Stone Crabs....where are you?????
2 pulls since the 15th in a spot that was pretty productive last season, lets say bayside upper keys. Nada, nothing but a puffer fish, micro fish and snails and jellyfish. Last time 2-4 crabs per trap. Bait has held up, using pigs feet in the cup and a can of cat food, if there is a decent amount of foot left, I throw it in the bottom. Traps were unmolested unless someone is reaching in through the neck opening. My line of traps looked spot on from the way I left it. I see some of the other traps from last time there, you learn them as you float thru the minefield. So I'm not the only one there. And the kicker is last season it was just my 4 traps since one was liberated, this year I replaced the one and now my wife has 5... Anybody have any ideas what I'm doing wrong, if I am?
Thanks in advance for suggestions.
Thanks in advance for suggestions.
Replies
I'm actually trying to forget about stone crabs. The amount of meat in the claws and the ease of opening them, has spoiled me for eating blue crabs, which I used to love as a kid. Now I don't have the patience for them. Figure if I stay away from stone crabs, maybe I'll forget and a bucket of blues will be fun again.
Rick Enjoy blue claw & have found a way to catch them down here. Wife loves them & has the patience to pick them. If I had an un-limited supply & nothing else, I would probably starve.
Holiday weekends and blue crabbing? Ha, at least 25% of my gear will be robbed by the rec sector.
Pinfish traps, my neighbor tried a go at the bait business, got all his licenses and gear..
He couldn't buy traps fast enough to replace the ones stolen by recs, he finally took the buoys off and linked two traps with 20' of sinking rope then grappled them up when he pulled them.
“When you have to choose between two evils you still choose evil” Jerry Garcia
1) boat hooked it and cut line-the area is loaded with traps so your not going to fly through there.
2) commercial boat grabbed it-we really try to watch our spacing and be considerate of others.
3) someone stole it-hell doesn't even want you.
Of the traps we have left it was jellyfish, baby stones and blues. One very weird fish, it was too windy and rough to take pics of.
I'm going to give it one more pull next weekend and then take a break for a few weeks.
I've got 3000+ of my own traps that I know what they were baited with and what kind of bottom they are on, I don't have time or need to pull your 5 traps..
Thanks to all for your comments and have a safe holiday season and put some fish or crabs in the box.