In those same years I have learned one FACT, and that’s the fact that crabbing is an art, not a science.  So many factors play into catching crabs that you can never hope to hit the holy grail and perfect crabbing every time you go out.  You can however increase your odds.

The following list of tips will help you overall in your effort to catch legal dungeness crabs.  

1) Bait is important.   Things that are natural to crabs seem to do better.  This includes using fish carcasses, squid, clams and the like.   Using these also have a downside in that seals seem to love these baits as much as the crab do.  In a battle of you vs the seal vs your bait, YOU LOSE.    So BEST tip on bait is protect it at all costs.   Using a bait bag or bait box will often keep the seals at bay.  It will also help to keep the crab on your bait longer. 

If a crab pulls off a nice piece of your bait more than likely it’ll crawl off an eat it so something to stop them from tearing off chunks will improve your odds when using crab rings.

2) Location, location, location.   Crabs tend to get pushed around with the tides and also tend to settle into channels formed by those tides and river flow.  If you can find a place near this your odds go up.  If you want to crab where it’s best for you, such as an enclosed boat basin your odds go down.

If you are crabbing and are catching at least some crab then at least you know they are there, if you are getting nothing, likely it’s time to move.  I don’t know how many people I have seen crabbing in areas sheltered from the wind and far off the beaten path and whining how the damn crabs are not to be found, well DUH!

3) Crab rings aren’t for wimps.  A dungeness crab may be a dumb little sea creature but when the ground moves underneath them they have enough sense to think all hell is breaking loose and it’s time to get out of Dodge.  So if you are using a crab ring and pulling real slow, YOUR crab are basically yelling “Wooooos” to you and crawling off your crab ring.  

Pull quickly, you will get all the rest you need AFTER you have your belly full of fresh Oregon dungeness crab, but until then, crab like you mean it. 

If you can’t do this, get a trap that will at least keep them in for the most part.   They are heavier and harder to pull but much less affected by pulling them up slowly.

4) Crab when crabbing is good.  For every day of the year someone will tell you something about how to know when crabbing is good or bad.  From salinity in the water, to months of the year that end in ‘R’ to the day after a storm, full moon, sewage spill or whatever.    But if you REALLY want to know how the crabbing is doing, ask around the stores on the docks, they usually know.  They can not only tell you how the crab are running but if they are full and meaty or have just molted.   The staff at Tony’s Crab Shack always know what is happening since they cook many of the crab caught in Bandon.

5) Don’t be afraid to ask.  Most crabbers on the docks are totally full of crap and will tell you they caught 30 crab yesterday, that’s just fishing.  But they will usually help you with honest questions, like what bait are they using, or how best to throw crab rings, how to measure crabs and the like.   But remember if someone asks you these questions it’s a time honored tradition to lie about your catch, you always caught 30 yesterday but today is slow.

So those are my tips.  If you would like to submit your own tip, please feel free to add a comment and let me know

At about 7pm on Friday we hit the docks.  We had 5 crab rings and a crab pot and a load of turkey drumsticks.

When we got to Webers pier in Bandon there were quite a few people but we managed to squeeze in about half way down and set up shop.   As usual on the way we asked how people were doing.   Most had 1 or 2 crabs and said it wasn’t doing very good but we were steadfast in our course to catch that elusive delicacy known as the Dungeness Crab.

After about 20 minutes we had all of the crab rings unwould, turkey legs in place, rings tied off and we were ready to go.  We just needed one more thing a quick shot of something I was hoping would set our crab rings up as the premier dining destination.   Out of our bait bucket came the secret weapon, 1 spray bottle of Gulp Alive Spray (herring flavor).

I hadn’t used this before for crabbing but I am a big fan of Gulp baits for saltwater.   I was at Tony’s Crab Shack when I saw this and a thought came to mind, if it works for fish, maybe it’ll work for crabs.  Everyone knows you pretty much can’t use good fish as the seals tend to take it, so you use turkey or chicken, but with just a little spritz of Gulp, maybe it’ll smell of herring.

So with a spray or two on each the crab rings and one crab pot they hit the waters.   For the next 15 minutes we spent swapping fishing stories like a bunch of seasoned deck hands.  With each telling the stories only got bigger and bigger of course.  (Don’t let that fool you, this story is the truth)

When it was time to pull pots I started with the first one, it was about 7:15 pm and as soon as I pulled on the rope I knew things were looking up or we were going to have mounds of kelp.

With some steading pulling up came ring number one.   I could see as soon as it got close there were a couple of big dungeness and from the looks of them, they were male to boot.  No need for the crab measurer.  

When it hit the dock there were 2 really nice males and in one pull we’d managed to do what most people on the docks had spent hours on.   So we continued down the line.

On that first pull of 5 rings we got 3 beautiful dark purple dungeness crab.  Not bad for 15 minutes soak, a couple of turkey legs and a shot of Gulp spray.

To make a long story short we crabbed from 7pm til about 9:30 or so and caught 14 keepers.  In talking to people on either side we knew we were killing them.  We had more than everyone on the docks combined.  We didn’t say a word about the spray.

