Discuss Crab Pot pros/cons/tweaks

So I was in Alaska in summer 2017, and did a lot of crabbing, using the rigid Danielson traps. I wasn't in love with the fact that it was too wide to fit down into tank well flat, it was either in there diagonally or siting entirely up on the gunwales. I also made some other mods.

I will be back up there this summer, and was thinking of fabricating some custom traps. So I am interested in hearing from folks about which traps you are using and what you like about them and what could be better.

It seems like most yakkers are either using the rigid folding types (most Danielson or Promar) or the Promar folding mesh TR-102W (or modified TR-101s). But certainly tell us if you are using something else (although I'm focusing here on traps/pots, not hoop nets or traps that only close when you pull them up).

So tell us what you are using, how you fish them (long soaks, short soaks, etc.), what you like and what needs improvement.

I'll go first below.

I fished in SE Alaska (Wrangell) with Danielson rigid traps. Danielson makes an Alaska model that complies with regs there and is slightly different from the "Pacific" model, but very similar.

Once the commercial crab season started there wasn't a ton of legal crab around, so I usually did very long soaks (multiple days). If you can avoid getting a door jammed open, once the bait is all eaten, the shorts leave and you are left only with crabs that can't fit out the escape rings.

Because of the long soaks, I permanently closed 2 of the four doors, to reduce the odds of a door getting jammed open. I did it with the dual purpose of adding weight by zip tying pieces of rebar along the inside bottom edge of two of the sides.

I used different baits and holders. Sometimes plastic jars with squid (when the stores had it) or herring. Often carcasses or pieces thereof. When using large pieces of halibut carcasses, I needed to take care to secure them so they wouldn't shift and block a door open.

If I remember correctly, I added a little weight to the gate on the other two doors by lashing on torpedo sinkers.

The Danielson worked pretty well for me. After the commercial season started and crabs got pretty rare, I could usually get a legal keeper on a long soak, which was plenty for me.

The biggest con was just the size and that they were unwieldy, both to open and take the crab out and because they were too big to sit flat in the tank well, and even wider if I were to collapse them. So I definitely needed to tie them down if I was stacking more than one.

About the only thing I can say good about the Promar folding mesh, I have two, is that they are easy to haul on the kayak when collapsed. 
The bad things are;
1. Very hard to open and keep the opening open as I bait or rebait.
2. Very hard to keep open as I pull crabs out of it. 
3. Crabs latch on and if the netting gets past the first claw joint, the net digs in and I have trouble fishing the net out without getting pinched by other crabs in there.  I've sacrificed more than one claw just give a BIG tug on the crab to get it out. 
4. Sea Lions have figured out how to get in and steal the bait and crabs. 
5. The wire flap doors that keep the crabs in are too light and waves wash them open, allowing crabs to escape.  I sorta fixed mine by attaching weights to the two arms that block the opening for crabs trying to exit, but they need replacing regularly because they work loose and fall off.

The wire traps are much more durable in my opinion.

Thanks for the info, Jerry.

5. The wire flap doors that keep the crabs in are too light and waves wash them open, allowing crabs to escape.  I sorta fixed mine by attaching weights to the two arms that block the opening for crabs trying to exit, but they need replacing regularly because they work loose and fall off.

Hmm. I haven't seen the Promar mesh traps in person (not for sale in So. Cal stores). I've looked at pics and tried to figure out the doors. From the pics, I had concluded they were just funnels of flexible mesh. But you are saying they have metal flaps?

Yes.  Two wire 'bars' that flop down over the opening, too long to go 'out', they only will hinge inward.  When a crab goes in, they sway in.  If it trys to get out, the metal bars are too long and won't go past that point.  Like a door on a house would.  Problem is; they are very light and wave action can and does sway them open and a crab and make it out.
Also, the closure is a bungee draw string.  Seals and Sea Lions just work their snouts in or in some cases work the plastic hook loose and steal the bait bag. 

I have used the same traps Jerry is talking about but I don't like them for some of the same reasons. It is a pain in the a$$ to get crabs out of them. I prefer the Danielson style traps. I will say though, the collapsible mesh traps do catch crab.

Look here for information: https://coastsidefishingclub.com/grey-beard-articles/crabbing-guide/

There are also some good discussions in this forum more suited to kayaking.

I like the new blue danielson's because they have a top hatch that makes it easy to remove crab. I put 4 - 1 pound weights in the corners of the traps and that seems to be enough weight. I also put weights on the doors. I use a bait jar with a cumsicle that I make up in advance, chopped up mackerel and squid frozen in a block that will fit in the jar. I also use a bait bag. I attach both to the top of the trap so the sand fleas don't devour the bait. The danielson traps are nice because you just shake the trap and the crabs start rolling to one side. All this being said I usually drop overnight.

Good luck crabbin, did you ever try and trap octopus in Alaska? I would like to do it here but it is illegal, you can only take by hand or hook. Not sure how you would ever get one on a hook! A couple of crabbing trips ago I found half a crab and one other crab in the trap. I think an octopus got in and made dinner out of one of them??

Yes.  Two wire 'bars' that flop down over the opening, too long to go 'out', they only will hinge inward.  When a crab goes in, they sway in.  If it trys to get out, the metal bars are too long and won't go past that point.  Like a door on a house would.  Problem is; they are very light and wave action can and does sway them open and a crab and make it out.
Also, the closure is a bungee draw string.  Seals and Sea Lions just work their snouts in or in some cases work the plastic hook loose and steal the bait bag.

Ahh. I see which ones you are using. I thought you were talking about the Promar TR-102w. That makes more sense now. Yeah putting some weights on the doors/gates would probably help keep them closed. But that doesn't solve the seal/sea lion problem. I wonder if it might help to use something like the promar bait tubes or the lobster hoopers here in SD make bait "pucks" with 4" pvc drain grates and fittings. Those will keep dogs from eating the bait, even in an open hoop (which is all we sport fisherman are allowed down south for lobster), but hopefully they wouldn't pop you trap open before they figured out the couldn't eat the bait.