In praise of Crab Rings

Okay, I may be one of few people who like rings over traps.  My justification:
 I find rings take up less room (my opinion only).
I can use it for pier fishing to help bring up a fish (can't do that with a trap).

I can pre-bait on shore and not have to refold the damn thing
They are cheaper than traps.
I get a better work out because I have to pull them mor eoften there fore I am less bored sitting there.
I can balance the net on my knees and the little buggers have a harder time pinching me in the other vital area.
Even an empty trap still feels like it weighs a ton, and it is harder ot get a good read on if anything is there, an empty ring is easy to tell.
I can more crabs in ring than most people will get in a trap, and that master WSB slayer JT Fishing can atest to that.

I can check rebait if needed and be on to the next one before you can get those things open and rebait. 
Keeping them clean is a quick spray job. 
They store in the apartment easily.

Don't get me wrong I think traps have their place, and I am sure a lot of people feel other wise.  I have seen people with conical traps, big folding up gizmo traps, even a guy with a big HEX trap.  But my rings are compact and cheap and don't seem to tilt all over the place.

So there are my reason for using Crab rings.  FYI I have pulled up JT's and Papio's traps and I still like my rings better.  But hey thats me.

If I were going to switch, I think I would want to try one of these out first:
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_11151_10001_1248373_-1?ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=1248373&cid=sc_googlepla&gclid=CMGDifPZq7MCFWaoPAod93MA3Q

I like to drop one trap for a long soak, and three rings for the bounce around.

I am a ring guy myself , I agree with everything you said

I will let some traps soak tho

I use 5 ambush hoops and 2 rings. If crabbing is tough I will add a couple of pots. I like rings because if you are working 5-7 of them, you are always doing something and hooping in general is more fun. Pots and longer soaks leave you vulnerable to the craburglers although they will outperform hoops in some situations. I had 2 pots stolen a couple of years ago at HMB.

I use 5 ambush hoops and 2 rings. If crabbing is tough I will add a couple of pots. I like rings because if you are working 5-7 of them, you are always doing something and hooping in general is more fun. Pots and longer soaks leave you vulnerable to the craburglers although they will outperform hoops in some situations. I had 2 pots stolen a couple of years ago at HMB.

A craburgler ... is that the hamburgler's ill-conceived son?

I'm switching from the traps to the ambush? hoops this year too.  Find it a bit easier to deal with then a trap at times, although they are a bit heavier. However they stack really well, and deploy easily.  Of course on an AI tramp weights not a big deal, so i'm going with three of these, and bringing a large trap in case I feel like doing some soaking instead of some pulling.  If you are going to be using rings, the wire mesh bags for bait are the best way to go so a sea lion doesn't steal your bait.

Al, I buy the 1/2" wire mesh at the hardware store, and cut a sheet out, fold it over and ziptie to the bottom. The snipped ends of the wire poking out everywhere, the furbags leave them alone. Cheap, easy, and to be honest, I support the mining industry.

I can more crabs in ring than most people will get in a trap,

Really?

I use the hard plastic flat mesh pouches made by Wilapia. The flat design allows you to rig and still stack them. You can make your own bait pouches out of plastic fencing material and zip ties. That is what ChuckE does. The bait pouches that are built into the trap work ok but the crab will eat your bait quickly and won't stop furbags.

Pots in general have more volume and can hold more crabs.

G whiz, like I said most people, and I stick by my claim.  how long did you have to leave your trap down to get them? 

G whiz, like I said most people, and I stick by my claim.  how long did you have to leave your trap down to get them?

I pulled the trap the prior day, rebaited and let soak over night; pulled the trap 24hrs later...

I use crab rings just to have something to do every 15 minutes.
I also use promar and danielsons to lock in those that want to run  away  with my bait

I use crab rings just to have something to do every 15 minutes.
I also use promar and danielsons to lock in those that want to run  away  with my bait

But since Rockfish season is still open, wouldn't that give you something else to due?

I think it gets down to what do you prefer.  I would be interested in seeing the actual volume between say pro mar 102 W and a 30 inch ring set up.