DUNGENESS and RED ROCK CRABS

Dungeness crabs (Metacarcinus magister) and rock crabs (Cancer productus) and (Cancer antennarius) are the three species of crabs of interest to the recreational crabber, but of the three, Dungeness crabs are the most desirable. Dungeness crabs are common from the Aleutian Islands to Point Conception, California.  

This 6 ¼ inch Dungeness bonus crab was caught while digging clams. The white tipped claws distinguish Dungeness crabs from red rock crabs. The red rock crab displayed below was caught in Yaquina Bay.

Adult Dungeness crabs occur primarily in the ocean from the intertidal zone to a depth of 754 feet but most often in the subtidal zone from a depth of 18 to 90 feet over a substrate of sand, mud or the preferred substrate of mixed sand and mud or in the dense cover of the eelgrass beds. 

Oregon’s red rock crabs (Cancer productus) and the Pacific rock crab (Cancer antennarius) are distinguished from Dungeness crabs by the presence of black tips on their claws and by their red to reddish brown color. Do not confuse the identity of red rock and Dungeness crabs. Dungeness crabs with white tipped claws are often identified as red rock crabs during their purple color phase.

Red rock crabs have a relatively short life span of 7 years and their carapace attain a maximum width of 7 plus inches.  Red rock crabs as their name implies prefer rocky substrate up to depths of 260 feet in the open ocean. They are common in Tillamook, Netarts, Yaquina and Coos Bays near docks, riprap and among the eel grass beds.

Crabbers may keep 24 red rock crabs of any sex and size, but only large red rock crabs with large claws are worth keeping because of the difficulty encountered while picking the crabmeat from the cartilage of the honeycomb body segments. The rich distinctive flavor of the crabmeat from red rock crabs especially the meat in the claws taste sweeter than that of Dungeness crabs.  Red rock crabs are difficult to pick. Once the decision is made to keep red rock crabs take the time to pick the meat from the crabs. The smiles from your family and friends are your reward for making effort and taking the time to do so.

Dungeness and red rock crabs grow by molting. The crabs are enclosed in a rigid exterior skeleton that they must shed to grow. Molting takes place multiple times during the first year of life and at a declining rate thereafter until the crabs reach sexual maturity. Dungeness crabs molt annually once they achieve sexual maturity. Red rock crabs molt semiannually until the reaching 6 inches in size.

Dungeness crabs breed when sexually mature females molt during April, May and June breeding with the hard shell male crabs. Red rock crabs breed from June through October. Male Dungeness crabs molt throughout the year with the overwhelming majority molting from late June through July and into August. 

Dungeness crabs hatch from January through March and grow rapidly. They measure 4 inches across the back and are sexually mature by the time they are 18 to 24 months old.  Male Dungeness crabs that measure 5 3/4 inches across the back are 3 years old. Male Dungeness crabs live from eight to ten years and the carapace grow to a maximum width of 8.5 to 10 plus inches wide. The weight of Dungeness crabs varies between 2 and 4.5 pounds, but only large male Dungeness crabs may be kept.

To keep male Dungeness crabs in Oregon they must measure 5 3/4 inches wide or wider in a straight line across the back immediately in front of but not including the points of the carapace as shown in the ODFW photograph. Male crabs have an elongated abdominal flap on their underside and female crabs have a rounded abdominal flap on their underside. Carefully return female crabs, undersized crabs and softshell crabs to the bay immediately without injury. Recall all of the male crabs that were just a little too short to keep last fall they are the crabs that molted during the summer and are the crabs we will harvest this fall.  Newly molted crabs are extremely vulnerable to damage and predation and will hide in the eel grass or under the sand until their new shell expands and begins to harden. Once their shells begin to harden the crabs become active feeding voraciously for the next 2 to 3 months while their shells fill with the sweet flesh crabber’s desire.  Hard shell Dungeness crabs yield 25 percent of their body weight in useable meat compared to the yield of soft shell crabs which can as low as 12 percent in newly molted crabs.                                  

CRAB MAX CRAB TRAPS

Folding crab traps are a recent innovation that is changing the face of crabbing from crab docks and the sandy shore. The Crab Max Crab Trap is made in Lincoln City by handicap man, Bill Paterek and his blind buddy Merl. The Crab Max was named in honor of Bill's dog, Max.

