Prawn traps stuck or too heavy to pull by hand
- Thread starter Howesound
- Start date
Rain City
Crew Member
I'm hoping this is obvious, but make sure you pull directly away from the slope. Also, attaching a buoy to your line at the surface with a carabiner, or better yet a 6" stainless ring, you can drag your line through that and it will lift your traps off the bottom faster as the float makes it's way toward your trap. I've had to rescue a few traps before by doing this, you really want another person to pull up the slack as you circle around and head back toward the traps. I only once ended up losing 1 out of 6 of my traps, because it was likely snagged on bottom. Good luck.
The slope goes from 0 at the shoreline to about 80 and then 233 ft consistently. We were about 300-400ft from shore where we dropped our bouy and when we pulled it we were definitely closer to shore.
From what both Kaelc and you are saying, should I just pull up as much slack as I can ( yesterday I pulled up about 150-200ft) and then attach it to the cleat, and go away from the slope gently? If that works good… otherwise use the steel ring? Bear in mind my traps have 10lbs in them, so I’m hoping it’s not just that they’re heavy.
I’m going to use my blistered hands
willydw
Active Member
Usually the name is the name of the boat.
ryanonthevedder
Member
Yep those commi guys are merciless whether its their fault or not. We (rec) have months of access so I dont mind stepping aside during the commercial opening.
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
That sucks, but honestly your better to wait til it closes. I don't fish when the opening is on. Unless your sitting on them you may run into issues. It's a few months out of entire year really in the end.
Aces
Well-Known Member
Exactly!
thanks for the support guys!
If this had not happened I would not have come to the forum and already learnt so many new points about prawn harvest. So, going forward I'm better informed and will keep a closer eye. At least my float and line are still with me.
A couple of years ago I took a buddy crab fishing with 2 high quality stainless steel crab pots. We harvested lots of crabs, and everything looked good. We packed up our gear and were headed back onto the larger boat when in his excitement he tried to hand me both crab traps dropping one in 50ft deep water. It was an honest mistake.
The moral for me is, hey s*** happens!
If this had not happened I would not have come to the forum and already learnt so many new points about prawn harvest. So, going forward I'm better informed and will keep a closer eye. At least my float and line are still with me.
A couple of years ago I took a buddy crab fishing with 2 high quality stainless steel crab pots. We harvested lots of crabs, and everything looked good. We packed up our gear and were headed back onto the larger boat when in his excitement he tried to hand me both crab traps dropping one in 50ft deep water. It was an honest mistake.
The moral for me is, hey s*** happens!
spring time
Well-Known Member
Always keep the top door open if you drop overboard the rope and bout will float up
spring time
Well-Known Member
the commercial prawn closes province wide on June 21 fyi
sly_karma
Crew Member
I've found it instructive to fish for prawns while the commercial season is on. Observing where the commercial trap lines are set, depths, bottom terrain and locations, etc, taught me a lot. Watching them lift and set traps is good too - I realised they don't always drop on a simple straight line between the two buoys. Plus you know areas to not bother with when trapping after the comm season has ended.
I don't want to lose my expensive trap setups, nor do I want to get in the way of guys trying to make a living, so I'm very cautious about dropping traps in season, and will skip a usual favourite spot if I judge that there's a possible conflict with commercial gear. Take a slow drive around the outskirts of the intended area before dropping, carefully examine any other floats visible. If I see a float with a commie number on it, I go find the other end of the string and then make a plan.
I don't want to lose my expensive trap setups, nor do I want to get in the way of guys trying to make a living, so I'm very cautious about dropping traps in season, and will skip a usual favourite spot if I judge that there's a possible conflict with commercial gear. Take a slow drive around the outskirts of the intended area before dropping, carefully examine any other floats visible. If I see a float with a commie number on it, I go find the other end of the string and then make a plan.
Let’s be honest, you don’t leave your traps anymore cause the golf course is the worst place to prawn
Alex_c
Well-Known Member
What’s the shortest soak you’ve found to be productive?
