Crab pot questions (Danielson)

A couple of newbie questions for you veterans out there:

I read somewhere that it's a good idea to snip off the three downward pointing prongs on each of the four doors, as these can snag on your grass and other such debris, potentially causing the doors to stay open or be difficult for the crab to push open. I have also read that exposed steel or iron can create a "hot pot,"  which I understand to mean a pot with an electrical field that deters crab. Since the cages are all coated, cutting off these prongs exposes metal. For those of you who have utilized this trick, do you somehow dip the remaining stubs in something to coat them and prevent metal from being exposed?

The rope/buoy kids that I bought came with 100 feet of leaded line. If I'm crabbing in 50 feet of water, do I tie off the buoy at 50 feet (so it floats virtually above the crab pot) and leave the rest of the rope laying/sinking in the water, or does the buoy stay at the end of the rope  regardless of your fishing depth, allowing the buoy to float away from the trap the full 100 foot length of the trap?

Lastly, if I'm crapping in Santa Cruz and Monterey, should I expect to catch principally rock crab, or do I stand a good chance of finding Dungeoness crab as well?

 Thanks for the help, guys!

I've heard of the "hot pot" myth, but I don't buy into it.  Some guys use naked rebar to weigh down their traps.  Also, most of the coatings on the traps have cracks and knicks... so there's metal exposed regardless. 

Everyone has their own technique and mods for their pots.  Instead of snipping the prongs, some add more weight to the gates.  Some zip tie one of the gates close.  IMHO, it doesn't matter.  Crabs will enter/exit your pot regardless of what you do.  I think bait is more important than modifying the pots. 

Nope, you need more line than 50ft, otherwise you will lose your pot in the swells... or the wave action will walk your pots.  100ft of line floating around is dangerous for other boaters.

Check out IamGroot's Crabbing Guide.... awesome resource that will answer most of your questions as well as questions you didn't even think of yet:

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=61428.0

Thank you so much for the guidance!

Add some weight to the doors. I left 9 dungies  in a pot until the following  weekend, with no bait, and there were 8 when I returned; 7 days later. If you are certain the rope you have is weighted  (leaded line) then it will sink and not pose a threat to other boaters. However,  if someone else crabs too close to you the pots may become tangled. I have several exposed metal spots on my pots and don't think it makes a difference.  Might be  different if the whole pot was raw metal.

Snapperhead, thanks for the input. I'm positive it's leaded (it's that blue/gray colored line that came as part of a crab pot kit): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002EOWPKI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01. Maybe I'll just cut 25' or so off the rope, as I would imagine most of my crabbing will be in 40'-60' of water.

I'll try cutting those prongs off and not coating the exposed metal. So long as I'm catching crab, I won't worry about electro-impact of the metal. How deep are you normally crabbing in?

I will take a pic and post it, of my doors. Be careful  cutting the doors, as you  don't want to have the doors swinging  both ways

What kind of bait cages do you guys use? I used to have a PVC tube with holes drilled in it, keeps the bait in good. I've since lost it and tried and the one that is like a flat pouch of 2 wire sheets. Now I use a cage seems to work good but bait is taken and lost a bit

Don't think there is any issue with exposed metal other than rust.  Commercial pots are generally bare metal.

I would not recommend cutting the rope, just ziptie it or, better yet, use valcro ties to secure it, you would be happy you didn't cut the line if you need it someday on the water.

What kind of bait cages do you guys use? I used to have a PVC tube with holes drilled in it, keeps the bait in good. I've since lost it and tried and the one that is like a flat pouch of 2 wire sheets. Now I use a cage seems to work good but bait is taken and lost a bit

Scotty bait jars, secured to the top of the pot. Commercial crabbers use zincs in their pots, so they will last longer.

What kind of bait cages do you guys use? I used to have a PVC tube with holes drilled in it, keeps the bait in good. I've since lost it and tried and the one that is like a flat pouch of 2 wire sheets. Now I use a cage seems to work good but bait is taken and lost a bit

Scotty Bait cups as well  - then they cant claw up the bait / take it all out.