The Crab Max Crab Trap is made in Lincoln City by handicap man Bill Patereck. Bill lives at 4800 #3 Inlet SE. 541-996-2427

Crab Max crab traps are also available through our Websites or at various retail outlets along the Oregon coast, however, the traps can be purchased from my home at 136 SW Brook St. Newport. 541 265 5847. Neither Bill Paterek or Bill Lackner sell crab bait.

Read the instructional pamphlet enclosed in the trap by the manufacturer. Use at your own risk.  Be sure to wear gloves when deploying or retrieving the traps. Always use the T Handle when throwing the trap into the water to avoid injuring yourself or others.

Six legal sized Dungeness crabs a New Catch Record for the Crab Max folding crab trap. Our congradulations to Pat Becker the crabber who took the six ocean beauties on September 10 from the crabbing dock at Tillamook Bay.

To use the crab max with the hand line, uncoil all 100 feet of the hand line from the wooden hand line holder. To use the crab max with the hand line uncoil the hand line then reverse coil the hand line back toward the wooden hand line holder. Open the trap by sliding the ball bearing swivel off of the bait pin. Unfold the crab trap. Open the bait clip by sliding the bait pin sleeve of the bait pin. Insert the bait pin through a chicken leg at the large end of the chicken leg. Fasten the bait pin containing the chicken leg to the trap by sliding the bait pin sleeve over the bait pin. Step on the wooden line holder, grasp the hand line by the T Handle only and look behind you to ensure the area is clear. Spin the crab trap several times in a circular motion and throw the crab trap into the water. The T-Handle on the hand line is set to achieve the maxium distance when spun in a circular motion and thrown into the water. When crabbing is good wait for 5 minutes before pulling the Crab Max crab trap filled with all sizes of Dungeness Crabs.

The Crab Max Trap is easily the finest folding crab trap on the market today. Made from high quality stainless steel and materials the Crab Max crab trap is easily used with a hand line using our exclusive, "T Handle" to throw the crab trap up to 100 feet or cast with a fishing pole as shown below.

The crabber in the photograph was able to deliver the Crab Max 80 feet into the bay on her 2nd try. Her frist attempt went 30 feet but she achieved success on the 2nd attempt demostrating that children of all ages can crab with the Crab Max folding crab trap.

Hand lines using our exclusive, "T Handle" and the quality of materials is the difference between our crab trap and other crab traps. You will be using our folding crab traps long after you have thrown the others away. The use of hand lines is exclusive to Crab Max because you do not have to spend upwards of $150.00 to purchase expensive rod, reels and lines to use for each crab trap. Think about it $150.00 will buy 4 Crab Max crab traps with hand lines; all you have to do is buy some chicken legs and you are ready to crab. Wear gloves to reduce the risk of injury while deploying or retrieving the hand line and trap.

The cost of the Crab Max folding crab traps sold at retail outlets along the Oregon Coast averages about 40.00 ea. Our price is $35.00 per Crab Max crab trap with a hand line. Checkout our Crab Max Starter Kit list below for those new to crabbing.

Using the Crab Max folding crab trap is the most cost effective method used to take crabs from Oregon's bays. Consider that crabbing from the shore with folding crab traps has become the primary recreational activity for many families.

Click on the photograph to view a short video clip of the Dungeness crabs caught in Siletz Bay using Crab Max crab traps.

Click on the sculpture of the Chinook salmon to view a video clip of our free crabbing class on Siletz Bay showing a couple with their first legal Dungeness crab ever. The video shows participants deploying the Crab Max crab traps into Siletz Bay.

Walking the walk and talking the talk with Crab Max crab traps. Crabbing in Yaquina Bay, to view video of crabbing in Yaquina Bay. More crabbing in Yaquina Bay. Bill Lackner displays two of 14 large red rock crabs he caught off the Bay Street Pier using a Crab Max folding crab trap and a surf rod. Bill caught lots of Dungeness crabs but they were either larger females or males that were 1/4 to 1/16 of an inch too short to keep.

