Asking advice on trap

[vw_buggsy]

Yes Stefano, that is EXACTLY the kind of mechanism I was thinking of.

As the crab goes in the hanging pins will move out of the way, but they will fall back into place and not allow any crabs to get out easily.

The one way door itself does not need to be made of biodegradable materials. As long as something on the trap is made of something that will degrade quickly and let things out if the trap is lost.

I recommend you add something biodegradable to the latch for the door that you use to take crabs out of your trap. Most people here in the US will use "bungee cord" or "shock cord" like a rubber band wrapped with cloth with a hook to hold a large door closed that they can then open up to get the crabs out. If you use thin natural cotton string to tie the bungee cord to the hook or to the trap then that would eventually rot away leaving the crab pot/trap door wide open if it were lost in the water. That cotton twine would need to be replaced every so often.

That particular trap that you included a picture of has a good one way door design. That trap is very expensive and not ideal for blue crabs though (I think). So while I recommend you use something like that one way door design, I don't really recommend that trap. The sizes of the holes in the wire mesh and the cull rings look like they are made for larger crabs.

The most economical option will certainly be building something locally, out of locally available materials.

What I think is that you should build (or have built) a simple crab trap made just for Italy that is easy to make for locals and works (assuming you are allowed to use traps constructed like this in Italy).

• It could have a main chamber similar to the quonset hut, hot house, quarter pot, or half pot that I posted earlier. Basically a simple box or rectangle of wire mesh with no upper parlor to make construction very easy.
• You could add a bait chamber or just tie the bait inside the trap.
• It would have a large door panel or hatch that can be opened and closed to get crabs out of the chamber. Some part of that large door would be held on with cotton twine that will degrade if the pot or trap is left abandoned.
• It would have 2-4 entrance funnels made like the ones we use for our crab pots, any type of wire mesh that will hold up to the water is fine (I think) as long as the final entrance size is roughly 4.5cm by 12cm:
• • https://www.bluecrab.info/crabpot/funnels.htm
• The small portion of the funnel inside the trap would have the added "one way door" devices or pins like the trap you posted.

If you are adding one way doors to help keep the crabs from getting out I don't think the exact size of the entrance funnels will be important, as long as they are large enough. If they are too small they may not let in larger blue crabs, if they are too large they will let in more undesirable by-catch like turtles and other critters.

I think if you used something like the large rectangle box design you already posted (I attached the picture of the one I'm talking about to this post) and added correctly sized entrance funnels with one way doors you might have something that works. Of course, all of this assumes you are putting the trap in an area where there are hungry blue crabs to catch!

There are men and women on this forum that have been doing this a lot longer than me and are way smarter than me so I hope they will comment if any of the advice or ideas I'm giving you are bad.

When you start catching crabs I hope you will come back to the forum and post pictures!!

[vw_buggsy]

For bait most people here in the USA use:

• Chicken
• Cut fish
• Eel
• Razor clams (in small bags or bait boxes)
• Bull lips (lips from cows or bulls)

Chicken, cut fish, and razor clams (in "clam bags") are currently the most commonly used bait in the US.

The bait always works best if it is FRESH. Some might tell you that slightly rotten (or fully rotten) stinky bait will work better but this has been proven wrong many times. If you use fish, oily fishes are best. If it is your fisherman that are trying to catch crabs they can use the waste portions of their catch (like fish heads) or any undesirable by-catch/"trash fish" as bait.

Buggsy

[StevetheBeast]

Thanks again Buggsy, really.

Months ago, after the advices you gave me in this forum, I added lateral entries to experimental traps (photo you posted) and I observed a nice increase in CPUE (catch per unit effort) of blue crabs.
The next step is going to be the purchase or the construction of perfectly functional crab pots and I'm trying to do everything possible to ensure that crab pots are built on your indications (instead of buying mediocre ones).

The advice you gave me on baits is also very useful. I have observed that if possible it is always better to use bait box because they preserve the bait more and prolong their effect over time, correct me please if I am wrong.

I take this opportunity to ask your one more thing. In Europe, fishermen using gillnets (aiming for pelagic fishes) are experiencing serious damage from blue crabs that can swim and enter the nets, destroying them and damaging the catch. I wanted to ask you if American fishermen also have the same problem with crabs and what systems they use to protect their nets from crabs. Is placing crab pots around the gillnet (to attract the majority of crabs into the pots and protect the gillnet) a method that is used? Is it effective?

Stefano

[vw_buggsy]

I take this opportunity to ask your one more thing. In Europe, fishermen using gillnets (aiming for pelagic fishes) are experiencing serious damage from blue crabs that can swim and enter the nets, destroying them and damaging the catch. I wanted to ask you if American fishermen also have the same problem with crabs and what systems they use to protect their nets from crabs. Is placing crab pots around the gillnet (to attract the majority of crabs into the pots and protect the gillnet) a method that is used? Is it effective?

Stefano, I don't know. I've never fished gillnets before. I've done some limited cast net fishing but really very little of that. I am just a recreational fisherman and crabber. I mostly fish rod and reel for fin fish.  Perhaps one of the commercial fishermen on the board will have some information for you on this. You might try creating a post specifically on the "effect of bluecrab on gillnets" in the "miscellaneous > Fishing, Eeling & Oystering" section of the forum.

