We often take the kids crabbing with a line and bait. It’s easily done with a length of line, a weight and some bait (off-cuts of bacon work well!). This is great fun for the kids, but if you actually intend to eat what you catch, it’s not terribly effective. The problem is that it is ‘active fishing’; this means you have to be present during the fishing…
A more economical way to fish is ‘passive fishing’; this is where you can set something up, and return later to check results. This is where this crab trap wins against a line and bait. Set it up in the right location, come back several hours later and hopefully you have a bucket of crabs. I am guessing that this is probably more effective in the tropics, but as it takes so little work to set up, I think it is worth a little experimenting wherever you are. I think it actually might work well during low-tide in some locations (you obviously need to return before high-tide!).
I appreciate that this on-land crab trap will not work everywhere; with this in mind I will shortly be doing a follow up post on how to build a quick and easy crate crab trap for use in the sea, under the water. There is also no reason why this trap couldn’t be used in rives to catch crayfish as well. Stay tuned for this post.
If you’re just after a bit of fun with the kids, check out this fun crabbing set: Angler’S Choice Crabbin’ Kit
(Photo from: Five Gallon Ideas)