We went up cleaned them, took them home and dumped them in the turkey cooker.   What a great night of crabbing.

On Sunday we decided we’d hit the docks again only we started at 5pm.   Using the same setup and our secret ingredient we crabbed for about 4 hours with rain on and off and landed 22 more crab.

This was the best crabbing I had seen in ages and I have to say I lay all the blame for the hard work on Gulp Alive Herring flavored spray.  Nobody was catching like we were even the people who left before we got their spot. 

As people wandered by and looked at our two full buckets of crabs they all asked what we were fishing with, to which I said, just Turkey legs.   Though for a couple of people we had seen the previous friday and a family next to us we let out our little secret.

The family next to us had 3 rings, one with pork pieces, one with liver and one with hotdogs.  They weren’t doing very good so when the liver filled ring came up I asked if they wanted a shot of the Gulp spray.  They said sure and I gave it two sprays.  About 10 minutes later he pulled that in and it had a keeper and about 20 smaller crab.  It was the most they’d brung up the whole night and all in one ring.  When they brought up their other 2 I sprayed them too which seemed to have the desired affect of finding more dungeness crab.

I cannot tell you 100% that it was just the herring spray but we had people on either side of us using basically the same crabbing gear and bait and we were out catching them about 10 to 1.  It could have been a lucky spot, a magic genie in a bottle, or hitting the crab lottery, but I am more inclined to think it was the Gulp Spray.

I will give it a few more tries before the end of the summer and see how it goes.

One problem with ocean fishing is dealing with the corrosive effects of saltwater.   A good ocean reel can run you anywhere from fifty dollars up to several hundred.   It’s a good investment as when you hook into that 100 pound halibut you want to know your reel isn’t going to take a dump at 300 feet.

The problem is if you don’t clean your reels a ocean reel can go from pristine to junk in a month or two if not properly cared for.

Below you will find some tips on keeping your reels from getting pitted or corroded from the salt water.

• Always rinse off your rod and reel with fresh water after a fishing trip.  This is a bare minimum.  Saltwater left on stainless steel will pit it in practically no time.  This only takes a minute or so but it can really extend the life of your fishing reel.
• Make sure to keep your reel lubricated.  Many ocean reels come with oil and will have a screw housing that can be removed to add reel grease.  This will help the inner workings from becoming warn out and potentially being a breaking point.
• There are a variety of off the shelf cleaning products that also can be used to clean the salt water also.
• A more simple solution is a cup of formula 409 in a gallon of water.  Then using a cloth wash down all of the parts of the reel.

If you take this simple steps your reel should last a long time and serve you well.  If you have any cleaning tips please feel free to send us a comment.

Step 1 Bait:

Just about any meat can be used for bait.  The most commonly used baits here in Bandon, Oregon are fish heads, fish carcasses, turkey and chicken.   Fish are usually a little better but sometimes get stolen by seals depending on what kind of bait holder you have.   Chicken legs and turkey legs work real well because they are cheap and the seals don’t much like them.

Step 2 Crab Rings / Traps:

There are two common ways to catch dungeness crab off the docks.  The first is a crab ring and the second is a crab trap.  They both work on the same premise with the main difference being rings are pulled every 10-20 minutes vs a trap which should be out for at least a couple of hours or better yet through a full tide.   Below you will see a picture of a crab ring and a crab trap

Crab ring for catching Dungeness Crabs

Dungeness Crab Trap

Once you have your bait in or on the trap you just need to throw it in the water. For a both types you can toss them in very much like you would throw a frisbee.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure that you have your rope tied off to the dock or other structure. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen someone throw a crab ring or trap only to realize it isn’t tied off and catch the rope at the last second. I have also seen some who didn’t catch the rope and off it goes. They are hard to get back with no rope.

Step 3 Waiting:

If using crab rings you want to wait 10 – 20 minutes before pulling them.  With a trap every couple of hours.   With rings you can adjust that time based on how you are doing.  If you are not seeing crabs, wait longer.  If you are getting a lot of crabs, pull sooner.  Eventually you will find a good balance.   With traps the time is less important because the crabs can go in and the big ones are trapped whereas the smaller ones are able to get out via small holes or through the sides.

Step 4 Checking Your Crabs:

Now that you have crabs you need to do two things.  First you need to determine which ones are male vs which ones are female.  In Oregon you can only keep male dungeness crabs that are 5 3/4 inches across the back as measured IN FRONT OF THE SPIKES on the widest part of the shell.  Below is a picture showing a male vs a female dungeness crab.

Picture showing a male and a female dungeness crab

This next picture shows where to measure the crab to make sure the male crab is of legal size in Bandon, Oregon.

Where to measure dungeness crabs

Step 5 Enjoy:

So now you have caught your crabs, what next.  Cooking and eating is the next step.  You can take your crab up to Tony’s Crab Shack and well cook them up for you and you’ll be all set to eat the best crab ever, fresh caught Dungeness Crab.

If you have any questions on how to catch dungeness crabs feel free to ask any of the friendly staff at Tony’s Crab Shack.

Related Stories:
Crabbing on Webers Pier In Bandon

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