trotline crabbing

[keakar]

has anyone ever did crabbing like this in louisiana?

Crabbing On Kent Island.avi - YouTube

Crabbing On Kent Island.avi - YouTube

just wondering about the setup and tips or mistakes to avoid making because im thinking of trying to make a setup to do something like that.

it looks really easy and simple to do once you have everything set up the right way so im wanting to figure out a way to do this by myself without any other help in the boat

looks like it sure beats the heck out of hoop nets and string lines from piers

[swamp snorkler]

My PaPa had 2 pa-lons over 1,000' long in Lake Des Allemands. He caught a lot of crabs back in the day. Never went with him but I do know that he used salted beef lips because he could use them.over and iver and they lasted a long time.

[eman]

We run lines like that in the surf. But we do it wading, 3 lines each w/ 50 drops. Drops are 1o' apart. Just tie a wash tub to ya belt and use a net to catch the crab and dump in the tub. By the time you set and bait the lines and get your gear ready it's time to start running them. If the crabs are running good you dump the tub an start again at the beginning.

[AceArcher]

I ran trotlines for crabs up in maryland. They have a lot less crabs up there in the chesapeake than we do down here so it makes sense to cover a huge area.. With that said.... its a good bit of work to do this. Personally it's to easy to catch a boat load of them down here in drop nets or handlines.

But if your still interested here is a link with detailed instruction on how to build one, how to set it, how to run it, and suggestions on what to use for bait. http://www.bluecrab.info/crabbing/trotline.html

pm me if you get hung up on anything and need some advice.

[AceArcher]

ohh and make sure you use a non floating line such as dacron for the line itself and a floating line for the marker bouy lines.

also make sure you use at least 3-4 feet of pretty heavy galvanized chain on each end of the line.... you have to keep the whole trotline sitting on the bottom... and they love to float. forget about doing this in a heavy tidal movement area.

[keakar]

Originally Posted by AceArcher

I ran trotlines for crabs up in maryland. They have a lot less crabs up there in the chesapeake than we do down here so it makes sense to cover a huge area.. With that said.... its a good bit of work to do this. Personally it's to easy to catch a boat load of them down here in drop nets or handlines.

But if your still interested here is a link with detailed instruction on how to build one, how to set it, how to run it, and suggestions on what to use for bait. http://www.bluecrab.info/crabbing/trotline.html

pm me if you get hung up on anything and need some advice.

thanks, I printed that out. lots of great info there.

ya, I think im gonna try it because with my bad back im trying to avoid all the bending over the side and hand over hand pulling of set nets .

I haven't found crabs all that plentiful to be able to reliably catch more then a dozen of em on the spot when desired so I figure covering more ground I think should make catching "enough" faster then spending time working a dozen set nets over and over.

heck if I get a dozen crabs I be happy but I would like to get at least a half bushel to a bushel when I put the effort into going crabbing.

I got some 1/4" galvanized chain, would that be heavy enough to use or should I go with 5/16"? or better yet whats the total weight of it im looking for?

also should I add small weights along the line every so often like every 100ft?

Originally Posted by swamp snorkler

My PaPa had 2 pa-lons over 1,000' long in Lake Des Allemands. He caught a lot of crabs back in the day. Never went with him but I do know that he used salted beef lips because he could use them.over and iver and they lasted a long time.

where do you get those bull lips and what do locals call em? im sure Cajuns have their own name for em.

[swamp snorkler]

Originally Posted by keakar

where do you get those bull lips and what do locals call em? im sure Cajuns have their own name for em.

This has been years ago, I'm sure at the time he got them from a slaughter house. My Papa worked days as an insulator at Avondale and on the evenings/weekend he would hunt, trap, garden, fish crawfish, run trot lines..... whatever it took to put food on the table.

[keakar]

Originally Posted by swamp snorkler

This has been years ago, I'm sure at the time he got them from a slaughter house. My Papa worked days as an insulator at Avondale and on the evenings/weekend he would hunt, trap, garden, fish crawfish, run trot lines..... whatever it took to put food on the table.

i'll have to ask at the grocery store, if they don't have them I hope they can at least order some for me.

everything is so dang expensive these days, even stuff we use for bait so cheaper and longer lasting bait is definitely what I want to use.

