Big boost in bay crabbing
Thor Anderson tosses his crab ring back into the water at the Charleston Marina late Wednesday morning. World Photo by Lou Sennick
It’s high time for crabbing, and things only look to improve.
October, November and December are generally good months for bay crabbing, and Charleston is already seeing great numbers of Dungeness crab being caught, both commercially from boats and from the docks.
“Crabbing is really good this year – better than last,” said Lucy Kindel at Davey Jones Locker. “Usually they run a little hard this time of year.”
Kindel said it’s an early season, because the crabs are already softening up.
Mike LeDoux, vice president at Fisherman’s Wharf, agreed.
“But they get better next month,” he said.
Bandon already is having one of the greatest crab fisheries in years, and Charleston is following suit.
“The bay crabbing is doing really well,” LeDoux said. “The commercial season’s opened up for bay crab.”
But the sport crabbers are finding success, too.
“We’ve got crabs all day long. They (crabbers) come down here every day of the week,” LeDoux said.
He added that crabbers generally set up on the docks around high tide, and D dock has been quite popular.
“Everyone keeps going down to the same spot on D dock,” he said.
And many are being rewarded for their time.
“People have been catching crab,” LeDoux said. “It has picked up in the last three weeks, the last month.”
Kindel said she’s also heard good news from crabbers.
“The commercial guys are doing well, our sports people are doing really well too,” she said. “They’re happy.”
LeDoux said the conditions are good for the crabs to stick around.
“We haven’t had any rain to speak of, so the salinity is up,” he said.
One thing’s certain, any future poor weather won’t keep crabbers away, especially since crabs enjoy shade.
“Overcast and kind of cool, the crabs are more likely to be happy,” she said. “They hide from the sun.”
Kindel said people have been stopping by often to rent crab rings and buy bait, and she doesn’t anticipate the rush ending anytime soon.
“Well they certainly will be (renting equipment) for this month,” she said. “Saturday and Sunday are overwhelming.”
According to Kindel, the good tuna fishing this year allows for more fish carcasses than usual this month, leading to good bait. She also recommends chicken or squid.
“We recommend squid a bunch. They just love that stuff,” she said. “It’s a little spendy, but perfect, because it lasts all weekend.”
