So, I will be on a scouting trip for the Canal opener tomorrow.

In the Winter blackmouth I often troll along the bottom and hit 50ft lines in like 85ft water.

Just a heads up! Try 100ft of line at least for the depth. And weight your pots to keep them from moving after the tide change.

For those who may not have gotten the full message the opener on 16 June is limited to Marine Areas 4 (Neah Bay), 5 (Sekiu), 12 (Hood Canal), and that portion of MA 9 (Admiralty Inlet) north of the Hood Canal Bridge to a line connecting Foulweather Bluff to Olele Point. MA 13 (south Puget Sound) opened 2 June.

For those going out be safe and be legal; "they" will be out there watching. The most common violation in 2015 was not immediately reducing catch and recording retained crab with a distant second being undersized (measure across the carapace immediately forward of the points).

I'm okay, was checked for Springer season on the Colombia before. Came up to the Canal and was checked on the first day of shrimping.

I'm okay with enforcement checking me. I just drag the pots and lines to the nearest beach. I call the owner if the buoy is not to squished.

Not intending to be glib but you're not the crabber of concern (where's that smiley face when I need it?). Lots of first timers out there (30% of P.S. crab endorsements each year) who need to be reminded of seasons and regs - and particularly those four most common violations as reported by WDFW LE (as percentage of 3,659 contacts in 2015): catch record cards to include not immediately recording (17.2%), undersized (7.0%), exceeding daily limit (2.6%) and possessing female crab (1.2%).

It is also important to point out that LE contacts are NOT random so the percentages above do not represent violation rates for the entire crabber population.

those are good reminders Larry B... when the game department is out in their boats they are watching thru binoculars and they will give you a ticket if you put a pot back in the water before you mark a card... I've seen it over and over out at Ft Flagler...

I will also add that if everyone aboard is wearing a life jacket and your boat is licensed properly, it will also reduce the risk of getting stopped and inspected.

I invested in auto-inflating pfd's for my boat and will require everyone to wear them on board this year...

I've been seeing a good number of big males lately humped up on females while out fishing.
Last year was good. Hopefully this year will be the same.
SF

Any Hood Canal crab reports? I'm going out next weekend and hope it is worth the time? When will the Tribes start to crab?

I did the lower Canal, near Union. Lots of females and under size, no keepers for me. Tried the 45, 60, and 90ft depths. Waiting for the tide to come in this evening this evening to try it again.

Trout guts and chicken were about equal in so far as bait.

I heard, on the vhf, some guys up North doing better. Good luck!