Prawning in the Inlet - Let's play nice, shall we?

[Ghostprof]

My son and I have been prawning in Saanich Inlet for a few years now, with varying success -- we have fun and bad catches don't mean we starve, so it's all good. I can't help but noticing this year, though, that people are dropping really close to our traps -- like sometimes so close we have to wait to pull ours because the float is snug up against someone else's hull while they pull theirs. Twice we've had strings dropped over top of our traps (we run single traps) so that we had to haul up three times the weight just to get our trap in the boat (and I'm just hauling hand over hand, no power puller here!).

I understand that it's hard to place traps precisely, and that everyone makes mistakes. It's really crowded out there, it seems, and it's tough to find good spots. But can we please all try not to camp right on top of each other?

 

[Fishin]

I started prawning there about 7 years ago wasn’t to bad had the occasional person a little close but nothing close to being right beside mine in the last few years it’s just been crazy almost not even worth it for me anymore, have had my traps raided by people, caught one guy red handed with my traps in his boat he fled as he saw me racing towards him if I would have had the boat I do now at the time I promise you I would have caught him LOL, I reported him but nothing ever happened of it. The worst was when a commercial boat set right on top of me and a few others traps pinning them down.

 

[Ghostprof]

I started prawning there about 7 years ago wasn’t to bad had the occasional person a little close but nothing close to being right beside mine in the last few years it’s just been crazy almost not even worth it for me anymore, have had my traps raided by people, caught one guy red handed with my traps in his boat he fled as he saw me racing towards him if I would have had the boat I do now at the time I promise you I would have caught him LOL, I reported him but nothing ever happened of it. The worst was when a commercial boat set right on top of me and a few others traps pinning them down.

Yeah I hear you. We don't even bother after the commercial fishery opens. Not worth it. I have a buddy who watched a commercial guy cut his line -- then see him watching -- and re-tie it and put it back. But he's lost a few traps due to cut lines.

 

[Pineapple Express]

That sounds super frustrating. I can't help but think (hope??) that the people posting here on a fishing-enthusiast forum are not the ones raiding traps and setting right on other strings.

 

[Tips Up]

Yup. It's a gong show out there. Had all of my traps stolen last year. Bouys were cut off and discarded. The rest never to be seen again. Just go phone calls from others as they found my floats over that week. RCMP and DFO would do nothing about it. My research turned up that this is not uncommon and a certain individual responsible each year. Seems to go on a rampage once a year doing this.
Lots of other threads on this. Commercial guys will cut your line to free them from their traps and mostly tie the line back together before they toss back. They are not out to get you. Just trying to do their job.

Anyhow... I now don't leave out over night.
Sounds like you are having limited success so I would recommend trying some new spots with no one around. There are lots of prawns out there and they are not necessarily where all the other traps are. Do some 1 hours soaks in a few spots until you find your own space. I have 2 areas I like to drop where I rarely see other traps. Always get my limits with a 3-4 hour soak.

 

[Ghostprof]

Yup. It's a gong show out there. Had all of my traps stolen last year. Bouys were cut off and discarded. The rest never to be seen again. Just go phone calls from others as they found my floats over that week. RCMP and DFO would do nothing about it. My research turned up that this is not uncommon and a certain individual responsible each year. Seems to go on a rampage once a year doing this.
Lots of other threads on this. Commercial guys will cut your line to free them from their traps and mostly tie the line back together before they toss back. They are not out to get you. Just trying to do their job.

Anyhow... I now don't leave out over night.
Sounds like you are having limited success so I would recommend trying some new spots with no one around. There are lots of prawns out there and they are not necessarily where all the other traps are. Do some 1 hours soaks in a few spots until you find your own space. I have 2 areas I like to drop where I rarely see other traps. Always get my limits with a 3-4 hour soak.

Thanks for this. We put our last set down where there were no other ones, but when we got back someone was literally on top of us -- like I had to move his float off my line when my trap came up. But it's a shame that there are people out there doing **** like that. It's a big ocean.

 

[Slabbedout]

Yes, I have been prawning in the inlet every April now for over 15 years. Every year it gets worse. I mostly think it’s guys with Navionics that have not turned off the share waypoints option, every time you update or sync your device it shares your waypoints with other navionics users. I find the same thing with Hali spots too. Guys are right on the marker.

I will say that prawning has been pretty good this April thus far.

 

[Ghostprof]

That sounds super frustrating. I can't help but think (hope??) that the people posting here on a fishing-enthusiast forum are not the ones raiding traps and setting right on other strings.

I almost didn't post here for just that reason -- I am pretty sure the guys doing this are not on here. Still, I had to vent somewhere.

 

[Gear'n'beer!]

I gave up on Saanich inlet for just these reasons. Got a buddy who has done well lately however.

