prawning question

[hooked for life]

Hi all I am going to try prawning this year and need some help. If you are down 325ft one day and 250ft the next day what do you do with the extra rode, do you put a weight on it to keep it sunk or what?
Sorry might seem like a dumb question but I have never tried this before.

thanks for any responses in advance.
Peter

 

[Island Fish Lifter]

Yea, a weight is needed. Go to river sportsman and ask for a "long weight".[]

 

[Gone Fishn]

That and/or use the leaded ground line!!! It makes sure you don't have a bunch of line floating on the surface to get caught up in another boats prop!!

 

[hooked for life]

Thanks for the quick reply, another quick question what do you use to weight the traps? I was thinking of using a few coils of pencil lead around the outside of the traps??????

 

[alley cat]

I strap a 2 lb ball to the center of the trap.

AL

 

[Time]

Hey Alley
Welcome back.
How was Mexico?

Ooops, another hijacked thread.

 

[tyee hunter]

quote:Originally posted by hooked for life

Thanks for the quick reply, another quick question what do you use to weight the traps? I was thinking of using a few coils of pencil lead around the outside of the traps??????

i usually tie 12 oz weights quarterly around the perimiter of the inside of the trap....works well...as far as the rope, just a weight about 100ft down from the bouy will work fine

 

[SIR]

I'd suggest two wieghts. The first wieght should go about 30' in front of the first trap (ie up the rope towards the surface and your float) and the second wieght should go 1/3 of the way down from your float. The first wieght stops your trap from jiggling as your buoy bobs on the surface (the wieght jiggles instead of the trap). Prawns don't like to go into anything that is moving so you will always catch less in your first trap than your second if you don't use this wieght in front of the first trap. The second wieght is set to sink the maximum amount of excess rope possible if put in the location 1/3rd of the way down the line from the surface. I'd also suggest weaving little pieces of duck tape of black thread into your line 15' above each of these wieght locations to act as tells so you know where to put the wieghts every time without having to think about it and to let you know the wieghts are coming when you are retreiving your lines (especially if you are using an electric puller).

Happy prawning!

 

[Pangaea]

I zap-strapped a length of galvanized anchor chain (of a decent size - I don't know the exact weight but it's slightly thicker than normal) every couple of links around the inside bottom edge of the traps. That way, the traps still stack neatly, the weight is evenly distributed and you dont have a loose weight banging around inside the trap. A lot cheaper than lead!

 

[haggardscove]

Since were talking about prawning. What is the distance most commonly used between traps if your putting 2+ traps on one line?

 

[SIR]

I take my lead from the commercial prawners who seem to use 10 fathoms (60') between traps.

 

[hook-or-bullet]

Great tips from everyone. I am totally new to SW fishing. I'll give the suggestions a try next week - going for a halibut/salmon trip off of Port Edward/Prince Rupert. Cheers

 

[Brisco]

A cheap way to weigh rope is to find flat lead. Cut the lead into strips then wrap around the rope. Wrap electicians tape around the lead to keep the lead from coming off. The rope will still go through the pullers.

 

[Brisco]

A cheap way to weigh rope is to find flat lead. Cut the lead into strips then wrap around the rope. Wrap electicians tape around the lead to keep the lead from coming off. The rope will still go through the pullers.

 

[Stress Medicine]

I run two traps to a sting and have them 30 - 40 ft apart. Tried longer but didn't seem to do as well. I use the square metal traps and place a tuna can size lead weight in the bait tunnel of the top trap. I used to use a 5lb cannon ball but it took up too much room in the tunnel. About 50-75 ft from surface I hang a 16oz weight to keep extra line below surface and reduce the bouncing from the float in the chop. To help remove the bounce as well, I use 2 floats. The first is a bumper shaped float that stands on end and doesn't have as much resistance to the chop, although it gets pulled into the water further if the chop is heavy. To make it easier to find I have a second float, a ball on about a 2' string attached to the first float. It floats high and dry for easy location. Seems to work for me and since I have gone to this configuration, I have had less traps float away and generally do well in both traps. Hope this helps.