Oregon Dungeness Crab

[TentHunteR]

Very cool; Dungeness Crab for the price of a couple chicken leg quarters!   My wife who grew up partially in Alaska loves Dungeness Crab.

Do you have to get any kind of permit to trap them?

[smoker pete]

Looks great, Pete - we need to go down to Winchester one of these days - the area looks really nice, and having crab is the icing on the cake!

Best time for crab and salmon is late August and September   

[fishingbouchman]

Looks great, Pete - we need to go down to Winchester one of these days - the area looks really nice, and having crab is the icing on the cake!

Best time for crab and salmon is late August and September   

Are they full of meat this time of year ?   I like going in November.   Seem to be full of meat and shells are hard after molting.   

Do you freeze crab?   I have not tried.   Rummor is it doesn't freeze well.   Heard freeze in milk helps.   Like to freeze some of I could.   Guess I should give it a shot.

Do any surf perch fishing down there?

[smoker pete]

Do you have to get any kind of permit to trap them?

Yes I had to buy a "Non-Resident Annual Shellfish License" but it was only $20.50 for the whole year.  I believe the break even point is 4 days.  After that you might as well get the yearly license.

Are they full of meat this time of year ?   I like going in November.   Seem to be full of meat and shells are hard after molting.

Some are soft shells and are molting like you said.  It takes them a while to grow into their new shells but the amount of meat varies.  Even the soft shells still hold plenty of meat.  By November they'll have grown into their new shells and will for sure be full. 

Do you freeze crab?   I have not tried.   Rummor is it doesn't freeze well.   Heard freeze in milk helps.   Like to freeze some of I could.   Guess I should give it a shot.

I froze a batch and then thawed it out just to test it and although it will never quite taste as good a fresh it's still pretty good actually.  Most people that come here just for the crab do freeze them or else it'll spoil in no time.  There seems to be an abundant amount of crab this year.

Do any surf perch fishing down there?

I have not but that doesn't mean there aren't any around here.  Have used ghost shrimp to fish for Flounder which many local say reside in the bay in the range of 3-4 lbs.  So far I've lost some bait but have also caught a few crabs (none big enough to keep).  I think the Flounder are there.  I just need to find sandy areas that don't have crabs.

[MoHuka]

Excellent post...Oregon is my home state and my family used to go the cost crabbing every year....

[pz]

That RV park looks great,  Pete, is it difficult to get a reservation this time of the year?

[drholly]

I am really enjoying this thread... 

[smoker pete]

That RV park looks great,  Pete, is it difficult to get a reservation this time of the year?

Not really - Tuesday to next Sunday is booked solid because of http://dunefest.com/ but after that they have space available.  If you have any kind of ATV, dune buggy, off road motorcycle, etc this is the RV park to be in.  The Oregon dunes start here and work their way down to Coos Bay about 25 miles.  Lots of fun in the sand, crabbing, fishing, etc ...

If you're interested pz just google Winchester Bay RV Resort and give them a call.  We'll be here till the end of August.  The weather for the next 10 days is going to be sunny between 68-70ºF - back home it was 102ºF yesterday!!  ... I'll keep the light on for ya and have some crab & salmon ready 

[pz]

Thanks, Pete, I mentioned it to the wife and she's definitely interested.

[pz]

I think this is going to work out, Pete - my wife's daughter is coming to town the first week in August so we need to be here, but after that we're planning to make the trip down to Winchester to spend about 4 nights there. Looking forward to meeting you with good food and good times - and hoping you can teach us some crabbing techniques (we've not done that before)!  We'll bring salmon candy, smoked Gouda (alder), and gravlax 

We also pack a mini Green Egg and an Anova sous vide circulator so we'll bring a few boneless ribeyes as well

[smoker pete]

I think this is going to work out, Pete - my wife's daughter is coming to town the first week in August so we need to be here, but after that we're planning to make the trip down to Winchester to spend about 4 nights there. Looking forward to meeting you with good food and good times - and hoping you can teach us some crabbing techniques (we've not done that before)!  We'll bring salmon candy, smoked Gouda (alder), and gravlax 

We also pack a mini Green Egg and an Anova sous vide circulator so we'll bring a few boneless ribeyes as well

Sounds great pz!!       We're in site #38 till the end of August.  When you make your reservations see how close you can get to us.  What size rig do you have?  Check out the map - we're in the section that's called "small interior site" but they are all 40 ft pull thrus in this area.  Looking forward to meeting you guys.  Please keep me updated 

[pz]

Looks like we have tentative plans for the night of the 3rd or the 4th depending on what is available at that time.  Our rig is relatively small - a 32-foot fiver, and we don't mind back-ins if they have a good view    Will try to get a spot near you 

Will keep you posted - we're excited to be coming to the Oregon coast and visiting with a fellow LTBBQ member!

[drholly]

Anticipating some good stories and pictures!

[smoker pete]

Anticipating some good stories and pictures!

You got it Doc! 

Right now the count is Crabs: 20 and Salmon: 0.  Plugged for another 4 hours yesterday with no results but I'll keep at it and it is still early.

I do need to go get more crabs though.  Instead of going to the store to get some I just need to set the traps 

[SmokinKat]

What a life!  I love the Oregon coast so much!

That salmon is just beautiful, I sure hope you can catch some!   Making me hungry for dungeness, for sure!    I sure miss the days when my dad would bring home garbage sacks stuffed full of king crab legs off his boats in AK. 

I'm closing on the sale of my little rental house right around the first of the month, otherwise I might have just packed James up to go visit with you and pz for a night or two!    Sure ya'll will have some fun-- look forward to pictures!