Crabbing Season off to a great start

[pensacoladiver]

FINALLY got my butt out of work today for a couple of crabbing dives with SupaCooper.

Did two dives at my favorite spot and limited on Dungies with 4 licenses and got 3 Red Rock. Good times!

[WASP7000]

I can't wait for tomorrow!

[pensacoladiver]

I can't wait for tomorrow!

Don't forget your license and catch card!

[Mongo]

That is good times. I hope to be as fortunate.

[Blaiz]

very nice, there, gents!


oooh hey nice boat!

[H20doctor]

SCORE !!! The secret spot Rules again ... How was the Zero Vis ? LOL

[pensacoladiver]

SCORE !!! The secret spot Rules again ... How was the Zero Vis ? LOL

About as to be expected... zero vis. The big dive light helped a little though.

[pensacoladiver]

very nice, there, gents!


oooh hey nice boat!

Thanks. You are welcome to head out with us for a boat dive, but you have to do it before July 23rd.

[John Rawlings]

I'm curious....when you came up here from Florida was it the first time that you had ever had fresh Dungeness Crab? If so, how did you like it compared to the East coast crab varieties?

I remember when I got out of the Army and first went down to Florida for college I couldn't WAIT to try Stone Crab....Being a seafood lover I was really excited over the prospect of trying something that I had heard was SO good for SO long....and then I was bitterly disappointed! Following my experience with Stone Crab I then couldn't WAIT to get back to where I could snatch me up some fresh Dungies!

Perhaps it was just my regional taste buds talking, but what do you think about the comparison of Dungies and the crabbies from back East?

- John

[pensacoladiver]

I'm curious....when you came up here from Florida was it the first time that you had ever had fresh Dungeness Crab? If so, how did you like it compared to the East coast crab varieties?

I remember when I got out of the Army and first went down to Florida for college I couldn't WAIT to try Stone Crab....Being a seafood lover I was really excited over the prospect of trying something that I had heard was SO good for SO long....and then I was bitterly disappointed! Following my experience with Stone Crab I then couldn't WAIT to get back to where I could snatch me up some fresh Dungies!

Perhaps it was just my regional taste buds talking, but what do you think about the comparison of Dungies and the crabbies from back East?

- John

John,

Until I got out here, I had never been much of a crabber. The only crab I ate was from a restraunt and I had no idea what it was. My buddy in Pensacola in 2004 introduced me to blue crab, but they are small and the time I ate one, I thought it tasted like $h*t.

Last year, I had a cookout with my co worker and he bought some King Crab legs from the commissary. I had fresh Dungies that I got about 2 hours earlier. We cooked them both on the grill. The Dungies won by a long shot. Of course, the King Crab legs had been frozen before we were not comparing apples to apples.

I think the bottom line is, Dungies and just about damn near impossible to beat. I have proof of how good they are but I refuse to show the pictures my wife took last night of me and my daughter standing over the sink tearing into the Dungies just as fast as we could get them out of the steamer. It was quite the comical mess.

I am sure going to miss getting the Dungies!

On another note, as far as Ling Cod versus Black Grouper, well, its been a long while since I have had a fresh fried Grouper sandwich. So, I will have to get back to you on that one.

[Jaksonbrown]

I'm curious....when you came up here from Florida was it the first time that you had ever had fresh Dungeness Crab? If so, how did you like it compared to the East coast crab varieties?

I remember when I got out of the Army and first went down to Florida for college I couldn't WAIT to try Stone Crab....Being a seafood lover I was really excited over the prospect of trying something that I had heard was SO good for SO long....and then I was bitterly disappointed! Following my experience with Stone Crab I then couldn't WAIT to get back to where I could snatch me up some fresh Dungies!

Perhaps it was just my regional taste buds talking, but what do you think about the comparison of Dungies and the crabbies from back East?

- John

John,

Until I got out here, I had never been much of a crabber. The only crab I ate was from a restraunt and I had no idea what it was. My buddy in Pensacola in 2004 introduced me to blue crab, but they are small and the time I ate one, I thought it tasted like $h*t.

