What makes a good prawn trap??

[Reeltime]

Pretty sure it's because Baur traps....trap every size of prawns doesn't seem to have any mesh size for the small ones to get out,
commercial round will weed out the baby prawns that are better left alone.. come april you will want just the jumbos in your trap
no small bugs the are taking up room..

 

[Tips Up]

I switched to Bauer style traps a couple years ago. I have found them easier to work with than the Ladner style With no maintenance and believe they will last longer.
I have a 17.5 ft boat so limited space. I use 6 traps (2 per string) and stack them on deck then bungee them together. They stack tall this way and give me more room to work with.
I also use about 25 ft of lead rope below the bouy then soft nylon rope to the trap. The soft nylon piles nicely into milk crates with no need to coil. Crates can then be stacked.
With a smaller boat I have had to become space efficient. System is pretty slick.
Another thing I have found regarding bait is don’t over fill your bait holders with pellets. They need room to swell and dissipate. I was wasting bait by over filling and replacing bait every pull. The pellets will work for multiple days and work well. Add scents, cat food or whatever for shorter soaks.

 

[Bugs]

Late to the party but I was recently given a Bauer trap. I drop 4 traps at a time. 1 mesh commercial, 2 folding mesh and 1 Bauer. The Bauer seems to catch as much as the other 3 combined.

I agree strongly with this on the Bauer. They are deadly. Others have suggested that they only catch more prawns because they catch little guys. This could be the case where there is a huge abundance of prawns of all sizes, and any type of trap will be loaded.... but they also catch far more good size prawns, particularly under mediocre prawning conditions. Also, in areas and periods where terminal moult females mostly have eggs, having the ability to catch prawn that are one size smaller can be the difference between a feed or no feed. One note on the Bauer. I have encountered areas where there were quite a lot of small red rock crabs at the same depth as the prawns. With their larger doors the red rocks can get into the Bauer. When this was happening I found I was getting less prawns in the Bauer than in commercial style traps, presumably they avoided the crabs. A zap strap in the middle of the door (effectively cutting the size in half) immediately solved the problem, and the Bauer returned to catching 3 times as many prawns as the commercial traps.

 

[Salish Ranger]

I haven’t found many small prawns in the traps but if I do I chuck them back immediately. I believe part of the Bauer’s success is the rigid plastic entrance. They don’t distort. My mesh ones; depending on the elastic, tend to be pulled one way or another. It makes it harder for the prawns to get in. Also Bauer has 4 entrances where the others have 2 or 3.

 

[Salmonholic]

I haven’t found many small prawns in the traps but if I do I chuck them back immediately. I believe part of the Bauer’s success is the rigid plastic entrance. They don’t distort. My mesh ones; depending on the elastic, tend to be pulled one way or another. It makes it harder for the prawns to get in. Also Bauer has 4 entrances where the others have 2 or 3.

Has anyone found the 24 inch bauer traps outfish the 18 inch by a big margin. I like my two 18 inch bauers and thinking of getting two more as I too think they outfish my round ones . Thanks.