November to Remember!

Guest post by Omid. Enjoy!!

November is here and well on its way. In the Northwest, this usually means a few things like weather is going from bad to worse or it now rains 5 days out of the week. To some people it could mean stay home, watch TV, play games or plan your upcoming holidays. But to me, it means go CRABBING baby!!!

 

My plan was to get the family together and go for an outing to Hammond, Oregon in November and do a little bit of crabbing.  I knew if I wanted them to also have fun, I better do my homework on a time slot when there is at least a chance of a break in the weather “and” a decent tide. I had been paying close attention to the weather and tide predictions for two weeks and it happened … seven day forecast predicted 20% chance of rain on Saturday Nov 11^th with partly sunny skies, winds calm to 5 mph, and the incoming tide starting early morning to slack high at 10 A.M. It happened to be on a weekend which is all the better.

Here is a fun fact for you. The Dungeness crab is named after Dungeness, Washington, which is located approximately five miles north of Sequim and 15 miles east of Port Angeles. Its range extends from Alaska's Aleutian Islands to Point Conception, California.

 We asked Papa and Grammy to come down on Friday so we can head out early Saturday morning. I have learned to give myself plenty of time when planning these outings. Getting the boat ready, charging the batteries, getting the electronics mounted, loading the crab pots, thawing the bait and packing them in bait nets and bait cooler, getting enough coolers and ice, food and drinks for everyone, loading the truck with the burner, propane and boil pot and NEVER forget the Old Bay seasoning powder.  

 

Grammy and Papa made it down to our house on Friday and we had a couple of our famous 2.5” rib eye steaks plus some shrimp and salad for dinner. The steaks turned out perfect with the sear marks and char on the outside and medium rare inside. Everyone had plenty to eat (and drink) plus Naseem also came after her work shift, visited with grammy and papa and had a few bites too. It is now about 8:30 pm and I start wrapping things up and letting the folks know we need to go to bed soon if we want to have an early start tomorrow. As usual, no one listened and kept on with the festivities and lively discussions.
 

Before the night was over, I emphasized on the need to dress warm for when we go crabbing. Dress in layers, many layers I said. I received the same response back as when I said it’s time to go to bed and a lot of laughter. (We’ll see who is laughing tomorrow!!!)

Saturday 3:30 AM!!!! Erin and I are up and taking care of last minute items. I open the garage door which is a great alarm clock for Papa and a few minutes later, papa and Matty are downstairs all dressed up and ready to go?!?!? Mmmmmh!!! May be I was wrong for suggesting everyone go to bed early!? Boat is hooked up, truck is packed up, making the last round of checks, and I ask once more, did everyone dress warm? Here are the responses I get…. Dad, I’m fine … oh yes I’m fine … I’ve got my 1980’s ski jacket, I’m fine …

First stop and the boat is all gas’d up, it is 4:00 A.M. and with that, we are on our way. Not soon after we get on the highway, Matty is laying down and asleep. The thermometer is reading 37 degrees in Vancouver. We head up to Longview and the thermometer is reading 31 degrees. We want to stop at the Starbucks right before the bridge for some coffee and breakfast but papa is staying put in the car where it is warm. The panini sandwiches and coffee were great and hit the spot.

We crossed the bridge and head up the hill towards Astoria. As we got closer to Clatskanie, Papa reads the thermometer and says, that must not be right?!?! 27 degrees? I said your jacket better work for you. He waits a minute and says “I want to go back home now”. When he realized that it was going to be a long walk for him back home, he elected to stay…

 

6:30 A.M. and we reach the Hammond boat launch with about a dozen other boats. It is cold and there is mist in the air. We get in line, and since my team works very well together, we launch the boat in no time. More and more boats are showing up and you could tell, it was going to be a mad dash to the crabbing grounds. Heading out of the marina and onto the main channel, the sun is starting to peak out of the clouds and the scenery was beautiful.

 

We get to the spot, Matty and Papa bait up the pots, working together like a well oiled machine, and throw them in for the 2 hour soak, mark them on the GPS. We take in more of the morning scenery with the big ships making their way out to the ocean and we make our way back to the docks for some R&R and family time.

Once we get to the docks, the need for getting warmer takes precedence over the R&R and some add on more layers of clothing with hand warmers stuffed in their gloves, some break open the “warming” bottle and some take care of the morning rituals like bathroom breaks (those toilet seats were COLD). I think you can pick them out from the pictures below without naming them …

We had a good time together, watching boats come in and go out, listen to some music, talking about stories, some old, some new and enjoyed being with each other and anxiously awaiting the crab pot soak time to be over.

9:00 A.M. rolls around and we decide to check the pots to see how they are doing. We head out of the marina again and make it to the 1^st GPS location. Matty snares the line like a pro and starts to pull it in. (I know he was thinking about the Swamp People show)

First crab pot is in and papa and Matty are sorting through and keeping the legal crabs. Once all sorted, Matty closes the pot for a second soak and we make our way to the next pot. Matty snares the next pot, pulls it in and throws the ready pot overboard. Erin driving the boat and me … well, just sitting on my hand … Like a well oiled machine I tell you…

 

The quality of the crabs is excellent with hard shells and mostly male and bigger than 6.5” size. We are all excited about the catch that we forget to count them as we are putting them in the ice cooler. After a couple rounds of counting, our 1^st soak yield 19 crabs. Life is good and we are heading back to the docks for some more R&R if you know what I mean …

 

The next two hours go by quicker than the first and the 2^nd soak and the total tally for us were 43 crabs. We decide to call it a day and were out of the water by noon. We make it to the other side of the park with a pretty view of the river, take all the cooking utensils out and proceed with the boil. The nice sunny weather but still chilly makes everyone huddle around the fire …

 

 

With the crabs all cooked, and the camp site cleaned, we load up and head back home. We arrive home at 4:15 P.M. and my good crew are at it again. Everything cleaned, washed and put away in 2.5

hours and we are enjoying Erin’s best crab cakes in world in front of the TV.