Last year, I had a cookout with my co worker and he bought some King Crab legs from the commissary. I had fresh Dungies that I got about 2 hours earlier. We cooked them both on the grill. The Dungies won by a long shot. Of course, the King Crab legs had been frozen before we were not comparing apples to apples.

I think the bottom line is, Dungies and just about damn near impossible to beat. I have proof of how good they are but I refuse to show the pictures my wife took last night of me and my daughter standing over the sink tearing into the Dungies just as fast as we could get them out of the steamer. It was quite the comical mess.

I am sure going to miss getting the Dungies!

On another note, as far as Ling Cod versus Black Grouper, well, its been a long while since I have had a fresh fried Grouper sandwich. So, I will have to get back to you on that one.

Yea yea yea.... grouper, yellowfin, bluefin, trigger,sweetlips, etc.. etc.. etc..... Rub it in amigo! Just have that spare bedroom ready come Jan!

[John Rawlings]

John,

Until I got out here, I had never been much of a crabber. The only crab I ate was from a restraunt and I had no idea what it was. My buddy in Pensacola in 2004 introduced me to blue crab, but they are small and the time I ate one, I thought it tasted like $h*t.

Last year, I had a cookout with my co worker and he bought some King Crab legs from the commissary. I had fresh Dungies that I got about 2 hours earlier. We cooked them both on the grill. The Dungies won by a long shot. Of course, the King Crab legs had been frozen before we were not comparing apples to apples.

I think the bottom line is, Dungies and just about damn near impossible to beat. I have proof of how good they are but I refuse to show the pictures my wife took last night of me and my daughter standing over the sink tearing into the Dungies just as fast as we could get them out of the steamer. It was quite the comical mess.

I am sure going to miss getting the Dungies!

On another note, as far as Ling Cod versus Black Grouper, well, its been a long while since I have had a fresh fried Grouper sandwich. So, I will have to get back to you on that one.

Yeah....that's my impression as well. I grew up around Puget Sound and both of my folks loved fishing and seafood. We also had a LOT of connections in Alaska, which meant that when we weren't eating fresh Salmon and Dungeness from Washington we were chowing down on Halibut and King Crab from the "Great White North". Simultaneously, we'd see shows on TV and magazine articles that talked about how great the seafood was from the East coast - blue crabs, stone crabs, lobsters and such. When I finally made it back there and started trying all those things my response was, basically, "WTF????"

Years ago I started to write a Dungeness Crab cookbook and compiled a LOT of really, really, REALLY, REALLY mouth-watering recipes. Some of them would just blow your mind! That was back when there WAS no crab season and you could go out 365 days a year if you wanted to. We ate crab at our house at LEAST once a week and needed a bunch of different recipes just to add variety and spice! Now, when you need to kow-tow to the government just to be allowed to read the regulations that state that crabbing is only open on days beginning with the letter Q, but only when the moon is half-full, and only in months beginning with the letter B, and only if you've spray-painted your ass with flourescent yellow paint....under such circumstances I very rarely get crab and don't use the recipes much - we just dip the meat in butter! The sole exception to that is Ginny's Crab cake recipe...which is historic! :luv:

I posted the crab cake recipe somewhere here on NWDC a couple of years back....

- John

[John Rawlings]

Here's the NWDC link to Ginny's crab cake recipe:

http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php ... es#p105741

Use LUMPS of crab meat - don't shread it up like a lot of restaurants do - you want CHUNKS of crab in the cakes.

[dwashbur]

Where could I get my greedy little paws on that book of recipes you wrote?

[dsteding]

I'll second the request for the recipe book.

Just went out and pulled pots this morning, 3 out of 4 were crammed with crab, one, purple starfish, broken door, no crab.

Sorted through and got the best to make up our limit. Already cleaned, cooked, and cooled for the weekend. I love this part of living in the PNW.

[Nwbrewer]

I'll second the request for the recipe book.

