new crab trap

[Nelly]

Better late than never,... As promised, here are the Stearns Nesting Pots!

So far this season, these new pots have been my top producing crab gear!

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A combination of mesh on top and welded stainless base make getting to your catch and re-baiting a breeze.

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The most endearing aspect of these new pots is the nesting feature. When you open the mesh top, the entry tunnels collapse allowing you to stack three or four of pots in the space of one!

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Thanks for the opportunity to try these out George! Now, can we get Tobeck some so he doesn't have to borrow mine???

[Salmonhawk]

Went to Nelly's last night and sampled some of that crab as well, mmmmm good

[Bear]

Ingenious design; I can also see a huge advantage for storing them during the off season. I have collapsible pots but I never break them down, even in the off season, because it’s too much trouble to take out the weight and bait boxes and then what do you do with the line? They end up using valuable real estate in my shop.

It would be interesting to do a season long comparison against the old square pots. I’d be more than happy to do the comparison .

If the price point is right, I really think these might appeal to the recreational crowd more so than the commercial crowd. I think it’s a winner.

[Junior26]

Any chance you want to sell some of the pre-production models you have been producing as a hobby?

[Salmonhawk]

Nelly still hasn't given mine back to me

[gstearns]

It would be interesting to do a season long comparison against the old square pots

I fished a 2 tunnel nesting trap version next to a box trap last summer. Anecdotaly I can say that the catch rates were similar. The newer version has 3 tunnels so it is possible that it fishes better than a box trap, but a fairly involved test would be required to say one way or another.

For catch-ability the box traps are actually tough to beat. Where the nesting trap excels over the box trap is in the practice of crabbing, they make it very easy. The troubles with box traps you mentioned were the reason I wanted something different.

They are currently best suited for recreational use. They are designed to minimize setup and deployment time.

[baddawg]

Let me know when you have some available, those are sweet! I have a 17ft Arima so like most smaller boat owners space is a premium. I have folding traps now, but frankly never fold them because it is a pain to take out bait boxes, weight, line, etc.. these traps would solve the space problem.

[Nelly]

The issue with box traps is soak time.
As long as you have good bait that the dungies can keep chewing on they will stay put in the 4-door box.

As soon as the bait is gone, so are the crab. The collapsable Stearns Pots have true entry tunnels that make it a lot harder for the crabs to find the exit!

[gstearns]

Any chance you want to sell some of the pre-production models you have been producing as a hobby?

I hope to have some more prototypes available later this summer. In the meantime I am trying to get people in the fishing gear manufacturing industry to take a look at it.

[Nelly]

Since there has been so much interest in these new, killer crab pots, I'm bumping this topic back to the top!
Wayne Kruse mentioned these in his Everett Herald column last Thursday and since then I've had to answer a few questions!

In this thread you'll find pics and a video detaining these great new, space-saving crab gear!