[Quackhead62]

Try a local slaughter house your every day gracery store might look at you a lil funny when you ask them if they can get that for you.

[cajun_poboy]

Looks simple enough... Steering the boat and netting at the same time may be a bit challenging. I would think that if you set that prop stick in the right spot relative to the controls, then it should be very doable by yourself. May take a little repetition to get the technique down.

[keakar]

Originally Posted by cajun_poboy

Looks simple enough... Steering the boat and netting at the same time may be a bit challenging. I would think that if you set that prop stick in the right spot relative to the controls, then it should be very doable by yourself. May take a little repetition to get the technique down.

that's what I was thinking.

I have a side console flatboat so I have to figure out how far out from the boat to put the line guide so I have room to net but not be too far out.

Originally Posted by Quackhead62

Try a local slaughter house your every day gracery store might look at you a lil funny when you ask them if they can get that for you.

I wouldn't even have a clue where one is lol. guess I'll have to ask around, im from Laplace right near New Orleans but fish in Golden Meadow

[AceArcher]

Originally Posted by cajun_poboy

Looks simple enough... Steering the boat and netting at the same time may be a bit challenging. I would think that if you set that prop stick in the right spot relative to the controls, then it should be very doable by yourself. May take a little repetition to get the technique down.

believe me when i say... it's more difficult than it looks...

you want your boat to be on the "downwind" side of the line (any shadow falling on the crabs when they are coming up will make em drop to early, also then you dont have to fight runnin over your line) i strongly strongly suggest that for your first line you DO NOT build a "snooded" line.. instead simply put the baits on the line with a simple slip knot (the type that when the bait is gone it pulls out) like this http://www.kategilbert.com/howto/slipknot.html

space your baits out about every 20 - 30 feet to start... trust me when you are running the line that is very quick... once you get better and have the hang of it..... then space em about every 15 feet.

when you are running the line... basically throw the line over you roller / prop stick on the boat... and then just put the engine in gear and idle down the line on the downwind side... its best if you have someone running the motor and another person running the net to scoop..... after you get the hang of it you can do both at the same time.

Bull lips can be used for 4+ trips, chicken necks usually good for 2 trips, everything falls between those two.

Keep your net in the water.. if you have a couple crabs in a row you can leave the net in the water.. the force of the water moving (since your boat is moving) will keep the crabs in the net as you scoop.

you want your end anchors to be about 20lbs or so.. from them run a rope to a float.. then from the float run a line to your chain... you want 3-4 foot of fairly beefy galv chain.. something like you have as your towing chains. then use a brass snap to connect your line to the end of the chain.. run your baited line out (EITHER 90 degrees cross wind, or with the wind) when you get to the end... connect again to your chain on that side... then drop the second anchor taught enough so that it "pulls" your float on that side down a bit... in other words you want the line to be fairly tight (natural line tension from the floats will pull the anchors back enough so that the line will lay on the bottom)

Here's an absolute pro tip... bait your line before hand... and store it in a 5 gallon buck.... but when you put it in the bucket DO NOT TRY TO COIL IT.... just use a technique called "faking" (in other words just let the line lie in the bucket as your baiting it as it wants to lie... if you coil it with baits on it... you will have an EPIC rat's nest..... ) trust me on this one.

[AceArcher]

you can put a 2 oz or so weight every 20-30 feet if you want but if you set up the line correctly and use a non floating line you wont need to.

[AceArcher]

also.. start off with a line of about 500 feet.. dont try and do anything more than that to start.

