Welcome to our Crabbing tips and tricks page. The crab fishing that we have here in Oregon and Washington is nothing short of fantastic. We have both Dungeness and Japanese Red Rock crab in most of the bays and estuaries and for those with bigger boats we have some excellent crab fishing or crabbing as we call it in the offshore waters of the pacific ocean. Some of my favorite crabbing locations are Newport (Yaquina Bay), Waldport (Alsea Bay), Nehalem (Nehalem Bay), Garibaldi (Tillamook Bay), Reedsport (Winchester Bay), Coos Bay, Astoria, Netarts and Lincoln City (Siletz Bay). Rental boats and crabbing gear are available at many of them.

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Meet the Author: Professional fishing Guide Dennis Hull

    For the most part there is no secret to catching crab with the exception of when to go and where to place your traps. The best months for crabbing in Oregon and Washington are months ending in "R" at least that is what everyone says. Actually the crabbing or crab fishing begins to get good in late July or early august and lasts until Feb. or so depending upon how much rain we get. When the winter rains come it dilutes the salinity of the bays and the crabs move further out into the saltier ocean waters. You can actually catch crab year round but in the late winter through early summer months they are molting and usually don't have much meat in them and also you get a high percentage of female crabs which you cant keep. The legal size for Dungeness crabs in Oregon is 5 3/4 inches across the back measured in front of the spike on the widest part of the shell. I wont get into this in depth because it is best to check with the bait shops or at the marinas and make sure that they explain it well because you don't want the pay the fine for keeping undersized or female crabs its quite steep. The limit for crabs in Oregon is 12 Dungeness male crabs per person and for red rock crabs is 24 per person either sex is legal on the red rocks. Washington has a 6" legal size limit and they require a license to take crab. New for 2004- Oregon now requires a shellfish license to harvest clams, crabs and shrimp. In Oregon you are allowed 3 traps per person. Types of traps are "traps or pots", "slip rings", "open rings", "snares", "folding traps". Usually the favorite is the traps or enclosed pots, these allow the crabs to get in but not get out. If there aren't a bunch of bait steeling seals and sea lions around the open rings can be more effective than the traps and can be pulled much more frequently because it doesn't take the crabs as long to get into them as it does the traps. Slip rings are also very effective and for fishing from the bank snares and lightweight folding traps are popular. For you do it yourselfers that may be considering building your own traps be careful of the materials you use certain metals when they come into contact with saltwater let off a charge and will actually repel the crabs. Mild steel or 304 stainless is your best bet and avoid using different types of metal on the same project, also leave some of the metal exposed on the bottom of the trap to ground to the sand. Bait for crab is usually some form of fish carcass, chicken, turkey or mink. The Chicken turkey and mink are seal and sea lion proof baits but the fish will out produce fish carcasses if the seals aren't in the area. Probably the best bait is Shad, with Salmon or Rockfish carcasses close second. The bait is placed in the traps using a bait pin, twine, wire, mesh bag, bait cages or other means of making sure it stays in place. The traps are allowed to set on the bottom for at least 15 mins. They have a length of rope and a marker buoy or float attached to the end of the rope. After allowing them to soak for a while the traps are pulled and the crab removed. The key in trap placement is to not place it in a area with very strong current. Always pick a day for crabbing that has a relatively small tide exchange. a difference from high to low tide of 5 foot or less is a good day to try your luck and make sure that you hit either the high or low slack tide hard. this will be when you pick up most of your crab.  A good day of crabbing here in Oregon can yield over lots of great eating. They are best cooked and eaten fresh and don't freeze well. So bring all of your friends and enjoy. Below are some photos of different types of crab gear. They are from left to right: crab trap or pot, snare, slip ring, collapsible trap, open ring, folding star trap.