Kayak Crabbing Off Deadman's Island


Last Saturday was going to be the first crabbing attempt of 2016 but the morning was off to an inauspicious start. Not that any sane person would but if you find yourself pounding frozen salmon carcasses with a framing hammer in your basement, you are probably doing it wrong. Eventually brute force prevailed and I was able to break up the salmon into bait size pieces. We loaded up the gear and headed south to Kopachuck State Park.

After an unfortunately long carry down to the beach (that inspired an immediate purchase of a kayak cart) the pots were loaded with salmon and a healthy dose of razor clam guts for a scent trail. These hijinks caught the attention of our fellow beach goers and Kat ended up in charge of two adopted children and our dog. I happily escaped to the water where the responsibilities were greatly diminished.

The waves were a lot more intimidating out past the sand bar and I pondered if Deadman's Island was so called because of the silly Seattlites in too small kayaks who sometimes washed up there. That lack of focus made me biff the crab pot deployment and I ended up with knots I couldn't master. So it was back to shore for some professional assistance. Kat got me straightened out and things went more smoothly from there. Probably ended up with 20 dungeness crabs over the couple hours before the wind defeated me but they were all undersized. I think my cowardliness prevented me from getting to the deeper water where the keepers were lurking.

Small yellow and red dot just to the left of the island
While the crabbing was a bust this trip we learned that the park was a pretty decent clam and oyster beach so we can carry more gear down the hill next time! We also learned that parents are not very picky about the company their children keep when they can get free childcare: