Those Ellusive Crab And Prawn Traps
By Valerie Giles, Thu Dec 8th

If you are a boater, in particular a sea or ocean-going boater,you have probably tried your hand at catching prawns and/orcrabs with their respective pots. And if you have tried this,then you know how many traps or pots you have lost over theyears! But it is so rewarding when the traps come up with ourdinner, that we try it again, over and over every year.

This is the story of our weekend trip and yet anotherlost prawn trap. My husband and I have been for severalyears with friends on their Bayliner on the west coast and enjoyour excursions through the San Juan Islands in Washington stateand the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. Crabbing and prawntrapping is very popular among both pleasure boaters andcommercial fisherman in these areas.

Our friend Jan had just had another birthday and her husbandHank decided to buy her something that they could both enjoy.You guessed it, a prawn trap. Out they went at the firstopportunity early one morning in July and dropped their prawntrap over the side of their Bayliner. The attached float wasclearly visible to other boaters and had their name and boatregistration number painted on the side. As the day progressed,they decided it was time to check the prawn trap for booty.Dreaming of the delectable dinner that awaited them, they tookoff in their dinghy to check the trap. Around and around theywent looking for their trap, but it was not to be found. Theytook their bearings from the land and were sure that they werein the correct spot, but no such luck. Once again, yet anotherprawn trap had disappeared. Back to their yacht and a dinner ofpork and beans.

The next morning they weighed anchor and started off for thenext day's location, looking as they went for the missing prawntrap. It was becoming obvious to them, that it was gone.

The following weekend, my husband and I were invited on boardtheir yacht for the weekend. It was a beautiful weekend as weheaded out across the straits towards the islands where weintended to drop anchor and spend the night on the hook in asecluded cove. The weather was sunny and warm and the winds verycalm. We spent the night and enjoyed the company andconversation. Lots of laughter, especially on the topic ofmissing crab and prawn traps. We kidded our friends about losinganother trap. "How many is that, this year?" we asked. "Toomany," they replied.

After a wonderful sleep on the water, we got up the nextmorning, had breakfast and decided to spend the morning at anearby weekend market.

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This market is held every Saturday duringthe summer season, and hobby farmers and crafters come from allover the area to display and sell their wares. It really isquite fun.

Up came the boat anchor and off we went. As we motored wewatched for floating logs and other traps. It wasn't too longbefore Jan cried out. "The trap, the trap. There is our trap!"Sure enough as we circle back, there was the trap that had beenlost the previous weekend. We came alongside the float, andslowed the motor. My husband went to the aft of the boat andbegan pulling in the line over the transom. It was very heavy.

He pulled and pulled. Slowly the line came up and into the boat,but no sign yet of the trap. Oh, my goodness. Did this mean thatthe trap was full to overflowing with prawns that had beentrapped for the last seven days? If so, we were in for a verylarge feast that night. Pull, pull and pull some more. By thistime my husband's brow was wet with sweat, and his brand newHugo Boss white shirt was getting splattered with mudand seaweed that was coming up with the line.

Finally after several minutes of pulling, he could just make outthe shape of the trap. There was a large whitish-gray masscoming up with the trap. But what could it be? Was it a log? Wasit a block of cement that a commercial trapper had put in? Wasit a seal, trapped in the pot? It was still too far down to seeclearly. He pulled some more. As it was getting closer andwithin reach, the line snapped from the strain. My husband wasthrown back towards the other side of the boat and the mud wentflying everywhere!

It was lost! The trap and its contents, whatever they might havebeen, were gone. Our mouths stopped watering. There would be noprawns for dinner once again. We've puzzled over this one for along time. What was in that trap that made it so heavy? I guesswe will never know.

And our friends, Jan and Hank, have purchased and lost severalmore traps since this experience. They tell us that they haveenjoyed many dinners on their Bayliner complements of theirtraps, but they never seem to catch anything when we are outwith them. Strange coincidence or not?! Maybe it is justone of those

fishing stories!

About the author:Valerie Giles owns and operates Boats, Anchors and Morehttp://www.boats-anchors-and-more.com a resourcesite featuring boat accessories, fishing lure manufacturers andinflatable boats. Everything you need for the season.The accompanying article is copyrighted. It may be reproducedonly if the hyperlinks here are left intact.