for u and the crew 

 Well done Eric, mine out this weekend.

nice going eric

i think there should be more blokes with pots in now for the next 6-8 weeks though as its the best time of year .. imo

we have ours in off margs and will keep them in until late april early may if the weather stays ok for a beach launch

 Thanks Hezzy and Andy, just going to have a little break. Going out 3 times a week plus is a wee bit tiring. Probably drop them again before end March. 

 Good that you got the stuck one out planning on taking 2 pots out now but probably only check them once or twice a week only going to use smaller pots to as I might be pulling them solo. 

 Interesting thing. Of the 4 pots that we had in, one (the stuck one) is small and quite light. The 3 others (Hezzy style pots) are very heavy. These 3 never had a problem pulling. I'm assuming that it might be that they didn't move after dropping and so as long as we pulled reasonably vertically, they weren't going to get stuck. They also had - as per Hezzys advice - a small float near the bridle to stop the rope getting tangled at the bottom

Re your pulling solo, where do you launch. If Ocean Reef, we do have a spot as we are only doing 4 pots, but we pull afternoons as my son can only pull after work

 Thanks Eric but I'm out from woodies. I might get my son out over the school holidays and put a couple of big pots in for afew weeks. I need to add that float near the bridle most of the time my rope is what is stuck and we have pulled the pot into the reef but I do also throw my pots right near big cracks In the reef, they can get stuck but I get good crays there. 

a little float about the size of a cricket ball about 3-4 metres above the bridle is all that is needed to help keep you main line vertical ,, when setting up against lumps or in big swell etc ,,it keep your ropes up as much as possible and they dont get as much kelp or shit stuck on them and then get dragged in the current

What it the longevity of a pot?

simple way to run it is to put the float on a small 5-6 mm thick length of rope about 55 -70 cm long , and cray splice it into your main line so the float is seperate and away from the main line ,,,

i dont put the thread the small float directly on the main line because it then makes it difficult if pulling by hand or winch to get your main line over the gunwhale or through a winch

when its on a small feeder line about that length it will move out of the way as the main rope comes over the side hand pulling and will spin wide as it goes through /around a winch

[What it the longevity of a pot?]

lot of factors affect that

who built it , how well its built strength wise ,weight of the pot ,, quality of gear used to make it , where they are fishing with it and season/time of year , depth of water being fished , and how many weeks it is out there ,and time its left between pulls etc etc

then there is care and storage when there not being used ?/wash them down once you pull them out , let them dry for few days then put them on gluts and stack out of sunlight in a shed if you can till next time you want to use them .....

if people buy good gear , and follow a few simple rules, take care of them when out of water then you can get up to 7-8 years or more from a steel base pot , with probably a repair or rebuild along the way ,

nothing buggers them up quicker than fishing in heavy surf zones with a lot of movement or winter fishing shallow beaches zones , fishing deeper for extended times like 3-5 months ,,worms will eat them out , and leaving them sit in the back yard or open weather exposed to elements ,

My current pots are over 20 years old, used every year for around 5 weeks in the white run.

I built mine....all jarrah, even base is jarrah.

Minor repairs each year, but they are on their last legs now. 

As previously mentioned, good wash down and store in the shed is the biggest factor in pot longevity 

 Wow that's great going to get 20 years especially without losing or someone stealing it. Like Hez mentioned if pots are set in shallow high swell areas they could degrade at a faster rate 

btw its fresh water that kills pots / wooden hulls