crab pots

L

lloyds

New member
Must have messed up my first post so will try again. I am thinking about investing in some more crab pots. With the seattle boat show coming, anyone have suggestions about some of the better pots that may be available on sale at the show?
 
That's a really good question... and I wonder if the pots designed for Washington waters are legal in Oregon and California...is a crab pot the same in all states??? (is there a 49 state model?) In California there must be some sort of Eco model with enviromentally correct crab friendly openings...complete with warning labels.

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Oops! Never thought about the size differences. 5 3/4 in oregon. Don't recall what washington is. But major manufacturers probably manufacture for both states given the proximity. Eco pots in california, funny.
 
Washington is 6 1/4". The trap doors will allow any size to enter. It is usually up to the licensed crabber to discard the females and undersized.
 
Washington State size limits cover 3 areas. Puget Sound, (Marine areas 5-13) minimum size 6 1/4 inches. Columbia River, 5 3/4 inches. Pacific Ocean, (Marine areas 1-3) 6 inches. :? And this is for just Dungeness crab. Red Rock crab is minimum 5 inches in all areas. That's easy. But then there is the sex and hardshell condition!!

Crab pots have different escape rings size for the Columbia River. Minimum 4 inches there, other areas, 4 1/4 inches.

If I were looking to buy pots at the SBS, I would take my state regs and a tape measure to make sure the pot that is being sold is legal in your state, and the area of the state you are going to crab.

There are some nice pots for sale at the show. My favorites are the collapsible ones that Popeye Marine from Everett sells. He gets them out of Canada and usually sells out during the show. The large one is 16 by 32 inches and sells for $79.95. His main market is to kayakers, but they work great for cruising on a C-Dory. Robbi
 
That's a good start, I will watch for the Popeyes' display. I have used, and still own, some Danielsons collapsible models but they need some retrofitting to be very effective. Probably the ones from everett have a better design. Thanks.
 
Like said before check with your state's regs. I believe the only requirement you will find deals with escape ring diameter. I have sport crabbed for a number of years. The most important thing for my pots is weight. Get as heavy of a pot as you can handle, this will be less likely to walk away from you. One other thing to get would be weights for your line. I will probably look for pots when I'm up there for the sbs.

Gene Morris
 
there are five of us that crab together here in WA and we use the danielson pots exclusively. we crimp them so that they are non colapsing . the low cost is great when the pot theives come arround. they work good to. the last 3 years , the five of us have averaged 800 crab cooked per season
 
Wow Roger, you must be one of those guys sitting out in the parking lot at the end of the day with the gas turbine running, cooking crab. That is a lot of crab. I like the danielson, but sometimes the doors hang up open, and the sides can come loose. But in a 16' a fold-up sure saves space. But I am thinking of trying pots this time. Where I usually crab the sea lions wreak having on the danielsons, and open rings.
 
I saw just a few weeks ago a new pot. Its round and heavy mush like the commerial pots but the poles on the sides can be removed and the pot then folds flat. So you get a good round heavy pot but It does not take up the space of a commerial one. foled it still the same size around but only 2 inch thick. I have not tried up yet but will this year. I have several commerail size pots and square pots here at the house that I would like to sell off is anyone wants them. I want to fund new pots and cut down on what I have. I have often pulled lost pots up with mine and I have been know to pull pots on closed days to turn into the game warden. He told me to keep them but wanted the cooradiates which I gave him. Now I just mark them and report them to him.
 
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