new shrimp pots

[starcrafttom]

I forgot that I bought new shrimp pots at the boat show and only ran into them yesterday


These pots fold up and lay flat.


But they are very light and need lead added. I have a bunch of lead filled cooper pipes for ling jigs


So I dusted them off and rigged them with extra weight.



So It came to 12 lbs of lead in the pot. that seemed to hold very well today at iceberg but there was very little tide and no wind. I hope to save a lot of room using two of these and two crab pots of the same design this summer. I also hope to find or make some storage bags to put them in when folded so the netting does not snag on everything in the hold when stored.

[Will-C]

Tom,
What do you use for bait and how deep is the water where you usually drop the pots? I guess you use a pot puller of some type. Are the crab traps and shrimp traps vastly different?
Dave

[Discovery]

Tom,

We have two each of the Ladner prawn and Ladner crab traps. Limited success with either trap when we used them last (2006). Maybe the extra weight is the key. We had problems with the current moving them. We are taking them with us to the Broughtons. Leaving next Monday. Can't wait. How do you bait the traps?

Brent

[Grumpy]

Tom,
We have a similar model folding crab trap that we use when travelling and a round shrimp trap that also folds but with a different system.
I just add a 12lb downrigger ball as extra weight since we have them on board anyway.

Need to check the mesh sizes carefully as some of the Canadian models may not be legal for US Spot shrimp. Have to make the little boogers swim over the dotted line so you can catch 'em.

Brent. Hope to see you with the other "suspects" up in the Broughtons, we are leaving a bit later but expect to meet up for a slice of Pierre's Pig.

M & K

[Discovery]

Grumpy,

We leave Utah on Monday. Get bottom paint 6/1 thru 6/6 at the factory, then launch and start north from the Bellingham area. We will make the Pig Roast and meet the group on 6/24 at Echo Bay.

I also have downrigger weights on board. Good idea.

Bren

[starcrafttom]

The crab and shrimp pot frames are the same its the mesh size and doors that are different.

the key to shrimp is weight in the pot and weight on your line between the pot and the buoy. if you pot is bouncing around they will not go in. took me a while to figure this out but once i did I stated getting limits.

I showed how I wired in weight to the pot, but I also use a halibut clip with 1 to 3 lbs of lead clipped into the line 10 to 20 feet above the trap. This keeps the buoy from bouncing the pot on the bottom and scaring the shrimp. I don't think just clipping in a downrigger weight is a good idea. if you put it on the end of the pot the rope can still shake the pot. if you put it above the pot, like I do the line weight, then the current can still shake the pot. I do believe that weight in the pot plus a line weight is really the way to go. yesterday was the first day with this pot with the weight and in one hour that pot has about 60 in it. just as much as the large square pots that Don uses. I could lay 8 folded up pots in the same area that one square pot fills up., maybe more.

I would still add weight to the crab pots but its not as important. Its just to keep the pot in place. Here's a link from Tim's site about the pots. pots

I also have to tell you about mule tap link
Don has turned me on to this and its working great. its thin and just as strong as the poly line. It takes up 1/4 the space and runs thru the puller just fine. easy to tie a knot with and easy to handle. I was worried about it when he first showed it to me but after using it three times I think i will be replacing my poly ropes with mule tape. it sinks, it reels nice, it easy to tie, it takes up very little space and you can write on it to mark the length. it also has the length marked on the tape every ft. I really like this stuff and will be using it all summer to try it out.

[localboy]

http://www.johnssportinggoods.com/Crab%20Gear.htm

[localboy]

[starcrafttom]

bait. there are a hundred things you can use. .the ace of bait pellets work good. Canned cat food works good. get some that has tuna, salmon, or mackerel in it. I found a good tuna -mackerel mix for 30cent a can at cost cutters. all natural and no paste or clay like in a lot of cat food. this is good because it bleeds out better. add in the pellets or dry cat food on top of this to keep them in the trap. ace of baits also has a oil that I have been using . this bleeds out fast and leaves a cloud to attract the shrimp or crab. I use bait canisters and a clip. fill the canister with the bait. I mix all three. cat food, pellets and then a shot of oil mixed in a bowl and then spooned in to the cannisterhalf way down the page . I use the 6 inch ones. then just clip in to the pot so it hangs from the ceiling.

[C-Dawg]

We mix in some Alaska Fish Fertilizer with the ground up pellets (food processor) and makerel.

Look here.

[localboy]

Rick do you basically make a meatloafy paste, like I did? So many techniques, baits, gear styles etc. It's almost commical to me. I mean the damn things probably have a brain the size of a bb.

[Discovery]

From 1998 to 2002 we made an annual trip to Sequim for a month. We stayed at the old South Sequim RV Park, on the end of Sequim Bay. We shrimped in Discovery Bay, launching from the Gardiner ramp. I made 4 traps from 7/8" rebar, bent in a circle and welded, then covered with hardware cloth (galv. metal). They were 36" diameter, 10" high and had 5 openings, with a central bait holder. In those days it was legal to have the traps in 24/7. We would pull the traps once a day, re-bait and re-drop. We would average 20# per day of mixed Pinks, humpback, coonstripe and spot shrimp. The spots were only legal on certain days of the week and limited to 60 spots/license. We had two licenses. Jim Hull, a commercial shrimper showed us the ropes the first year. In 30 days we could catch about 500# of shrimp on two licenses. We had a 1984 22 Classic C-Dory. We caught as much per day as some of the commercial shrimpers.


In 2004 we returned and shrimped from Sequim Bay state park, and used our then new 2003 24 TomCat. Discovery Bay was restricted to day shrimping only. So we shrimped between Dungeness Spit and Protection Island in Juan de Fuca Straights. This area was open 24/7, and no restriction on spot shrimp. We only stayed 2 weeks, but still caught our 20#/day, and mostly spot shrimp.
We used dry medium kibble dog food, soaked in Alaska Fish Fertilizer liquid.

The home made traps are too big to take on an extended cruise to the Broughtons, so we will use the Ladner collapsible traps.

It will be a new learning experience this year. Of course we only have to catch enough each day for a treat, not to freeze for a years storage.

Brent

[Grumpy]

Tom,

The downrigger ball is clipped inside the pot just to add 12 lbs of weight. I also like your idea/theory of adding a Halibut ball a short distance away on the line to stop the buoy from jiggling the pot, makes sense to me and it looks like you have proven it.

M

[Grumpy]

Brent,

We will be a few days behind you, basically in the Islands from June 10, then leaving from Nanaimo on 18th via Desolation.
I can taste that pig already !!!

Merv

[C-Dawg]