Crabby Exceptions

Welcome to the Argo Not So Weekly Newsletter!

As expected the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) has postponed the opening of recreational crabbing, with an exception, for at least three weeks. The reason is the potential of whales and turtles getting entangled in the crab gear.   

There have been no documented whale entanglements from sport crab gear. This is a major financial hit to charter boat operators, and a big disappointment to customers. DFW is just bowing to special interest groups to the determent of all sport crabbers.

These restrictions have been enacted on commercial crabbers in recent years, but this the first time recreational/sport crabbers have been lumped into the pot.

The whole lead up to this ruling, and the impact are a big unnecessary cluster for sport crabbers, but one we will have to roll with, and something that may become the norm each November.

That said, I did mention an exception - The season will open for those using hoop nets (like you would use from a pier), and snares. Some may say, don’t you still use a buoy and line for the net…yes; so what’s the difference? I don’t know, ask DFW..

Not to let DFW keep us down, the Argo will be purchasing hoop nets and putting them to use. They will catch crab, but it may take some tweaks to get this new mechanism wired. To be effective they will have to be pulled with a much greater frequency and weighted properly.   

 Hopefully, by Thanksgiving we’ll be back up to speed with conventional crab gear. In the meantime, if not grubbing for bugs on the ocean floor, the Argo will venture into San Pablo Bay for bass and sturgeon.

The bay trips are a wonderful family diversion with no chance of getting seasick, and generally a high degree of action. The early-season precipitation should enhance the striped bass activity and move sturgeon into the bay; there’s even a potential for halibut. These trips will continue into spring.

Our first open weekend for crab/rockfish combo is November 28. As always, these ocean trips are weather permitting.

For the latest update or if you have questions, email or call (415) 361-7757. As with all our trips tackle, bait and fish cleaning are included within the price.

Good Fishing,                                                               
Craig                                       

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