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Use of folding Danielson crab traps out in the ocean

7K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  biederboat 
#1 ·
I am hoping to use some of the cheapie Danielson crab traps out in the ocean. I have 100' of weighted line with double floats. What depth would these be good for on up to a 6-7 hour soak (I would never leave these overnight). I usually drop traps out between the Tillamook N. Jetty and Twin Rocks or south of the south jetty along the beach.

I don't have any extra weight in them but could strap in some rebar if that would help.

Biederboat
 
#4 ·
I did several things to mine. I put zip ties on all the panels so they stay together. I left one side untied for baiting and removing crab. I used two 4 or 5 pound diving belt weights on the bottom of the trap. If you use floating rope, put a clip about mid way in the rope and attach about a 4 or 6 oz. cannon ball sinker to pull the rope down. Wieght the doors - I just wrapped pencil lead across the cross bar. Adjust the door hinges so they swing freely without binding.

Out of 7 traps we used last week, 4 were Danielson's. We dropped them outside T-Bay and picked up 30 keepers with a two hour soak. Not the best, but they work.
 
#6 ·
I did several things to mine. I put zip ties on all the panels so they stay together. I left one side untied for baiting and removing crab. I used two 4 or 5 pound diving belt weights on the bottom of the trap. If you use floating rope, put a clip about mid way in the rope and attach about a 4 or 6 oz. cannon ball sinker to pull the rope down. Wieght the doors - I just wrapped pencil lead across the cross bar. Adjust the door hinges so they swing freely without binding.

Out of 7 traps we used last week, 4 were Danielson's. We dropped them outside T-Bay and picked up 30 keepers with a two hour soak. Not the best, but they work.
Exactly.
If you don't have diving belts (c'mon, who doesn't have a diving belt?) then ziptie rebar. Works great.

P
 
#9 ·
Been using them for last two years with no problem. 5# sash weight zip tied behind bait cage, doors wrapped with pencil lead, 50ft of rope with banana weight taped 15 ft down. Throw them both south of jetty and north all the way to Rockaway Beach (had good Luck here). good luck
 
#10 ·
I used these before and they work great when you weight them. To keep the rust stains and electrolysis under control I put my rebar and steel rod weights into PC pipe capped at both ends, worked very well.
 
#11 ·
Well I got to put some of this to use immediately, here's what I did:

100' of poly rope well weighted (I slipped in some keel/banana sinkers directly into the poly rope), with double floats.

Weighted all doors with pencil lead, about 2".

I zip tied one corner of each sorting-door that I didn't intend to open up for extra stability. I don't plan on folding these down as I use the erected trap to transport the rope & floats.

Bait cages in the middle of the floor.

No extra trap weight (e.g. rebar).

I set them in about 65' south of the south Tillamook jetty and each trap picked up about 8-10 keeper crabs (using last week's salmon of course) on a 7 hour soak. We sorted through them for the best 18 which gave us about half well matured within their shell size and the rest deemed just full/hard enough to keep. The good news is we threw out a bunch of really large not-quite-ready-for-primetime males. Can't wait until August.

Thanks for all the help,
Biederboat
 
#13 ·
Hey Bied (or anyone else),
I've got three pieces of rebar, coated and cut to size just for Danielson's...don't have any Danielson's so they're yours if you want them.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the offer Bill, I was happy enough with how mine worked w/o extra weight. I'll never leave 'em in for real long and I want to keep them light enough to hang on my no so strong pegboard so if someone else wants them I hope they contact you.

Biederboat
 
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