A Beautiful Day for the Worst Day of Crabbing

Loaded up the Jetta to start the day

I have been waiting for this day for weeks now. The weather forecast called for 77 degrees and sunny. And I planned on taking on the open waters of the Chesapeake Bay. The kayak was loaded up by 8 o'clock with the rest of the gear. It was so nice today even the dog wanted to join me for the trip.

I was on the water by 8:30 am and started my crabbing trip. I turned on the fish finder and it was working as it should. Awesome. Having a fish finder is definitely a game changer. It is really nice to know water depth and temperature. But as I came close to passing the jetties, the fish finder stopped working. So, I turned around and planned to dry dock for a quick trouble shoot. Before I could reach the boat ramp, it started to work again. OK? Maybe it is not a fan of salt water. I don't know. I gave up my attempt to crab the Bay and decided to just stay on the creek where I have had caught some crabs before.

Garmin Echo 150 Fish Finder Install

Why use a fish finder for crabbing? 

Well, the traps I use have a 15 foot line. I want to make sure that I am setting the traps where they would properly deploy. The FF has a depth alarm on it, so it lets me know when I get into waters deeper than the length of the rope on my traps. It also reads water temperature. Having the transducer mounted inside the hull may not give me super accurate readings, but I assume that it should get me close. Do you really want to know why I got this piece of gear? It is for the peace of mind that there aren't any bull sharks, barracudas, or killer snakeheads lurking under my kayak ready to gnaw on my feet.

Update:  This piece of gear has been invaluable out on the water. It has been great to know depth and underwater terrain. So far it has worked like a charm. The transducer set up is holding just fine. I would highly recommend a fish finder as an essential gear for kayak crabbing. May 1, 2012.

Garmin Echo 150 Fish Finder