Blender for crushing prawn pellets

[seachicken]

So, for the first time, I did a lot of Prawning in April in the Saanich inlet. Myself and a buddy dropped our two sets each on April 1st and proceeded to prawn for about 3 weeks, pulling them daily, so we had a good sample size to determine what worked and what didn't with bait.

The biggest revelation was that prawn bait didn't work any better than Costco Lamb and Rice dog food. Yup, my buddy had run out of prawn bait one day and just pilfered some of his dog's food instead. Turns out, it worked just as well as prawn bait. Several times, I used prawn bait on my traps while his were loaded with dog food and all of the traps were in the same area. His produced just as well as mine. And given that dog food is about 20% of the cost of prawn bait, a lot more cost effective. I also added liquid prawn scent on occasion and saw no discernible difference. Sounds crazy that prawns like lamb and rice dog food but explain to me why crabs like chicken?

There were a couple of occasions when we forgot new bait so just sent the traps back down with the old food. When pulled the following day, our traps were just as full as other days.

Lastly, when we started out, my traps were the round commercial style net type traps and his were the square, coated metal Bauer style traps. This was the biggest difference. His traps were loaded and mine were almost empty despite being in the same area. Not sure why, but obviously the netting seemed to dissuade the prawns from either entering or staying in the traps? After two days of his traps being loaded and mine with only a handful of prawns, I bought some of the Bauer style traps and had instant success.

That's my favorite place to prawn, box traps certainly seem to do better but definitely retain smaller prawns. I never ever dump bait out until I'm cleaning up. I feel the bait gets better with soaking for sure, sometimes feel like I should presoak but usually aren't organized enough.

 

[Bryan Allen]

So, for the first time, I did a lot of Prawning in April in the Saanich inlet. Myself and a buddy dropped our two sets each on April 1st and proceeded to prawn for about 3 weeks, pulling them daily, so we had a good sample size to determine what worked and what didn't with bait.

The biggest revelation was that prawn bait didn't work any better than Costco Lamb and Rice dog food. Yup, my buddy had run out of prawn bait one day and just pilfered some of his dog's food instead. Turns out, it worked just as well as prawn bait. Several times, I used prawn bait on my traps while his were loaded with dog food and all of the traps were in the same area. His produced just as well as mine. And given that dog food is about 20% of the cost of prawn bait, a lot more cost effective. I also added liquid prawn scent on occasion and saw no discernible difference. Sounds crazy that prawns like lamb and rice dog food but explain to me why crabs like chicken?

There were a couple of occasions when we forgot new bait so just sent the traps back down with the old food. When pulled the following day, our traps were just as full as other days.

Lastly, when we started out, my traps were the round commercial style net type traps and his were the square, coated metal Bauer style traps. This was the biggest difference. His traps were loaded and mine were almost empty despite being in the same area. Not sure why, but obviously the netting seemed to dissuade the prawns from either entering or staying in the traps? After two days of his traps being loaded and mine with only a handful of prawns, I bought some of the Bauer style traps and had instant success.

"Myself and a buddy dropped our two sets each on April 1st and proceeded to prawn for about 3 weeks, pulling them daily" I was going to let this pass, but I think this kind of information could come back to bite us in the azz. We have to realize this is an open site. There are NUMEROUS groups, individuals , Nations, that want to shut us down. I have no problem for you and your buddy taking this many prawns as long as you use them personally. Dont give the antis any ammo to further restrict our harvest. Just the opinion of an old fisherman that has seen the best of it-----and knows what can and does happen .............................. Carry on.

 

[sly_karma]

Lastly, when we started out, my traps were the round commercial style net type traps and his were the square, coated metal Bauer style traps. This was the biggest difference. His traps were loaded and mine were almost empty despite being in the same area. Not sure why, but obviously the netting seemed to dissuade the prawns from either entering or staying in the traps? After two days of his traps being loaded and mine with only a handful of prawns, I bought some of the Bauer style traps and had instant success.

The most likely reason for this is that the netting in your traps has stretched with time and use. Currents will cause the slightly slack netting to move and wave, prawns think there's a predator in there and won't enter. Rigid metal mesh in the Bauers allows no movement, prawns vote Yes.

Ads for used commercial prawn traps are common, the pros get rid of them as soon as the netting shows any stretch. Drag through the water on repeated pulls with powerful commercial equipment does them in, so they sell them to unsuspecting fisherfolk like us.

 

[wolf]

The biggest revelation was that prawn bait didn't work any better than Costco Lamb and Rice dog food. Yup, my buddy had run out of prawn bait one day and just pilfered some of his dog's food instead. Turns out, it worked just as well as prawn bait. Several times, I used prawn bait on my traps while his were loaded with dog food and all of the traps were in the same area. His produced just as well as mine. And given that dog food is about 20% of the cost of prawn bait, a lot more cost effective. I also added liquid prawn scent on occasion and saw no discernible difference. Sounds crazy that prawns like lamb and rice dog food but explain to me why crabs like chicken?

Mainly because they are bottom dwelling sea bugs they will EAT anyhing just like crab they eat anything , they have little or no brain .... dont over think it,
Ill let ya know best way to get a skull cleaned is throw in a crab trap LOL
Skull as in bear or deer FYI LOL LOL. give them a week be clean. a bug is a bug I

 

[SpringVelocity]

I reuse and refreeze my prawn bait several times before I switch it out. Saves money and effort. Never noticed much difference.

Prawns are just a garbage creature like crabs. It's about finding the place where they are I find.

 

[Samnjoe]

We have tried every kind of trap over the years. There is a reason the pros use round Ladner traps. We use the large mesh to let the smalls out. It's about great bait and keeping the traps still on the bottom.
Pellets oil and canned mackerel plus a couple of secret ingredients.
Might try the dogfood though.

 

[Almar22]

I use the ladner style traps and found that the elastic (bungy cord) that goes between the entrance rings wore out after a couple years, or at least got really weak. Once that happened the netting was loose and could move in the current. So replacing the elastic pieces really tightened the netting back up.

Worked for me and the traps starting working well again!

 

[RiverBoy]

Mainly because they are bottom dwelling sea bugs they will EAT anyhing just like crab they eat anything , they have little or no brain .... dont over think it,
Ill let ya know best way to get a skull cleaned is throw in a crab trap LOL
Skull as in bear or deer FYI LOL LOL. give them a week be clean. a bug is a bug I

can confirm. we had a bear head in a trap preloaded at the dock. man we got some funny looks. that thing fished like mad too

 

[Scorpiofisher]

We have tried every kind of trap over the years. There is a reason the pros use round Ladner traps. We use the large mesh to let the smalls out. It's about great bait and keeping the traps still on the bottom.
Pellets oil and canned mackerel plus a couple of secret ingredients.
Might try the dogfood though.

I like the larger mesh round traps too, mostly because they let out all the undersize prawns. Added bonus is the hagfish can get out so the traps don't get slimed.

 

[Salmonslayer1992]

The most likely reason for this is that the netting in your traps has stretched with time and use. Currents will cause the slightly slack netting to move and wave, prawns think there's a predator in there and won't enter. Rigid metal mesh in the Bauers allows no movement, prawns vote Yes.

Ads for used commercial prawn traps are common, the pros get rid of them as soon as the netting shows any stretch. Drag through the water on repeated pulls with powerful commercial equipment does them in, so they sell them to unsuspecting fisherfolk like us.

When I fished prawns commercially we went through all of our gear before the season, splicing line and whipping traps, which consisted of running line through the top and bottom ring of the trap pulling the mesh tight and mending any holes in the mesh, we definitely never replaced our gear every year.