Now we know it’s summer right?! When WDFW Announces the summer crab regulations for Puget Sound, it’s like “Game on!”
Dropping crab pots and fishing for salmon in Puget Sound is an annual event, heritage and pastime that many of us have built fond memories participating in.
This blog post breaks down all the specifics, provides links to helpful resources and adds some additional insight and ideas for your crabby summer plans!
We will break down the specifics by each Marine Area below.
Marine Area 4 (east of Bonilla-Tatoosh line), 5 and 6
Open July 1 through Sept. 2, Thursdays through Mondays only.
I’ve really only found consistent success in Marine Area 6. Port Angeles Harbor and the Dungeness, and Sequim Bay area have all produced for me. It gets more challenging after the first weeks though as these places get hit pretty hard and new crab have to come into the area to replenish what’s harvested.
Marine Area 8-1, 8-2 and 9
Open July 1 through Sept. 2, Thursdays through Mondays only.
I’ve only done limited crabbing in these areas, but they are consistently the best places to target dungeness crab in Puget Sound due to their proximity to large freshwater influxes. Appletree cove, Edmunds, Mission Bar and all over Port Susan can produce.
The Skagit River puts out 80% of the freshwater that dumps into the Puget Sound. All the areas around where the Skagit and the Snohomish River systems dump into Puget Sound will be highly productive crabbing areas.
Marine Area 7 – South (San Juan Islands/Bellingham)
Open July 18 through Sept. 30, Thursdays through Mondays only.
This crab season usually opens behind the others due to concerns of soft shell crab.
Marine Area 7 – North (Gulf of Georgia)
Open Aug. 15 through Sept. 30, Thursdays through Mondays only.
The San Juan Islands are juxtaposed between major river systems in both Washington and British Columbia that create some of the best crabbing anywhere.
The latest opening is due to concerns about soft shell crab, but also one of the later available crabbing summer seasons.
Marine Area 10 (Seattle / Bremerton)
Open July 1 through Aug 26, Sundays and Mondays only.
Marine Area 10 is much closer to me and one of my favorite places to crab. Dropping pots before going salmon fishing is especially convenient. The pic in the top of this blog post was from 2023 when my buddy and I limited on both coho and crab in less than an hour in MA10 early in the season. It can happen!
Of course, the problem that creates is what to do with the rest of the day when you get back to the dock by 7 am?
Marine Area 11 (Tacoma / Vashon)
Open July 1 through Aug. 26, Sundays and Mondays only.
You will tend to get much more red rock crab in this area, but you can find plentiful Dungeness crab if you target areas further north.
Marine Area 12 / Hood Canal – north of a line projected true east from Ayock Point
Open July 1 through Sept. 2, Thursdays through Mondays only.
Hood Canal is one of my favorite places to harvest shellfish. Crabbing here can be absolutely excellent! Incredible scenery and fewer people make the whole experience oftentimes better than other parts of Puget Sound.
Puget Sound Areas Remaining Closed in 2024
The following areas will remain closed this season to protect weak Dungeness crab populations:
Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal) south of a line projected true east from Ayock Point: Closed until further notice.
Marine Area 13 (South Puget Sound): Closed until further notice.
Opening tides for the Puget Sound Crabbing Season in 2024
Note: There will be slight adjustments to these tides depending on where around Puget Sound you are launching.
Both Monday, July 1st and Thursday, July 4th have some minus tides that can throw people off if they’re not prepared for them. There are plenty of launches that don’t function very well within 2 hours on either side of a minus tide.
And most launches don’t work very well at -2.8 ft low tide that’s expected on July 4th.
Additionally, the greater the tide swings the greater the tidal currents will be. These high currents will both make your crabbing less effective but also have the potential to carry your pots away if they are not properly weighted.
All of these factors should be considered when planning your initial crabbing trip.
Let’s look at Monday, July 1st for example: You shouldn’t launch inside of 1.5 hours on either side of the -.4 ft low tide expected at 8:04 am at Shilshole Bay.
That means, if you launch at 5 am (which is fine), you should expect to be off the water by 6 am, OR staying on the water until closer to 10 am. It’s really that simple…
Now, the other tidal dynamic is that of understanding currents. You want the least current / water movement for the best crabbing.
So again, let’s start with Monday’s low tide of -.4 ft at 8:04 am which goes up to a 9 ft high tide at 3:33 pm:
The total water movement is 9.4 ft ( 9 – -.4, two negatives make a positive). The total time difference is 7 hours and 29 minutes (time between 8:04 am and 3:33 pm.
Convert the time delta of 7 hours and 29 minutes to minutes (7* 60 + 29) you get 449 minutes.
Divide 9.4 ft by 449, and multiply by 60 to convert back to hours and you get 1 ft 4 inches of average water movement each hour. Note: actual water movement is much higher because peak water movement will be between high and low tide (max ebb).
Now compare those numbers to the evening tide movement on the same day and the average tide movement is less than 1 ft per hour.
The point is, for the best crabbing, I would be launching in the late afternoon/evening on the Monday opener, crabbing that tide and getting off the water before dark with my limits of tasty crab in time for an evening crab boil dinner!
Helpful information on How-To Crab in Puget Sound in 2024
Here’s our how-to crab Puget Sound dedicated page, if you prefer the blog format for your information.
But, also checkout our video of the same material and subscribe to our active and growing YouTube channel below: