Crabbing has been lousy in the upper and mid Chesapeake Bay this season. I ve been out twice, my friend has been out 3 times on his boat, and we only caught 2 or 3 crabs each trip. So my friend said to me let's go down to the Choptank and try. Its a 65 mile one way trip and a bridge toll of 8 .00. I initially didnt feel like going since he had crabbed there earlier this season and got skunked. Also it was gonna be the hottest day to date , 100° and humid. I said sure lets go. Why not, I ve never been on the Choptank and always up for some new experience. We left out at 0330, got there and under way by 0520. Had line layed out by 0545. Perfect start to a nice day. Crabs were slow but were there. We averaged 3 or 4 per run on 1000' line. Im a bit out of practice on dipping, I missed no less then 10 crabs. But they get back on the line and get dipped on the next run . After I evaluated my dipping technique I made some adjustments and didn't miss anymore. The temp was hot but not too bad since we had a nice breeze early on, then around 10am the sun got Really Hot and no breeze . We kept at it since the crabbies were starting to pick up. We finished up with approximately 26-30 crabs, all 6.5" and above. Caught about 8 doublers, and a hand full of undersized. All in all another great day on the water. Im not sure I want to drive that far to crab on a regular basis , but glad I went. Secretary Md has a really nice boat ramp and parking area. The port a pot situation needs improvement to say the least !
We stopped on the way home and bought corn and tomatoes to top of the dinner .
We got back to my friends house and steamed crabs and the corn together as we usually do.
Was Excellent ! I think I was in bed by 830 pm.
Now, if the crabs will just turn on here in my local area, Magothy river , Bodkin river area Id be a happy Crabber. 🦀🦀🦀
#crabbing #Choptankriver #Mdcrabs #trotline
