Do you think auto dippers are fair ?

[27 sailfish]

Glad it's not winter - lord - have mercy.

There was no intent to bash commercial crabbers - just an honest question about it being fair / sporting - not illegal.

IMHO - trot lining is much more sporting then other methods.

[POLECAT]

No offense taken at this end.

Some interesting replies though.

[Capt. Dale]

No problem here either Skip.
More sporting with a Net, Yes in deed.
But I not using my auto-dipper for sport.
Sorry If I got testy!!

[stingray]

There's some truth to every post on here from what I can discern.

Let's call it a push and move on.

[dogbig]

Crabbing with an auto dipper is like going to a strip club blindfolded.

[Big Liar]

Crabbing with an auto dipper is like going to a strip club blindfolded.

Braille strippers. Sounds like fun to me.

If your in it only for fun then yes it does take some fun out of it. If your in it selling crabs, then the fact that it puts more money in your pocket is always a plus.

[crabincruiser]

Just wondering Capt Chesapeake, aka 27 Sailfish, How fair is it that you and others use all those bait's to catch Rockfish. If you were as great as you think you are, you would'nt need all those rod's,So why don't you leave the dippers alone.

[soggy dog]

Thursday morning - watched a guy lay out his trot line and then run it.

Figured it was slow - since only saw him dip 2-3 times down the very long line.

Once at the end - his helper tossed over the marker and they motored towards me but on an angle. Saw them crank up a very large net with what looked to be about 30 crabs in it. They pulled the dipper in and culled as they motored back for another pass.

Struck me as kinda an unfair advantage as the crabs do not need to be netted by hand - instead water pressure pushes them right into the dipper net.

Any one who has ever netted crabs off a trot line knows how tough it can be on certain days. This auto dipper seems to take any skill out of it.

Even if I could rig up my boat with one of those contrpations, I wouldn't. It's all about fishing/crabbing and all that goes with it for me.

[Capt.Nick]

I believe I read somewhere the auto dipper was first used in the 20's. But when something is invented has no baring on how or if it should be used. Up until now I had no problem with comm or rec using them. But as some people here stated a higher mortality rate, I believe it should be checked and addressed. We should always harvest with the best methods possible to bring as close to 100% usable product to the us.

Back then they were called 'Patent dippers" if you buy 'Potted" crabs in certain areas,like south carolina,with strong currents,the same heavy death rate happens.I was told years ago the strong current pushed all the crabs up against the down current side of the pot and killed many crabs.There may be something to this.

[mrobertson]

Any tools that allow you to do your job easier are fine with me. If you are within the regs of how many and what size you can keep, who cares HOW you caught them.