Equipment for fishing on foot
You don't need much equipment, just the essentials. A tide ruler to respect the mesh size of the species picked. A net to hold your catch. A scraper for shellfish and a pair of gloves for crabs. Of course, don't forget your kayak and lifejacket, and a snack for a good time with friends. On the first day, it's 110°, so I go out with a friend who's back on the water after a cruciate ligament injury. We take the opportunity to do a little fishing before the foreshore is uncovered. We catch a few sea bass and mackerel. As the tide comes in at around 1.00 pm, we have a snack before we start picking.
Dungeness crab harvesting
Today's targets are mainly Dungeness crabs. It's the right season on the Breton foreshore, as males and females gather to prepare for the breeding season later in the autumn. Their reproduction is a little unusual. The mature female stops feeding. The male stands by her and waits for her to molt, and when she's ready to molt, he climbs on top of her. Once she's molted, she's receptive and it's then that copulation takes place, often at night and lasting several hours.
For us pickers, this means we can choose the prettiest male specimens - there are often around 5 males to 1 female. The females remain on the foreshore, which is important if we want this resource to continue to exist. I also took the opportunity to give a Dungeness crab training course to a colleague who wasn't too familiar with the habits of this species.
Clams and abalone
On the second day, I'm on the water with one of my sons and another colleague. No rods today, we'll just be fishing on foot. On the program: Dungeness crabs, curlers, abalone and large clams. We usually start with clams, as the foreshore is just beginning to open up. Half an hour later, we've got around 50 beautiful clams to serve as the evening aperitif, baked with a delicious snail butter! We have a snack before going on to the crabs and abalone.
The abalone harvest is open again from September 1st, with the mesh still at 90 mm and a quota of 20 per person, more than enough to enjoy. We'll be keeping a dozen or so, but of good size, between 95 and 120 mm for the biggest. We're also picking up a dozen or so large male sleepers, which will be eaten the same evening by the family, after the clams.
Harvesting prawns
On the third day, I devote the 107 coefficient to prawns, which is also a good time of year. As the shrimp have finished laying their eggs, we find very few prawns. In one hour, I picked up 500 grams of pretty bouquets, also a delicacy. We also found quite a few scallops, the largest measuring 15 cm, which we of course left in place. Harvesting of this species is only authorized on the first of next month, so we'll be back...
