Thanks a lot jack@#$!!

[scoopy]

Hi everybody!

Just finished cleaning the boat from a very unproductive day on the salt. Last time I went out I bought a new crab trap set up and dropped it approx 300 ft north of the QB marker. When I went to check it 4 hours later after fishing guess what ......gone! This morning at 9 am sharp I waited eagerly for Steveston Marine to open to buy a brand new set up. I set it down approx. 300 ft north of the QB marker and took off for a wonderful day of calm water, cold beers and sunshine. After assuring my buddy we would be feasting on crab we packed up our gear and went to pull our trap and wouldn't you know it.....GONE!! I just want to say that if I ever catch one of these *****s I am going to kick the living S@#T out of them. And so I say this on behalf of all of us ethical. honest anglers.......STOP STEALING OUR CRAB TRAPS!!!!!TAKE THE CRAB IF YOU MUST BUT LEAVE THE BLOODY GEAR BEHIND!!!arrrarrarararghg!!

 

[SerengetiGuide]

Is it near Native land? I know up our way there are a few places that if you put your crab traps they will take them as they feel it is only their right to crab...and before people start pulling the r word, it's true. They have a hugeeeeee pile, has to be at least 20ft high, of crab traps on their reserve. One guy I know drove in and asked if he could grab his..had to pay em, but got em back in the big heap.

 

[Cedarstrip]

For those of us not in the know, where in the pacific ocean is the "QB" marker?

What area are you in?

 

[scoopy]

No, I was not on a reserve, I was in 70 ft of water off of ambleside!! Who the hell would rip your trap there???

 

[scoopy]

Sorry, QB marker is basically in between Jericho beach and ambleside near the mouth of the Capilano river.

 

[Brisco]

Snoopy, I don't want to offend you but is it possible that current took it to deeper water or perhaps a tug with log boom came by? This has happened to me.

 

[scoopy]

Not offended, it is possible, but not likely. log booms don't go where I put the trap and I made sure there was 40+ extra feet of line. Plus the trap was weighted. Also, it had a giant expensive pink float attached to it. I guess easy for me to see makes it also easy for thieves to see. I find it odd that someone that can afford a boat cannot afford crab traps......Oh well back to the marine store.

 

[Brisco]

Scoopy, Pink float? Maybe a couple of those funny guys took it. Normaly, during the week you are safe. I caught some fellows in a Sewells rental pulling up one of my prawn traps. When we confronted them they threatened to ram our boat. We got the boat number and called Sewells but it became our word against theirs. And since they didn't speak English, they won.

 

[Bob W]

Yep without sounding the r-word I can tell you with authoritythat the traps in the bay at Port Renfrew are fair game for the local indigenous folk who routinely help themselves.

Bin der dun dat.

 

[--smtw]

lost 2 traps last 2 years @ Goose Spit (comox). I drop em' and set as waypoint on GPS, others seem to come and "check them" for me... they get dropped in a different spot, (have found them before, up to 300yds. from where dropped) and as season goes on, they vanish.
If you want to "check" someone elses trap, go ahead, if thats your style. Be at least courteous enough to drop it where you pulled it.
If all I wanted was crab meat, I know where thrifty's is. When I invest a 1/4 tank of boat gas, launch fee, beer etc. for the enjoyment I have on the water ($/lb. ? grocery store wins, if thats the only concern)... but when I park the truck, launch the boat, and go back to try and retrieve my trap and its gone ? I am irate.
it sucks, like I said, you want to pull my trap and "steal" my crab ? fine... just put the thing back where it came from (not where you found the float... where the line "centered" on your puller/thieving hands)
Ranting, as the boat is nearly ready, and I still have to go get yet another trap (weighted line, float, bait basket... ) SW.

 

[Brisco]

Years ago I saw floats that looked like seagulls. I've looked everywhere but can't find them.

 

[Little Hawk]

Howdy Scoopy,

I'm with Brisco on this one. The currents off Ambleside/Firt Narrows are killer; ask anyone who fishes the mouth of the Cap.

Years ago I nearly lost my 18-foot boat(and life) there.
Was cut-plugging at anchor off the river mouth and the current (ebb) kept dragging us off and we'd drift out in front of the beach into this really strange 50 or 100ft diameter patch of heavy 8-foot high rollers. It was strange because the water was calm, more or less, all around this small - let's call it - the patch of hell.

I had the boss with me from the machine-shop where I worked at the time, and after hauling the 2 or 3-hundred feet of line back up, then motoring ahead and re-setting the anchor a half dozen times -my arms now looking like Arnolds'- I came up with the idea to try motoring ahead slow and dragging the anchor line back under power.

You know whats' coming don't you...

I instruct Hans (the Dutchman) to watch over the stern and sound the alarm if the line came too close to the drive-unit. I motored ahead and all was well until I hear Hans yell, "Terry!".

By then it was too late. My nice 1/2-inch multi-braided anchor line wrapped itself solidly around the prop about 20 times before stalling us out.

Engine out, we begin to drift slowly back out in front of the beach on this beautiful day with lots of people out walking around enjoying the sun, a mere 150 yards away.

So, the current is moving us back over the anchor line; the anchor is sinking back towards the bottom; we are getting closer and closer to the patch of hell.

