Shrimp pots?

[Parasite]

Any thoughts on what makes a good shrimp pot? Looking to pick up a couple and see round, square, fabric netting, metal mesh, plastic entrances, etc. Wondering what works well.

[Tbar]

McKay.
Buy these two and you're good! https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,270092.0.html

[fishngamereaper]

My McKay pots shrimp great. Especially my big condo's.
That said guys love their lander's to...

More important keys are bait and location. Shrimp will go into anything if it's got good bait and dropped in a good spot.

[Bareback]

Ladners are stackable and weighted. Mckays are durable and fish well. Some pots fish better then others and I’d  would probably go with one of these. I’ve got Mckays, one is the largest legal pot and it outperforms all others. Down side to wire pots is weighting them. I use inline weights (driftboar anchors) and halibut clips.

[Stein]

The round stackable pots with small openings fish slower which is not what you want when the seasons get shorter and shorter.  For the commercially available pots, the square ones with max openings are the best.

I've fished every style available including home built.  You won't get more shrimp in the pot faster than with the square pot with larger openings.

Bait and location are obviously important, but pot design makes a big difference as well.

If you have all day, most any pot will work but if you are in one of the competitive areas only open for a few hours one or two days a year and have several licenses on board you need a system that gets them in the pot quickly.

[blackpowderhunter]

The round stackable pots with small openings fish slower which is not what you want when the seasons get shorter and shorter.  For the commercially available pots, the square ones with max openings are the best.

I've fished every style available including home built.  You won't get more shrimp in the pot faster than with the square pot with larger openings.

Bait and location are obviously important, but pot design makes a big difference as well.

If you have all day, most any pot will work but if you are in one of the competitive areas only open for a few hours one or two days a year and have several licenses on board you need a system that gets them in the pot quickly.

yep.
i run stackable ladners, they may not fish as fast, but i still pull them up with 100+ shrimp in each, and then i can stack them and save some space while i go chase buts or lings.
when you've got 4 pots, and maybe 4 people on the boat, it shouldn't* be hard to limit in one pull after letting them soak an hour or so.
those mondo condo pots look sweet, and i wanted to try one one year, i  just didnt wanna deal with it on my boat 

[Stein]

Mondos work well, but I don't think they make them anymore.  Space does become a concern with big pots, sticks, trailer buoy and whatever else.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the pot/boat limit of 4 dropping in some areas, there aren't many levers for WDFW to pull on given the massive numbers of boats out there.

[fishngamereaper]

If I didn't already own a bunch of gear not sure I would jump into the fishery with new gear at this point... reduction in seasons,days etc..not worth it ..

Find some used stuff at a good price and go for it ..

[blackpowderhunter]

Mondos work well, but I don't think they make them anymore.  Space does become a concern with big pots, sticks, trailer buoy and whatever else.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the pot/boat limit of 4 dropping in some areas, there aren't many levers for WDFW to pull on given the massive numbers of boats out there.

dont come out here and give them any ideas 

[Stein]

Mondos work well, but I don't think they make them anymore.  Space does become a concern with big pots, sticks, trailer buoy and whatever else.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the pot/boat limit of 4 dropping in some areas, there aren't many levers for WDFW to pull on given the massive numbers of boats out there.

dont come out here and give them any ideas 

It's one area I won't give them flak, I think they do a decent to good job at shrimp management.  There are tons of people and they are pretty easy to coax into a pot, so there isn't much other than limit each person.

We'll have a 4 hr season in a couple areas this year.  Only options if the number of people continues to increase are hours, numbers of pots or limits of shrimp.  Or, have a Quality Shrimp area.   

[Flaming Antler Outdoors]

McKay or Mckay style now that there are several copies.  Big openings because the shrimp run in groups or masses at times.  I had some pots that were octagon with black mesh openings that I cut open bigger.  Lots of shrimp but I started catching Tanner crab too.  Soft or mushy bait will out fish pellets anyday.  I think the quick pot pulls we deal with need bait that starts leaking and scenting right away.  Best bait i every used was i ran tuna carcass and black cod thru my grinder and bagged it. 

[Parasite]

Thanks for the info guys. I like the Ladners, but we shall see.

[JKEEN33]

Thanks for the info guys. I like the Ladners, but we shall see.

