[snoozer]

Woolf
The stream varies a lot here in Marathon. Some days its close (five miles) and some it is as much as 45 miles offshore. The reef is always five miles off.

The stream has not been within 17 miles for months. When it comes in to the reef, offshore becomes a magical place. Right now it looks like a series of fronts are marching through, and the water is pretty stired up. Usually you can see bottom and everything growing there in 15-20 feet.

On the first soak the twenty pots produced five pounds of crab claws. There are new studies coming out all the time on these crabs. I do not know where Blue quoted from but the latest I've seen on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission website says a crab can replace its claws in one molt cycle, probably a year, no longer than three. I have not seen any indications that they have a problem feeding themselves. The commercial fleet takes both claws, and so do I. You CANNOT take any from a female bearing eggs. The season runs from Oct. to May. The crabs molt in the summer, and the pots are brought in. The small wood piece in each trap is called a chew out panel, if the trap is lost (like from cutters on boat shafts) the crabs can chew through the wood and escape. Ghost traps are a major problem that everyone is looking for an answer to.

I'll try to post some pictures of the process, there are a lot of other stuff in the traps too. But no stingrays.