Prawn Trap News ! (Sept 09)

The first shipment of Prawn Traps is virtually sold out. There are a few stores that have a couple left. I will be getting more in the middle of October. The smaller mesh (5/8"mesh) which is legal in Canada and South Alaska will be available in some stores in Washington after the next shipment arrives.

Please note that there was NO ROT CORD stitched into the last batch of traps as I did not believe that there was a place to put it that would satisfy both Alaska and Washington Regs. I enclosed a piece of rot cord in the side pouch of the bag so that you could stitch it in the right place depending on where you were using the trap. (Top half in WA/within 6" of bottom in AK. )I have since devised a solution that will satisfy regulations in both States and it is being incorporated in the next batch of traps.

I tested the Canadian trap (5/8ths mesh) out in Saanich Inlet near Sidney, BC, recently and was very happy with the results. We fished it against the leading competitor and it out fished it by a considerable margin. Frank White, a marine icon in the area, was onboard to witness the event (they were his traps we were fishing against). He was amazed at how well they did. I think the secret to their success is the wide mouths that lead to the deep tunnel entrances.

If you purchase a trap you might want to move the purse string one line of mesh outward as the nylon mesh on some of the traps has stretched and this would tension them up again. This is an easy operation but if you have problems drop me an email and I will explain it further.

Don't forget to weight your traps. Lead is still the best. More current, more depth, more lead. Attach it to the bottom of the frames so that you can really haul on retrieval line if necessary.

Don't forget to email me some pictures of your prawning and crabbing successes (info@flexfoldtraps.com). Include the location of the picture and the names of participants. For your effort, I will put you in a drawn to win a prawn trap at the end of the summer.

Happy Prawning,

Mark Philbrook

JD and myself testing the FF prawn trap from the bow of his sailboat.