doran crab pot thefts

I've gone to what i call the stealth bouy system. Instead of bright pool noodle, I use black pipe insulation glued to wood dowel with contact cement. Then i spool it with hunter green 1/4inch hollow-braided polypropylene rope. They are pretty hard to notice. And i don't crab at doran anymore.

Never had my traps stolen but I have pulled my pots after a full nights soak and found 1 full of crab and the other only a few small dung and a couple beers. They took my crab and left me a couple cold ones. Not a real far trade  but better than loosing my pots.

Decent beer at least?

I've gone to what i call the stealth bouy system. Instead of bright pool noodle, I use black pipe insulation glued to wood dowel with contact cement. Then i spool it with hunter green 1/4inch hollow-braided polypropylene rope. They are pretty hard to notice. And i don't crab at doran anymore.

Jack that's a great idea, but I'm not sure that where you dropped your gear was considered Doran anyhow. 

Coors light I think. We had a laugh over it.

Coors light I think. We had a laugh over it.

ouch

Yeah after all the work I put into my traps, (I tie my own harnesses, I reinforce my overnight traps, and my buoys are home made with extra tall pvc flags) I would flip the f*** out if some a**hole with a boat had the audacity to f*** me over. That said HMB and Doran are risky spots for overnighting. Indeed stealth buoys may be the way to go in that area. As for barbed wire, poachers have gloves. As for the gopro crab cam idea, check out youtube its been done. I think the radio tags sound like an awesome idea and I'd be curious to hear more. Maybe a good way to booby trap our pots would be to leave rings of dark colored floating line so as to guarantee poachers get their props tangled. Obviously this would be done well away from boating channels. And finally it is almost certain that at least some of these traps ate indeed poorly tied or the lines were accidentally caught in props etc. Its best to assume it was anything other than theft unless the conclusion is unavoidable.

Btw I'm fairly certain people stealing traps are not on kayaks.

check this out

http://www.terrybullard.com/crayfish_grapple_secrets.htm

and the attached article

I'm not sure you can attribute all the loss to theft or someone messing with the traps.  Last sunday I walked a section of beach around the mouth of Americano Estero and found two floats and rope, the floats looked brand new.  One had III (3) printed on it.  There are probably lots more along that shore.  While I trust you guys know your knots, it is possible someone's prop snagged a line in the dark.  As to environmentalists releasing your catch, I doubt it, even environmentalists eat crab- it is well regulated and not endangered.

Not vegan enviros. It doesnt sound that far fetched to me at all. Who in hell would bother to empty the traps of fish heads and then empty the bait jars. huh?

Gotta agree with Mallory.  Who in hell?.......the same lowlife scum that steal crabs.  Im sure some do it just  to be a d**k, others to ensure you don't take anymore(more for them later).  Never know with these a holes. 



Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

Hopefully time will tell who is robbing or just releasing crab. We have heard of pots being robbed at Doran and beyond. All the way up to the river. Ive never heard of the bait jars being emptied and returned to the pot......ever.

Most likely they are also taking "shorts"  I know I had alot of "shorts"  I doubt these scum bags are taking the time to measure.  I like the idea of razor edge barbed wire wraped half way down the line.  Set four good pots and four fake traps with razor barb wire around them. 

I know i said this last year but....... Someone should invent a bouy system that stays submerged. You set the timer and when the time is up, the bouy inflates with co2 cartridge and floats to the surface. The self-dissolving releases are not very accurate and not re-usable. I have moved all my crabbing operations well north of bodega.

Ive never heard of the bait jars being emptied and returned to the pot......ever.

i have a theory about that, not enviro/grass eating/potuli wearing/ terrorists, but there was a long string of floats that were not there the afternoon before, and on my way points, thinking some semi-commercial local thinking that this was "his" spot and wasnt happy about me invading "his" spot and just made sure i didnt get anything and he did.

oh and kayakjack, your secret spot is no longer a secret by the way, good thing it is only an option on those flat days like wednesday, when i saw another sonoma crew there , cameron

What secret spot ?    Plenty of people have been fishing there long before you or i came along Cammie.

oh and kayakjack, your secret spot is no longer a secret by the way, good thing it is only an option on those flat days like wednesday, when i saw another sonoma crew there , cameron

Haha. I keep forgetting to ask _______ how he did there that day.