DIY crab catcher: necessary materials, step-by-step instructions and photos

December 2, 2018
Equipment
Tamila Gresko

Judging by the reviews, crab fishing is one of the exciting activities. You can get them, like crayfish, with your bare hands. However, the crab can pinch painfully. In addition, when searching, the fisherman has to probe the bottom for a long time. According to experts, it is more expedient to use a special device for this purpose, which, accordingly, is also called a crab trap. It won’t be difficult to build it with your own hands.

Fishermen involved in this fishery professionally have invented several successful designs. Despite the fact that there are ready-made diagrams and sizes for any trap model, craftsmen make crab traps with their own hands based on their capabilities. You will learn more about how devices for catching crabs are made in this article.

Getting to know the device

Before you start making crab traps with your own hands, you should understand what this design is. Mostly such devices consist of a rigid frame with a stretched mesh or other barrier material. Be sure to have bait of organic origin. Often, catchers fill their devices with meat or fish. Depending on the type of structure, there are open and closed. You can make your own crab traps in the form of a screen, a tip and an inkwell.

Versha

To build crab traps with your own hands (photo of this trap below), the home craftsman will need metal fine mesh and wire. The first step is to cut one strip of mesh. One meter will be enough. Of course, its length can be one and a half or two meters, or even more, but it will be difficult to throw such a structure.

How to make a crab trap in the form of a top with your own hands? This process consists of several stages. First of all, the finished strip is rolled into a cylinder. It is desirable that the diameter of its base be at least 300 mm. Next, using a knitting wire, you need to connect the edges of the strip to each other. Welding can also be used for this purpose. Then it is necessary to form two conical entrances to the trap. They should be installed so that their narrow ends point inward. The cones are attached to the crab trap using binding wire. And they connect with each other in the same way. A rope is tied to the end of the structure, with the help of which this product will be removed from the water. A trap made from a plastic bottle is considered quite catchy.

Progress

The manufacturing process consists of the following stages:

First, the neck of the bottle is carefully cut off, and then the top. There should be a hole that the crab can crawl through.
Next, the cut off upper half of the bottle is turned over and the narrow end is inserted into the lower half. This is necessary so that if the crab gets inside, it will not be possible to get back out.
A hole is made in the bottom of the bottle using an awl. In the future, a wire will pass through it, connecting the lower part with the inverted top.
At this stage, a lead sinker is attached to the bottom to prevent the structure from floating.
In order for air to escape freely from the trap, several holes must be made in its lower part with an awl.

At the very end, you should think about how to remove the structure from the water. Many craftsmen tie a rope in the place where the two halves of the bottle meet.

shell crab

The world's largest crab is the Japanese spider crab. If you think about his numbers, it becomes even creepy: he reaches half a meter in size, his leg span is four, four!!! meters! Such a specimen weighs neither more nor less, but as much as 20 kg. And he lives for half a century. Impressive! Would you like to meet someone like this while frolicking in the sea?

How to make a crab from a shell - master class from Hellowonderful

Screen trap

This design is presented in the form of a metal frame on which a metal mesh is stretched. The crab catcher will work like a lift. The catcher will have to lower it and retrieve it using a cable.

The trap is made as follows. The first step is to form the frame. If you plan to reach the structure with just your hands without using any technical means, then it is better that the diameter of the circle is not very large. Its optimal size is 500 mm. Of course, fewer crabs will fit in it, but it will be much easier to get the trap. The frame is made from one and a half meter wire. Its ends are welded or tied. Then you need to attach the net to the finished hoop. It is desirable that it sag a little, so you should not tighten it too much.

Cooking frozen Kamchatka

Kamchatka crabs are a very popular seafood product. This is due to their size and sweetish taste. When purchasing a live delicacy, you need to take into account that this pleasure is not cheap. Even a frozen product will be expensive. Therefore, you should be careful when purchasing so that after preparing the snack at home you will receive a tasty dish. When purchasing, you need to consider the following selection criteria:

There should be a thin layer of ice on the shell, not a dense layer of ice. If the ice is dense and the carcasses are glued together, this is evidence that the product has been defrosted and frozen several times. It is better to refuse to purchase it, since the taste and benefits of the delicacy in this case are low.
There is no need to judge the taste of a product by its size. It is better to buy a medium-sized crab. They have a lot of meat, it is tender and has a rich taste. And in large individuals, the meat can be tough and taste bland.
It is better to purchase males than females because females have less meat. They can be distinguished by the following characteristics: the male’s tail is tucked toward the abdomen, while the female’s tail is small and does not reach the abdomen.
The shell should not have any damage, it should be dense and strong.
The pupils of both live and boiled-frozen crab should not be cloudy.
You also need to take into account that freezing these animals without pre-cooking is not easy, so most of the products that are sold in stores and supermarkets are boiled and frozen.

