The 2009 Dungeness crab seasons kicks off tomorrow Saturday 11-7. While anglers may have dreams of pots full of crabs Mother Nature has other ideas. There is a huge swell train working down the coast. As of Friday 11-6 @ 5:PM swell heights are just starting to push into double digits off Bodega Bay and down to Half Moon Bay.  Currently off Cape Mendocino swells are a monstrous 26 feet and swells along the Bay Area coast will only increase in size to the two story level overnight. Most party boats have canceled their trips for Saturday and if you are booked for Sunday call before you go. Sunday's trips may very well be canceled as well. For you private boaters our advise is to be safe and wait for the weather to improve. The crabs will still be there when the weather improves. Currently the best weather window of the next several days looks to be on Monday as the winds look to ramp back up on Tuesday. Be safe and patient and you will be rewarded. Make an unsafe decision and you may find your self in Ma Natures "pot". For those of you who are determined to "go take a look" I will remind you that as the operator of a pot you are responsible for the safety of all on board.

POINT ARENA TO PIGEON POINT 10 TO 60 NM OFFSHORE-
230 PM PST FRI NOV 6 2009
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR HAZARDOUS SEAS IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON...
TONIGHT NW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. NW SWELL 8 TO 12 FT AT 17 SECONDS INCREASING TO 16 TO 18 FT AT 17 SECONDS. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS EARLY.

SAT NW WINDS 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. NW SWELL 16 TO 18 FT AT 17 SECONDS.

SAT NIGHT NW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. NW SWELL 15 TO 17 FT AT 16 SECONDS.

SUN NW WINDS 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. NW SWELL 14 TO 16 FT.

SUN NIGHT NW WINDS 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. NW SWELL 12 TO 14 FT.

MON W WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. NW SWELL 10 TO 12 FT. CHANCE OF RAIN.

TUE NW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. NW SWELL 8 TO 10 FT. SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN.

VETERANS DAY N WINDS 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT. NW SWELL 8 TO 10 FT.

Rick Powers on the New Sea Angler ran his last rockfish trip of the season on Saturday 10-31. His 30 anglers took east limits of quality coppers, brownies and reds as Rick worked one of his favorite spots down at Point Reyes. Humboldt squid trips will being next Sunday November 8th and Rick plans on running "sea monster" trips three days per week and for as long as they can find em. Rick says he is seeing some promising marks on the meter on recent pelagic bird trips to Cordell Banks. These trips offer a great opportunity for both some great table fare and an inexpensive way to load up on crab bait. He will not be offering crab trips as interest wanes with the rockfish closure. The Miss Anita is still on the waves getting a full repowering and Ed and Vince hope to be back and running squid and crabbing trips by Thanksgiving.

Dungeness Crab Season Opens on November 7th.
The 2009 sport Dungeness crab season opens state wide on November 7th. Previously the waters north of Pt Arena opened to sport crabbing on the last Saturday of November. The Cal Fish and Game Commission decided it would improve sport opportunity and be less confusing to have a uniform opening state wide. This fishery has attracted a huge following among saltwater anglers. With the rockfish season now closed north of Pigeon Point party boats will be making both "crab and dab" trips out of the Golden Gate. Anglers can expect to catch 25, 50 or more sand dabs to go with the party boat limit of six crabs.  Most other ports do not have the sand dab fishery and far fewer party boats are offering trips this season.
2008 was a low of the crab cycle and we will start to see a rebound in the numbers this year. Last season many sport anglers saw catches of just 2 to 4 crabs per pot. Some did better and others fared far worse. This season it looks like we are going to see an explosion of smaller sport size crabs (5 3/4 to 6 1/4) but larger crabs will be fewer in number. Commercial boats won't likely see a huge increase in their catch but they will do better this season compared to last year's "bust". There is a huge biomass of smaller crabs and I expect that next season (2010) is going to be excellent for sport and commercial alike.
The best bottom changes year to year. Last season was decent (at best) for sport crabbers but this season looks more promising. Many anglers prefer the protected waters of the Outer Bay. It can be hit or miss but in a good season anglers will find plenty of crabs working the waters south of Doran beach in 40 to 70 feet of water. Its unusual to lose gear in the Outer Bay even during large storms and in a "good" season there is no need to fish unprotected waters if you can get limits in the outer bay. The best producing waters but offering no protection are from Salmon Creek to the Russian River in 70 plus feet. The commercial fleet works these waters hard and for good reason, they often produce the largest catches. Yes there are lots of crabs to be caught inside of this line but if you are leaving your gear in overnight you are taking a chance. Deeper is not always better but the further offshore you fish the less likelihood of having your catch robbed. Bodega Bay is one of the more popular ports and on opening weekend it's not unusual to see over 200 private boats launching, all the local campground will be full and the tap, tap, tap of crab being cracked around the fire.

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California Waterfowl 2009 Dinners and Youth Events Calendar

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Albacore Sea Surface Temperature maps below: