Crab/Catfish Combo

Urban Outcast Music #38 - Hi Ho - The War and Treaty. 

Another year has past but the caboose is still there and that one dang paddle boarder keeps beating me to the beach for opening morning of the Puget Sound crab season. I thought the beach would eventually fill up with fellow under employed seafood lovers but I was pleasantly surprised by the glassy water and absence of the self powered flotilla. 

With the pots in the water I had a couple hours to paddle around in circles. As usual the herons, eagles and seals were on the hunt and I was inspired to try my own active catching.  

Doesn't look like it should be hard trying to herd a crab in three feet of water using a kayak paddle but after 20 minutes of spinning in circles I had to tip my hat and concede. Next year I'm going to pack the salmon net. Once the tide was out far enough I grabbed the shrimp gun to collect some bait for an important research project - do freshwater catfish appreciate sand shrimp?

The rest of the morning was pretty routine: got three keepers (one of which got a good grip on my leg through the pot, a barge came into the pier dragging pots, and I made it back in time to run the kiddo to daycare. A very successful outing but if you get the chance, do not aim for a 15 foot tidal swing. If the crabs don't have to work so hard against the water you will have better luck and you wont need to drag your kayak through the mud. 

Back at home the crabs were scrubbed and dismembered by my kitchen assistant:

Part 2:

A couple days later I got the opportunity to test if you can use saltwater bait on a freshwater fish. Seemed plausible, if a channel catfish knows a chicken liver is worth eating, a sand shrimp (giant claw removed) must look pretty good.

Success! My first channel catfish had some growing up to do before I get to try replicating some cajun cooking but it was exciting to be on the board. A few more fish nibbled the bait and I had what was probably an even smaller fish drop off as I zipped him through the water. Nothing new, empty cooler and driving home in the dark.

Got in one more crab/catfish combo in August but the fish side of things was a failure. Green Lake has been packed since fishing opened back up in May and I suspect the fish that remain have wised up considerably.

PS - The smoke over Washington finally forced me inside to write up a report but it also has me resorting to a pretty ridiculous daisy chain to preserve my summer harvest. Right now I've got the dehydrator locked in the basement right next the dehumidifier since the house was getting pretty swampy. Can't let the squirrels take more than their share of the prunes!