Auburn Crab Pots

[cemiii]

E-bay has a bunch of 5 lot commercial pots on sale in Auburn, Wa (for local pick up only) currently bidding $41-51. Great deal if your located in that area. Wish I were. State surplus?

Chris

[GOYO]

just went and looked at them. boy those are some big pots. I have a
cd-25 and I would be hard pressed to find room to store them. They
are about 36 inches and weigh about 40lbs. probably work if you
were crabbing for a living.

[cemiii]

You just need to add one of those "dealiest catch" type Alaskan hydraulic pot throwers.

I thought those were standard equipment on the 25's?

Chris

[starcrafttom]

When you do get crab pots you want commercial style but c-dory sized. There are a few different makes of these commercial styles that are half the size. After a lot of lost pots, bad pots and different styles I think the following are must have items in a pot.

1. Weight. I know that hauling pots off the top of the roof or moving around the back deck can be a pain with heavy pots. That’s why we all have shied away from heavy pots only to wonder why they get pulled off by the current. Heavy pots are good pots.

2. Also note that you should not have more floatation then you have pot. Don’t have a 20lbs pot being marked by a float with 21 lbs of lift. The current will pull that sucker off the bottom.

3. If crabbing more than 50 ft deep don’t use all weighted line. Just use 20 ft at the top or a line weight. Make the rest poly. If your weighted line weights 10 lbs and your float only float 9 lbs the current is going to pull it under and once under will hold it there.

4. Use a 1 1/2 to 1 scope on the line length. So if its 50 feet deep use 75 feet of line. Also set pots with the high water depth in mind. So if you set at low tide in 50 feet of water and its going to hit 60ft at high tide you want more than 75 ft of line. 90 ft would be good.

5. Pots with ramps work better if you are going to leave your pots more than an hour. They are a must have for all day or overnight soaks. Otherwise the crab will get out after they get done eating.

6. Weighted doors are also a must to keep those crab in. most important if you don’t have ramps.

7. Studies prove that round or octagon pots catch more than square pots.

8. I always hang my bait from the top of the pot not the bottom. I get more sea stars if it’s on the bottom. Get then when on the top but not as many.

I hope all this helps someone when shopping for those

[cemiii]

Thank you Thomas, I have been thinking about getting into this and that is certainly a help to me. The thing is, it's a bit expensive to get into this sport and I'm not even sure it's very productive around here (SF Bay) and the Bay itself is closed for Dungi's. Doubt I'd probably end up doing it more than a few times a year. If anyone does this around the Bay area I'd appreciate a PM.

I have an old capstan from a former boat and I've been thinking I might try to make up a makeshift puller setup, maybe on about a 9 foot 2x12 or something that I could rest on one gunnel and attach under the opposite gunnel storage shelf (with a roller on the overhanging end). Kind of a funky idea, I know, but it would at least be a nominal investment and I wouldn't have to permanently affix anything to the boat. I'd think it should beat hand pulling.

At least if this turns out to be a bust, I'll just have to resell the pots. But your comments give me a good idea of what I should be looking for.

Chris

[Belltown]

Thanks for the recommendations, Thomas. We're first time boaters and I've been itching to take advantage of the winter re-opening in our area. So many choices and techniques, your post will help.

Cheers,

Bruce

[starcrafttom]

bruce if you want to try the crabbing on the cheap you can always use rings. they are cheap and as long as you check they every 15 mins or so you will get crabs. I dont use them because I crab deeper and want to let them set all day.

[timflan]

[starcrafttom]

tim just goes to prove that there is "one" in every crowd. Talk like that will lead to a sea star in your bunk when you are away from your boat. I know were you dock

[Gene Morris]

Tom is right on for the type of gear to use. Another thing to consider is how the pot is rigged. I had three of my pots that would consistently under fish the others. We installed heavy copper wire around the doors and they now fish as good if not better than the others. All of my pots now have copper on the doors. We crab here in 10 to 25 ftms and I use an Ace line hauler and have for 7 yrs. Ace is a great company with generous owners. They fit on a Scotty downrigger mount and utilize the same wiring as the scotty.
Gene

[cemiii]

Gene, Why does the copper help? Is it a galvanic ion thing or a structural thing? Can you show us a picture of how it's done?

Thanks, Chris

[DaveS]

[Sea Wolf]

I'll bet it's the galvanic (electromotive) voltage produced between the two metals and the ionic balance sensed by the crabs.

The zinc coated wire of the cage and the copper wire are 1.1 to 1.3 volts apart on the electromotive series, and essentially make a battery in the salt (conductive) water.

There is an ionic exchange as electrons are passed between the two metals and the water.

Essentially, the door is "charged electrically" to the crabs. (It may be that the zinc cage is repulsively charged on it's own, and the copper wire neutralizes that effect for the door opening.)

Hey, they make devices to electrically charge down rigger cables to attract fish, don't they?

Joe.

[cemiii]

As usual Sea Wolf's post got me thinking.

Crazy question.

I wonder if I could fish crab with a ring net on a Cannon Mag 10 DR (fairly shallow) if I anchored the boat firmly front and back so I wasn't dragging the net all over the bottom? It would sure bring it up fast enough and would provide ionic current as well.

Anyone ever tried it? Probably there is an obvious reason not to that I'm overlooking.

Chris

[starcrafttom]

Gene thats a great idea that I have never heard. Small voltage on down riggers helps attract fish as long as its not to high. I have seen commercial pots with zinc balls in them. I believed the zinc was to keep the salt from eating away on the steel of the trap. could it be to attract crabs too.??