I put 2 crab pots in just south of penny’s creek/St. John’s Yacht marina. In a small creek second one on goggle maps. One was there one was gone. It was super high tide hoping when I go back at low tide maybe float got hung on something.If any one sees yellow float with 3 cavalier ave written lete know.
Crab pots really get messed with a lot, cut, stolen, robbed. Mine use to get robbed all the time in acupolo and creeks close to it and coburg creek has a reputation for cut pots. I caught a brand new pot in coburg that had the rope cut. The first throw on a brand new cast net I thought it was hung u and was gonna get ruined. But luckly I pulled it in with out even a single tare and had a new crab pot. If there are crabbers pots any where close don’t put your pot there they are very territorial and it will be the end of your crab pot.
I’m gonna set a deer camera in the marsh and tie a cinder block with a float to it
I’ll get the boat numbers then we’ll see who’s f–king with my stuff.
I lived on Johns Island for 5 years (10 years ago) and we put crab pots out along the Stono an other small creeks a lot. I would say every single one got stolen or the rope cut eventually - some would take a day to be messed with and some would take a week or more. We came to just accept it - no reason to spend my time/effort trying to catch them if they were just gonna do it again. Best thing to do is put it out early in the morning and get it later in the day or put it out right before dark and get check it first thing. That way you get 2 full tides and hopefully no one screws with it before you get back.
It will get messed with by everyone just about especially in a secluded area. I’ve seen people mess with mine and ride away before I could get to them. A lot of times if it is robbed it is someone to lazy to catch there own. But missing is usually the crabbers special they cut it and throw the float in the marsh, if your ever up in the marsh you will see a ton of floats. Also when you set your pots if you put the openings into the current you catch more and also if you set them at the mouth of a finger creek that runs dry, just make sure it will be in water at low tide or you will have dead crabs and the risk of getting a fine. I’ve caught 40 crabs in a pot before and the other robbed one had 8, use zip ties to close your pot most people don’t have zip ties so you at least don’t have to question if you got robbed or the crabs were slow.
Very good tip on the zip ties 40inchred!
Question: Out in the creek where I fish I have noticed two floats both the color of mud. One only appears at low tide, and the other only when tide is at mid point to low. Aren’t the floats supposed to be a certain color, and are there regs about them needing to be showing at high tide so they are not a threat to props?
Like zip tie idea. Just can’t believe someone would f with them.
If you dont have a really long rope the super high tides will moved them . We had this happen in Port Royal years ago while crabbing for money .
We found most after the tide went lower . My Dad always carried his 1911 .45 pistol in case he caught anyone messing with his traps . I’m happy that he never caught anyone .
Bill
I DONT HAVE A BOAT
BUT LOVE TO FISH> HINT
My first question is how heavy of an iron did you have on your crab traps? If you did not have at least a 5/8 or three-quarter iron, the big tides took your pots. I have had a dozen traps moved over half a mile on one tide. When a trap rolls it will wind the cord up and pull the float under. I doubt the commercial guys are messing with your traps, as most have too much to lose to be screwing around with the recreational pot. The floats that you see exposed at mid tide are traps that cannot be pulled up or sanded in. Ask Dnr law-enforcement, most theft occurs by recreational boaters on the weekends. Every now and again they will set up a sting operation and Bost quite a few boaters for pulling up commercial traps. Don’t blame the crabber unless you have proof and if you have proof…prosecute!
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PROUD YANKEE
Oyster Baron
NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
Oh and by the way all crabbers carry zip ties, to repair crab traps and to reattach loose irons
.
PROUD YANKEE
Oyster Baron
NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
quote:
Originally posted by sellsfishMy first question is how heavy of an iron did you have on your crab traps? If you did not have at least a 5/8 or three-quarter iron, the big tides took your pots. I have had a dozen traps moved over half a mile on one tide. When a trap rolls it will wind the cord up and pull the float under.
^^ This
If you look back at most posts with a subject of lost or stolen traps, I bet it coincides with big tides. I’ve had it happen myself, and my first thought was that someone stole my trap. Go look again at dead low tide a good ways up and down stream from where it was placed
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I’ve had both scenarios happen. I put a trap out and checked it the next day to find it empty of crabs and re-baited with a different bait than I was using. I zip tied it shut and threw it back in. It was gone the next day.
I had another one go missing that I chalked up to theft only to find it about a month later, untampered with and about a half mile from where I’d set it.
I know a few commercial crabbers and the common story among them is that they lose an average of about one trap per trip to tides or theft.
I know a few crabbers and it is pretty common for them to have a bunch of pots stole recreational guys don’t coincidently steal 25 or 50 pots at a time. I always use at least 20ft more line then water depth and I always had a ton of rebar on my pots, I use to take the scraps from work which would usually be over a inch in diameter and I would add overkill when it would come to weight. I usually would have my pots and a buddy’s that we would check together and nearly every time one would be messed with or missing. I have personally seen my crab pot get messed with by a crabber on the stono. I have also seen crabbers catch people messing with there pots, one time I watch one mammoth of a man that was a crabber verbal castrate 4 men who where robbing his pots for bait, and they got so scared of him and trouble they all opened there wallets and started handing over cash. This was at the solegre ramp and the look on the 4 mens faces down right awesome. The stories I have heard from crabbers they should start a show called crab wars. As a side note why would you not look a half mile up or down the river it takes like 2 mins, I mean even a mile or 2 if its been out there several tides.
I thought about the high tide. I set the trap at high tide Friday night plenty of rope even at dead high. I had another pot 100 yds up Creek it was fine. I looked in the area. Maybe it will turn up that’s the main reason I posted this.
I lost a crab pot in the Cooper river, and was told by a friend that Charleston Naval Weapons station security might have the pot. I checked with them and got my pot back. I wasn’t far enough up river from the restricted area. A few days later I placed the pot just north of Bushy Park near a lot of other pot’s. The next day the pot was gone. What I do now is place the pot near where I am fishing, so I can keep an eye on it and the boat traffic. I have thought about weighting the line and tying the line off in the marsh grass.