Commercial crab season hit a historic high point late Tuesday when the Dynamik pulled into the Port of Brookings Harbor with 67,300 pounds of crab.

At $3 per pound, it was the most lucrative single fishing haul any boat has ever recorded at the port – a total of $201,900.

Todd Whaley, 47, who co-owns the 66-foot craft with Bryan Nolte, 37, said there was nothing special about the outing.

 “We were just fishing out with the fleet in our normal, traditional fishing ground,” Whaley said.

But the owners and crew members Kyle, Phil, Frankie and Dylan had to contend with some wild weather to get the job done. The biggest storm of the winter was whipping across the ocean and the South Coast as the Dynamik wrapped up its fishing and traveled home.

 “It was blowing about 40 (knots),” said Whaley. “It was a little bad the last four hours, but I’ve experienced worse before.

“It was honestly very nice weather for two and a half days, and it got crummy the last six hours we fished and the four hours coming in.”

Whaley and Nolte decided to head for port because “we were extremely plugged and had crab on deck that were going to die if we didn’t get in,” Whaley said. “They just die really fast. We didn’t have any more time to fish and still deliver a good product.”

Dean Seavey of Hallmark Fisheries, which purchased the crab, said the bounty filled three refrigerated semi-trailers. Those went to Charleston where the crab will be processed.

Extra jobs that spring up during crab season – Hallmark hired 20 people to help unload boats – coupled with big paydays like the one earned by the Dynamik make the fishery lucrative for many people, he said.

“That’s quite a monetary gain for the town,” Seavey said.

Port of Brookings Harbor Manager Ted Fitzgerald wasn’t surprised that Whaley was part of the operation that pulled such a big treasure from the sea.

“He is one of the best fishermen around here,” Fitzgerald said.

Whaley’s experience includes 25 years of crab fishing and even more for other species such as shrimp and albacore.

He said the tank below deck held 60,000 pounds of crab on the way back to Brookings Harbor while the rest was on deck.

The crew put 920 pots in the water and ran each of them twice, with the first pull coming just after midnight on Jan. 15 when fishing became legal.

Whaley said they will continue fishing for about two weeks and then reassess things. After unloading their catch at 7 p.m. Tuesday, he and the other Dynamik fishermen spent Wednesday in town catching their breath.

They waited out the storm on Thursday, then headed back to sea again Friday.