 

[DuroBoat]

I stopped prawning in saanich inlet last year after a commercial guy set his traps right on top on mine. Lines got tangled and it was a mess. When I dropped my traps it was dawn and not another trap in sight - when I returned in the afternoon my traps were surrounded and two of my traps were tangled with commercial traps. The following weekend I had lost two traps when the floats were cut off. I suspect it’s often the same individuals that do these asshole moves

 

[Irishwolf]

I know of a lot of guys that just sit on their traps for these reasons. Kinda hard for another boat to drop across your lines/pull your gear with you sitting there in your boat.

 

[Ghostprof]

Yup. It's a gong show out there. Had all of my traps stolen last year. Bouys were cut off and discarded. The rest never to be seen again. Just go phone calls from others as they found my floats over that week. RCMP and DFO would do nothing about it. My research turned up that this is not uncommon and a certain individual responsible each year. Seems to go on a rampage once a year doing this.
Lots of other threads on this. Commercial guys will cut your line to free them from their traps and mostly tie the line back together before they toss back. They are not out to get you. Just trying to do their job.

Anyhow... I now don't leave out over night.
Sounds like you are having limited success so I would recommend trying some new spots with no one around. There are lots of prawns out there and they are not necessarily where all the other traps are. Do some 1 hours soaks in a few spots until you find your own space. I have 2 areas I like to drop where I rarely see other traps. Always get my limits with a 3-4 hour soak.

"certain individual responsible each year. Seems to go on a rampage once a year doing this." -- is there a boat description or something we can watch out for if you don't want to name said individual?

 

[Ghostprof]

I know of a lot of guys that just sit on their traps for these reasons. Kinda hard for another boat to drop across your lines/pull your gear with you sitting there in your boat.

This seems to be the clearest solution, but I just don't have the time to do it.

 

[ziggy]

A couple of things I’ve noticed. With people using longer lines its Pretty easy to have floats drift a hundred or so feet from the trap. Given the currents there, I don’t find it all unusual to see floats drift close to mine or when recovering to find I’m drifting down on someone else.

I’ve also noticed that the prime area to fish is actually pretty tight and it seems some traps sit on Prime real estate day in day out. Who needs that many prawns? I’ve seen the same names on the same spot and never see anyone come out to pull them, are they simply saving a spot or are they fishing them constantly? With more congestion people need to be more courteous and more aware, recently I had my traps halfway up when another boat comes racing up and starts pulling his, maybe 10 yds away. He did say “oh I’m a little close “! After pulling the string next to me he headed off to pull three more strings. Was it important to pull the one next to me first lol?

 

[triplenickel]

A couple of things I’ve noticed. With people using longer lines its Pretty easy to have floats drift a hundred or so feet from the trap. Given the currents there, I don’t find it all unusual to see floats drift close to mine or when recovering to find I’m drifting down on someone else.

I’ve also noticed that the prime area to fish is actually pretty tight and it seems some traps sit on Prime real estate day in day out. Who needs that many prawns? I’ve seen the same names on the same spot and never see anyone come out to pull them, are they simply saving a spot or are they fishing them constantly? With more congestion people need to be more courteous and more aware, recently I had my traps halfway up when another boat comes racing up and starts pulling his, maybe 10 yds away. He did say “oh I’m a little close “! After pulling the string next to me he headed off to pull three more strings. Was it important to pull the one next to me first lol?

Probably was in his mind. I bet he was making sure you're honest!

 

[ziggy]

Probably was in his mind. I bet he was making sure you're honest!

If I’m catching what you’re saying he could have come close enough to see his float was still in the water as opposed to starting to haul it when we were already in the process. No need to have two boats that close both drifting.

 

[the gambler]

I used to do my prawning there every year in the spring/summer. No more!
A friend and i left the traps on the soak for a week at a time (checking them once or twice a day) and at least 50% of the time they were 'checked' by someone else. Lots of gear disappeared to. I was taking a ride up the inlet doing some sightseeing and came across my scotsman (really big one) float and two trap set about 3 KM from where they were 'lost'. Guy didn't even bother to put his own float on the stolen goods! (and no - they didn't drift there on their own, i've been prawning for years and know how to weight properly)
Now we just do all the prawning in the last half of December and only get poached a fraction of the time. Apparently the thieves prefer the warm weather to do their deeds.
Little chilly but worth the lack of frustration!!!

 

[drota]

I used to do my prawning there every year in the spring/summer. No more!
A friend and i left the traps on the soak for a week at a time (checking them once or twice a day) and at least 50% of the time they were 'checked' by someone else. Lots of gear disappeared to. I was taking a ride up the inlet doing some sightseeing and came across my scotsman (really big one) float and two trap set about 3 KM from where they were 'lost'. Guy didn't even bother to put his own float on the stolen goods! (and no - they didn't drift there on their own, i've been prawning for years and know how to weight properly)
Now we just do all the prawning in the last half of December and only get poached a fraction of the time. Apparently the thieves prefer the warm weather to do their deeds.
Little chilly but worth the lack of frustration!!!

december is a great time to prawn but is chilly