Richard Adams wrote:
Crabbing from a SOT kayak works fine, I use a collapsible round trap, and as
noted below, never had trouble with retrieval. I crab in protected waters,
mostly.

I am thinking about trying the small traps used on a fishing line. They're a
mesh pyramid about 5 inches high. Bait is placed inside and the crab tangles
its legs gettting at the bait. I would like to lay out a series on my
longline.


wrote in message
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Yes.

I posted about this a few years ago.

Last time I crabbed, it was in recreational kayaks, but touring kayaks
have more rigging and are better for waves, so they should do even
better. I was in Tillamook Bay on the Oregon Coast.

Here, people are looking for Dungeness or maybe red rock crab.

There are several traps for crabs: rings, pots, and cages. Rings aren't
really appropriate; you won't be able to guarantee pulling them up fast
enough. Crab pots captivate the crabs but are a bit heavy and bulky.
Crab cages are available in collapsable 18x24 shapes, which fit with
bungee cord on deck rigging. You can drop them down and come back to
check them in an hour.

I thought the process of pulling traps up would tend to flip me, but it
didn't, although I tipped when I tried a crab pot which was too big. I
would go to the nearby beach to actually sort them out since I didn't
want to do this in an open cockpit.

There are also angling hooks used to catch crab on a fishing line, and
nets for catching crabs in shallow water. Either of these would work
fine with a kayak.

If you are not in a protected bay, this all gets harder, but you could
raft kayaks together for more stability.

Nathan



I figured I could strap a milk crate or something to the back of the
kayak and put the crabs in there and use a small trap of some sort I
have had luck in the past from a small boat with just some bunker,
string, and a net. just gotta be slow.