The 2025-2026 recreational season opened November 1 along sections of the central California coast, and we have seen excellent shore-based action across the Bay Area, Pacifica, and Half Moon Bay. Crabs are running good size with solid meat fill, and squid is a favorite bait among local anglers catching crabs on moving tides.

At Durasnare, we run 3-hour guided snaring sessions at prime jetties, piers, beaches, and spots in the San Francisco Bay with views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Even beginners pick up the techniques fast for baiting, casting, and reading the water. Guests have reached limits of crab, including three first-timers from Singapore who had no experience and still pulled in 30 red rock crabs on their trip.

The key to consistent success is solid bait setup: make sure your squid (or whatever bait) is pushed all the way in and firmly locked inside the snare cage so it stays put on the cast and during the soak. Crabs tend to grab and hang on tight once they commit, but loose bait comes off easy and wastes your time. A properly loaded snare is what turns slow days into limits.

We offer full catch, clean, and cook experiences where you pull your own crabs straight from the water using our handmade Durasnare snares, clean them on site, and eat them fresh minutes later. We make the snares in 8oz, 10oz, and 12oz weights because different surf and current conditions call for different sink rates. For a lot of first-timers it is pure magic: that moment when the rod loads up, you reel in a snare full of crabs, and then sit down to crack and eat what you just caught yourself, ocean breeze, Golden Gate in the background. It is the kind of hands-on coastal day people remember forever. We also run combo trips that add poke poling for monkeyface eels and rockfish so you go home with even more fresh seafood.