Distance between traps?

[creekdweller]

I noticed an earlier post complaining about how much real estate the comms take up with their "mile-long" trotlines, and I was wondering how much (more or less) space recs generally use with their 30 trap alllotment. We are somewhat new to the crabbing experience, and I would like to know the general wisdom of the board - In spacing your traps, do you place them far enough apart that you can leave the boat in gear and run at idle through the entire lay, or do you place them closer together either (a) for courtesy - so as to not take up an entire prime spot; or (b) to concentrate the bait/aroma in a smaller area?

[crabby and son]

It depends on how much room you have to work with. I usually run them 20 yards apart. I put the boat in neutral and coast to them. If you keep the boat running than your line will move a great deal from where you started. You will find that a certain point in the run will be hot and you can move more traps there. There is really no need to space further than that...............Gary

[done workin]

Usually about 2 boat lengths +/-, that's roughly 40' X 30 traps = about 1200' total or as much as a recreational trotline.

The boat goes into neutral every trap.

If the crabs are concentrated there will be two rows, or as close as I can get to that, of 15 traps or sometimes even 3 rows of 10.

Alot of it has to do with how much room there is to begin with.

Early bird gets the worm and the others encroach.

Chris

[mazz222]

Gary was pretty much right on the money with my setup. I go 20 - 25 yrds and use the current to set traps and retrieve them. Boat in neutral at every pot but always running in case you get a little off course which happens when wind blows especially with a small john boat. I start out with 1 line of traps and see how they catch usually moving more traps to the hot spots. Just don't crowd your pots as sometimes the doors may foul on the string and you'll need a little time to fix. Hope this helps and good luck.

[27 sailfish]

With traps - try different depths until you start catching crabs - then move others to the good depth. From 5 feet out to 20 can be good. Some days all the crabs will come from one depth but it pays to experiment at first.

The distance depends on the area. If you are set up between two points of land - you just space them equal so they all fit. Some guys will put some on each side of a creek if it is not too wide.

If you are hitting reverse - you are too close. Give time to pull the trap and reset it before you are on the next one.

[Dwayne E]

Just made me think of something, last time out crabbing a couple dropped about 30 traps just outside of our line. The guy was running the boat, and as he approached the traps he would not throttle back very much and would run a circle around his pots while his wife( I am guessing) would frantically try to pull the pots in. He would do a circle and a 1/2 to 2 full circles while she was trying to pull the pot. Then on to the next one and the same thing. It has been a long time since I pulled pots. But I would not last 20 pots at that pace. Granted she was able to keep up the 30-40 minutes we watched.

[smellslikefish]

Just made me think of something, last time out crabbing a couple dropped about 30 traps just outside of our line. The guy was running the boat, and as he approached the traps he would not throttle back very much and would run a circle around his pots while his wife( I am guessing) would frantically try to pull the pots in. He would do a circle and a 1/2 to 2 full circles while she was trying to pull the pot. Then on to the next one and the same thing. It has been a long time since I pulled pots. But I would not last 20 pots at that pace. Granted she was able to keep up the 30-40 minutes we watched.

Sounds like a buddy of mine.......he cant get his boat to idol without stalling, and it looks like he's pulling traps doing 20

[dreampixels]

[QUOTE=

Early bird gets the worm and the others encroach.

Chris[/QUOTE]

But more often the Second mouse gets the cheese