North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

I'm getting this down to an art form catching crabs, still can't get cricket scores though.
Managed 10 this time, better than my last years average.
These were caught Monday.

Went of to find a secluded creek, put the pots in as far up the creek with out beaching the boat.
Only to find some one else pot/float further up the creek.
They must have put it in over the weekend but missed the tide, thus left it behind.

When the tide had risen a few hours later, I retrieved this pot/float, it had 3 crabs in it. Large, medium and too small, still alive.
Before I get blasted for "SHARE FARMING", this said pot /float had no name, no identification, no nothing. There weren't any other pots in the area left behind either.
Chances are it would have been left from the weekend and the crabs would have died.
I reset this pot in same area and caught another big crab. Lucky pot, cheap one at that.

So much for my secluded spot.
Word of advice:- go crabbing on Thursdays or Fridays, that way you beat the weekend rush.

Second word of advice:- I've numbered my floats, that way I know when I've missed one and what area it would be in.
Who said old people aren't clever,.............. senile maybe!

I buy the $50 crab master pots, ya tend to put a fair effort into collecting them all at the end of the day.

dont feel bad mate, straight from the government.
Important information
Ghost fishing is a serious environmental problem that occurs
when a pot is lost or abandoned. These pots continue to fish
even once the bait has been removed. Aquatic life that become
trapped and die become bait for other fish, which in turn die
and become bait for the next fish and so on. The end result is a
fishing method that indiscriminately kills and keeps on doing so
often for many years or until the pot breaks down over time.
Make every effort to take all your pots home with you.

Although up here with the huge tides sometimes its hard to get to your pot and it takes a lot of commitment to retrieve the strays. i see it as a win win for you and the local estuaries. I think there needs to be a bit more representation for fisheries in the NT and not for the law enforcement side...more for education and explanation.

and stonker BUCK being full at the moment it would have been a great meal!!!

Nice crab mate. Don't feel bad about the abandoned pot either. I would of done the same. Last year in the Finniss my lure actually hooked one with no rope or float. When i pulled it up there were 3 muddies in there, i didnt keep them as they looked really sick and even when handling them they were really dosile so i think they were in there for a while. Lucky crabs they were!

Hi Scamper, I've seen the same thing in Rapid Creek and a creek on the Cox Peninsula that we go to; wasn't quite sure whether I should leave them or take them out. In both instances there were no crabs in the pots, no floats, no ID and no bait remaining in the pouches (as far as i could tell - I didn't pull the pots). Judging by the amount of 'muck' on the rope & netting and rust on the frames they had probably been there about a week.

In the end I left them there, but was thinking I should probably have taken them out of the water and left them above the waterline in the viscinity of where I found them.

Bladdy nice crab though!

Not only a feed but a free pot as well..enjoy mate.
graham

got to love catching and eating fresh crab

Great looking Buck Scamper, would have been very tasty. I agree you did the right thing with the abandoned pot, those crabs would have been wasted otherwise - well done!