Okay, I think I am getting the hang of this
, just as the season is drawing to a close
. Oh well, "next year" is only 7 months away.
I entered the western end of the Toms River at the free ramp behind the Red Roof Inn across from Huddy Park. A few words of caution for those who want to use this free ramp - SHALLOW and LIMITED HEAD ROOM. The ramp is in excellent shape, smooth and runs a long way into the water. Unfortunately the water is extremely shallow and the ramp has such a shallow angle that you need to back so far into the water that your
front wheels are wet! The waterway is very shallow for about 200 yards until you get into the main part of the river. About 50 yards from the ramp is the route 166 bridge which has about 4 feet of clearance at high tide. So unless you have a small boat with a kicker the ramp is all but useless.
Now back to the crabbing. I powered out to the mouth of the Toms River near the infamous telephone poles and dropped three traps (2 with bunker and 1 with chicken) and 5 drop lines. Unfortunately the wake from the boats was too much for my little 14-footer so I pulled up stakes and headed back into the river. I anchored 100 yards off of Island Heights and set up shop at about 2:00. The chicken on the drop lines got me nothing, but the same chicken in the one trap was very popular. Four hours later I had
10 medium (5-6") males in the live well. I know some of you guys may snicker at such a small haul, but that is excellent for me! Perfect for Maryland Crab Soup!
Let me tell you about the one that got away! I was pulling up a hand-line when I saw two decent-sized crabs hanging on. As I was about to net them I realized it was not two crabs but one relatively large blue claw! As I maneuvered the net to bag my bounty another boat's wake rocked my boat and I knocked the crab off the bait.
Oh well. At least I know the big guys are still down there.
Sorry for the lengthy piece, but I really get a kick out of crabbing.
-Joe
