Shrimp pots - must buy tomorrow - Mackey or Ladner?????

S

smckean (Tosca)

New member
My schedule is a bit crazy, but suffice it to say that I need to buy my shrimp pots tomorrow to be ready for the May 6 opening in the San Juan Islands, Washington.

I was all set to buy Mackay type pots; but then I ran into a friend of mine in Anacortes. He does a lot of fishing and has local knowledge. He said absolutely NOT!!!!! Buy the Ladners instead, he says. I had been told previously by others that the Mackays fish better than Ladners, but my buddy's retort was that one only sees Ladners on the commercial boats....."do you think that would be if Mackays fish better?" he exclaimed! Good point (altho I guess I could explain the Ladners on commercial boat since the Ladners stack so well).

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!! My boat is at Cap Sante Marine right now having the pot puller installed (among other things), and I don't want to take out my newly-outfitted-for-shrimp CD25 and regret that I bought the wrong pots!
 
Your buddy is 100% right. That was my experience as well. I bought a set of 4 ladners, the shrimp were escaping through the netting while bringing them to the surface. I could literally see the last few fall through as I pulled the pot the last 10 feet to the boat. I sold them at a loss after 2 trips and bought the McKay style pots. I added rebar to the bottom to get them to stay put, but the pots came up packed full of shrimp.

If your using a slow pot puller like a Ace it may not be as noticeable, but if you have something better, like a safe-T puller or Honda powered machine, the difference is not just a minor thing.
 
Im sorry I re-read your email. my mistake. I still stand by what I said though. The stackable pots with netting lost a lot more spot shrimp in my experience then the metal pots.
 
If your using a slow pot puller like a Ace....
Click to expand...

PaulNBriannaLynn,

Thanks for your input. Very helpful. I hadn't thought of the shrimp getting out given the flexible netting. (BTW, I did figure out what you meant :))

I am installing a ACE Max Torque with the Bulldog self-tailer.
 
I've used commercial pots from Dungeness Gear Works Inc in Everett for years. You can buy them if you just walk in the door and ask. They are heavy (30+ lbs) and well made.
 
PaulNBriannaLynn,

I just noticed that you are in Georgia; so I assume you fish for shrimp in the Gulf. Perhaps your shrimp are smaller than what we up here in the Northwest call "spot shrimp" or "spot prawns".

Our spot shrimp are typically 6" or 8" (even more sometimes) with the head on. They typically weigh about 10 to the pound. Perhaps our spot shrimp are larger and therefore less likely to fall out the holes in the net????
 
Go with McKay pots. Add weight if you're fishing the San Juans.

You don't see McKay pots on commercial boats, perhaps, because McKay doesn't build the volume of pots to support a commercial fleet, or they don't want/need that scope of business. I fish out of Westport all summer where there are thousands of commercial crab pots. If Ladner-style were all that and a bag of chips, wouldn't crab pots be similar? Instead, they all look like McKay's on steroids.

The whole argument about one style of pot out-fishing another is BS. People give far too much credit to the stylistic preference of a shrimp. It's about bait and location. I'm sure people have all kinds of anecdotal evidence of Ladners out-fishing McKays, but I have equal evidence with my McKays to refute.

I believe the most important style characteristic regardless of brand is a wide entry ramp. If you drop your pot into a big cloud of shrimp, you want a wide entry way for them to all get in quickly before being distracted by someone else's scent trail.
 
I've been shrimping for about 12 years and I started Mackay style pots. I've also used folding pots and Ladner pots. All of them catch shrimp if baited properly and set in the right spots. I prefer the Ladner style as they stack on the boat in a much smaller footprint and if you buy the weighted ones, they are heavy enough. Since shrimping is generally done in pretty deep water (200-350') for spot prawns, weighted pots is critical. 400' of poly line add a lot of drag in current and you want the pot to stay in place without line vibrations getting into the pot. A decent weight on the line about 15' from the pot helps a lot with that.

I get my Ladner style pots at LFS in Seattle or Bellingham.
 
smckean (Tosca)":2t5tz28f said:
PaulNBriannaLynn,

I just noticed that you are in Georgia; so I assume you fish for shrimp in the Gulf. Perhaps your shrimp are smaller than what we up here in the Northwest call "spot shrimp" or "spot prawns".

Our spot shrimp are typically 6" or 8" (even more sometimes) with the head on. They typically weigh about 10 to the pound. Perhaps our spot shrimp are larger and therefore less likely to fall out the holes in the net????
Click to expand...

Tosca I grew up there and spent my whole life fishing the san juans and Puget sound until a little less than a year ago. I still don't have this Georgia fishing figured out, but I killed a million of those san juan shrimp!
 
Are those MacKay type or Ladner type? I presume you have a preference.
Click to expand...

They are closer to Ladner type: arced steel frames/ covered in plastic, with netting (loop) that releases at the bottom. This allows the catch to easily be recovered and also allows the pots to be stacked on/in one another, when the netting is opened/slack. I tried to find a pic, but couldn't. They are also weighted themselves and no additional weight is required. I believe they weigh around 30#.
 
localboy":2xc1nosc said:
Are those MacKay type or Ladner type? I presume you have a preference.
Click to expand...

They are closer to Ladner type: arced steel frames/ covered in plastic, with netting (loop) that releases at the bottom. This allows the catch to easily be recovered and also allows the pots to be stacked on/in one another, when the netting is opened/slack. I tried to find a pic, but couldn't. They are also weighted themselves and no additional weight is required. I believe they weigh around 30#.
Click to expand...
Here's a link to the LFS site with a picture.
 
Thanks all for the input.

It seems there is plenty of support for both types of shrimp pots, so my decision isn't going to be as easy as I had hoped. I'm leaning toward the MacKay type. We'll see what I end up buying today at the store.
 
we have used the ladner pots for years and I would say that the ability to nest them in the cockpit is essential for the space in a C-Dory
 
HI, I have shrimped with both and I think the best pot is the one that does not move. Weight is the most important thing when it comes to shrimp pots . I have the ones that Johns sells.
http://www.kufasports.com/traps-prawn.html
I have the middle ones. Like the lander style pots. Not as big and not as heavy but they shack and fit under the deck of my 27. I will be adding weight to them this year by using crab bait mesh bags strapped to the sides and filled with soft dive weight ( bags of shot) . The more weight the less they move and the less the pot moves the more shrimp.

Your pots need to weight at least 30 lbs and 40 is better.
 
The people using the Ladner-style make a great point about being stackable. Although we're allowed 4 pots per boat, I only use 2 when just my wife and I go. We easily get our limits with just one pot each. If we take another person or 2, we'll throw in a third pot.

I have a cooler rack in the splashwell that I stack the pots on, so they're out of the way for the most part.

I fish area 12 and add 10lbs to each pot. The current isn't anything near what exists around the Islands.
 
How was shrimping everyone?

I went to South Lopez and we got our 2 limits in 4 pots. Not smooth water, a brisk westerly and some slop, but sunshine and fun!
Cleaned up in Aleck Bay after fishing and had lunch on the hook.

Can't wait until FHCBG with awesome tides for shrimping!
 
Back
Top