Cray Pots been Stolen
Submitted by hooty on Fri, 2015-12-11 15:49
Went out the other day with my daughter and we decided to clean some of the beach. Here's 300m of the west side of Garden Island beach. Whilst we collected over 10 sets of floats that used to belong to pots, there was at least another 2 or 3 stuck in the rocks high and dry. How many pinched pots have had there ropes cut by propellers ?.
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D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
few there. maybe post the
few there.
maybe post the regos. someone may claim them.
FWIW how could you tell the diff between a prop cut and ones cut off by a thief who attaches their own float?
BradRich
Posts: 15
Date Joined: 15/02/15
Missing Pots
My potting offsider saw a fisheries officer at the Ocean Reef ramp this morning and reported one his pots was stolen.
The fisheries guy said that the Shire had collected approx 150 float and rope sets washed up on the beach so far this season.
hooty
Posts: 198
Date Joined: 25/05/10
If someone recognises their
If someone recognises their floats PM me, otherwise most will end up in bin. As for prop v,s knife, I choose to believe in the law of probabilities and that not everyone is an arsehole.
Bryce Day
Posts: 812
Date Joined: 01/06/15
they look like my pots in the
they look like my pots in the background ;) nice lawn!
hooty
Posts: 198
Date Joined: 25/05/10
I had a look and checked for
I had a look and checked for your details, but all I found was a big blue groper.
tot
Posts: 1175
Date Joined: 31/01/10
lol
ha!
Reverse cycle a/c supply and install - Ducted and wall splits
Saulty2
Posts: 674
Date Joined: 28/05/10
Amazing what gets washed up
btw those 2 pots in the backround should not be high & dry but be catching for Christmas LOL nice lawn there bud!
Belly Fish
Posts: 499
Date Joined: 09/03/12
Absolutely agree....
I still reckon most peps who say their pots have been stolen are actually cut off. I myself have picked up multiple sets this season from my beach walks and I reckon most of the owners will swear there pots have been stolen. As I've mentioned in a previous post, I've even seen a large boat come into Hillarys with a complete pot hooked around his leg....he didn't even know.
I always weigh my ropes down with lead so there is no spare rope on the surface and I haven't had a pot stolen in 30 years of crayfishing.
I'm willing to accept there is some pot theft, but I reckon it's a long way short of what I see written on this site. How many people who have had pots "stolen" have lead on their ropes to prevent their ropes floating on the surface?
D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
know a few who have had
know a few who have had pots stolen/lost/cut off (circle which ever you believe) including me. I don't know anyone who doesn't cabletie excess rope correlating to water depth and weigh rope down with sinker etc. it's generally how I know if my pots have been pulled ....if cable tie is intact. (it's not a definite but my cable ties are strong enough that if I'm carefull I can pull the pot without it breaking)
sandbar
Posts: 704
Date Joined: 25/10/09
Nup mine aint there either
I will be using the lead idea though next season, I think that should be mandatory for ropes on pots! Damn brilliant idea. Maybe splice it in the rope cause next thing will be all the lead stolen! Heat the lead and pour it over a section of rope? I will beexperimenting in the future, before next season and post how it works.
D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
yeah I splice mine about 3m
yeah I splice mine about 3m from the float and then rubber tape (thick elastic like insulation tape) over the top.
little johnny
Posts: 5376
Date Joined: 04/12/11
You can
Buy lead for ropes .15 mm holes through middle. Another good thing about them if you put them lower down on rope ( as well )makes very hard for pot winches to pull them up. Nothing beats hand pulling:):):)
petermac
Posts: 2946
Date Joined: 03/03/10
hey mate
what sort of lawn is that looks great
petermac
Posts: 2946
Date Joined: 03/03/10
also
is there a pp1960 or an ab1960 amongst them
Moking
Posts: 1252
Date Joined: 30/05/12
Good on you Hooty for
Good on you Hooty for cleaning up the beach- I commented early in the week in another post about how many floats were washed up on the back(Westside) of Garden Island.
Never seen so may as this season.
My Dad taught me how to Fish-Thanks Dad.(RIP)
paulbazza
Posts: 155
Date Joined: 24/11/10
Believe it or not
Someone mentioned to me last year i could be fined for having other peoples floats on my boat, collected from the beach.
