delaware crabbing spot/ woodland beach ?

[Smitty403]

I'm new to the forum and normally crab by the power plant in indian river. We rented our place down there this year and have my boat at home in delawre county PA. I'm looking to take my son out crabbing next weekend and was going to try woodland beach. has anyone crabbed here before? is there anything i should know about the area? Does anyone have any report? I am going to check out the boat ramp on monday when I'm in the area. I was going to use hand lines next weekend but can you run a trot line in the area?

also does anyone know of any areas that are with-in an hour of delaware county (south of the airport) that is good for crabbing?

thanks for the help

[muleman88]

If you go to woodland in a boat use the ramp before you get to the beach ,it has a dock to use. If you go out in the bay from there theres alot of pilings (old pier) around the pier thats there. if you go by the pier on low tide and look around you will see some of them. other than that use alot of weight cause the tide can drag your equipment around. ( just my experience)

[Smitty403]

Thanks for the info I'll try and check it out on Monday during low tide. How far of a boat ride is the bay? Would I want to crab in the bay area or the stat closer to woodland beach area? Also, I know this is a crabbing forum but how is the fishing in that area of the bay?

[muleman88]

fishing is ok but to hot now (perch, small rock, catfish). You can crab parallel with the road 50 yards from boat ramp if you want, lots of guys do. or you can hit about any creek around there and catch crabs if they are there to catch.  woodland beach actually is right on the bay, the river officially starts a cpuple miles north of there. Its only 5 min ride out the creek to the bay depening on your boat speed and if you take the right creek to get there.Good luck

[basscrabing]

Be very carefull at low tide.  When you are driving from the ramp to the bay there is only a couple of feet of water in a lot of spots.  When I go crabbing I go a 2-3 hours before high tide and stay 2 hours after tide change so I don't have shallow water problems.

[Grizzly36]

I've run aground out there before.  I was coming back from the mouth of the bay and thought for sure i was far enough away from shore, at least 300 ft or so. Guess not.

[muleman88]

Be very carefull at low tide.  When you are driving from the ramp to the bay there is only a couple of feet of water in a lot of spots.  When I go crabbing I go a 2-3 hours before high tide and stay 2 hours after tide change so I don't have shallow water problems.

Thats a good rule of thumb. If you run south your good with water debth just watch the sand bar by the bridge. But its alot farther to the bay maybe 5 miles??? not sure exactly how far

[fred]

how far north are the comm pots in the delaware river right now?  Anyone know

[elsmere ed]

how far north are the comm pots in the delaware river right now?  Anyone know

Been at DuPont Edgemoor plant for a while now. (Fox Point State Park area).

[fred]

Been at DuPont Edgemoor plant for a while now. (Fox Point State Park area).

thanks Ed....I wonder how they are making out.

[bellringer]

There are hundreds of comm pots around Woodland Beach. Watch the ramp it is steep and slippery.When you launch go to your right about a half mile then it opens up ,Theres plenty of area to crab. Use a depth finder as some of the creeks are 30+ feet deep and the tides run 5 to 6 feet. Good luck.

[Smitty403]

I never had a chance to check out the woodland area. I am trying to head out on saturday with a couple buddies to run a trot line this weekend. is there anything i should know about running a line in this area? does anyone have any recent reports on the area? from google maps it looks like there is a boat ramp off of route 6 (woodland beach road). is that the ramp i should use? I have a 19 foot cc.

thanks for all the information.

[muleman88]

The tide runs hard use good anchors. If your not familiar with the area I would use the Collins beach ramp. Woodland can cause you to sit and wait for the tide to come in some before you can return to the ramp . Or run into the mud in certain areas.

[Gary O.]

I got stuck out there for a while  fri . before the storm low water  I had 16 traps and trout line 500 ft.  did better with traps.  crabbed at the mouth of the river

[Smitty403]

Where were u stuck at? Did u get stuck on a bar? How did you do crabbing?