Just went out and pulled pots this morning, 3 out of 4 were crammed with crab, one, purple starfish, broken door, no crab.

Sorted through and got the best to make up our limit. Already cleaned, cooked, and cooled for the weekend. I love this part of living in the PNW.

POTS? Shameful...

[dsteding]

POTS? Shameful...

Scuba diving? That is crazy stuff, I'd never do that.

[Seaslave]

POTS? Shameful...

Scuba diving? That is crazy stuff, I'd never do that.

I'm with Steding, drop the pots on the way out and go for a good dive....

[John Rawlings]

Where could I get my greedy little paws on that book of recipes you wrote?

Hi, Dave!

Unfortunately, the words, "started to write", are the key elements of my post above. I actually wrote a couple of chapters - "Dips" and "Main Courses", but then moved on to other things and haven't yet finished the book.

I have piles of recipes, though, from various sources. I work at a facility that has HUGE ethnic diversity and I asked all of my friends for their favorite crab recipes....I received recipes from all over the USA - Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Massachusetts.... - as well as a bunch from Central America and all over Asia - Hong Kong, Taipei, mainland China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, the Phillipines.....and I tried out most of them.

One of these days I'll get going again and wrap it up!

- John

[Rockfish]

Pardon the hijack but with all of the seafood lovers here it seems like everyone that wanted to could submit a recipe and it could be compiled into a book and printed or not. This might be a way of to raise funds for ????? Just an idea.

Mike

[pensacoladiver]

Yea yea yea.... grouper, yellowfin, bluefin, trigger,sweetlips, etc.. etc.. etc..... Rub it in amigo! Just have that spare bedroom ready come Jan!

I suppose the "etc...etc..." covers it, but you forgot Wahoo, Mahi Mahi, Cobia, and Red Snapper.

[pensacoladiver]

WASP came up today, drove up from Olympia... hard charger. We managed to get out limit of 10 plus a Red Rock in 2 dives.

Gonna head back out tomorrow morning for some more fun.

[pensacoladiver]

Yeah....that's my impression as well. I grew up around Puget Sound and both of my folks loved fishing and seafood. We also had a LOT of connections in Alaska, which meant that when we weren't eating fresh Salmon and Dungeness from Washington we were chowing down on Halibut and King Crab from the "Great White North". Simultaneously, we'd see shows on TV and magazine articles that talked about how great the seafood was from the East coast - blue crabs, stone crabs, lobsters and such. When I finally made it back there and started trying all those things my response was, basically, "WTF????"

Years ago I started to write a Dungeness Crab cookbook and compiled a LOT of really, really, REALLY, REALLY mouth-watering recipes. Some of them would just blow your mind! That was back when there WAS no crab season and you could go out 365 days a year if you wanted to. We ate crab at our house at LEAST once a week and needed a bunch of different recipes just to add variety and spice! Now, when you need to kow-tow to the government just to be allowed to read the regulations that state that crabbing is only open on days beginning with the letter Q, but only when the moon is half-full, and only in months beginning with the letter B, and only if you've spray-painted your ass with flourescent yellow paint....under such circumstances I very rarely get crab and don't use the recipes much - we just dip the meat in butter! The sole exception to that is Ginny's Crab cake recipe...which is historic! :luv:

I posted the crab cake recipe somewhere here on NWDC a couple of years back....

- John

One of the things I loved about Florida was the fishing regulations were fairly laid back (compared to here). The rules were contained on 2 pages... pretty simple to understand.

However, it has been 5 years since I have actively fished there and I have noticed on a few other boards I follow that the regs have tightened up significantly. I certainly hope its not a book that requires a law degree to figure out... we will see.

[John Rawlings]

My best friend and I went crab diving today at Mukilteo, and both of us limited....I can't wait to see what Ginny will do with it tonight for dinner!

We entered the water really early, just before 7:00 AM, to beat the crowd. The number of divers there was astonishing!

- John

[John Rawlings]

Well, I received the answer....we just finished feasting on piles of her crab cakes and heaping amounts of garlic bread!