Mouth of the Eel - 11/2/24

Search the site for "Midnight Crab" and you'll have lots of fun reading and pix about what is a super awesome tradition in my life and a strong part of my Seasonal Rounds.

Yesterday I worked at Shelter Cove all day - 10AM to 10PM, painting an interior.  The rain was coming in sideways all day, and I didn't hold out a lot of hope for the conditions or for having the energy to fulfill the Midnight Opener this year.  But once I got home at 1130 the front had passed, the stars were out, and there was no question about it - I was all in!

I headed for Crab Park, which is right at the mouth of the Eel and only a few miles from my home.  I've been going down there since I was a kid in the 70's, and I've been crabbing there since the 80's when my buddies turned me on to it.

There was no one there - perfect!  With no moon, a few glow sticks allowed me to locate my buoys.  I ran two rings with freezer bait like herring and clam parts.  Lots of little crabs, as usual, and I managed to pull two keepers right before the tide slacked out.  I knew the bite was about to get better as the flooding current mellowed, but two was enough, and it was 2AM after a 12 hour work day.

This might have been the first time I've crabbed the Midnight Run on my SUP - it was a piece of cake, with the ideal conditions.

Steamed them in the kitchen - also maybe a first for the opener, and I was in the hot tub at 3AM - early for a Midnight Opener!

Go get em!  And be sure to turn the dial up to Maximum Adventure.   

Thanks for the report and pictures Eric.  I miss crabbing at midnight on opening day.

Super job! Holy Mackerel, so cool you’ve maintained the tradition, even after a 12 hour day and all that driving. 

Tasty tradition!  Glad you caught.  That's tradition follow through fo shuah'.  No dark thirty adventures for me in this, or the foreseeable, future...

Sorry, where is the Mouth of the Eel?
Tried search google map, but unable.

Btw, you are man using sup got limit so fast

Sorry, where is the Mouth of the Eel?
Tried search google map, but unable.

Btw, you are man using sup got limit so fast

Well, I only got two, but thanks!   

The mouth of the Eel River is just west of my home in Loleta, California.  Humboldt County - about a hundred miles south of the Oregon border.  Google "Eel River".

Tasty tradition!  Glad you caught.  That's tradition follow through fo shuah'.  No dark thirty adventures for me in this, or the foreseeable, future...

I enjoy eating crab, but the adventure is more nourishing for me.   

Super job! Holy Mackerel, so cool you’ve maintained the tradition, even after a 12 hour day and all that driving. 

Rollercoaster lately!   

Thanks for the report and pictures Eric.  I miss crabbing at midnight on opening day.

You are invited for next year, my friend.   

I want in on next year too! 

I want in on next year too! 

Get in line my friend 

I want in on next year too! 

Get in line my friend 

Okay! Me too!!!!

I want in on next year too! 

Get in line my friend 

Okay! Me too!!!!

We've got a roster forming!   

I've gotta warn you guys - staying up to crab until 2 to 3AM, then unloading some gear, steaming crab, icing it and then hitting the hot tub is way harder than it used to be!   

I am envisioning a more ceremonial Midnight Run, where we do it, but we call it early and get some shut-eye, and then we can try to fill limits the next day whilst sitting in lawn chairs, steaming the catch on the beach.  With how climate change is going, Humboldt on the first Saturday in November has been pretty balmy the past few years...

I guess we've got almost a year to count down on this plan.