Crabbing on Half Moon Bay!

I recently moved from Ontario to northern California and have since been exploring its unique fishing environment. Last evening, I was invited to go "crabbing with a couple of co-workers. For those of you who have never been crabbing before “ you are missing out! It can be a lot of fun to head outdoors with a couple of friends and embark on a journey to catch crab on the Coast. We got our gear in order shortly after sunset in Half Moon Bay which included the following items: - Shakespeare Alpha Bigwater rods - 80 Lb. test line - Proprietary custom bait cages - Package of frozen calamari to use as bait - A Duraflame outdoor log to create some ambiance and lighting - Pocket knife and cutters - Nylon strap head lights - Glow sticks - Bucket to hold our catches Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County in northern California. The temperature in January ranges from 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 27 degrees Celsius) during the day and typically drops to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) in the evening. The commercial Dungeoness crab catching season runs from November through June. During this time it is common to find locals fishing at Half Moon Bay as we were last evening. We made our way up on some high rocks and set ourselves up where there were several flat rocks. We built a fire using a Duraflame in between some rocks to create some lighting. We used one flat rock to cut up the calamari bait and place them into the bait cages. A bait cage can be made from chicken wire, attaching snares and a latch to open and close the cage. Creating your own snares can work in your favor if you use a good line. Store-bought snares can sometimes be too loose which can result in losing a crab as you reel it in. Finally, we attached some glow sticks to the cages so that the crabs could see the bait and so that we could monitor the location of the cages in the water at night. After we made our casts we would place the rods in between some large rocks to keep them upright. We then waited several minutes before attempting to reel the bait cages back in. If you wait too long you'll end up reeling in an empty cage because the crabs are quick to eat the bait and move on. Timing is key “ you need to begin reeling and jerk the rod to snare the crab as they hover over the bait cage. It's not uncommon to catch multiple crabs off one cast and bait cage. Many of the rocks were wet and slippery from the waves that would come crashing in toward us. It's a good idea to wear rain gear and boots with good grip when hiking over the rocks. There were occasions when I was close to slipping between rocks and I was thankful that I was not wearing running shoes with weak grip. We ended up catching over a dozen crabs (a mix of Dungeness and Rock crab) which made for a successful evening out. We let some go because they were too small. Our adventure ended close to midnight. Had we stayed longer I am certain we would have filled our bucket as we were pulling in crabs from every other cast.