just North of Tillamook. These places are a little far north for you, probably .... so, take a look at the ODFW page for recommended bays that are approximately just West of your location, and find a marina or pier around there. My Guess ... Coos bay, maybe? As for time of year ... anytime, really. More important than time of year is time of day ... be out there an hour before slack tide begins, and an hour after the tides begin to change for best results (usually, if you get there around 10-11 and stay until 2-3, you will be pretty successful). These are just from my experiences of doing it. Either way, its a pretty easy sport, with not a lot of "technique" or method involved ... so don't worry, you'll do fine. Hope this helps!

 

[Dan Feller]

Newport

Newport

I would recommend Yaquina Bay (Newport). We just got back this morning with just one crab shy of three limits (35 crab). I went yesterday with my wife and neighbor, we crabbed from about 9:00 am until around 3:00 pm.

It seems like Newport is one of the closest bays to Bend as well, it is about an hour West of Corvallis. If you go soon you can take advantage of a limitless supply of free bait - the dumpster at the boat ramp was full of fresh salmon, tuna, ling cod, and rockfish carcasses. Keeping your traps full of lots of fresh bait is the key to success, so re-bait often.

Good luck!

 

[Oregonchris]

Do you have rings or pots?

 

[ajbetz]

35 crab?? Dungeoness?? I have never had that successful haulings before, nor heard of that ... did you have bot access? How many rings / pots?? I consider it a lucky day if I catch just one .... an amazing day if I get three or more (have yet to have one of those...)

 

[Dan Feller]

35 crab?? Dungeoness?? I have never had that successful haulings before, nor heard of that ... did you have bot access? How many rings / pots?? I consider it a lucky day if I catch just one .... an amazing day if I get three or more (have yet to have one of those...)

They were all Dungeness, we actually didn't catch many Red Rock at all.

Yes, we do crab from my boat (a 14' Zodiac with a 25 HP Mercury), I've never had much success either the few times I crabbed off the dock.

I have a pretty wide variety of traps. This time we used three open rings, two pots with sliding sides, two closed pots, and two square traps. The open rings and the sliders work best, sometimes I don't know why I bother with the closed pots (of course they're best if you leave them for long periods unattended).

 

[Oregonchris]

last time we went ...we got 81 in 2 days.

 

[cchinook]

crab

crab

Netarts Bay - no sweet water running in there = more crab , my fave in the boat

 

[fishhead]

Netarts bay

Netarts bay

I live on Netarts Bay and it is always good for crab. They have a boat ramp by the Schooner restaraunt.

 

[All Ford]

I just got back from Nehalem Bay crabbing. We didn't try too hard and got 15 the first day and 24 the second day. With kids we are limited to 2-3 hrs at a time. Best average pots seemed to be at slack tide to 1 hr past slack tide. The guys camped next to us got 40 the first day and 44 the second day. We were both crabbing from boats. I was using rings with fish left overs for bait and they were using traps with old chicken legs.

 

[dguilbert]

Thanks for the replies. How about bottom fishing in the bay's?

 

[Oregonchris]

Use a "bottom finding" or AKA "fish finding" rig with either a clam neck or a sandshrimp. Be prepared to catch a lot of crabs and sculpins, but it is a lot of fun.

The leader between the hook can be between 1" to 75'. I prefer about 18" do give it some nice drift and bounce in the waves and current. You can run also run up to 3 hooks in Oregon so try some differnent stuff.

 

[lizardman]

For bait my grandfather and I used to use California muscle (they are everywhere on piers, docks, rocks, etc...). Just cut them open and put the softer orange on the hook followed by the tougher outer ring. We caught kelp greenling (sea trout), perch, and other fish using this as bait.

Dave

 

[Dan Feller]

Thanks for the replies. How about bottom fishing in the bay's?

I like to jig rubber lures for rockfish and ling cod. Big lead head hooks with rubber squid or worms work well. I try to keep just far enough off the bottom to not get snagged on the bottom, the closer the better. Wire leaders help with toothy fish. I have caught a lot of fish along the inside of both the North and South jetties and along the outside of the South jetty when the ocean is calm.

Good luck!