Up to May 10th, 2014– This time of year can be considered early season. Some years we have had plenty of good fishing by now, some years the fish haven’t shown yet. This year, is considered early. We’ve had a couple of good trips but overall, pretty slow. Our best day was on April 11th with 6 fish for 7 anglers. Plus we had 6 crabs per angler. The crabbing is another story… This year I’ve seen some of the worst crabbing I have ever experienced. The season started off great (like usual). We got about 4 weeks into the season and they just dissapeared. I think it had something to do with them mating or something. Anyway, after about 4 weeks of poor crabbing, it picked back up. It’s still not as good as a normal bad year, but if I give my pots at least 3 days to soak, we do well. My last several trips we’ve scored from 7 to 9 crabs per angler. Our best score was 157 crabs on April 19th. I’ll post a few pictures of some of the happy anglers we fished with the last couple of weeks. Fish-On!

Capt Randy

April 11th, 2014

May 4th, 2014
Best pot of the day- 17 keepers!!

May 8th, 2014
left; Bart Wade from Yuba City- 13 lbs & Josh Lamora from Chico- 12 lbs

2/25/14–Telstar* went out after crabs today (not like we have much choice, it’s the only thing left open to fish from a boat). Fishing our usual spots up off Ten Mile Beach. We had to work for them a little bit today but final results; Limits of crabs for 8 anglers!! Nice big one too. Ourt best pot was 14 keepers. We released a couple that were soft. That’s not bad. All and all a great day to be on the ocean. Fish-on!

Capt Randy                       Picture from left to right; senior deckhand Josh Schneider, and Tami and Jim Edwards out of Sac. Thanks for all your help! Enjoy

2/13/14– The crabbing appears to be picking up. The last couple of trips we scored limits of crabs without having to run all of our pots. I didn’t have big loads but still. Today we scored limits of nice big crabs for 7 anglers. We averaged just over 3 crabs per pot! On the trip before we had over 4 crabs per pot. We are still fishing up north off Ten Mile Beach.

Picture left to right; Curtis Branch from Clearlake Oaks, senior deckhand Josh Schneider and 2nd mate Andrew Crawford.

12/15/13– Today was the first trip in 2 weeks. It was a good thing. We needed to give the crabs some space. We left the dock at 11:00 or so with 13 anglers looking for some crabs. I went out this morning and set a dozen pots out front in 30 fathoms. I thought we would stop on the way in and see how they look. Well, fortunatley we didn’t need for them to work. Although we didn’t get limits, we ended up with 6 to 7 crabs per angler. Quite a boost from the last trip. Most of the crew today was my wife’s class mates. The ocean was calm and the sun even decided to shine a bit. We stopped on some whales on the way in and got some nice views. I think everybody enjoyed themselves. I know they all worked hard for the crabs we caught. Good job girls!! Final scorfe was 85 crabs out of 20 pots. Fish-On

Capt Randy

The bite is starting to pick up a bit. We ended up with 40 crabs. That beats the last trip. I heard a report on another party boat that he ended up with 6 around for 13 anglers. That’s getting closer to what we’re looking for. I’ll keep you posted! Fish-On

Capt Randy

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. I’ve got a little story to tell you.

I’ve been crabbing here in Fort Bragg for about 12 years or so. I’ve worked hard to produce for my customers. When I say “I”, I mean myself, my crew and all the anglers who pitched in. We’ve shared lots of great times and caught lots of crabs. Over the years, for the Telstar* to come back to the dock with less than 5 crabs per person is a rareity. I would say that on my worst year I had less than half limits no more than a handful of times. I’ve done a lot of learning over the many trips. I’ve always said that one of the things I like about crabbing is that the more effort you put in it, the more you produce. Well, I am here to tell you, that I am dealing with a situation that has me stummped. In the picture above is my son showing off a nice big crab. It measured out at 8 1/4 inches across. We have been getting several crabs of this size on most every trip this year. This picture was taken on Saturday the 23rd of November. That was the last day we had limits. Up to that point I had an average of over 8 crabs per person. The next 3 days took a turn that I never expected. The crab went off the bite. I mean, OFF the bite. I went from limits of crabs to 2 1/2 to 2 to 1 crab per person. And that 1 crab per person was worked hard for. I put my gopro camera down and did a survey of the bottom from 25 ft to 70 ft. The view was very good. With the exception that I didn’t see many crabs. I don’t know if they were bunkered down in the sand or if they just went somewhere else. Like I say, I am stummped. So I began moving my gear around. I put some as far out as 260 ft of water. So far, I haven’t had enough time to see the results of any of my efforts. But rest assured, we will leave no stone unturned untill we crack the mystery of this delimena. So unitl then, sit back, have another bite of Turkey, and enjoy one of the many great things that life has to offer. Great food, great friends, and great family!! Fish-On!

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Telstar* Charters to all of you!

Capt Randy & family

another successful crab trip aboard the Telstar*.  We scored limits of nice big crabs for 10 anglers. We even got a couple of extras for me!  We fished our usual place up north. We left the dock at 7:15 and returned by 10:30 with over 100 crabs. Fish-On!!

Capt Randy

The Telstar* went out after crab this morning. We left the dock at 7 and returned at 11. We scored 140 crabs for 14 anglers. It took 40 pots to get them. We are still fishing the same place as we have been. I put some test pots out scouting for some better grounds but no luck yet. I’m still looking for the easy street. Although today wasn’t too difficult. The ocean layed down real nice and the winds backed off. More to come;    Fish-On!

Capt Randy

We went out today with the “Grab and Crab” bunch from Gualala. The weather was beautiful. The seas were calm, the sun was shinning, and the winds were calm. Nice just to be out on the ocean. We fished our usual area up north off Ten Mile beach in 100 ft. of water. We ended up with limits of crab for 12 anglers. Nice big ones too. Our best pot was 13 keepers. We’ve only thrown back a couple of crabs becuase they were light, but the rest of them are bulging with meat! Tasty meat too! When we got back to the dock, we weighed a limit and it came out to be just over 2 lbs per crab average. Nice!! Fish-On!!

Capt Randy