Limit for shore crabs(Sidewinders)

[MacAttack57]

Re-reading the spaghetti tangled mess of the CDFG rule book, I found the limit for shore crabs, our West Coast equivalent to green crabs or fiddler crabs. Just wanted to share incase anyone is confused and would like a clearer answer.

First, scrolling at the bottom, there is a blanket statement for quite a few intertidal species, including shore crabs.

Going all the way to that section, it reads “
The bag limit on all invertebrates for which the take is authorized and for which there is not a bag limit otherwise established in this article is 35.”

So, how do we catch them? By the regs, the best solution would be by hand. So, wear some nice gardening gloves and channel your inner Bruce Lee, cause these suckers are fast.


So, to summarize:
1) The limit is 35
2) The method of capturing is by hand
3) No size limit, season or special closure

At least that’s what I got. Could be wrong, so if you see something that says otherwise, please comment about it 👍

 

[moonshine]

Every once in awhile, I come across something like this that jogs a childhood memory. Thanks for posting.

 

[Ken Jones]

Good question and I think you are right but I could be wrong. I'll see if DF&W can give us an answer.

 

[jungfisher]

As a sidewinder catcher, that has always been my understanding too. Now the "by hand" thing is a little grey area. From my experience with trying to clear up grey areas with CDFW regarding hunting and fishing, they won't have any more information besides what is written in the regs. If you every got a ticket for doing something in the grey area it would be up to the judge to interpret the intention of the law.

 

[bassfanatick]

I was trying to catch these by holding a piece of fishing line with a piece of squid tied at the end, lure them out from the rocks, they would use their claws to hold onto the squid, slowly lifting them into the air and once they are away from the rock I use the other hand to snatch them, make sure to wear a glove because they pinch

 

[moonshine]

I was trying to catch these by holding a piece of fishing line with a piece of squid tied at the end, lure them out from the rocks, they would use their claws to hold onto the squid, slowly lifting them into the air and once they are away from the rock I use the other hand to snatch them, make sure to wear a glove because they pinch

Yeah, that's the way I'd catch them off the jetty as a kid. I have a distinct memory of riding home in our 1960 Rambler and waking up with a crab we'd caught sitting on my face. I freaked out and my sister played dumb. She's been gone for over 25 years now, but this thread brought back the vivid recollection. Thanks for posting.