Homemade Pot
I had a bit of old Jarrah lying around, so I decided to have a go at putting together a homemade cray pot. What do you guys think?
It's full sized with double bait baskets, jarrah bottom and I added 10kgs of ballast. The whole thing probably weighs about 35kg.
I finished one on Saturday and went and chucked it in at Ocean Reef on Sunday morning. I have never seen so many cray pots out there before. There was thousands of them out the back of 3 mile reef. I had trouble finding a spot that wasn't already covered in them. I hope there's still some crays left out there.
I've got the second one finished now too, so I'll put that in tomorrow morning.
I know it's coming to the end of the white run, but I'm hoping to get a couple of crays before christmas. Next year I'll be ready at the start of the season.
sandbar
Posts: 704
Date Joined: 25/10/09
im no expert
but they they look the goods. I'd climb into one! Good luck.
I hear of them being soaked for a week to get the air out of the wood, If i am right in thinking then this could deter them from your pots? Dont stress if the first week your pots aren't working and do a CY Oconnor!
luke george
Posts: 554
Date Joined: 13/04/07
Yeah definately need a soak,
Yeah definately need a soak, the air bubbles tend to scare the crays off
DTrain
Posts: 486
Date Joined: 10/02/12
Thanks guys I'll keep that in
Thanks guys I'll keep that in mind if they don't catch anything straight away.
A mate put a plastic pot in at the same time, so will be interested to see if the plastic one starts catching before the jarrah ones do.
Bluedog
Posts: 251
Date Joined: 28/07/11
I was a believer in the soak
I was a believer in the soak but the last two seasons I've caught crays the morning after the pots went in. Good luck.
Nimbin 157
Posts: 130
Date Joined: 03/05/10
Look the goods but for a bit
Look the goods but for a bit more strength id add 1 more frame section like you have at each end in between the neck and the basket. This will give your side battens another nail near the centre and a bit more strength against rocks or the reef and maybe move your escape gaps to the end of the pot on each side opposite the bridle end.
little johnny
Posts: 5362
Date Joined: 04/12/11
looks the goods
Save a fortune:)Engrave on main frame not slates.:)
kirky79
Posts: 1354
Date Joined: 13/01/12
They'll catch crays no
They'll catch crays no worries. Look good. I made up 6 over winter Jarrah frame pine slats and sold them no prob a little bit of pocket money.
TAPOUT
Posts: 885
Date Joined: 27/01/06
Yeah I'm with bluedog I find
Yeah I'm with bluedog I find it hard to beleive that bubbles scare crays. They live in the ocean which is full of bubbles. We have put 2 brand new pots in and they both caught crays the very first pull. One was absolutly loaded first pull. I thought the reason that pros soak there pots is to get them water logged to make them heavier so they don't move around.
phatfisher1
Posts: 40
Date Joined: 05/12/15
looks sweet, if I were a
looks sweet, if I were a cray, I'd get in there for sure.
Partner wanted, must have boat...please send picture of boat.
Saulty2
Posts: 658
Date Joined: 28/05/10
only comment id make is
beware of Jarrah base , also made my own and found they floated somewhat so i retrieved it and put a steel base , the rest looks good
DTrain
Posts: 486
Date Joined: 10/02/12
Saulty I think you might have
Saulty I think you might have a point about the jarrah floating. Considering how heavy they are on dry land and the 10kg of steel ballast, they still sank really slowly and were suprisingly easy to pull up. I'll probably try putting another 5kgs of ballast in next time I pull them.
I got 1 cray this morning but it came out of my mates plastic pot and not the jarrah one I made. Hopefully there will be some crays in them next time I pull them.
crasny1
Posts: 7003
Date Joined: 16/10/08
A question about pots?If the
A question about pots?
If the bait basket is accessable from the outside (as yours are) would crays not just sit on it and not get inside to get a feed. I also have some excess jarra (after deck reno) and was thinking about a DIY job. Was trying to figure out how to Fit the baitbaskets so that it couldnt be accessed from the outside off the pot, which is more complex.
Does it make a difference or not?
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
DTrain
Posts: 486
Date Joined: 10/02/12
It's probably hard to see in
It's probably hard to see in the picture but the lids are solid plastic and the top inch or so of the bait basket is solid plastic. Only the bottom and sides of the bait baskets have holes in them.
Most of the wood I used in the pots was old 85x20mm decking boards I had left over from my decking project so you should be able to do the same as what I did. I split the boards down the middle to get 42.5x20mm then nailed them together to give 42.5x40mm for the outside frame sections. Then for the slats I just used the boards split down the middle.
crasny1
Posts: 7003
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Tah mate
That clears up that question, and as for the Jarrah -Great minds think alike!! That is exactly what I had in mind. The frame was the problem as the old decking beams are way to thick and heavy, so I too came up with the idea of splitting them and bolting them together to get a solid frame. Have enough wood to build 20 after the project. New deck looks stunning but it isnt Jarrah
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
Bait baskets...
...you can get ones that are solid on one side, I'm guessing for that very reason. One mob to call would be Activ Industries.
DTrain
Posts: 486
Date Joined: 10/02/12
I checked it again this
I checked it again this morning and it's definitely catching now.
I didn't get anything in the first couple of days, so maybe they do need a bit of a soak before they work.