Sport and commercial anglers are gearing up for an imminent opening of the 2018 Dungeness crab season. The tasty crustaceans will be available Saturday November 3d for sport anglers, and the commercial boats can start on November 15. Rules and regulations regarding Dungeness are pretty much the same as last year, but everyone is advised to re-read the California Department of Fish and Wildlife regulation booklet for details.

In Monterey Bay, most concentrations of Dungeness are found on the flat mud bottoms located in 180-200 feet of water. From Santa Cruz, early season crab is most often taken from those depths in areas to the north of town, off West Cliff or Wilder’s Ranch. Moss Landing crabbers find the crab on the flats either side of the Monterey Submarine Canyon. From Monterey Harbor, the best bet is to head north and set the pots in that same 200-foot depth.

Captain John Thomas from Go Fish Santa Cruz reports, “I’ve got 30 brand-new pots, and our hydraulic puller is all set. I’ll be dropping the pots on Saturday and bringing clients out Sunday to pull them. Once we figure out the best spot, we’ll deploy the rest of our crab traps. We have plenty of open spots on the Miss Beth for the season,”

Once we have some crab come in, we’ll have a better idea of the good spots to target. As the season progresses the crabs tend to move, especially on the north side of the bay. Later season sees good results near the Soquel and Pajaro Holes, which are branching arms of the main Monterey Submarine Canyon. Early season crab are treasured for the firm sweet meat, and it pays to put an early effort in before the commercial boats blanket the bottom with hundreds of crab pots.

Meanwhile, finfish of all varieties are still on the bite. Salmon season north of Pigeon Point is closed new, but there’s plenty of rockfish and lingcod to pursue all along our coast. Good catches of halibut were reported from Four Mile beach area, Capitola and especially near the Pajaro Pipeline. White sea bass, ever mysterious and elusive, remain in the mix with catches reported here and there near Pajaro and just north of Monterey.

Special thanks go to Mike Baxter for covering this column last week. My long-range trip deep into Mexican waters was an astounding success. The Polaris Supreme returned last Sunday with full limits of yellowfin tuna (15 each), and set the season record with 150 wahoo in the 40 to 60-pound class. My freezer is full, and my arms are still sore.