Going Cheap..  

Give John from NJ Cray Pots (Bibra Lake) 0438183895 a call, he makes 3/4 and full size, they are very good quality, he also builds most of his pots for the pros.

Hey mate,

We have heaps of cray pots in stock, give us a call and let us know what you are chasing.

We can even set them all up for you (no charge for rigging)!

Cheers

 Cheers guys  Can't wait to get em in the water on the 15th 

I managed to get some new pots :) will be 2 weeks away but have a plastic until then.

 Try Rob in East cannington 0417949637. Good quality, good price and nice bloke.  3/4 pots with steel bases for about $120. 

think youll find bait box is too close to the edge , and in turn they dont need to go inside to munch away ,suggest more slats on 3 sides to force them to go in if they want a feed ,need to add extra weight .  also not keen on plastic neck so i replaced with pine slats.IMO  there is no substitutes for new or second hand pro pots. 

 Saulty I think you have a point. The slats are quite far apart. Have just spent the night adding more slats. Hopefully it improves catch rate. Thanks for the tip. Cheers. Westy

Once I pick my pots up I'll put a few more slats in... I'll chuck in some extra weight for good measure. I think that's why I can't find my pot from the other day.

  the infill slats wont be structural so anything pine thinner the better , jut to force them to go inside instead of feeding from the outside ,i use  bathroom scales to check weight of the pot , just my opinion but think the plastic neck is slippery and  they dont like walk on it.... having said that if anyone is building their own then my 4 plastic necks is avail.at  half price to new  

saulty , have you tried using the plastic finger necks from crackpots ?
they are strong and work a treat,

i personally like the finger necks , purely as they dont create, or help lessen the same sort of following water vortex as you pull the pot up to the boat,
the less water rush or flooding up behind the pot , the better, less chance of crays being flushed up and out of the neck on retreive when you stop the pot at the side of the boat to get it in ,

hezzy

 bought 2  3/4 pots from cannington bought 2 second hand  pro pots , first year lost - taken 2 of the pros & 1 three quarter  so went to crack pots bought escape hatches plastic necks etc. and made my own ,even made one with jarrah base only because i saw that crackpot had them for sale ,took it out first time dumped over the side didnt look to hard , turned around and saw this pot floating 1-2m. below water line ,realized it wasnt going to work so i pulled it up and home again to change to steel base ,upside was at the end of the season went past where i had placed my pots 30m. and saw couple of floats so i went close to investigate and sure enough it was mine , i put it down to a greedy fisher wanting crays so he re located my pot- used and at the end of the season didnt want to be caught in his possesion because i had inscribed my numbers on timbers so he put it back.

since then replaced all necks with pine fingers on mine ,built another 4 for my son , and personally will not want anything to do with plastic on any of my pots certainly learnt a lot ,up shot of it all is so far the three quarter pot has  yielded say 1 for every 6 that the pro pot yields , so i have the 3/4 as a back up-last resort

would also suggest check how the steel base is screwed to the frame , the ones i bought had counter sunk small screws hence when the wood swells they come loose or rust away ,theres nothing more dishartening as seeing a cray pot with base half off and no crays for the day.  

[would also suggest check how the steel base is screwed to the frame , the ones i bought had counter sunk small screws hence when the wood swells they come loose or rust away ,theres nothing more dishartening as seeing a cray pot with base half off and no crays for the day. ]

pretty much sums it up ,

i started building my own after finding a partly wrecked pro pot washed up on a beach down south back in the 80s, took it home and rebuilt it , made some templates and kept doing it
i use galv cup head bolts ,in the frames & to attach the steel bases

many of the pots on sale wont last if there built cheaply with screws etc, bit of rough weather and there gone ,

i use plastic bait baskets, red necks , finger necks & plastic lids, jarrah frames, pine frames , even redgum frames , all usualy with pine battens , galv flat head nails
they all catch well so long as the pot is heavy & frames are bolted ,jarrah frames last longer of course,but if the timber is free you cant be choosy sometimes

hezzy

 Good tips Saulty. I zip tied the bases to give support to the screws. Cheers. Westy. 

Give me a call if you want some quality pots.

I'm an ex cray fisherman and build pots in my spare time using fully welded steel bases (Not wire) so no need for balast, jarrah frame with pine slats, and 10mm cuphead bolts etc.... I make single basket (650x800mm) and twin basket (800x900mm) I can rig them up for you also if needed.

Hay mat how much and were you located 

and are they full size pots 

Hey Gaffit,

I am located in Doubleview and the full size twin basket pots are $220 each. Feel free to give me a call 0424 655 931

Just a few tips for anyone interested.

I made mine around 20 years ago fully out of jarrah, including the base, and apart from replacing broken battens every now and again, they are still going strong, and catch well.  The first one took a while, but once you have the templates, around 4 hours each will do it.  Cost will be a fraction of the new price.  All my necks and bait baskets I've found on the beach....if you drive on the beach a bit, you'll see plenty of them. 

1. I originally used batten necks, but have now converted them to plastic necks.  We used a combination for a while, and to be honest haven't noticed any difference in catch rates.  Just need to be careful with the batten necks that the crays can't reach the bait basket without going in.  Plastic ones are easier to use I reckon.  I know pros who swear by batten necks, but for me it doesn't seem to matter.

2. I use 4 escape slots, 2 each side of the length of the pot, by bolting aluminium flat bar the right distance apart.  20 years on, they are still looking good.

3. I use a fair bit of weight bolted to each of the bottom of the frame.  Weight is king....do not under do it.  I have had partners under do weight and they won't catch as well, or will move...sometimes a long way in big swells.

4. Don't leave the pots in the sun over the off season until you use them again.  Put them in the shed, otherwise you will be lucky to get 2 seasons out of them

5. Please do this!!!!!  Put two knots in your main rope around 2 metres down and about 150mm apart.  Wrap some sheet lead around it (say 0.5kg) and them wrap with electrical tape.  This ensures any loose rope is dragged under water away from propellors and in my opinion is the number one reason people complain that their pots have been stolen.  I have seen it happen so many times where the floats get destroyed by a boat not watching where they are going and running over loose rope, especially early morning when looking into the sun.  Also saw a big boat come into Hillarys once with a craypot dragging behind it...he didn't even know. 

6. I use a separate main rope and a separate smaller section with the floats on.  The main rope has loops spliced to each end.  The main rope is then attached to the pot bridle by passing through the loop...like we do with sinkers.  The float assembly similarly has a loop spliced in.  This is then looped onto the main rope.  I have two sets of these, and swap them over every 2 weeks so the weed/algae doesnt build up.  Works a treat.  Also enables you to swap gear ID over if someone needs to go away for a while and a substitute comes in.

These are just a few tips I've built up. Every year I hear about pots getting stolen, but in over 25 years of crayfihing in Perth waters, I havent lost one...(now touching very bit of wood I can find).  I know some must get stolen, but my view is that most pots that disappear are due to either not enough weight or too much rope floating on the surface.

Happy to show my setup to anyone new 

Cheers

 Good on ya belly a cuple good tips there!!

 wouldnt mind seeing a pic of your set up belly fish. i think the same about pots going missing lost 3 last year in one week and reckon it was boats fishing around it and getting caught up.

Thanks for some very good advice belly fish, I agree with you about the pots being stolen, a lot get cut of down my way Dawesville.