hitting crab traps at high speed

J

Jimherbert

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I just returned from a trip with a friend to Key West from Cape Coral. (great trip by the way) We were traveling about 40 MPH and dodging crab traps the entire way. When we returned I mentioned it to a friend who said "don't worry about it, they are meant to bounce off and won't hurt anything". That doesn't seem right to me, what has been your experience?

jim
 
And what do you do about their lines getting wrapped around the prop when you go over them??? His thinking doesn't make sense to me....maybe he's just been lucky.
 
You have less chance of wrapping at 40 mph than you would at
10 mph. I agree with him. The displacement of the boat creates an outward force not only what you can see, but below the water. I'm sure he was veering in and out of them like a downhill skier; right?

Now, his theory is junk if he rides one right down the skeg or get's near one with 100' of line on it in 25' of water.
 
I was watching something last nite on TV... was salmon fishing in alaska...

It looked like bumper boats..... TOTAL CHAOS

I had to record it ... as I didnt believe what was was seeing....

AS for the crab pots id more concerned with the rope around the prop then hitting the actual trap.

Rob
 
Yeah, those salmon fisher guys were nuts! They were bouncing off each other...

[:-bonc01]
 
"When we returned I mentioned it to a friend who said "don't worry about it, they are meant to bounce off and won't hurt anything"."

Sorry, but your friend is, let's see, how can I put this so as not to offend the many here with delicate sensibilities, oh yeah, intellectually challenged.

The lines can tear up bearings and cause damaging vibrations. And if you ever wrap one all the way up to the prop, the trap, which oft times has a cement slab in the bottom of it, can do a real number on your prop.
 
While your friend may be lucky, he could also end up with a big bill if he wraps one those lines around his prop and shaft at high speed. He may also be leaving behind a swath of destruction that is costing some poor schlub a bunch of money. I have figured out that each of my crab pots has cost me about a 2 hours of labor in splicing and set up plus $75 to $100 in the trap, lead, line, bait cups, etc. and I'm using the inexpensive traps at $24.95 each. Many pots cost upwards of $80-$130 plus the other accessories. If his prop cuts off my marker buoy, I've lost the whole shooting match.

We all tend to want to what we want and go fasts are meant to go fast, however a little courtesy for the guy out there trying to catch a few crab would also be appreciated.
 
Get yourself a ShaftShark (www.shaftshark.com) - I used to fear crab pots on the Chesapeake Bay, with a ShaftShark, crabpots will fear me!!

Mark
Chesapeake Bay (land of crab pots)
 
quote:
Originally posted by ChesBayCruiser

Get yourself a ShaftShark (www.shaftshark.com) - I used to fear crab pots on the Chesapeake Bay, with a ShaftShark, crabpots will fear me!!Mark
Chesapeake Bay (land of crab pots)
Click to expand...


Please re-read AbsoLoot's posting. Your ShaftShark is not kind to crab potters. They too have a right to be in the water. Why not just go around where the pots are placed or slow down to idle speed while you go through? Where is your consideration????
 
FLoating Crab Pots?
Did you mean the Marker Bouys?

That ALaska show must have been the "Gold Rush" Red Salmon fishery out in Bristol bay.

There used to be mid-air collisions between fish spotters too.
 
Liz, I've never boated on the west coast but here the crab pots can get so thick that you can almost walk on them. The owners set them in the middle of the channel. I've never hit one but it's only a matter of time. I'll get a set of line cutters as soon as I can afford them. Consideration goes both ways. Our boating neighborhood is a maze of spiderwebbed creeks which are perfect for setting pots. I rarely see them outside the beaten channel. Jumping in the water to free up a prop is a PITA at my age in the summertime. We boat year around and jumping in in the winter is dangerous. I'd have sympathy for the crabbers if they set pots in the channel fringe which would be easy to do.
 
