Eastern shore mid bay river 09/05/2020

time Legal-10:30
Depth: 2-8
Water Temp 80-81
1200' baited with necks

It was a perfect day to be on the water! Weather was gorgeous, clear, not too hot, and a nice breeze. We had to choose our spot carefully because I knew the wind would be an issue as soon as I launched. I found a nice cove that offered good protection and laid my line. It was on from the start. 19 solid keepers on the first run, maybe 2 light throwbacks. After that it slowed, but still averaged 7 per run which I’m good with.

We also tried my sons traps for the first time. Now I’ve never run traps from a boat before so it was learn as we go. I’ve got to give my son credit here, that kid was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better mate. I just wish his traps would have caught 1 keeper, I know he was a bit disappointed, but he never showed it. He did catch a few females and smalls, just no keepers. Picture is him with his first (not legal) trap crab.

I also had something happen that was a first for me. I netted a doubler and luckily noticed the female was mature. I knew immediately not to drop her in my bucket as she was probably soft. I dropped her on the deck and told my some what to do so I could get back on the line. She was indeed soft, so I’m glad she didn’t go into the bucket with the rest. I’ve never caught a doubler where the female was soft, so this was a new experience for me, and a great one for my son who hadn’t encountered a soft crab before. I’m curious from others is this is a common occurrence or what? I guess I always thought they stopped feeding and “hid out” until the female firmed up. It was cool either way.

We ended up with 94 crabs and will be hitting that spot again on Monday to try for a repeat performance.