What a great day to be together with the family and enjoy what our local fisheries have to offer. These are the times that define the unity of the family and etch the memories in our lifetime.

Guest Post by Omid!

After this piece, I may as well hang up my blogging hat. Omid takes the cake on this one! Enjoy!

Well… I thought I was done with Astoria fishing for the year, but knowing we had one last sunny weekend in the forecast and that the commercial nets would be going up on Monday, I decided to take the family out for a little fishing and crabbing excursion.It took an act of congress to have all the participants agree to go and by Saturday night, it was final. We were all going.

Sunday 6:00 am – everyone is up in the car, the coolers are filled with food, drinks and ice, fishing rods and tackle ready in the boat, car and boat gassed up, we head towards Astoria. Passing Clatskanie, we stop to take a photo for Erin’s blog. She got a kick out of it. It was a chilly 37 degrees out there.

We get to the ramp and it is pretty quiet. No lines, no hustle and bustle. The weather is nice and sunny, we launch and head over to drop off our crab pots. The bait choice on the menu were, turkey legs and Tilapia. There must have been 50 other pots out and my prime choice spot was taken. So we scooted further down and managed to drop off a strip of pots in a semi secluded area.

We headed up to the main river and started to troll for some Salmon action. The swells where big and the waves were pretty close together which made it an interesting ride for Erin and Remy. We only used hardware for our trolling and that included my $13 Swarovski spinner and a regular red and white spinner. Other than the swells and the waves, it was pretty uneventful for the first half of the morning and everyone was busy doing their thing. Erin checking her Facebook on her cell phone, Naseem being pissed off at the sun and the moon and the sky (not to mention at Erin and I), and Mateen playing with Remy. 1 hour into the troll and Erin says, “I think I’m getting sea sick”… Well… all that looking down on a choppy water had gotten to her. I told her to not look down any more and get some fresh air. That’s when I decided we should head for some calmer waters and motored on to above the bridge.

We were back at it again. We were on the Washington side and had miles of water to ourselves. We made our first pass to the shallows and turned south in search of some deeper waters. It was all quiet and the calm waters and nice sunny weather had everyone pretty much back onto what they were doing before. Remy catching flies, Mateen training him, Naseem being the music DJ, Erin trying to find a signal for her cell phone and me just enjoying being on the water. That’s when Naseem started pointing to one of the rods and kept yelling, “THE THINGEE, THE THINGEE …” so I jumped out of my seat, lost my shoe in the process and grabbed the THINGEE. WOOHOO… FISH ON. Mateen with the net at hand and I’m fighting the fish with Naseem rocking out and Erin …. Yes. Still trying to find a signal on her phone. Mateen nets the fish like a pro and we bring it in (my $13 spinner had done it again). It is a wild Coho and must be returned. By now Remy is very curious and wants a piece of the action as well (more like a bite out of the fish). We release the fish unharmed and start to gather our gear to troll again. OH LOOK… Where are all these boats from?? 3 or 4 boats had seen us and had scooted close to us during our Chinese fire dance.

Back at it again. Still heading south and away from those other boats. 15 minutes into the troll, BAMM. The same pole goes off and again I pick it up and stand on the engine cover to reel it in. As it is getting closer, I yell, WOW … I see another Coho trying to hit the “actually” same spinner while the fish is hooked!! That would have definitely made me a believer with the $13 spinners, but the hooked fish surfaced and the other one just gave up. Mateen nets the fish and it is a legal Coho, grabs the whacker and knocks the fish out while Remy is HOWLING like his legs are broken. The other rod is still in the water, so I get on the kicker to start trolling again and again BAMM. FISH ON. We bring the other on in as well and we have 2 fish on the floor with Erin and Naseem trying to keep Remy back and he is HOWLING non-stop…. Even if I was trying to be discrete with bringing in the fish as to not attract any other boats, REMY’s loudmouth was definitely announcing something to the world.

It is 11:00 AM and we decide to change our heading and started to troll towards the bridge. A few minutes go by and the pole with the $13 spinner is dancing again!! I reach over to grab it and nothing. !?!?! It was a good looking action but apparently was a drive or a fluke because as you remember, my $13 spinner has proven itself. We kept trolling until noon and said goodbye to the Astoria bridge for the year.

We start heading towards the crab pots and had to once again ride the swells and waves back to where we started from. Erin and Rey were holding each other pretty closely. We arrive and with a lot of anticipation, Mateen grabs the first string and I get to pull it up. WOOHOOO … We have crabs … We start to measure them and even Remy got in on the act.

There were tons of crab. Most all measuring right at 6 inches, but to be on the safe side, we threw those back. In on pot, we must have had about 25 crabs and 90% of them were females, which will need to be released as well. A couple of small ones and Mateen really wanted to take a picture with one. All in all, it was a pretty exciting time for all the family to feel like they are part of the “Deadliest Catch” story line.

This guy even had what looked to be like a popsicle stick in his mouth when we caught him.

On the way back, we were greeted by the gang of pelicans and seagulls, all were eager to see if we had any food for them.

We made it back home in time to wash the boat, clean the fish, cook the crabs, deliver some to our good friends and for the kids to take showers, all before 6 PM. We had a fantastic time with the whole family together, caught fish and crabs and the weather could not have been any better. What else could one ask for? It will definitely be a day we’ll remember for a long time especially with the rainy season just upon us.