[keakar]

Originally Posted by AceArcher

you can put a 2 oz or so weight every 20-30 feet if you want but if you set up the line correctly and use a non floating line you wont need to.

ok, thanks

I was going to use 1 1/2" pvc pipe but with you having done this, i'll ask you whats your thoughts on the best type of line guide to use and why? roller or prop stick

can you say how much cheaper bull lips are then chicken necks? just wondering in case they are hard to find

[AceArcher]

Originally Posted by keakar

ok, thanks

I was going to use 1 1/2" pvc pipe but with you having done this, i'll ask you whats your thoughts on the best type of line guide to use and why? roller or prop stick

can you say how much cheaper bull lips are then chicken necks? just wondering in case they are hard to find

just put together some 3/4 pvc pipe and run it out of a boat holder on your boat.. or however you can secure it to you boat.. .MAKE SURE ITS SECURED... your line will get hung up and there will be some pressure put on this thing.

the key is you want the prop stick to be "level" with the water and about 3-4 inches above the water level ..

google up prop stick picture for crabbing.. that will give you loads of ideas.

keep it minimal.. the fancier it is.. the more likely it is that stuff is gonna get hung up on it... simple is better in this case.

[AceArcher]

can't speak about bull lips down here.. but there were in great demand in maryland and therefore were pretty pricey..

i always used chicken necks.. you could buy them bulk up in maryland... but if you can get your hand on some trash fish (mullet etc) cut up chunks of them will work great as well.

[keakar]

Originally Posted by AceArcher

can't speak about bull lips down here.. but there were in great demand in maryland and therefore were pretty pricey..

i always used chicken necks.. you could buy them bulk up in maryland... but if you can get your hand on some trash fish (mullet etc) cut up chunks of them will work great as well.

ok, i'll just stick to chicken necks, you can get em just about anywhere

if I had mullet I would be using it to catch redfish with lol.

[keakar]

Originally Posted by AceArcher

just put together some 3/4 pvc pipe and run it out of a boat holder on your boat.. or however you can secure it to you boat.. .MAKE SURE ITS SECURED... your line will get hung up and there will be some pressure put on this thing.

the key is you want the prop stick to be "level" with the water and about 3-4 inches above the water level ..

google up prop stick picture for crabbing.. that will give you loads of ideas.

keep it minimal.. the fancier it is.. the more likely it is that stuff is gonna get hung up on it... simple is better in this case.

ok, I didn't think 3/4 would be strong enough for me to be confident in it having to be lifting the chains n stuff plus getting knocked around in the boat because, well we all know stuff happens lol

think i'll go with 1" just for added insurance in case I step on it or something

have to see how it works out but my idea for now is to wedge it under the motors hooks (where the screw thingy used to be) and then screw it down on the corner brace of the transom. that will put it about 2-3ft behind me so I should be at the right spot to catch the crabs just before or just as they break the surface.

I should have plenty of trout heads on hand for bait and most likely some small white trout I assume, not sure how good the fish heads will attract them though

[AceArcher]

Originally Posted by keakar

ok, I didn't think 3/4 would be strong enough for me to be confident in it having to be lifting the chains n stuff plus getting knocked around in the boat because, well we all know stuff happens lol

think i'll go with 1" just for added insurance in case I step on it or something

have to see how it works out but my idea for now is to wedge it under the motors hooks (where the screw thingy used to be) and then screw it down on the corner brace of the transom. that will put it about 2-3ft behind me so I should be at the right spot to catch the crabs just before or just as they break the surface.

I should have plenty of trout heads on hand for bait and most likely some small white trout I assume, not sure how good the fish heads will attract them though

you can use pvc as thick as you want.. i think i used 1 1/2 inch on mine (meant to say dont use anything smaller than 3/4).. fish parts work good but they can be a little tougher to put on the line (not terrible tough)

It's going to depend some on how big your boat is.. but for my boat having the prop stick way back at the motor would be to far back. if you are gonna try and drive the boat and catch yourself (1 man show) the prop stick needs to be about 4 inches out of the water right where you drive the boat at...

if you run the prop stick a little higher like 10 inches off the water you could maybe put it back by the mother... but basically you want the line to come out of the water about a foot in front of you.

you will actually be netting the crabs a good 1 - 2 foot under the water right when the come into view... if they get within an inch or so of the surface they will let go quick.