Hard Bushel of Crabs in the Severn

2nd Lt Salt Life and I headed out for some morning mid week crabbing on 12 July with high hopes.  Early season crabbing had exceeded expectations and with hot and humid temperatures there was no reason to expect a lull in the take.  2nd Lt wanted to head out earlier but I figured if we could get on the water by seven we would have plenty of time to catch a few dozen keepers.  (This time of year the male crabs must be a minimum of 5 inches....increasing to 5 1/4 inches on July 15)

For the sake of convenience and speed we deployed the 600' trot line in one of our usual spots in Whitehall Bay.  Getting the baited line in the water with the right tension and setting it as straight as possible is crucial to enabling the boat to travel up and down the line gently lifting the line from the bottom with the feeding crabs caught unawares. 

With the line set and about 5 minutes of "soaking time", we started on our first run with Joe at the helm and 2nd Lt Salt Life on the net.  Three runs later we still hadn't seen a single crab.  Decision time for the crew.

We opted to pull the line transition to the Severn River and try and look for an area along the shore in about 6 - 10 feet of water.  We found what we thought would be a suitable productive spot upriver from the Naval Academy.  By now we were outside of the ideal time to crab but the wind was manageable and we were eager so we reset the line.

Five minutes later we knew we were about to get busy.  The next hour saw an average of 6 crabs per run with some runs producing as many as 10 male keepers.  Some of the crabs were over 7 inches point to point.  Amazing!  Water clarity was excellent and the bottom was sand with patches of grass. An hour and a half after we began, we were still catching crabs but we had packed the bushel basket to the brim.  Great day on the water with my son and a great feast later that evening.  Mikey D Fishing looks forward to more crabbing like that this season!

Tight Lines -- Mikey D Fishing