Where to buy a Crab / lobster pot or creel?

[tommy a]

Not knowing too much about this here pot lark but was hoping to put a small one down in and around Exmouth to see if I can get some crabs and some prawns for fresh bait - is the pot and method the same for prawns and crabs ?

Does the net simply sit on the sea bed and with a bit of bait inside attract the crabs and prawns ? And if I decide Ill have a go can you just put a pot down with a rope and bouy on the end to mark it so other boats dont go over it ? Wont the the local pot men get a big if another pot just appears ?

Any help or advise would be great as I havent a clue !!

[Charter Skipper]

Originally Posted by tommy a

Not knowing too much about this here pot lark but was hoping to put a small one down in and around Exmouth to see if I can get some crabs and some prawns for fresh bait - is the pot and method the same for prawns and crabs ?

Does the net simply sit on the sea bed and with a bit of bait inside attract the crabs and prawns ? And if I decide Ill have a go can you just put a pot down with a rope and bouy on the end to mark it so other boats dont go over it ? Wont the the local pot men get a big if another pot just appears ?

Any help or advise would be great as I havent a clue !!

Can`t see anyone throwing a wobbly about 1 pot,but might be a good idea to sound out the local authority ,just in case some happy soul kicks up a fuss....

[keana]

Someone I know reckons he dropped a bait net into the Dock while he was fishing about 2 weeks ago. Said he baited it with Mackerel head and guts, left if for about an hour and he had loads of peelers in there. I didnt actually see them but i`ve gone and bought one for myself (£4.99 in a tackle shop in Barry). Actually the entry holes look a bit small so it could be more of a shrimp net than a crabber, but it should take a crab about 2" across if they can find their way in. I havnt used it yet as I dont fish the docks but i`ve been meaning to give it a try on the beach and just let the sea cover it for a tide. I thought it was too early for peelers yet but maybe the dock offers a false environment...ie warmer, deeper, darker, calmer. etc

[Charter Skipper]

Originally Posted by keana

Someone I know reckons he dropped a bait net into the Dock while he was fishing about 2 weeks ago. Said he baited it with Mackerel head and guts, left if for about an hour and he had loads of peelers in there. I didnt actually see them but i`ve gone and bought one for myself (£4.99 in a tackle shop in Barry). Actually the entry holes look a bit small so it could be more of a shrimp net than a crabber, but it should take a crab about 2" across if they can find their way in. I havnt used it yet as I dont fish the docks but i`ve been meaning to give it a try on the beach and just let the sea cover it for a tide. I thought it was too early for peelers yet but maybe the dock offers a false environment...ie warmer, deeper, darker, calmer. etc

Can`t see them being peelers,too early in the year,and crabs when they moult hide as far in hole and crevises as the can so as not to be vunerable,very rearely find them out and about in the open when moulting.

Putting a pot at low water at he end of the pier in summer baited up with smelly squid and fish produces loads of hermits...great bait for the Smoothounds....

[keana]

I thought it was too good to be true. Might try the hermit thing then.

[keana]

Just another thought on the peeler crab thing. I could have collected a bucket load of crabs last summer when I went peeler hunting on the beach at Penarth but not one was a peeler. All hardbacks. Surely all crabs must peel in order for them to grow. So where do they go when they peel if they`re not under rocks?
Are hermits any use for other species other than smoothies?

[Charter Skipper]

The headsands around Barry,big spring tide near the low water mark,they hide in the deep crevis`s covered over with thick weed.You sometimes find a big shore crab will be carrying a peeler slung underneath it,they tend to be quite aggresive when they are tho !!! .

Hermits are great bait for Rays and Cod also.....

[keana]

Thanks Mike, I know i`m going off the thread here a bit but I often just walk past Hermit crabs when i`m digging rag thinking they are not much use for anything. I`ve used them off the beach occasionally but never caught anything on them. Do you use them with anything else or just two or three at a time lashed to your hook? I imagine its the sack at the tail that has the scent in it am I right? If so do you pierce that to let the scent out?