Hans (novice salt-chucker) looks at me and asks, "What do we do now Terry?" In his finest Dutch accent.

It was about that time I stopped cussing&swearing as I noticed we were coming around rather hard.

I freaked! The anchor had set hard and we were hooked up by the stern (a square one at that) in a 6-knot or better current and being swung around nicely right into the patch of hell!

I dove for my tackle box forward under the dash to get my knife (rule-one: always wear your knife) then as I dove over the stern to cut the rope I yelled at Hans to hold on to my feet. He did.

With the boat locked-up at anchor -by the prop hub- and with those big-rollers coming at our stern we were starting to look like a 'Deep-six' planer.
The first one came over the stern as I desperately reached out trying to cut the rope. It dumped at least a hundred gallons over the stern. I knew we would only take a couple of these babies before we'd be on the Davey Jones Express heading for the bottom.

As the third one covered me completely, my sharp knife saved us and we bobbed away into the sunlight.
To this day I don't think Hans realizes just how close we came to biting-it that day.

True story. Not much to do with crabs but them currents are crazy out there; especially in the patch of hell...

Cheers,
Terry

 

[chris73]

Hey Terry! I think most of us have been in a very similar situation. I know how you felt! Life is good afterward, isn't it?

 

[wolf]

Well have to tell you a story about traps not saying it happened to yours Scoopy but you never know.

Last weekend was coming in from fishing when I noticed a nice brand new red/white float just off of brotchie ledge so I grabed it lifted it up and a complete rope/float/prawn trap.
So right there called the number no answer so took it as this thing was not even close to being on the bottom about a hour later a woman calls and i tell her the story of how I had her trap.(This was a monday morning)

So she tells me her husband and little son put it in at COWICHAN BAY!!!!!!!!on sat morning and they looked all over for it sat afternoon and sunday she even commented as her son was quite upset someone would steal his trap.

So dont always assume someone stole it stuff does happen out there maybe a big hunk of kelp came by and lifted the trap away if it was that boyant you never know??

I was just happy to know that little boy got his trap back smart thing his father put this name and phone number on it.


Good luck Wolf

 

[Last Chance]

In Cowichan Bay, I needed a 15 pound ball on my line to keep the traps from moving around in 200 feet of water! Cowichan Bay doens't have an awfull lot of tides, so if you have a sportie trap with 300 feet of line, I'll bet it's on it's way to Japan right now. Get some weight on it, the current running against your mainline to your float has considerable drag on it.

One of the guys in Renfrew found an Oregon crab trap on Swifsture, this was a heavy commercial job and it still drifted away. They can go crazy with long lines to the float!

 

[gimp]

Grab a new trap some beer drop the trap and head off about as far as you can go and still be able to see with your nocks. Have some beers Do some mooching, tie up hooks, work on the boat, whatever you can do for 4 or 5 hours while still watching your traps ever few minuets or so. As much as you want to kick the crap out of them if someone is stealing your traps. Call the authorities. Get them nailed.

 

[scoopy]

Hey guys,

I'll be the first to admit that maybe it was washed away by current or run over. The only problem is that does not explain 3 of my buddy's prawn traps disappearing on Sunday and my other trap going missing from the same spot last week, and the month before that I lost one also. I know the area quite well and take great care to put my traps in a spot where I know they will not be affected. I also mark it on my GPS. In my opinion, I think someone is at work out there. I have been crabbing this area for years and have never seen so many traps of mine lifted. Recently, a friend of mine pulled up a float that looked suspiciously like one he used last year only to find his trap baited and full of crab, miles away from where it was lost months ago.(his float still a faint phone number on it) It seems the only way my traps stay put is if I drop them and fish within sight of it. Strange...... Maybe I should start studding my line with treble hooks, I bet that would be funny to come upon your trap only to find a guy with his hand hooked to the rope!!!

 

[tortuga]

Sounds like the Phantom trap raider again. The QB marker marks the southern border of the shipping lane and deep water. The currents are nasty on both 'sloped' sides of this channel. Why crab there anyways? Go to Jericho and load up without the tidal issue.
Doubt your gear was stolen in front of Ambleside because it is in plain view all around. It was a 14 ft tide that day by the way.
Maybe your trap is in Cowichan.
Still sucks.

 

[Mortician]

Scoopy....crab a lot closer to shore. I know where you put it because I saw it there the other day. Your trap was stolen.

There's not too much current there, it's out of the way.

Drop your traps down, and then move a mile or two away and fish there. When the a$$hole get's on it, race up on him at full throttle and tell him that you have Fisheries and Oceans and the RCMP on their way.

FYI, the Natives are crabbing illegally off Jericho and Spanish Banks. They're in a big 30 foot aluminum skiff and tying their lines off the markers. I was fishing out there and dragging bottom out there and hooked one of them.

I called DFO ORR line and I've seen them out there on 2 occasions in the last 2 weeks.

Anyone who says that DFO is fair and unbiased is full of SH%T.

 

[scoopy]

Good Idea Mortician! Rather than risk some crazy freak ramming my boat I should just report them. Oh well, Saturday is shaping up to be a really nice day and my fly rod looks like it could use some action. Maybe I'll take a break from the chuck thieves and go up the Pitt...