Clinton was buzzing Thursday morning as people lined the Port of South Whidbey pier, lines tied to the railing a few paces apart, hoping to catch a crustacean.

Thursday was the season opener for crab in all the marine areas around Whidbey Island, and few places were as busy as the Clinton dock adjacent to the ferry terminal.

Many of the crabbers were there at the 6 a.m. opening with buckets, traps, bait and rods in hand. Millie Zante of Woodinville has visited the Clinton dock for years on opening day and beyond. It’s her go-to crabbing spot, even through the winter catch season. By 7:45 a.m., she had one Dungeness and five red rock crab, a poor haul by her standards compared to years past.

“It’s kind of slow this year,” she said.

A few paces down the dock, 17-year-old Everett resident Kenneth Joven and his family had pulled one Dungeness and a few red rock crab. To make the journey over, they were up at 4:30 a.m., he said, only to arrive to their once-private spot and see it crowded with other crab seekers.

“Normally, around 8 if there’s nobody here, we’d have five or six crabs,” he said.

Three areas offer plenty of options for would-be Whidbey crab catchers. Marine Area 8-1 is said to be the best so far by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Don Velasquez, but is also the farthest from South Whidbey. The area stretches from West Point of North Whidbey down to East Point, between the Baby Island area and Camano Island.

“If I was going to declare a hot spot, I would keep my pot in 8-1,” he said from the Mill Creek office this week. He wouldn’t give the specific average number of retainable crabs from some exploratory fishing forays, but said they were impressive.

“Crabbing, at least based on the test fishing results prior to anyone going in the water before tribal fishing began, I’ve never seen better results in 8-1,” he added.

Marine Areas 8-2 (Port Susan, Saratoga Passage, Port Gardner and south to Possession Point) and 9 (the west side of Whidbey) were on par with past seasons, Velasquez said. The biologist who specializes in crab and shrimp said that the two catchable species — red rock and Dungeness — are pretty much everywhere, unlike shrimp. Throw out a pot, bait it properly and eventually something will creep its way to the pot.

Marine Area 8-2 included Langley and the Port of South Whidbey Harbor dock. Bright yellow lines dangled over the railing with a dozen or so traps cast out from high above on the raised dock during a low tide Thursday morning. Four young men were hanging out awaiting the 9 a.m. opening of the expanded dock where they had set some traps earlier. They were using ring traps and checking them about every 15 minutes or so. After starting bright and early, they had caught one Dungeness and four red rock crab.

They had only one plan for their haul at the end of the day.

“Eat ’em,” said the oldest of the group, 20-year-old Brandon Brown of Langley. “We’re hoping to limit out.”

Added Jordan Bond, “We’re here for this.”

Getting set up with all the necessary gear to catch crab from a dock or boat costs somewhere between $65 and $159 at three South Whidbey stores. At Jim’s Hardware in Clinton, a bundle of a square pot, 100 feet of lead line, harness, bait bag and buoy costs $75.99. The bundled option at Freeland Ace Hardware cost $64.99 and included a square trap, 100 feet of lead line, bait bag and buoy. Sebo’s Do-It Center in Bayview offered the most choices for traps, ranging from a basic square pot for $24.99 to a commercial-type pot for $159. The Sebo’s bundle included a circular pot with a bait cage, 100 feet of lead line and buoy for $105.99. All three have frozen bait and store employees touted the bait pellets. 

Crab can be caught with pots as far out as 400 feet deep and as shallow as 10 feet. The sweet spot, Velasquez said, is between 20 feet and 200 feet deep, with gear limitations factoring into that as well. Throw out more line, and the more line has to be hauled up either by hand or by a line hauler.

“They have a good sense of smell,” he said. “Underwater, they can detect odors in the current and then they follow it. If they’re down current from it, they’ll follow their noses, so to speak.”

People throw all kinds of bait into their pots. By and large, however, it has a distinct funk to its scent that is more akin to putrid than potpourri. Some people use rotten chicken, fish heads and guts, even cat food. Velasquez recommended taking a page out of the professionals’ handbook.

“I just look at what the commercial folks use,” he said. “They typically use some combination of fish and clam or mollusk.”

Rules for the gear can be a bit complicated, but the good news is that three major hardware stores on South Whidbey have it all set up.

“I would stay away from major traffic lanes and places where boats are funneled down, just because it avoids vessels colliding with buoys and lines,” Velasquez said.