I’m thinking of getting a couple crab pots when I get back in town. I have never put any out and was just curious about a couple things. How long do you usually leave them in before checking? How far away from someone elses pots is acceptable?
Don’t go near any commercial pots, if you have doubts don’t set it. They’ll take your trap in a heartbeat. rebar or double rebar it. Pay attention to the tides, if its a big moon tide be careful may get washed away. SCDNR law says a pot cannot be left unattended for 5 days or more. Every 3 is good. Bait is a mixture of chicken backs and necks stuffed full or big menhaden and mullet.
I’m a high class redneck.
Fishing is a delusion entirely surrounded by liars in pfgs and buffs.
like yak man said be sure your have PLENTY of weight holding it down bc the tides will drift them a good ways if you dont have weight in them. when we set ours of when wego we leave them for two to three days. just make sure you follow all the rules and have a yellow buoy on your pot with name and all that info on it. and please make sure you scout when it is low tide to make sure when you leave them they wont be high and dry
“Good things come to those who bait”
nothing wrong with the above, but i have gotten dozens of crabs in 3 hours before. if there are plenty of crabs around, your bait will be gone within 3 days- once that happens they start killing each other at a faster rate.
if i’m on the water for a little while, i always kick it out first thing and then check it on the way back home- i’ll leave it out for a couple of days if i want more. i don’t set within at least a hundred yards of other pots, and have had them stolen when they were nowhere near anyone else’s. you may be able to minimize impropriety of others through your own actions, and it’s very hard to control from there.
start by setting in relatively shallow water (around 10’ in the summer is usually my starting point anyway) with lots of weight in the trap and lots of line for the float- and pay attention to those huge full moon tides like we had last month- those things will reduce the likelihood of your trap “walking” somewhere else… a phenomenon often mistaken for aforementioned dishonesty and theft.
3-8 hours is plenty.
Stonoman
I agree with Barbawang and would also NEVER fail to agree with Stonoman. Conventional wisdon and everything you read says you need to have pots out through a full tide cycle or two. I just don’t think they move in and out of the marsh and up and down the creeks/rivers with the tide enough for that to be necessary. They seem to just be there. This is supported by Barb and Stono -the max time either offered is 8 hours, not close to one full cycle. I’d go shorter still. To test a couple times, I’ve left the trap in for several days but checked it without emptying it often. I’d guess I average 90% in the first hour. They add up slowly after that. Maybe even go backwards -I swear the few smart ones manage to swim out and they can kill each other before the food runs out even though canabilism is the only reason I’ve read for it. Maybe it’s just me dropping off a dock. Perhaps they are less “resident” without structure and otherwise do, in fact, move in/out, up/down in a way that requires a couple of tides to ensure they pass close enough to smell your bait. But for me in my experience, I haven’t been disappointed pulling it in in an hour if I need bait, maybe waiting 2-3 if guests are coming over. No more.
I have 4 extra heavy crab pot weights if you or anyone wishes to have them for cheap ($5.00 each)
Jim-906-1622 in Mt P
Thanks for all the information. I was hoping it would be long enough to set them when I headed out fishing and pull them on the way back in. Sounds like this may be an option.
I have a crabber that sells me crabs.I see Wes hold up the bucket and he fixes me right up.I always gibe him $20 for about 10 big crabs.They guy works his butt off and people steal his traps and take crabs all the time.Keep your hands off crabbers traps it is food off the table if you steal from them.
Stonoman
Hey Jim: when we move down to the beautiful land of crabs and oysters, and all the fish a man could ever eat, I want those pot weight, as we ain’t catching any herein Harlem Ga. Lol…
I learned the lesson the hard way about where to place your pots. I lost one to this years super moon and another to some douche bag out!
18 Pioneer CC 115 Evinrude E-Tec
Semper Fi!