It was another day on the big Columbia out of Hammond, Oregon, chasing down Dungeness crab. We kicked things off around 8 a.m., dropping eight pots for a good soak. After a couple hours, we pulled the first round—only to be met with a little disappointment. Plenty of crab in the pots, but most of them were on the smaller side, and the keepers were few and far between. By the time all eight pots were checked, we had just 18 keepers in the box.

So we made a move.

We relocated, reset all eight pots, and gave them another solid soak. About an hour later, we started pulling—and this time the pots were loaded the way we like to see them. Keeper after keeper came over the rail, and before long we had full limits for everyone, plus a few bonus crab for the captain.

By the time we wrapped up, we had 51 keeper Dungeness on the boat and pointed the bow back toward the dock to get the boil going.

Another successful day on the water, another pile of crab, and plenty of happy people headed home.