Bait, catch your own crab and shrimp.

 

 

Hi all,
Here's a piece on making your own shrimp/crab pot.
I made one earlier in the year with one entry in it and it was excellent. We had a meet on in wexford this year and we used it to catch crab. It was catching enough hard crab after an hour for 2 anglers for the day. So it fished very well and a lot cheaper than buying crab.
This time I added another like a traditional pot with the intention of catching shrimp.
I put 2 soft eyes the pot this time as I want crab as well.
But for shrimp you really need 2 hard eyes which means 2 hard rings. Instead of the soft eyes

 

So a simple start, I got a 10L plastic drum and cut 2 holes on opposite sides of the barrel. Then I drilled holes around the opening about 25mm apart.

For the eyes I used knotless mesh but any mesh of less than 15mm will do.

Commercially you would pre-make the eyes and add them to the pot. But this is based on what ever is in your shed or what you can get cheap and easy. So the easy way to do it is to pull the mesh around opening and just cable tie it to the pre drilled holes. Cheap £1.00 ones will do.

 

To save on cable ties I get through 2 holes per tie.
[Note] You never use the outer edge of the mesh as this may pull when fishing. Tie to the next mesh in.

 

So do his all the way around until you end back where you started.

Then cut the mesh and join the edges with more cable ties.

When sowed up your eye should be 3/4 of the width of your pot when the eye is pulled back inside.

Right bye now you should have a mesh funnel 3/4 the width of your barrel/tub.

So you need to make the jaw of the eye now. This is the part that the crab of shrimp drop in.

Simple gather 1/3 of the mesh to the top of the eye and gather 3 meshes either side of the eye making sure the eye is level on top. Then cut down the mesh at an angle, in this case about 6 bars of the mesh on both side and then cut the middle piece off. 

With the 3 meshes from either side get a length of cord and thread it through the 3meshes and catch them in an over hand knot and then run the cord through the bottom of the jaw of the eye until you come back to the other side

 

So now you have threaded the cord through the jaw of your eye. I then just simply just do an over hand loop on each side this is for tying back the eyes.

 

Now your ready to push the eye back inside the pot. You now need 2 holes level with the top of eye . Then simply thread the cord through the holes and use the over hand loops to tension the eye and tie it off.

This is what it should look like when tightened. notice the top flap of the eye stays up and should not hang down on the entry point.

                                                   Now do the same the other side.

All you need to do now is to add a door to empty the pot.

So I just cut 3 sides and use the back as the hinge.

Also add some bungee to keep it closed when fishing. I put the bungee through half way along as well to stop it falling inside the pot.

All you have to do now is add some weight. I use what I have around the place. This crappy chain will do the job, even has an old pad lock for added weight lol.

 

 [NOTE] But this is not heavy enough to hold the pot in the tide so you will need to tie it to an anchor or tie it to a pier. This pot will catch all the bait you'll need for smoothies and all the shrimp you can use for wrasse and bass. If you think you are not getting shrimp change the soft eyes for hard plastic rings.
                         So good luck and I hope you catch what you want.
                                                 Until next time tight lines