A week of temperatures in the upper 90s and high humidity often pushes crabs into cooler, deeper water. Greater depths also means more oxygen for the crustaceans. With Capt. CC on hiatus for the day, Mike Shina answered the call.
We decided the extra few minutes travel up the Severn to the spot that produced a "hard bushel" in 2 hours earlier in July, would again be our best bet. Temperatures were already in the low 80s by 0600. Gear was aboard and MikeyDFishing pulled from the dock at 0615. As we approached the cove we intended to work, it was clear that we weren't the only "chicken neckers" who heard that the crabs were big and heavy in the Severn. One trot liner set his line exactly where we were set up a few weeks ago. Undeterred, we decided to work a stretch of water perpendicular from the other trot line in water 6 - 8 feet deep. A little shallower than we wanted, but we also needed to balance what has worked recently with the desire to be a little deeper given the water and air temps.
Line was set and soaked by 0700 and half way through our first run it became quite apparent that our calculus was correct. We pulled 6 keepers with one over 7 inches! Capt. Joe took the helm as Mike Shina worked the net like an old pro. With Shina on the stick, crabs were coming in at a average rate of 4 per run with some runs producing as many as 8. We even scooped a soft crab in the mix. While we saw more doublers than a few weeks ago, we also had to cull through more crabs than last time out. Nevertheless, Mike Shina quickly made adjustments to scoop crabs without bouncing the line. It took about 4 hours, but we eventually packed 5 dozen keepers into the basket. It was a great day that led to a great evening enjoying the bounty of the Bay.
Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing
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