Crabbing on the Oregon coast - a beginner's guide

NEHALEM BAY, Ore. - Take two people who have never gone crabbing before, give them about four hours to figure out how to go about doing it and what do you get?

Surprisingly, a whole mess of Dungeness crab - and a superb crab feast at the end of the day.

So how did two novices, a husband and wife team, manage to learn how to catch crab on short notice and bring in a nice haul to boot? Here was our method and what we learned along the way:

Step #1 - Purchase licenses

In Oregon, you have to have a shellfish license to go crabbing for Dungeness but it's cheap - just $6.50. The licensing applies to those 14 and older. Head to any marina or bait shop on the coast and you'll be able to pick one up. We bought our licenses at Wheeler Marina, in Wheeler, Oregon.

Step #2 - Decide on a dock or a boat

Do you want to throw a pot off a dock or do you want to go crabbing off a boat? It all depends on how much money you want to spend.

In our case, we rented a boat from the folks over at Jetty Fishery in Nehalem Bay, Oregon. For $70 we got a boat for two hours, three crab rings baited up and ready to go, a bucket with a crab ruler attached and helpful instructions from the staff.

Step #3 - Figure out the gear

After talking to the folks at Jetty Fishery, we learned the difference between a crab ring and a crab pot (or trap).

Some friends had loaned us a couple of crab pots to take with us to the coast. The pots we took with us were square, they had a bait box inside of them and a hole where the crabs can get in, but they can't get out. We were told that a crab pot can be thrown out and left in the water for as long as you like. The crabs can't get out, so there's no rush.

A crab ring is a different story - we were told to leave it down for about 10 minutes or so before pulling it up. And you have to bring it up quickly so the crabs don't get out of the ring - there's no trap to keep them inside.

Step #4 - Learn the rules

Catching Dungeness crab in the ocean is closed Aug. 15 until Dec. 1 in Oregon. However, recreational crabbing is open in the bays and estuaries. We went crabbing in Nehalem Bay, Oregon.

Only Dungeness crab that are 5 3/4 inches or longer can be kept, and only the males.

The size is measured in a straight line across the back (caliper measurement) immediately in front of, but not including the points. A special crab ruler (readily available on the coast) makes it easy and the diagram below shows you exactly where to measure.

To figure out whether a Dungeness crab is a male or a female, you just flip the crab over and look at its underside.  The diagram below shows the difference:

The limit on Dungeness crab is 12 per person and each person is allowed to use up to three crab pots or rings.

Step #5 - Start crabbing!

But after crabbing off a boat, we're glad we decided to fork over a little dough instead - we had a lot more fun than if we had been sitting in a chair on a dock waiting for the time to pass.

You move fast when you're on a boat and using crab rings. You motor the boat to a good looking spot, toss the ring, motor to another spot, toss another ring and so on. By the time you've got them all tossed, it's time to double back and pick up the first ring… then the second… and so on.

In our case, we also had two crab pots to toss in the water, in addition to the crab rings that came with the boat rental. Knowing we could leave the crab pots for awhile because the crabs can't get out, we concentrated on tossing and retrieving the crab rings, a non-stop process that kept us on the move.

My husband navigated the boat while I tossed and pulled. Once a crab ring was up, he was then in charge of measuring the larger crabs to see if they were big enough, checking to see if they were male or female and throwing the smaller crabs back in the water. Once the ring was empty, I gathered up all the rope and the float and readied it for another toss.

After about an hour and a half of this process, and a bucketful of Dungeness crab to show for all our hard work, we gathered up the rings and pots and headed back to shore.

Step #6 - It's chow time!

There's nothing like eating fresh Dungeness crab from the coast - especially ones that you caught yourself.

Included in the price of the boat rental at Jetty Fishery was the option to have them boil up our catch right on the spot. 

Since we still had to drive back to camp with our haul, we figured this would be a great way to go.  A nice gentleman even boxed them up for us.

And we couldn't wait to dig in when we got back.  We even threw some oysters on the fire that we had purchased earlier in the trip to make the seafood feast complete.  It was a great way to cap off a fantastic afternoon on the coast.