Do the authorities not set limitations on crab potting, location, how close together, etc? In the delta hot spots for fishing crop up during salmon and stripper runs and fishing boats can clog a section of the river. Most of us recreational boaters just stay away from those areas, but if I must continue through them, I slow down to idle and do my best to avoid their lines and tackle. And most fishermen will drop their fishing pole tip about a foot into the water which lowers the gear below my prop. working together, we all avoid an unpleasant situation.
 
Not me. I helped a guy a few years ago cut one off that was molded on his lower unit, hell of a mess.
 
I cruise at 8 mph so speed isn't much of an issue. I have no idea what the authorities do. They don't enforce no wake laws or where pots are set even if the laws exist. Like I said, there are tons of locations for pots outside the channel. I only have a problem with the folk who set them in the marked channels. Believe me, when I get the cutters, I will still try to avoid the pots. I won't be anxious to see how well they work:]
 
quote:
Originally posted by Flutterby

quote:
Originally posted by ChesBayCruiser

Get yourself a ShaftShark (www.shaftshark.com) - I used to fear crab pots on the Chesapeake Bay, with a ShaftShark, crabpots will fear me!!Mark
Chesapeake Bay (land of crab pots)
Click to expand...


Please re-read AbsoLoot's posting. Your ShaftShark is not kind to crab potters. They too have a right to be in the water. Why not just go around where the pots are placed or slow down to idle speed while you go through? Where is your consideration????

Click to expand...


Traveling off the Jersey Coast last summer, we got stuck in two hours of steady 4-6 footers with rain reducing our visibility. We slowed down just enough to maintain plane and vessel control. We ran into a "City" of traps/markers which only added to the anxiety of the two hour trip. More luck than skill, we avoided the traps, but got real close on a few.

Any suggestions as to how I would avoid the area where the pots were? To my knowledge, there is no designated area in the Atlantic Ocean for lobster/crab pots. It's hard enough to see the pot markers on a Sunny day, let alone in "seas" or at night!

I'm not being sarcastic, I'm just looking for suggestions......
 
the line from crab pot will get tangled up in the prop and shaft/drive. with a stern drive, you can tilt the drive up and depending on the boat clear it from the swim platform. with an inboard, you got to go under... i always keep a bike helmet on the boat jsut in case it's a little bumpy.

consideration ? yeah ... right... the day fishermen stop putting pots in channels or immediately outside the channel, i'll show them some consideration. when they stop having 100s if not 1000s of them 25 yards apart in the Fl Keys in areas that you have to go thru because it's too shallow elsewhere... i'll be considerate. in the mean time, i won't shed any tear over their lost obstructions to navigation.

liz, they don't use poles here... if you're lucky they're using white 4" balls but most time they're dark, either painted or with marine growth. most of them also have a few ft of poly line floating off the buoy... is that yoru idea of consideration ?
 
Spur's, ShaftShark's-whatever, there was at least one lobsterman who blamed those spurs for losing some traps and came up with the anti-Spur device. When short lengths of chain or cable are added to the float setup, one might not find it so amusing running throught the minefields. Just something to be aware of.....
 
I think most boaters would be amazed at the numbers of traps lost each season, detached from their float warps. Each time we dive from the boat I spot at least one or two new ones laying on the bottom. The lines may have either been broken by storms or inadvertantly cut by passing props.

In most cases while diving, I will try to tie the broken rope leading off the trap, to the nearest float warp. The recovered trap may be pulled up by a different fisherman, but they all know each other and the ID tag will direct it to the rightful owner.

I've had to cut lines from my powerboats on a few occasions - not a fun job in heavy weather, or off season in cold water. Either way, it represents lost gear and income to some hard-working fisherman. In all cases, if I have to cut lines from my running gear, I retie the line ends together.

Sure, I'm ticked off by some of the locations they choose to drop their gear. My current boat does offer more time to react - but rather than go over the mostly smallish, white bleach bottle floats (near impossible to see with white caps), I maintain a sharp lookout to steer around them.

Steve
 
Those floaty things are CRAB TRAPS? I thought they marked a slolam course for waterskiing!
 
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