Laninga's Travel Blog

Our friend Jack Napoles invited me to go along crabbing with his neighbor Phil. Crabbing would be in Charleston, right by Coos Bay, Oregon. Now Romola and I love crab, so this invitation was gratefully accepted.

First we bought several pounds of chicken quarters, which we used as bait. The chicken was put in the crab pots and in the boat. We then launched the boat and dropped the first of 9 pots. After 4 pots, we moved across the bay and dropped the remaining 5.

After a wait of around an hour, we pulled up the first pot. It was full of crab! At least 4 were legal size and went into the holding bin. This process was repeated until each pot had been dropped twice. We ended up with our limit of 36 good sized Dungeness crabs, plus many Red Rock crabs (Red Rock crabs are an invasive species, quite aggressive, are red in color and have a large claw considered extra tasty. Something like the Florida Rock Crabs….).

The next step was to clean the crab. In the store, you always find them whole, but it is much easier to do a simple clean and throw away the crab shell that would be thrown away anyway. Phil used a special device, like an upside down knife, to break the crab, save the edible parts, and throw away the rest. Later, at home, he brought a large pot of river water to boil and cooked the crab. Jack and Sylvia put up a table on their deck next to the river of their most beautiful house and we devoured several crabs each. Most delicious!