OK this may be a little bit hard for everyone to access the materials, but if you like crab, it is well worth the effort.

First the octopus needs to be a little bit too curious for his own good, exploring the shoreline at low tide.

Next the eagle needs to have a sharp eye out and catch the octopus while it’s focussed on its favourite molluscs.

Now the octopus and the eagle need to be kind of matched in capability so the octopus has a chance of escape.

Following so far?

Good. This is where the brownies come in. Bake the brownies per the directions on the package. Cool. Cut them up and put them in a Ziploc bag.

Critical to this whole experience is a Haida Watchman with a sharp eye who is paying attention as the eagle flies by with the octopus.

Our Watchman was Morgan at Windy Bay. We got talking about halibut fishing and our lack of success as we walked a beautiful forest trail with 500-year-old trees and dozens of deer. He suggested we use herring or white fish. The red chinook tails we were using are apparently no good. Only for dogfish. And we’ve caught lots of dogfish.

Far and away, the halibut’s favourite food is octopus. Morgan says he has some octopus. Tracey is quite sharply tuned for these opportunities, “We would gladly trade you some fresh brownies for a few bits of octopus!”

And so a deal was struck.

We went to Morgan’s shed and he loaded a few pieces into a grocery bag for us. “How did you catch the octopus?” I asked.

“I didn’t catch him. The eagle did. He dropped it, and I grabbed it.”

We sailed out of Windy Bay and tried a couple of likely spots for halibut on our way into our anchorage for the night. As usual, even with the good bait, no halibut. But it’s a long summer.

Last night as we were in our favourite crabbing cove, I dropped the line that still had a chunk of octopus on the hook down to the sandy bottom. Within moments, I had “nibbles”.
Reeling in slowly, I could see a big Dungeness clamped on to the octopus. He liked octopus so much he wasn’t letting go even as he came to the surface.

Tracey grabbed the net, and we have another one for the pot.

And that is how you catch a crab with Duncan Hines brownie mix.