New at the pots..

[Jollybox]

Ok so I have bought my crab pot, bait basket, clip, rope and float. Labelled it all. Now the question: Does the pot have to be submerged for the entire time it is 'soaking'? I don't have a boat, so for me it would be a case of finding a suitable land based spot to 'launch' the pot. This would mean that the pot itself is not submerged all the time (tide dependant). If this is fine to do, how long does the float attachment rope need to be? Enough to mark the pot for the expected high tide but not too short such that the float 'floats' the pot (ie common sense).

[Malcolm]

This is not the law but I would either keep my pot submerged or check it regularly so when you do get crabs there in in good nick for eating.

[aussie123]

Actually it is law to keep them submerged but it is never enforced.

[coughy]

+1 on that lance i have uploaded the rec fishing guid from the webby gov site

u need to know these m8 as the i didnt know to the police or the fisherys is not good enough so have a read

Rec-fishing-regs.pdf

[Dubbzy]

Actually it is law to keep them submerged but it is never enforced.

It's to ensure crabs do sit out and die in the sun etc

[Damien2Rad]

Put the pots out at low tide??

[NightShadow]

Yeah that's the go, walk em out on low.

[Gary_C]

I do all of my crabbing landbased.

Unless you are putting them off of the beach, just put a tag on the end of the rope, use a low visibility rope, throw them in at low tide, and tie them off to a tree. Make sure they are submerged when you toss them in and pull them out at low tide as well.

If low tides are at inopportune times, pick up a couple of cheap wire birdfeeders and use them to hold your bait; it keeps the crabs from taking all of the bait right away so you have a better chance at a full pot.

Good luck!

[Jollybox]

Thank you very much for the rules and regs. I now have purpose in my morning coffee break tomorrow to read and digest and hopefully become a better fisho :cheer:

[Jollybox]

I gave the pot a go on Saturday. Walked out in front of a local (Cleveland) clump of Mangroves, out of sight from land (paths, car-park), basically as far as the mud would allow (without sinking too deep) Left it at about 7pm. Returned on Sunday morning at five thirty in the morning. Five crabs and a baby bream. All girls so all went back, ranged from quuite small ~90mm to 130mm. Most of the bait was still in the bait bag (Scad frames and pillies). I caught the midnight high tide and most of the storms on Saturday night.. First time for me catching crabs - feisty buggers - had to be really carefull setting them free - I'm sure they were all making a bee-line for me to express their displeasure..

Overall rating 11 out of 10 well worth having another try. Must get a boat... :cheer:

[Jollybox]

Thanks to Coughy, read the file followed a few links and stumbled on this 'new' flyer from DEEDI. Page two box on lower right side clears my question up.

Responsible-crabbing-in-Qld-DL-flyer.pdf