Home made Lobster/Crab Pots

[StephenLee]

I wasn't sure where to post this. Bush craft, Food nutrition and agriculture or DIY and handicrafts.
If it is in the wrong place, perhaps a mod will move it for me?

A recent late season camping trip to the seaside was both cold and windy but it provided the opportunity to renew my acquaintance with an old chum who is an expert forager. I have known him for nearly 30 years and he has probably taught me 80% of everything that I know about wild food and foraging.

This visit he showed me his home-made lobster and crab pots using reclaimed materials. I should really have taken a photo but hindsight etc. I will try to describe it as best that I can.

You will need :-
1 Plastic Flower pot – 6”diameter by 4” deep approx.
2 Supermarket metal baskets
Wire coat-hanger
Plastic Cable ties
Nylon Rope – 10mm diameter
Stout wire cutters or junior hack saw

Take the flower pot and drill four 4mm holes about half an inch from the top at 90degree intervals then cut out the bottom.

Take one of the shopping baskets and, with the wire cutters cut out a circle so that the flower pot will just fit into the bottom

Remove the metal handles from both baskets, place them together open end to open end and join using the cable ties to secure. This does not have to be too tight.

Put the flower pot into the hole so that the bottom is inside and fix to the basket with more cable ties using the holes that you drilled previously.

Use the wire coat-hanger to construct a hook opposite where the flower pot is. Ties a length (20-25' of nylon rope to the contraption and you are good to go.

Put a piece of fish (raw and the smellier the better) onto the hook inside the pot. Place the pot into the sea, preferably somewhere rocky and somewhere where it is below the low tide mark and leave for 12 to 24 hours. Pull it out and see what you have caught. Worst case is usually some crabs and best case is a lobster. Watch out for the claws, eat and enjoy.

Stephen

[diamond lil]

Actually I can picture that quite clearly. Long time since I had a nice fresh partan... my dad used to get them from his pals down at the harbour.