I have observed that if possible it is always better to use bait box because they preserve the bait more and prolong their effect over time, correct me please if I am wrong.

Bait boxes do exactly what you describe. In your situation I would absolutely use them.

Some people believe they may very slightly reduce catch rate in open traps vs. using openly accessible bait. However in a crab pot situation where the bait just attracts the crab and then the idea is the crab cannot leave anyway, I don't see where that would matter. I would use a bait box to keep the captured crabs from eating up all your bait after they are caught and then not attracting any more crabs.

Because fresh bait attracts crabs better, and crabs will happily kill and eat each other, I wouldn't leave a crab pot more than about a day without checking, emptying, and re-baiting it.

Another advantage of a bait box on a crab pot style trap is that we typically make a little door for the bait box on the outside of the pot. This makes it very easy to remove old bait and add fresh bait.

In fact the crab pot design that our commercial crabbers use often do not even have a door on the bait box at all. The bait box (or tube) is situated so the opening is at the bottom of the pot facing downward. It's just open on the bottom and the flow of water keeps fresh bait in place as the crab pot drops through the water on a set/re-set. This makes it very fast to bait or re-bait a trap, which is important if you are handling sometimes hundreds of crab pots. It takes a bit of practice and skill to use this style and not lose your fresh bait. If you're not handling a lot of pots, I recommend having a bait box with some kind of door and latch on the outside to keep the bait in.

Stefano I hope to see you post some pictures of new traps and buckets full of crabs soon!

Buggsy

[jack1747]

I take this opportunity to ask your one more thing. In Europe, fishermen using gillnets (aiming for pelagic fishes) are experiencing serious damage from blue crabs that can swim and enter the nets, destroying them and damaging the catch. I wanted to ask you if American fishermen also have the same problem with crabs and what systems they use to protect their nets from crabs. Is placing crab pots around the gillnet (to attract the majority of crabs into the pots and protect the gillnet) a method that is used? Is it effective?

Stefano

I'm confused by "gillnets". Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is generally referred to as a "cork line." The line along the bottom of the panels is generally weighted.

Are you talking about fish traps, fyke nets?  

[StevetheBeast]

Are you talking about fish traps, fyke nets?  

yes, I'm talking about gillnets, especially benthic ones (placed near the seabed). Blue crabs can reach fishes caught by the nets and got trapped too. In addition to the damage they do to the net's mesh (chewing them with massilipeds for exemple), they make activities more difficult because they are hard to remove from the nets without damaging them and also damage the catch (reducing price).

These are the main damages reported by fishermen but blue crabs also cause problems with fyke nets or other fishing gear (such as eel traps).

Stefano

[Logical1]

 I have only been a member of the forum for a few years, but in that time I have learned a lot. I learned kayak crabbing from the best person I have ever seen doing it, arti0972. He researched everything before he would purchase a piece of gear. He told me of all the different things and brands he had tried, what he was using when I met him where the Perfectionist ring traps. He said they were the best quality rings he had every used. The man went crabbing every week during the season, sometimes multiple days a week. His gear got a real workout, so it had to perform.

Adam introduced me to Jim at my first BCA party, he was very cordial and we have also had exchanges in private Bmail. He explained things to look for in rings and gave me tips on using them more effectively. He was never pushy, just looking to help out a new crabber. As I got to know Jim better I saw that he is a paying member helping to support the forum. I have seen many instances where he gives advice to help crabbers understand how to use rings, how to deploy them, how to use current to approach them etc. He has made himself a valuable contributor of information on here.

I have tried a variety of rings traps made by companies and individuals, I have yet to find any that come close to Jim's rings. From the material of the netting to the material of the rings and final construction of the trap. His decades of experience come through.

As Adam told me, it is no accident that so many experienced crabbers on the forum are using and touting the Perfectionist rings. These are not paid advertisements, they are testimonials from people who work their gear hard and know quality when they see it. If they did not think the rings were worth the price, they would be letting everyone know. Just look at how many contributing members on the forum use Jim's rings compared to all the other brands combined.

[Wallco99]

I have only been a member of the forum for a few years, but in that time I have learned a lot. I learned kayak crabbing from the best person I have ever seen doing it, arti0972. He researched everything before he would purchase a piece of gear. He told me of all the different things and brands he had tried, what he was using when I met him where the Perfectionist ring traps. He said they were the best quality rings he had every used. The man went crabbing every week during the season, sometimes multiple days a week. His gear got a real workout, so it had to perform.

Adam introduced me to Jim at my first BCA party, he was very cordial and we have also had exchanges in private Bmail. He explained things to look for in rings and gave me tips on using them more effectively. He was never pushy, just looking to help out a new crabber. As I got to know Jim better I saw that he is a paying member helping to support the forum. I have seen many instances where he gives advice to help crabbers understand how to use rings, how to deploy them, how to use current to approach them etc. He has made himself a valuable contributor of information on here.

I have tried a variety of rings traps made by companies and individuals, I have yet to find any that come close to Jim's rings. From the material of the netting to the material of the rings and final construction of the trap. His decades of experience come through.

As Adam told me, it is no accident that so many experienced crabbers on the forum are using and touting the Perfectionist rings. These are not paid advertisements, they are testimonials from people who work their gear hard and know quality when they see it. If they did not think the rings were worth the price, they would be letting everyone know. Just look at how many contributing members on the forum use Jim's rings compared to all the other brands combined.

.