2021 Crabbing

[Stein]

Depends on depth, location, pot, floats and what kind of rope you are using.  I probably have 5-7# in my Danielson's and haven't had one go for a trip in almost 20 years.  I am careful about where I put them though.  If you have a ton of rope, it's fat poly and you have multiple floats, sticks and whatever else, then that adds a ton of drag.  Areas with a bunch of kelp and the tendency for logs and current rips are also bad news.

I know guys with 50' of rope, a Danielson with no weight and a rowboat that kill more crab than just about anyone else.

[jstone]

Maybe I will take one out and leave the other in and see what happens. We bought our own double floats and have over  100’ of rope

[Stein]

That said, weight is easy to add.  Before I got all fancy and made my own lead ingots I would use bricks and big zip ties from Walmart.

The other thing I do is watch the pot after I set it.  I see dudes throwing the whole thing over while on plane and never looking back.

You can usually see if you are going to be in trouble fairly quickly then run over, pull it and fix the problem.

Double floats on a rope back to back are fine.  It's the guys with the double buoy stick, then a couple trailer buoys and some inflatable bouncy ball with a handle that just puts a ton of drag on the pot.

The better crabbing is usually had in areas with little current flow, so if you are losing pots or buoys going underwater maybe look elsewhere.  Also, check tides and crab around the slack and watch for the 10-12' change days and avoid that.

[NRA4LIFE]

The tides move more pots and lose pots for people than anything.  We rescued one yesterday bobbing in 416 feet of water.  The guy had is phone # on it and we called him and he was out and came and got it.  The tide came up huge the night before and that's what got him.  Lucky he had 3 buoys on it and it was still afloat.  When pots are lost, the first assumption is theft, but I'd bet most are from the tide/current.  This is our 19th year and we have lost only 1.  And I believe it was run over and/or dragged out, given the current situations at the time.  I have never weighted my pots, but when we set them in this one place, I zip tie a kind of anchor to them.

[jstone]

Last year was our first time. I watch my depth gauge and watch the tide. So if I have 120’ of line I usually let it out when I know it will not go under. Maybe 100-110’ at high tide? That is with the 10#. Just being lazy about pulling it up. Maybe switch to 5# and see what happens. And I let out the line by hand, so if I were to lose line I would go in closer.

[jstone]

I appreciate all of your advice

[fishngamereaper]

5-6lbs is generally good enough.

I also use single float's only. Always have..
Guys loose pots because they add float's, which adds bouancy and resistance during tidal flow...3 bouys will lift a 10lb pot off bottom no problem.

Leave 10-15' of extra line minimum on your set depth.

[NRA4LIFE]

I have 5/16 leaded line on my pots and leave a minimum of 30 feet of extra line length versus depth.  May be a little too cautious but it works for me.  I leave a bit more when we set our pots deeper later in the season.  Come August I'll set them as deep as 150.

[paguy]

Zip tie some old chain to the inside bottom of your pot, Works great.

[paguy]

Don't be afraid to fish deeper than every one around you. Some of my best crabbing has been in 150' To 200'. And do everybody a favor and use a flag and lead line.

[NRA4LIFE]

Exactly that.

[Flaming Antler Outdoors]

I would always use weight, no question.  A double bouy'd cheap Danielson pot on a flood could lift up and float. I would also stay away from pots that have doors that swing and touch at the bottom of the pot.  You get one inch of mud or sand on the bottom and that door either doesn't swing open or sticks open.  I always use pots that have an elevated ramp into it.  Then you also dont lose crab as other crab enter and open the door.  That's why in my experience a McKay always outfished any other pot. Now several manufactures make good crab pots that are very similiar to the early McKay's. 

[Special T]

Went out in 8-1 left ththeththem soak overnight. Had one of our poslts picked clean. Overall pretty good sized crab but nott the mosters last year.

[NRA4LIFE]

I am getting almost sick of eating crab already, 4 days in a row.  Well, maybe one more day.

[jstone]

You are crazy