Folding lobster pot

BlueChip

BlueChip

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I've seen a few yachts carry lobster pots on their sugar scoop in Plymouth and someone just gave me a folding pot as a present
Is it just a case of putting a brick and a dead mackerel inside and chucking it over on a buoyed line when moored up, or is there more to it?
Has anyone used one with success?
 
Have tried all sorts of pots with varying degrees of success. Do not want to disappoint you but the folding one I had (which was part of a set of three) was useless. There are probably different designs so a picture might help.

The problem is that the people who know (commercial fishermen) are unsurprisingly reluctant to give any advice such as pot design, fresh or rotten bait etc.

The only thing I can say is, that assuming there is something down there to catch, the most important thing is the design of the entrances. For some reason some pots will work while others don't. All I can say is to try it. Sorry not be more helpful.
 
I had several years of owning a pot, but it was a proper one, not a folder, a wooden base with a lump of lead in it, and drain rod type canes with mesh covering the rest. Pots really need to be left down at least a day or two, I used plaice for bait (left overs from filleting one). Every now and then I would put the pot down, always hopeful! I did get a couple of lobsters, but mainly lots of Crabs, some very big and tasty ones. If you fish with a rod and line, it may be worth dropping a baited net over the stern when you are moored up, you can get some very good bait this way, Hermit crab!
 
Definitely worth laying a pot just for the excitement of lifting it in the morning. A point worth mentioning which might be obvious but worth considering. Remember when you lay it that you have to go back in the morning so pay attention to weather forecasts, laying it on a lovely evening can feel very different when it is blowing hard in the morning. For this reason I try to find spots which have a small island or a bit of land between the pot & the open sea, especially in offshore winds. You may find that crew will be eager to help in the evening but when it comes to the morning very often everyone will prefer coffee rather than a dinghy trip - being on your own in questionable conditions certainly wakes you up !

You will often find that your bait will be eaten by all sorts of things that you are not after, for us in Scotland this includes a lot of velvet crabs, a delicacy in Spain but not to my taste. Also once caught a large octopus but made the big mistake of tipping him out into the dinghy - suckers can get a very effective suction on neoprene ! Finally managed to get him off and into a bucket and then started to think how best to humanely despatch him. However, once on board I looked into the bucket and got caught by his/her eyes. I swear they were looking at me. Needless to say, over the side he went. Shame because I love octopus !

Edit: on the subject of where to lay it, we once laid ours from the mothership under the sea cliffs off the southern side of Peel in the IOM. Morning came and we motored over to pick up the buoy. Conditions had worsened overnight and being close to the cliffs in a swell was not pleasant. Tried to lift the pot at the bows so as to keep the line away from the prop when my friend shouted back that it was very heavy. I was on the helm and keen to get out of there asap so shouted back to just pull. Unfortunately a swell caught the boat and lifted her bow a lot and my friend was pulled down onto the pullpit and broke a rib. Finally got the pot onboard and it was full, completely full of large brown crabs, maybe 10 or more. That is the first and last time we have laid it from the boat - now strictly vetoed by swmbo !
 
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Yes had some success. The best bait is smelly - when nothing else was available I did quite well with a tin of tesco value sardines in oil. The crabs come to life at night so lay the pot overnight. Lay it off rocks in maybe 10m depth or more - if you have an echo sounder, sea bed rocky features are what you are looking for. Little velvets make delightful crab soup, and spider crabs are far more tasty than lobster. In fact I dont know why lobster is regarded as being so special - brown crab meat is tastier IMO.

Potting and fishing adds an extra dimesion to cruising. Caught a lovely big bass last week using live prawns as bait
 
birdseye said:
Yes had some success. The best bait is smelly - when nothing else was available I did quite well with a tin of tesco value sardines in oil. The crabs come to life at night so lay the pot overnight. Lay it off rocks in maybe 10m depth or more - if you have an echo sounder, sea bed rocky features are what you are looking for. Little velvets make delightful crab soup, and spider crabs are far more tasty than lobster. In fact I dont know why lobster is regarded as being so special - brown crab meat is tastier IMO.

Potting and fishing adds an extra dimesion to cruising. Caught a lovely big bass last week using live prawns as bait
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^^^^ good advice! I've laid one of those folding pots from my kayak many times. It's more to do with where you lay it rather than design or bait - leave it over night is best. Had all sorts in it, crabs so big you wouldn't have thought they could get in! Look for rocky features as birdseye says, you'll normally find commercial pots laid where there's rich pickings!
 
