# Pier Report: Romancoke & Matapeake 06/11-12



## Windrift00 (Jun 4, 2011)

Went out to Romancoke Saturday night about 730pm. Pier wasn't too crowded so me and my 5 buddies set up and got down to work. A lot of families were there crabbing, I thought nothing of it at the time, foolish me. 

Bait of the night, Grass Shrimp, Peeler, Stink Fish, Blood worms, minnow, shrimp and cut bait. Heck, I even had some artificial lures out, wounded minnows and bloody minnows. Nothing, zilch, nada, a skunk sort of night. Oddly enough what was biting were the crabs. Pulled in over a dozen crabs on our fishing lines, crabs were swimming 5 feet from us on top of the water. The crabbing was so good, I think I'm headed there this weekend to crab some (My friend who was supposed to bring the traps and nets forgot them...)

After Romancoke we headed to Matapeake at midnight, thinking things might be a little different. Nope same story. Except here at least we got bites and pulled in too tiny striper (5 inches). A dozen horseshoe crabs were caught however. I personally think it was the same crab going for a joyride on people's lines. Same story, same bait, this time I even tossed out some glowsticks to attract things to my bait. It attracted something alright, kept stripping my damn hooks! 

3am, we head to Kent Narrows, figured might as well go 3 and 0. After snagging 2 or 3 lines, I gave up and sat back and watched the guys get skunked. All in all a disappointing trip, but fun with my boys and AMAZING weather. Guess I need to find a new shore spot to try next time. Oh well, I'll let you know how the crabbing goes next time, so many crabs I can't help but catch a couple dozen!


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## odagled2004 (May 20, 2010)

Thanks for the detailed report.


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## SureFireSurf (Jul 6, 2010)

How high is Romancoke pier? I have a crab net that is 6ft or so. Would I be able to reach with that?


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

SureFireSurf said:


> How high is Romancoke pier? I have a crab net that is 6ft or so. Would I be able to reach with that?


Easily. The water is really shallow there.


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## Windrift00 (Jun 4, 2011)

SureFireSurf said:


> How high is Romancoke pier? I have a crab net that is 6ft or so. Would I be able to reach with that?


Yep. I'm attempting to make an extendable one this week so I can go a little further out, but 6 feet should be enough.


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## SureFireSurf (Jul 6, 2010)

Cool, thanks for the info. Ive been driving past the seafood truck everyday home from work and have been thinking its well past time for some crabs.


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## Green Cart (May 14, 2002)

sand flea said:


> Easily. The water is really shallow there.


The question is how high the pier is above the water (SMILE). The water could be 2 feet deep with the pier 20 feet above. But yes, you should be able to use the 6 ft net as the pier is very close to the water.


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## Big Rad (May 19, 2003)

As I crab this pier quite often I would suggest a longer net. 8 foot minimum would be my suggestion. I'm 6'6" tall and the standard net makes the crabs a bit of a reach for me. Typically you want to come underneath the crab when netting, as they release they swim down and away. I used to have some pictures here of my crabbing at Romancoke........Great times to be had.


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

Many times when dipping doublers the bottom crab is a softy. Dipping crabs can be as much fun a fishing. Good luck.


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## thaimonkee (Oct 2, 2010)

i thought it was illegal to crab at night.???


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## Windrift00 (Jun 4, 2011)

thaimonkee said:


> i thought it was illegal to crab at night.???



Not on Piers. At least that's what the manual I got says.


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## justafluke (Apr 12, 2011)

Thinking about going crabbing this weekend. Any updates at Romancoke or Matapeake pier?


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## Windrift00 (Jun 4, 2011)

justafluke said:


> Thinking about going crabbing this weekend. Any updates at Romancoke or Matapeake pier?


Last I heard crabs are still running down there. I'm considering going down this weekend, but my homies still wanna fish so maybe not if the catch is so sad.


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## Fissy (May 13, 2011)

I went (Romancoke Pier) a few times within the past week and the crabs are running well, but be prepared. Most of the crabs that I saw were LARGE (as in 6" +). I used good ol' chicken necks and string. The crabs tended to surface further out and frequently let go (but they would come back to do it again and again). The ones that did come in close enough to net sometimes crawled back out of the net because they were so large. I've been crabbing my whole life so I know a thing or two about how to catch crabs but I was so frustrated after my first trip that I gave in and bought an extension fish landing net (for the wider rim) and just tied a not halfway down the length of the netting. That seemed to do the trick. I measured a couple that I caught and they measured 6.5'' and 6 5/8''. I did catch a few large females too that hurt to throw back. I lost a monster crab when he crawled out of my smaller net before I could get him over the pier. I plan to exact my revenge soon.


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## Windrift00 (Jun 4, 2011)

Fissy said:


> I went (Romancoke Pier) a few times within the past week and the crabs are running well, but be prepared. Most of the crabs that I saw were LARGE (as in 6" +). I used good ol' chicken necks and string. The crabs tended to surface further out and frequently let go (but they would come back to do it again and again). The ones that did come in close enough to net sometimes crawled back out of the net because they were so large. I've been crabbing my whole life so I know a thing or two about how to catch crabs but I was so frustrated after my first trip that I gave in and bought an extension fish landing net (for the wider rim) and just tied a not halfway down the length of the netting. That seemed to do the trick. I measured a couple that I caught and they measured 6.5'' and 6 5/8''. I did catch a few large females too that hurt to throw back. I lost a monster crab when he crawled out of my smaller net before I could get him over the pier. I plan to exact my revenge soon.


I plan to hit it up Friday night. I have my net and I'm ready for some crabbing action! How wide if your net that you had to get a bigger one? Mine is at least a foot across, is that big enough?


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## Fissy (May 13, 2011)

Windrift00 said:


> I plan to hit it up Friday night. I have my net and I'm ready for some crabbing action! How wide if your net that you had to get a bigger one? Mine is at least a foot across, is that big enough?


Sorry for the late reply. Yes that sized net will work fine. I was just having difficulty myself with trying to pull line with one hand and balance the long (and heavy) extension net with the other. This usually resulted in me getting the crab in the net in a way that allowed them to crawl up and over the edge before I could get the net up. It seems to me like the netting of the crab nets you buy in the stores nowadays is slightly shallower than it used to be. Maybe its my imagination or that I'm getting old and its not as easy for me anymore ;o)


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