Truly versatile, the Crab Max is compact and easy to use with a hand line of surf rod

To use the crab max with the hand line uncoil the hand line then reverse coil the hand line back toward the wooden hand line holder. Open the trap by sliding the ball bearing swivel off of the bait pin. Unfold the crab trap. Open the bait clip by sliding the bait pin sleeve of the bait pin. Insert the bait pin through a chicken leg. Fasten the bait pin containing the chicken leg to the trap by sliding the bait pin sleeve over the bait pin.

I often use a pair of pruning shears to cut the leg bone below each chicken leg joint in half to facilitate the entry of the bait pin exposing the bone marrow attracting crabs to the bait.  

Step on the wooden line holder, grasp the hand line by the T Handle and look behind you to ensure the area is clear. Spin the crab trap several times in an elliptical orbit and throw the crab trap into the water. When crabbing is good wait for 5 minutes before pulling the Crab Max crab trap filled with all sizes of Dungeness Crabs. Well, when crabbing is slow wait longer and read a book, fish, picnic or record your crabbing adventure with your family and friends with photos or on video. Wear gloves or crab at your own risk when deploying or retrieving the Crab Max crab trap to prevent injuring you fingers.

Click on the photo of the crabs to view the video clip of our crabbing adventure to Siletz Bay during the vernal equinox.

The photo above demonstrates the importance of crabbing during the vernal equinox of the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox. Can you figure it out?

Crabbing from the north shore was a planned event to see if we enjoyed the same level of success that we experienced at the vernal equinox of the summer solstice. The Equinoxes is when the sunlight shines equally on both the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere. The crabs were taken by my friend, Dustin and myself using the Crab Max folding crab traps baited with turkey necks, wings, legs and chicken legs. Ultimately, we retained 22 hard shell barnacle encrusted crabs. We returned 9 plus soft shell legal sized male crabs to the water. Our success of taking limits of Dungeness on September 23rd exceeded our expectations!!!

Crab catch capacity and high quality materials is the measure that separates the Crab Max from other folding crab traps. The 18 inch dimension really pays off when crabbing is hot as shown in the video clip of crabbers on the beach at Siletz Bay. It is not unusual to catch 3 or more keeper sized Dungeness crabs per pull. Click HERE to see the price list or to purchase the CRAB MAX.

If you are new to crabbing save $14.50 per order by taking advantage of our Crab Max Starter Kit consisting of a Crab Max Crab Trap with a hand line for $35.00 per crab trap and hand line. Plus a copy of Oregon's Crabs a 14.00 savings over the normal price of the $22.00 book; in addition to a FREE crab gage and crab mallet. Purchase each additional Crab Max Crab Trap with a hand line for $35.00 ea. The shipping and handling charge varies from 8.75 for residents of Oregon and Washington and $9.75 for residents of California and Idaho and increasing amounts for orders shipped to other states.

We recommend using the Crab Max with the hand lines over any other method when crabbing from a crabbing dock or from the sandy shore of Oregon's bays. The Crab Max are attached to the barrel swivel on the hand line with a cross lock snap. Using a Crab Max with a hand line is the most cost effective method to take crabs from the Oregon shore. Using a Crab Max is easier for women and kids to crab than using other methods.

The CRAB MAX shown below in the open position with approximately 100 foot hand line is a proven folding crab trap that outperforms conventional crab rings and other folding crab traps.

The price for each Crab Max folding crab trap and hand line is $35.00 ea for each trap and hand line ordered. Upgrade your order by purchasing our Starter Kit and we will include a copy of our book, Oregon's Crabs. Plus, 1 of our crab gages and a wooden crab mallets FREE with your order A savings of 14.50 per order. Click HERE to order one of our Crab Max specials. The cost of the shipping and handling charge based on your zip code. The shipping and handling charge varies from 8.75 for residents of Oregon and Washington and $9.75 for residents of California and Idaho and increasing amounts for residents of other states. Click HERE to see the product and pricing information for the Crab Max crab traps and the other fine products we sell.

The wooden crab mallet is a recent addition to our family of products. My wife and grandsons use our crab mallets whenever we shake and pick large numbers of crabs. Using a crab mallet in conjunction with shaking crab will cut your crab picking time to minutes rather than hours.

CRAB WATCH