Hello from Lucas: NJ saltwater kayak fisher just moved to Davis

Welcome!  Have some fun on the left coast.

Thanks! I definitely plan on it. Let me know if you're ever looking for someone to go with. I have a couple box-type setups but have to check if they have big enough escape-hatches.

If your traps don't have large enough escape openings with rot away cord, you can just pinch the top clips on one side closed and use a bungee tied to cotton cord to close it. There are pictures online about this but if you have questions let me know and I'll post some pictures. If all goes well you can like forward to hauls like the one attached.
 

Thanks! I definitely plan on it. Let me know if you're ever looking for someone to go with. I have a couple box-type setups but have to check if they have big enough escape-hatches.

If your traps don't have large enough escape openings with rot away cord, you can just pinch the top clips on one side closed and use a bungee tied to cotton cord to close it. There are pictures online about this but if you have questions let me know and I'll post some pictures. If all goes well you can like forward to hauls like the one attached.
 

While I think this is true for meeting the "rotten cotton" aspect of the law, I'm pretty sure you also need the escape rings too.

Someone else can chime in if I am incorrect...

"Every crab trap must be outfitted with two rigid circular escape openings that are a minimum of 4¼ inches in diameter and located so that the lowest portion is, at the most, five inches from the top of the trap. This is to allow small crabs to easily escape from the trap. "

https://californiaoutdoors.wordpress.com/2016/11/03/new-dungeness-crab-trap-regulations-in-place/#:~:text=Crab%20traps%20must%20contain%20at,this%20material%20corrodes%20or%20fails.

Thanks! I definitely plan on it. Let me know if you're ever looking for someone to go with. I have a couple box-type setups but have to check if they have big enough escape-hatches.

If your traps don't have large enough escape openings with rot away cord, you can just pinch the top clips on one side closed and use a bungee tied to cotton cord to close it. There are pictures online about this but if you have questions let me know and I'll post some pictures. If all goes well you can like forward to hauls like the one attached.
 

While I think this is true for meeting the "rotten cotton" aspect of the law, I'm pretty sure you also need the escape rings too.

Someone else can chime in if I am incorrect...

"Every crab trap must be outfitted with two rigid circular escape openings that are a minimum of 4¼ inches in diameter and located so that the lowest portion is, at the most, five inches from the top of the trap. This is to allow small crabs to easily escape from the trap. "

https://californiaoutdoors.wordpress.com/2016/11/03/new-dungeness-crab-trap-regulations-in-place/#:~:text=Crab%20traps%20must%20contain%20at,this%20material%20corrodes%20or%20fails.

Yes you definitely need the escape rings. I was talking about the escape opening with the rot away cord. Sorry if that was not clear. When they changed the regs a few years back they changed the size for the rot away escape hatch, but not the size of the circular escape rings so people had to modify their traps accordingly.