Anyone familliar with crab pots that fish differently?

S

skiptowns98033

Member
At the end of last year and so far this year, there's been a dramatic difference between two different types of pots I have. There are 2 really nice pots - round, stainless mesh, green vinyl coated, entrance ramps and 1/2 of the top opens up. I've got (now) rusty sash weights in the black, square mesh one, the stainless one doesn't need any weight.

I can put the same bait in both and fish them in the same depth within 25 yards of each other and what happens?

The less expensive one invariably out fishes the expensive one one. The other day the round one had 2 - one rock and one small female. The other one had 23 total and 5 keepers.

At first, I didn't even pay attention to the difference in #s, thinking it was just luck of the draw. Now I am not so sure. Various opinions have been offered about polarity, etc but I am puzzled.

Anyone?[/i]
 
Typically, the round, expensive recreational traps have only two doors while the cheap square ones have four. So easier and faster for the crabs to find their way into the cheap traps. Crabbing with rings can be even more productive (no gates!) if you're willing to pull them every twenty minutes or so.

I have both kinds of traps too. I find that the cheap ones out-fish the expensive round ones for short sets, but the difference evens out if I leave them overnight.
 
I have found my one round 4 door pot catches just as many crab as my square 4 door pots. Like johnr said, 4 doors are better than 2 and he is right. What about the bait cages you are using. Are they the same? I catch more crabs with a metal bait cage vs. a soft bait bag. I have found the secret is to stuff as much bait (chicken thighs and cod carcass) as possible in the cage to get more crabs. When the crabs claw at the meat and break it into smaller pieces, that is what brings the army of crabs to your pot. Soft food in a bait bag might work well and so I will have to try that because for me I prefer the cages with the larger holes for the crabs to get at the bait and make a mess (scent trail) of it while eating. Also, I expect the pot down current of the other pots to do better because it is first in line as the crabs follow the scent of all my bait and hit that pot first. Because of this I stagger my pots in depth of about 2 feet deeper than the last pot dropped to make my scent trail wider downstream in the current to entice the crab. Seems rather simple but this is my approach at things. Stuff those cages with bait! Good Luck.
 
The big commercial ones with exposed metal have at least 1 zinc anode in them. Check them out some time when you are next to a crab boat. They actually have threaded rod welded to the metal frame.

I would try just wiring a cheap piece of zinc to the stainless mesh and see if that helps your catch. Be sure and use bare wire otherwise you will insulate the zinc from the mesh.

Please report back with your results!
 
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