I emailed fisheries and asked the question, this was the reply
Hi Paul,
If you come across Rock Lobster floats that appear to be lost, please record the gear ID and call your local Fisheries Office and report them so that we can arrange to have them collected and returned to the owner.
If you have any further questions on this matter please feel free to contact myself on 9432 8012.
Thanking You,
John Geraghty
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
There is an alternative freely available
I will be using the lead idea though next season, I think that should be mandatory for ropes on pots! Damn brilliant idea. Maybe splice it in the rope cause next thing will be all the lead stolen! Heat the lead and pour it over a section of rope? I will beexperimenting in the future, before next season and post how it works.
I think you will damge your rope if you try that.
Lead cored rope is available through any of the chandlers or places where pro buy their gear. Remember , it is mandatory for them to use it if over a certain depth of water during the whale migration. They just splice a section of it into their regular rope, couple of fathoms would be more than enough. It just looks like a fairly soft polypropylene, not hard laid ( stiff) at all, and would certainly go around the electric capstan , and over the roller, a lot better than trying to slide a lead weight over, or splice a snapper sinker to,your rope. I't's probably not that expensive, a few blokes could share in it because a coil would last you a lifetime, seeing you only need a short length iof it in each rope. Any amateur with any nous keeps their ropes as short as possible, to keep them away from props, but this can make it difficult on windy days, as you would know. So, add a bit of this stuff and you can extend your ropes to a comfortable length and keep them safe.
sandbar
Posts: 704
Date Joined: 25/10/09
Cheers Ranmar850
As an absolute novice its the feedback off FW that is propelling me through my fishing career. Thanks for the info.
I will definately be sourcing some of the mentioned rope
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
We talk a lot of about pots being cut off
Has anyone actually managed, personally, to cut off a craypot with an outboard? I've certainly owned no outboards larger than 115, and that has absolutley Buckleys of cutting through a 10 or 11 mm pot rope. I will certainly pick up on the skeg, and try to rip the motor out of the transom, then maybe wind up as the prop slows, but actually cut off clean? I'm not saying it can't happen, I've just never actually seen it personally.
Now I do know than any size crayboat has no issues with chopping a pot off, with or without rope cutter fitted to the shaft, but that is a different story. Rope cutters, BTW, are not for malicious intent, they are there to prevent a buildup of rope which can really slow the boat and also cause your outer bearing to heat up badly due to restricted water flow and friction. You haven't lived until you've had to go over the side in mask, snorkel and jocks to cut off a big pile of your own rope you managed to wind up, and is affecting things so badly you can't even put it in gear without the shaft feeling like it wants to jump out of the boat
have lots of sharp knives ready, because you will blunt a few before you are done. Do you have any pro boats transiting through your gear on the way out in the dark?
dodgy
Posts: 4588
Date Joined: 01/02/10
Have hit one hard enough to
Have hit one hard enough to strip the floats clean off before.
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
hezzy
Posts: 1534
Date Joined: 27/11/09
ranmar , id agree with you
ranmar ,
id agree with you in the fact that iv never cut off or heard of anyone other than pro boats actually cutting through 12mm+rope when its run over , usually you pick it up on the leg and it drags you to a reduced speed as it winds around the prop shaft pretty quickly
i think a lot of these drifting in floats are due to the knots used when blokes are tying gear on , and the knife used by pirates etc when cutting it off ,
id guess most poachers/pirates would just let the floats , after they have cut them off and swapped their gear /floats on to stolen pots , before relocating them elswhere ,the cut off old floats & ropes then go to drift off some heading into the nearest beaches on the prevailing afternoon winds we have on the west coast
gear ID marked on the frames of the pots will help deter most pot theft , as it is something that isnt easy to change /alter while at sea , ans the risk you might get stopped a the ramp with a pot with someone elses gear id on it is too great for most to risk it ime
hezzy
OFW 11
evil flourishes when good men do nothing
Krusty
Posts: 714
Date Joined: 27/11/15
I agree 100%
Totally agree ...... That is a nice lawn !!
My fishing spots are so secret........... even the fish don't know where they are !!