One recent Saturday, after dropping my son off for a chess tournament, I had a whole day free in San Francisco, unencumbered by responsibilities. I decided to drive to the ocean and take a walk in one of my favorite neighbors-Sea Cliff. I drove around, looking for a parking place, and found a nice big free lot above the picturesque China Beach. As I sat in my car eating my yogurt, a truck pulled up and a man began unloading fishing gear-pole, bucket, and then a metal basket. Curious, I opened my door and asked him what he was looking to catch. 'Today is the first day of Dungeness crab season', he replied. He was very welcoming and friendly when I asked him if I could watch him crabbing. As we walked down to the beach, I asked him questions about crabbing and how he had gotten his start. He had been a fisherman with his dad some years in the past and always loved spending time at the beach. So when crabbing caught his interest, it was a natural fit for him.
I spent a wonderful hour gazing at the Golden Gate Bridge covered with fog, watching the swimmers brave the chilly waters of the Pacific, and learning about and watching crabbing. A perfect day.
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| crab trap, filled with squid purchased at a chinese market on Clement street |
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| fishing pole and holder |
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| ready to throw the crab trap in the water (it is mating season and the crabs are all close to shore) |
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| female crab bountiful with thousands of eggs |
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| female crab didn't meet the legal minimum measurement (6 1/4") so she got tossed back into the water |
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| male crab (narrow abdominal flap) |
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| lovely San Francisco beach overlooking the Marin Headlands |
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| a cool, crisp, San Francisco fall day to begin the crabbing season |
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| a couple of other crabbers putting out overnight cages with their boogie boards |
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| these two used a combination of raw chicken and squid in their traps |
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| getting ready to put their traps out |
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| and out it goes... |
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