So getting a lot of rain and where on stand by for a bit so able to sit down and get some online training done ( helps I also knocked out a lot of extra stuff last few days )....but I get bored easy and like doing other stuff while staring at a screen so decided to try and build a crab snare with some stuff I picked up.

Crab snare can be a few things apparently but what I'm making is apparently kinda popular on the west coast for peir fishermen after Dungeness crab...but don't see why this couldn't work for the blue crab you always see down here . Anyhow it's basically just a weighted metal cage covered in non locking mono / nylon snares .

Bait it cast it out crab gets into the snares while trying to get the bait and when you see you rod moving you just real them in ... Snare closes and well


Is it possibly overly complicated? Maybe but egh I like playing with stuff.
So after some googling saw 80lbs mono was suppose to be the best ( though after buying it I saw it might be a bit over kill for blues) so just got what I could find at Walmart. And cut a bunch of 1' lines

And crimped on the eyes with these lil deals I have on for making steel leaders


Now I thought it would be a good idea to try and straighten these out by doin the trick matt jones showed in his trot line video for straighting out his mono trotline drops, just run them under hot water for a bit and pull them tight. And it worked but ....well some looked nice and had a good loop but others .... Yeahhhh so I guess don't do that anymore lol

As far as the cage, it's about big but Walmart has these coated seute bird feeders for like $2 I think. Don't have anything like hardware cloth ont he boat so figured why not .


Aannnd just crimping on the loops , first few I did too loose to keep the loops set right though.. apparently having them up like this in a "dragonfly" set helps catch better vs them being flat on the bottom


Pulling the tag ones right with pliers really helps lock in the and keep the loops set I found out


Tied in a weight


Aaannnddd I guess I'll call I done


Probably over kill for these crabs but I think it should work..... Now to finish up a few more of these online courses I can go cast this thing over and see what happens

You're wild, Wolfie.

Cool as heck Wolfie!! Show us some catch pics cause I think it will work!

Awesome! Hope to see some results and the meal that goes with them.

In falconry we use nearly the same design to catch birds of prey. The only difference is larger size and a line and weight are added. It's called a bal-chartri.

Keith

Good improvised use of a suet basket. Hope ya catch some.

I like your Mustang PFD.

W on high island years back. got spot out of the current. tied on a chicken neck so would hit the bottom plus a lite. We crabs would start dragging it out slowly raise bait and long handled dip net. Careful they will get you and make you leak.

Might try some stainless leader for the loops.

I hope it works for you...will be interesting trying to get a crab out of that without collateral damage, lol

So when it doesn't work...just go with the string and bait method and a crab net....hard to beat 100 years of success..

So decided to say up a little and try it . Tossed in some old lunch meat we had and lowered it down on the dock demon . Has been taking long for something to start tapping on it but .... Well within 3min the baits all gone and no crab . Tired a few more times making sure to wire the door shut and same thing not sure what could be down there cleaning the cage out like this. Figured these hard head catfish but they can't get in the wire so ..hmmmm

take a solid one piece bait and attach it- zip tie to the inside of cage.Raw chicken is good.You probably are feeding the great white they seen roaming around them waters.

Get you some chicken necks WD.

I like it Wolfie! One of the best baits I have used for Dungeness crab is mink carcasses. Cans of cheap cat food with lots of perforations in the cans work well, also. I haven’t had experience with the snaring scene, only pot fishing. Snaring and spearing are not legal methods or means, here.

When I was a kid, we had some old, nappy blankets that grasshoppers would get stuck on when they landed on them. We would spread the blankets on the ground and chase the grasshoppers on to them. The little bristles on their legs would get stuck. We would pick the grasshoppers off and use them for fishing bait. The same or similar material would likely catch crabs.

Did anyone else catch grasshoppers that way?

Keith

Nope, I have to travel for vacation to be around grasshoppers, or crickets.

For your snare system to work well, when you lift it, start with a firm tug. That will close any snare that holds a crab leg. Don't know about Blue Crab, but Dungies are FAST! A slow snare will probably not catch.
As for bait getting robbed out of a suet basket, could be minnows, sand fleas, etc. As mentioned, solid bait, slab of bait fish, or as mad_mike mentioned, mink carcass chunk, preferably the hind end.

I picked up some of them for our trip to Oregon coast this past May. Didn't get a chance to use them but we did set some Dungenes crab in the bigger pots we set on the way to go fishing[img]https://www.icloud.com/photos/#/i,pz,C5647B39-1045-47B4-89E7-93704C4AD369,309/[/img]

was able to post pictures beforw but it isn't cooperating today

I have made several of those for king crab. I did what you did and had the nooses standing upright. The crab would grab it with his big claw and begin feeding with his feeder claw. All of the crab were caught by the feeder claw. I also used a bullet/football float for a buoy. I hollowed out a groove on the float, kind of like a spool of fishing line and wrapped 200 feet of seine twine on it. I could just drop the works in the water and it would spool out till it hit the bottom. The best of it was that my young kids could pull it over the davit. ADFG made them illegal a couple years later.

Welp different place int he world but said why not, had some old ribs to try this time so down she went

Didn't take more than a minute and something was pounding on the rod, tried snatching it a few times but no luck , noticed this very familiar slime though



Well just tossed it back in and let it sit long and when I pulled it up this time

...like .....

......

That is cool. I've never heard of anyone snaring a catfish before.

Keith