Current VA Crab Regulations

[jack1747]

Jack, can a recreational crabber crab on Sunday ?

Yes.  24/7/365 with handles (which includes collapsible traps).  One exception is if you have a 5 crab pot gear license.  You can not fish the pots on Sunday if you do.

[tbishop]

So for the last few years I have paid the fee to use 300ft trotline (on my Sea Doo jet ski), have not been real successful, maybe 2-3dozen crabs, if I read right I have to report my cache??? Jack any advise, Thank's in Advance.

[jack1747]

So for the last few years I have paid the fee to use 300ft trotline (on my Sea Doo jet ski), have not been real successful, maybe 2-3dozen crabs, if I read right I have to report my cache Jack any advise, Thank's in Advance.

Yup.

4VAC20-670-50. Reporting requirements.

Any person using recreational gear, other than recreational fish cast net, recreational fish dip net or recreational eel pot, described in 4 VAC 20-670-20 shall report annually, on forms provided by the commission, the weight and species harvested, location of harvest, days fished, and amount of gear used.
http://www.mrc.state.va.us/forms/recform.pdf

[Dae]

Jack,

Am I reading this right?  I'm from MD but if I want, I can drop 2 crab pots (commercial types), without a license, in the water for personal use?  I didn't see any restriction saying it was for residents only.  

I'm also confused about the annual licenses.. it says Rec crab pound or trap.. do I need this $10 license?  If so, what types of trap does it cover?

Last question .. at least for now ... is the crabbing really that good that a 300ft trotline will do?

[jack1747]

Jack,

Am I reading this right?  I'm from MD but if I want, I can drop 2 crab pots (commercial types), without a license, in the water for personal use?  I didn't see any restriction saying it was for residents only. 

Yes your are reading it correctly.  2 pots/person.  If you have 4 people in your party you could use 8 pots. They must be with you when you fish them.  If you want to buy a couple, I sell them all fixed up and ready to fish. 40 bucks each.

I'm also confused about the annual licenses.. it says Rec crab pound or trap.. do I need this $10 license?  If so, what types of trap does it cover?

a pound/trap is a semi-permentate structure built on the shore line. it's a crab fyke net. -> https://www.bluecrab.info/crabbing/softcrabs.html

To answer your last question, I have never seen a 'local' use a trotline down here.  Why would one when you can just drop a couple pots. :-)

The pic is a "crab trap / pound'.

[Dae]

To answer your last question, I have never seen a 'local' use a trotline down here.  Why would one when you can just drop a couple pots. :-)

Is the crabbing really that good down there that you can catch a bushel of crabs with a couple of pots in a few hours or less?  Back in the 80's I remember catching a bushel with 6 to 10 handlines, off piers, in about 4 hours... Those days have been long gone up here in MD.

I haven't been crabbing for years, but when I use to crab a lot, trotlines produced way quicker than pots ever could and takes up much less space to transport and use.

BTW, a friend of mine has a LCC, which he uses for personal use and a couple weeks ago, he put out 10 or 12 pots (can't remember the exact #, but it was double digits) overnight and got a whopping total of 4 crabs in the upper bay.

[jack1747]

Is the crabbing really that good down there that you can catch a bushel of crabs with a couple of pots in a few hours or less? 

No. 

[simonakamrbrown]

Based on my research this is my understanding of the rules. Please chime in, especially for rules relating to the Rappahannock. I am from Maryland and want to make sure I am not breaking the rules.

Based on what I read the rules below are for VA Tidal waters. There are certain zones you cannot crab, but I didn't see any restriction for that on the Rappahannock. Please correct me if I am wrong here.

It seems like max trotline is 300' but you can have more than one license and can have multiple 300' lines as long as they are not connected.

No specific time limit (dust to dawn) as long as it is within crabbing season.

Matured females no size limit.

Males 5"

[jack1747]

Yup you got it...

[Hlavery]

I set 2 recreational pots 3oo feet off my dock this week in Kinsale on a local creek.
Local crabber told me they must be tied to my dock.
I had Bouy on each with my last four ss number and R on them

[jack1747]

I set 2 recreational pots 3oo feet off my dock this week in Kinsale on a local creek.
Local crabber told me they must be tied to my dock.
I had Bouy on each with my last four ss number and R on them

He's wrong. 

[xFishdogx]

He's wrong. 

I will also confirm that he is wrong.  He is trying to get you to move since you are crowding "his" spot.  You can buy the VA rec license and can have up to five Pots.  We are right around the corner from you and that's what we do.