Crabbing Gear

[castlemaine]

There's been a lot of chats about people putting too much rope on their crab pots to float and being a nusiance to travelling vessels.

I usually only have crabbed in the estuaries but I've been hoping to try some crabbing in the southern Moreton Bay (when the wind, rain and work slows down) but am faced with a question that some of you may help.

I believe from other posts I need at least 10-12m of rope in the Bay ...

Questions ...

1. How much rope do I need?
2a. Do I need 2 sets of rope, one for estuaries and one for the Bay?
2b. If you tie your rope to shorten it, what knot do you use?
3. Is 4mm rope sufficient in the Bay?
4. Is a 150mm float sufficient?

Supplementary Questions ...

5. Mr Smith takes his wife and children (16yrs and 18yrs) crabbing, theoritically he put down 16 pots all marked with the same surname and address. Now if the missus and kids decide to stay on the beach, can Mr Smith check all the pots?

6. What if Mr Smith went fishing on another day, with his mate Mr Jones and while Mr Jones is setting up camp can Mr Smith also check Mr Jones' pots?

Appreciate any answers and experiences.

Cheers
PS I'm not a school teacher

[timddo]

i have 25meters of rope on my pots for the bay. Where i put the pots it's hmmm 17meters deep.

[tunaticer]

I use 4 or 5mm rope for my pots with 6" floats. If it is a high current area i run a half torpedo float about 2 feet in front of the round float. To shorten my ropes i use a shark clip on the end of the rope and back clip along the floatline.

The thinner the line the less water resistance there is on the rope and the less the chance of the float going under or the pot being dragged around, however it also makes hauling them in more painful too. I have run 2mm Venitian blind cord in high run areas in NQ but you need to use pigskin gloves to protect your hands.

Jack.

[trueblue]

My pots have either a 5 or a 7 metre rope permanently spliced onto them. Each splice has a colour code heat shrink on it to easily determine the length.

I have extra ropes made up at 5m, 7m, 15m, and 20m. Each of those also has a heat shrink colour code on the splice.

The 5 and 7 m ropes on the pots themselves are ok for inshore shallow crabbing, but are not enough for deeper work.

This is where the extra ropes come in. Simply choose the correct length to get about 30 % more rope length than the sounded depth and connect ropes and floats together with clips.

For depths up to 7 metres I use a single 6" float. Up to 15 metres without much current, I use an 8" float.

For depths around 20 metres plus and in currents, I am using a string of 3 floats spliced together in a line with each about 1.25 metres apart - 2 x 6" floats and then a single 8" float at the end. In current, the first and sometimes the second 6" float goes underwater.

In lumpy chop, it is also easier to hook rope between two floats instead of one float barely at the surface and with the rope out of view and going straight down in the current.

In high current areas, I found it necessary to use heavy Crab ' n ' Gear pots to keep them on the bottom. Cheap pots will get dragged by the current and need extra weights like dive weights inside the pot or a trailing house brick on a 2 metre rope to keep them from disappearing.

I am fairly confident that a lot of the pots that people complain about being stolen have simply been dragged in the current and are not found by the owner.

Credits to "Craigie" for putting me onto the deep water crabbing, and to "Finding_Time" for putting me onto the extra weights to keep the pots in place in the current.


Cheers

Mick

[CreelReaper]

Hey Castlemaine,
As stated in the regs.....
"In tidal waters, when fishing for blue swimmer crabs, mud crabs and spanner crabs no more than four crab pots or dillies (or a combination of pots and dillies) may be used per person. Crab pots and dillies must be marked by an identifying tag bearing the surname and address of the owner. When not fixed to something they must have a light-coloured surface float attached, not less than 15 cm in any dimension, with the name of the owner clearly inscribed on it."
The regs do not say how many you can own but stipulates an 'in possession' limit when crabbing.
I would suspect that it would be easier to label your potts with just your surname and make sure that there is only multiples of four (pots) in the boat for each person at that time. When starting out dropping all 16 pots or retrieving the 16 pots you MUST have 4 eligible aged persons on board. You can't have a fifth pot sitting in the boat unused because they WILL pinch you for it.
Hope this helps

Shane

[castlemaine]

Watta
What you say makes a lot of sense.
What if on holidays, my mate and I go out together and drop 8 pots. Then every morning only one of us retrieves one pot at a time to rebait and reset the pot. At the end of the trip we go out together and retrieve them again. When rebaiting I'm pulling up his pot (with his name on it) with his permission, can I get pinched for that.
I'm probably splitting hairs but I hate to get caught out.
Cheers

[CreelReaper]

As you say, probably splitting hairs......the problem is that not all fisheries inspectors are top blokes/sheilas. There will come a time when the inevitable will happen. I am not in a position to give a definitive answer on pulling up someone else's pots even with their permission. I suppose too, it's whether they deem them all to be in your possession at that time. (you being the skipper and the only one on board). Lets face it, if they have made their mind up to pinch you no amount of arguing with them will stop it. A couple of times I have had arguments with them over fish identification and nearly lost. Luckily I had piccies/descriptions to back me up at the time.....At the end of the day we all have to ask whether it is worth it. Some will say yes and others will swing the other way.

Cheers

Shane

[CreelReaper]

Hey Trueblue
Gotta agree with you. Out in the bay it can be a lucky dip with overly long ropes due to current etc. I once had an event in tinnie creek where the pot was on the left hand side of the creek and the rope extended diagonally across for about 60ft to the other bank. The float had to have had 20 or so metres of rope and the pot in less than 2m of water. You certainly come to a screaming halt when the prop picks that rope up!!!!!!

Shane