BlueChip said:
I've seen a few yachts carry lobster pots on their sugar scoop in Plymouth and someone just gave me a folding pot as a present
Is it just a case of putting a brick and a dead mackerel inside and chucking it over on a buoyed line when moored up, or is there more to it?
Has anyone used one with success?
Click to expand...

I think that there is a shortage of folding lobsters
 
That is a good tip about tinned sardines - i will make sure I always have some onboard from now on. The technique I have been using is to to jig for mackerel or if they are not about a pollack from a rock pinnacle found on the plotter. Then it is a running battle with my other half as to how high I can let them get as I have a theory that lobsters prefer rotten bait.

Agree, especially with lobsters that it is best to lay them near existing pots but that requires an early morning lift so as to avoid your line being cut (although that has never happened to me).

Re velvet crab soup, any more info - do you throw them in whole etc. ?
 
I was told - just a few weeks ago by someone running a lot of pots in the Moray firth - that crabs like over-ripe bait and lobsters prefer fresh. He also said that lobsters were suspicious and that the pot had to lie for a couple of days before it would enter.
 
dgadee said:
I was told - just a few weeks ago by someone running a lot of pots in the Moray firth - that crabs like over-ripe bait and lobsters prefer fresh. He also said that lobsters were suspicious and that the pot had to lie for a couple of days before it would enter.
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Interesting info thanks :) although as I said earlier it hard to rely on any advice that any pro will give you - am always suspicious that they might tell you the exact opposite :)

Given that i must have laid my pot hundreds of times I must be doing something wrong as I have only ever caught two lobsters ! (Lots of lovely crabs though). The bit of info about them being suspicious must account for it as even if we are anchored for two nights I cannot resist the temptation to lift the pot every morning to see what I have got. Next time I will leave it longer.
 
I've had quite a bit of success with these, laying them from my kayak at rocky reefs near to shore that have a bit of depth to them. I actually lay quite close to commercial potters, who are not nearly so precious about it as I thought, and I've not had issues with stuff going missing that I have seen some post - even when laying just off shore near a tourist trap. In contrast to the above I have had best experience for lobster on smelly bait, and crab on fresh. I've also had very good luck very close to shore with the common prawn - I just dropped one in the water this week while swimming with my son from the beach and came back to six big ones - not enough for a meal, but certainly big enough for a very nice prawn sandwich! I was very surprised the size they get to! I've also had fish in them, and agree with the comment about velvets - they're truly delicious, if generally a little smaller than your brown crabs. I soak mine for two tides before lifting.

Good luck, would love to know how you get on!
 
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FishyInverness said:
We get really good reports on the Fladen ones, I dismissed them as tatty gimmicks on first glance, then heard some feedback, apparently they fish well...
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Just had a look at your web site and see you sell 'proper' pots also. Is this a new thing as I have looked high & low on the net before for pots and found nothing ?
http://www.gaelforcemarine.co.uk/c/5552/Creels---Frames.html

The first one on that page has the soft entry flaps that I have found to be the best type.
 
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tinnerz said:
This is the pot I have used:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUPER-SIZ...tingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&hash=item1c37dc9c8d

Although not from that seller. One downside is that after a few uses the saltwater destroyed the zip - it is now held closed with tine.

Now I've been using it though, I would love to splash the cash on some better ones, as per those above that fishyinverness sells... bet they're great!
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Have tried that one with zero success and my zips lasted 5 minutes too.
 
Storyline said:
Just had a look at your web site and see you sell 'proper' pots also. Is this a new thing as I have looked high & low on the net before for pots and found nothing ?
http://www.gaelforcemarine.co.uk/c/5552/Creels---Frames.html

The first one on that page has the soft entry flaps that I have found to be the best type.
Click to expand...

Yup, It was originally the core business of Gael Force, was started as a one-man business literally fabricating his own creels. They became very popular commercially and the business grew.

Unfortunately demand is way outstripping supply capability (The creel business really focusses on commercial creel fleets) so the leisure creels are available in batches which disappear at the speed of light. Next lot are due in the next couple of weeks though - that's the lobby/crab pots, the Prawn (Langoustine) end of September. Creel parts are usually fairly widely available, including the soft close nylon eyes, drop me a PM if you would like more info! Cheers
 
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