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We relocated to Petersburg, Alaska from Thorne Bay, Alaska in 1987. The anticipation of enjoying what we’d been told was one of the top commercial fishing communities in the United States only served to enliven our imagination of an abundant fishery that would be surrounding our new home. As mentioned in our Thorne Bay adventure “Got Crab”, we were looking forward to exploring the productive dungeness crab fishing locations that our friend Kim had marked on a nautical chart prior to our departure from Thorne Bay.
The morning after our arrival to Petersburg by Alaska Ferry we began our exploration of this small community full of the heritage and culture of Norwegian immigrants and Alaska Natives located in the heart of southeast Alaska. We were completely captivated by the large network of docks which are part of the Petersburg Harbor. Commercial fishing boats of all sizes were to be found, tied up to the dock, with their crews busily preparing boats and fishing gear for the upcoming commercial fishing season.
We had brought our small aluminum boat with us from Prince of Wales Island and looked forward to our exploration of Petersburg’s local bays in search of Dungeness crab. After obtaining the required launch permit from the Petersburg Harbormaster and obtaining a new tide book from Hammer & Wikan hardware, we launched our skiff and proceeded down Wrangell Narrows, armed with the nautical charts marked with Kim’s secret crabbing spots. We soon located one of the crabbing locations designated on our chart and quickly began baiting and setting the crab pots. Setting crab pots is a task requiring attention to detail as a poorly set crab pot will not fish well. Carefully we threw each pot over the side of our boat and watched closely as each crab pot disappeared from our view into the cold ocean waters of southeast Alaska. After assuring that each pot was properly set, we returned to Petersburg with great confidence that we would harvest many crab the following morning.
We awoke early the next day only to find that the infamous Petersburg fog had developed during the night. Locating our crab pot buoys would be a real Alaskan adventure now. What we didn’t realize when we departed the dock was that the fog was also going to reveal another wonderful crabbing method that we had yet to experience. Slowly we motored to the area where we had set our pots, while trying not to hit a rock or be hit by an oncoming boat in the dense fog. When we had set the crab pots the previous day it was at an 18 ft high tide. We were returning during a minus 3.5 low tide which threw our perspective of the shoreline off as we cautiously searched for our crab pot buoys. Steering towards shore, we noticed the ocean floor as it begin to appear. While we continued looking for our crab pots we began to notice some dungeness crab crawling along the muddy ocean floor, scooting to hide in the bull kelp, as our boat approached them. We eventually found our pots and were rewarded with a large quantity of dungeness crab, most of which were large males with firm shells.
We re-baited the crab pots, eager to return to the dock at Petersburg Harbor and prepare for our crab feast. However, we were immediately distracted by a large crab scurrying along the ocean bottom. Remembering the Alaskan crabbing stories from the skipper on our first crabbing experience, we grabbed our salmon net and began chasing the crab as it tried to distance itself from the shadow of our boat. Powering our small skiff in reverse, we began the chase and soon scooped the large male crab into the boat, flipping the net inside out until the crab landed on the bottom of our boat. Suddenly, we realized our new discovery. Catching Dungeness crab at low tide. We continued to catch a few more crab with our salmon net. Since we already had plenty of fresh crab we decided to return to Petersburg and begin processing our catch for use in some great recipes.
The remainder of our first summer in Petersburg, Alaska we spent exploring additional secret fishing locations that Kim had designated on the nautical chart as well as discovering a few new places to catch crab at low tide. We looked forward to our weekends searching for salmon and halibut fishing areas, visiting Leconte Glacier, shrimping, clam digging and minus tides for netting or digging out of the mud, the delicious Alaska Dungeness crab.
Most bays and coves in southeast Alaska have Dungeness crab, many of which are located around Petersburg, Alaska. When planning your vacation to Petersburg be sure to allow plenty of time to catch some fresh Dungeness crab. Anyone with a valid fishing license can harvest crab recreationally. Seasons and limits vary according to geographic area so be sure to check the Alaska fishing regulations when planning your Alaska holiday. If you don’t want to go through the process of outfitting for crab fishing some of Petersburg’s local charters, lodges, and Yacht Expeditions include crabbing in their adventure packages.
Plan your next vacation to be an Alaska outdoor adventure in Petersburg, Alaska.
*Note! These pictures were taken of visitors from New Hampshire enjoying a day salmon fishing with the folks from PetersburgAlaska.com. The Dungeness crab pictured were caught duing a low tide. This visitor and his family have vacationed in Petersburg several times returning often for new Alaskan adventures. Petersburg has many fine Places to Stay, book one now and you too can enjoy catching crab in Alaska.
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