Saturday morning Lynne, Bob, Cheng, Jonathan (a friend from Monterey who was staying with Lynne & Peter), and I met at Mukilteo for a little crab rodeo. Our efforts were greatly rewarded. Bob, Jonathan, and I were on scooters. Bob towed Cheng and a catch bag, Jonathan towed Lynne, and I had a catch bag. Bob and Cheng were a team, and the other 3 of us were a team.
The plan was reviewed at the surface, and our team of 3 descended. Lynne's cave skills became very clear as there was a constant "flow" under the pier... soon, however, perfect trim and precision buoyancy control went out the window as the rodeo began. Silt-outs and dive-bombs followed and soon we were pulling huge crab in fantastic numbers.
After about 60 minutes of crab wrangling, the bag was stuffed - I mean, really really stuffed (it's a big bag too). As I opened it to put another crab in, 2-3 would try to climb out... upon getting them all back in, I look up to see Lynne giggling through her regulator.
Jonathan is a natural crab wrangling ninja.
Despite this being his first rodeo, he earned the award for the "most crab that were so large they didn't even NEED to be measured." :naka: Once Jonathan knew the difference between females (illegal to take) and males (delicious, especially with butter), he started consistently coming up to me with HUGE males that I didn't even need to bother with measuring before bagging (easily over 7") - the perfect catch.Jonathan also distinguished himself when I realized I'd somehow lost the caliper. I indicated to Lynne and Jonathan that it was gone and pointed to the area I thought I lost it in (which was a silted-out mess - I'd knabbed 3 keepers in about 10 seconds which will raise a silt cloud to rival an OW class). I feared the hunt was over, but a minute later Jonathan comes back with the bright orange caliper! We're back in business!!
We continued the hunt until I could no longer fit ANY more crab in the bag... literally not one more. Just before I gave the signal "let's head in" to the team, one of the larger crabs "popped out" of the top of the bag. I saw it and grabbed it mid-water and stuffed it back into bag before he escaped. Then I pulled used double ender to clamp it around the bag to lock it shut... a good thing because the spring-loaded top wasn't staying closed due to the load.
70 minutes after we dropped, we were back at the beach. Current was rippin' but the X-scoots powered through it while towing a diver or a VERY full crab bag.
Everyone in the group who had licenses filled their legal limit with big beautiful crab, which completely stuffed my huge marine ice chest. We filled it with sea-water to keep them fresh, loaded gear, and headed for my parent's house.
As the big boil-pot was heating, some people cleaned/prepared all the crab while others laid out a huge spread of side dishes (tomato and mozzarella and basil salad, potato salad, pasta salad, fresh grilled corn on the cob, fruit kabobs, wine & beer, on and on). Despite a few people having never cooked or eaten crab, they jumped right into the cleaning and preparing of them to get the whole experience. This was a true UTD (Unified Team Dining) experience - from the catching, to cooking, to preparing, and most importantly to eating!!
About 30 minutes, and 2 shifts of masterful boiling by Bob and my Dad (there was too much to cook all at once), we sat down to eat, and eat, and eat, and laugh, and eat, and eat. I pushed as much crab onto people as I possibly could, and eventually everyone was groaning and slipping into "food coma." Everyone, that is, expept Jonathan who took 3 more halves and finished them inside (it started to rain a bit just as we were finishing dinner so we moved inside). Jonathan proceeded to make fast work of the remainder of his crab and soon, he too, was groaning with delight.
Of course, then came dessert of cheese-cake with blackberry topping, cookies, brownies, etc.
Thoroughly stuffed, we sent people home with all the left-overs they'd take and STILL had a ton of crab left at the house. I brought it home and spent over 2 hours yesterday removing the meat. Following Mrs. Rawlings' AWESOME crab cake recipe (but substituting italian bread crumbs for Ritz crackers because I didn't have the crackers), I turned the huge pile of meat into crab cake "batter." About 8 lbs. of crab cake batter, in fact. It's in the freezer and I'm looking forward to "round two" of crab feasting for the team sometime soon... I'm thinking we'll once again gather the hunters once Baby Sounder is born for the crab cake feast.
The divers were Bob, Cheng, Jonathan, Lynne, and myself. Shore support was my Dad who thankfully :hello2: took the heavy bag of crab from Jonathan and I at the water's edge and carried it to the ice-chest he had prepared with sea water and Bob/Cheng's crab catch) while we were diving. Also helping on the shore was my mom, Mrs. Sounder, Jonathan's girlfriend HJ, and Erica's friend Kim (who was amazed at both the divers and the crab). Peter met us at the house for dinner.
I can't express how much fun this was!! The true-sign it was a success was when the table fell silent as everyone stuffed their faces... afterall, it's rude to talk with your mouth full!! It was also the perfect "northwest experience" for Jonathan and HJ to conclude their visit in Seattle - catching, cleaning, and cooking the freshest dungeness crab possible, then eating it on a newspaper-covered picnic table outdoors in July... just to be rained-out as dinner was ending. Truly a "northwest experience."
Thank you to everyone who came, helped, and ate. I can't imagine a more fun way to kick-off summer!!
Note: Our crab was taken in legal numbers, of legal size, and was recorded ASAP. Fish & Game enjoy meeting divers at the waters edge to inspect the catch and the licenses. They CAN take your dive gear if you're caught with an illegal harvest.
Always count the crab going into your bag and ENSURE they exceed the minimum size... it can't "be close enough" but must exceed the gauge/caliper. Also, check for soft-shelled crab because they're illegal to take (no matter the size) and their meat isn't any good to eat anyway. Finally, remember to fill out your catch card ASAP after catching your crab... Fish & Game Wardens REALLY want to see these. This same weekend some friends were diving from their boat and were boarded, inspected, and since everything was recorded (which matched their catch), they were wished well and sent on their way.
Sounds like an absolute blast! I'm going to have to try this this year. I'm looking forward to it and this really feeds my excitement. I'm starting to think I NEED a scooter too - However, it's prioritized right under the NEED for a drysuit. This crab thing though, I'm willing to try before either of those things are in place! YUM!
You must not let them starve... *giggle*