I have 4-5 shrimp pots, a crab pot, floats, bait canisters and 3 or 4 300’ lengths of leaded line I’ve been thinking of selling. Shoot me a pm if you are interested and I’ll get them out of the shed and get pictures. They fished great, but my boat was stolen for the 3rd time and decided not to replace it again. I also have an ace pot puller if interested.

[lokidog]

I've had best luck with round ones with the metal mesh ramp openings. I've used square with plastic funnels and they don't seem to work as well.

I made a mold for pouring lead bars, 2X11 and pour about 5/16" deep. I use two under each ramp for a total of 15# in each pot. Thicker than 5/16 they are too hard to bend.

[Flaming Antler Outdoors]

I've had best luck with round ones with the metal mesh ramp openings. I've used square with plastic funnels and they don't seem to work as well.

I made a mold for pouring lead bars, 2X11 and pour about 5/16" deep. I use two under each ramp for a total of 15# in each pot. Thicker than 5/16 they are too hard to bend.

BOOM!  I might make me a mold like that today!  Great idea

[HntnFsh]

In over 20 years of shrimping Hood Canal I dont see a difference in shape of pot. Round, square, octagon. They all fish the same. The difference is in the bait and the ramps. Ramps out fish funnels about 2-1 in my experience. Where I shrimp you dont need a lot of weight. 10 lbs is fine. 15 is plenty. I like my pots to hold 2 large bait cups. I think they are about 3.5x9 with straight walls. I like these glow in the dark ones. But having a hard time finding them lately. Not so sure the glow in the dark makes a difference, but cant hurt. The style is more important to me. I want to get as much scent in the water I can as fast as I can.
https://www.outdoorshopping.com/os/danielson-glow-bait-barrel-3-58-d-x-9-h--engineered-for-crab--shrimp-traps.html

I like to mix my bait so that about half of it is gone in a 1 hour soak.

Bait also makes a big difference. If I use pellets I either grind them or soak them in oil until they break down. I use lots of oil. Amongst other things. I like Pro Cure and Mckays. But Menhadden oil is fine as I'm sure vegetable oil would be also. Just something to get that scent out.

[ASHQUACK]

We used to soak our pellet bait in Alaska fish fertilizer.

[HntnFsh]

 :yike:That's a secret ingredient!

It works well, but I haven't used it for a few years.

[lokidog]

:yike:That's a secret ingredient!

It works well, but I haven't used it for a few years.

I haven't used homemade barf smelling bait in years. Pellets work fine and bonus with a fish carcass in there.

[blackpowderhunter]

i dont think the pot matters as much as the location and bait.
i run ladner and on the opener in an undisclosed spot my first two pots came up with over 200 in each...so we had our 5 limits in first two pots.
everyone says they only fish well on long soaks, that was after 50-60 min soaks, so do with that what you will.

[Stein]

If you are using pellets you can buy a 50# bag at LFS in Bellingham for about what you get one of those little buckets for.

[carlyoungs]

i dont think the pot matters as much as the location and bait.
i run ladner and on the opener in an undisclosed spot my first two pots came up with over 200 in each...so we had our 5 limits in first two pots.
everyone says they only fish well on long soaks, that was after 50-60 min soaks, so do with that what you will.

Just curious how deep you were fishing? Our best pots were in 240 feet of water. The ones at 320 had like 4 shrimp in them.

[RB]

If you are using pellets you can buy a 50# bag at LFS in Bellingham for about what you get one of those little buckets for.

 

Been using those for years!

[blackpowderhunter]

i dont think the pot matters as much as the location and bait.
i run ladner and on the opener in an undisclosed spot my first two pots came up with over 200 in each...so we had our 5 limits in first two pots.
everyone says they only fish well on long soaks, that was after 50-60 min soaks, so do with that what you will.

Just curious how deep you were fishing? Our best pots were in 240 feet of water. The ones at 320 had like 4 shrimp in them.

270-290

[Stein]

Depth seems to depend on area.  One area I fish is best in the 275 range and another is much better in 200, even 175 and not much if anything beyond 275.  If in doubt, I usually shoot for 225-250.  Look for the slope, sometimes that dictates the depth.

I've never bothered beyond 300, the couple times I tried didn't yield anything.

[carlyoungs]

Thanks guys! Will try shallower next week

[blackpowderhunter]

use your electronics too...
screen shot from last week, this is an area away from the globs of other boats, so don't rely on following the crowd.