prawns

T

the runt

Active Member
Hi folks,I need to tap into youre expertise.Went prawning for the 1st. time.the good news didn't lose my pot.did catch some, don't laugh lol.4 spot prawns and 6 coon stripe.I was fishing with some old commercial bait and i topped the jar off with salmon roe.fished at 220 ft on a slope.?#1 These are fold up pots Do you folks usemore than 1 jar of bait.Am i useing the right bait.Thanks any info would be helpful.

thanks the runt
 
When I fish for prawns I stay away from the fold up traps, the round ones are only a few dollars more and won’t collapse when you string more than one trap to a line. I usually fish for prawns in about 300 to 350 ft of water. I use fish pellets like hatcheries use to feed there fry and canned cat food. Poke about 8 to 10 hole’s in the cat food and put 2 to 3 cans per trap. I usually average about 50 prawns per trap, best time to hit prawns is on a changing tide. I do find that prawns love there reefs so I look at rock bottoms that have a slant to them. Good luck hope this helps
 
very good advice, also keep in mind not to set in shipping lanes, ferry lanes, or near commercial prawners as none of the three show any mercy ruinning your trap and line. the key is to keep experimenting locations until you hit a few, then concentrate your traps in the area to load up.
 
Add to that, when you are out there, eyeball where other's have their traps. Maybe even ask how they did? Then when you go next time and if you get there first, you can try their spot out. This will give you a quicker chance at trial and error.
Some may see this as inappropriate but as long as you're not a jerk about it and they can realize that the ocean is everyone's property, it should all be fine.
I have yet to find someone who overtly lied to me. Most guys are good.
Good luck.
 
Thanks for the info_One more stupid ? How long do you leave them down for i left mine about 6 hrs .Is this to long or not long enough .Again thanks

thanks the runt
 
i usually do about 3 hour sets, but 6 is okay as long as your traps didnt drift or get checked by someone else...
 
Yes three hours is long enough to leave traps down for, but if you do not hit them on a changing tide then you may want to leave them down for a bit longer, If you use good bait then the scent will carry and you will get a some prawns. Never to leave your traps always have them in sight. I have had several of my traps stolen, lots of $$ gone bye bye. I now weld up my own traps and net them myself. You also should look at putting some weight in your traps to stop them from moving on the ocean floor during tide changes. I usually put about 5 to 8 pound of lead on the trap. This will help you traps sit still and allow prawns to get in the trap faster. I have found that weighted traps did better than ones that were not weighted

Bigchrome
 
I generally use canned cat food or salmon carcasses if I'm leaving them down for an extended set (overnight). Prefer rocky bottoms w/ a slight slope and run a line of traps from shallow to deep. 250-350 feet with about 25 feet between the traps. The tide change is a key factor to success. Use a floating rope between the traps to avoid it getting snagged on the bottom. If using the polly-yellow, make sure you have good knots.

Round traps work better than the rectangular ones. With that said I do however use the latter that collapse - storage issues. Stainless frames seem to do better. This all holds true for crab traps as well.

When using the kitty food, don't leave them down to long. The bait gets washed out and water logged after a while and all them prawns start look'n for a new buffet!. But does work good for the short set.

Good hounest advice in all these posts. <img src=icon_smile_approve.gif border=0 align=middle>

Some like it rough...
Others just puke!.
Mr. Dean
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top