Before starting to prepare the product, it should be defrosted. Outdoors it can quickly deteriorate. When defrosting in the microwave, the meat will be rubbery, tough, and the taste characteristics will deteriorate. There is also no need to defrost the product in hot water. It's best to just leave it in a bowl in the refrigerator. This way the defrosting will be even, even if it takes more than five hours.

Next you can cook the crab. It's easy to do. Such heat treatment is necessary even if the meat is boiled. How to prepare a natural Kamchatka delicacy:

pour water into a container, put on medium heat, add salt, pepper, lemon juice, bay leaf, cloves;
when the water boils, put the crab in it, cut or whole, it should be completely defrosted;
After three minutes, remove it from the water; you cannot keep it longer, otherwise the meat will be very tough and tasteless.

You can eat the Kamchatka delicacy on its own or prepare various crab dishes. The second most popular is Strigun. It is much cheaper than Kamchatka. But in terms of taste and benefits, it is practically no different.

Inkwell

According to experts, compared to the previous one, this model is more advanced. The trap got its name because its shape resembles a sippy cup inkwell. However, this design has an additional hoop. Its diameter should be smaller than that of the lower one. If the frame with wire mesh has a diameter of 50 cm, then the top one should be within 20-30 cm. However, there is no need to stretch a metal mesh over it.

Both hoops are connected to each other by four pieces of knitting wire 50 cm long. For this purpose, you can also use electrodes with a diameter of 3 mm. A fishing net is suitable as a barrier material. For those who don’t know how to make a crab catcher, you need to make special hooks from hooks that will lift the second circle.

Self-hardening plastic crab

In general, crabs are masters of transformation and restoration. In addition to a new shell, they can easily acquire a new claw or leg. During fights and battles (and crabs themselves are quite aggressive and warlike, they do not always just defend themselves from their enemies, not always) they boldly work with their limbs and are not afraid of losing them, because then they grow new ones.

How to make a crab out of plastic - master class from Hellowonderful

How does it work?

Judging by the reviews, this design is easy to use. The bait is placed in the center of the lower circle. Then the trap is lowered into the water using a cable. After the crabs crawl into it, the product rises. In this case, the second hoop begins to rise first, which is connected to the cable via hooks.

Moving away from the bottom at a distance of 50 cm (or more, depending on the length of the wire sections), the upper and lower frames form a barrier made of fishing mesh. Thus, the crabs, unable to leave the circle, are taken out of the water. Traps in the form of an inkwell are usually set for half an hour. After this time, experienced fishermen recommend checking the crab trap.

The story of how crabs are caught in Chukotka (34 photos)

Let's take an entertaining trip to Chukotka and get acquainted with the technology of catching delicious crabs.

Incredible, but true - crabs are caught in Chukotka in winter. It is possible, of course, in the summer, but this is a much more complicated process. And in winter you just go out onto the ice, make a hole, put a screen with bait in it, and after 20 minutes you have a bunch of crabs. This is a favorite pastime among local residents in Egvekinot, and our relatives go to the forest for barbecue. The only difference is that you don’t have to spend money on meat and bother with the marinade. Well, the northern landscape differs from the landscape of the middle zone.

By the way, the main secret of a good catch is strong legs and the ability to quickly run 25 meters across virgin snow. How this is related to crabs, read under the cut...

So, on a fine sunny day, a group of friends goes crab fishing. Before going out on the ice there is a prohibitory sign, but it does not stop real lovers of seafood delicacies. The road is rolled:

No matter how funny it may sound, people here go fishing by taxi:

A typical Chukchi landscape with an Eskimo igloo in the background:

You need to get to the holes themselves on virgin soil, fortunately, the snow depth here is shallow:

Large holes are called lanes. They can be seen by cut out pieces of meter-long ice:

The day before, the mines prepared us, set up a crab trap and covered us with a piece of cardboard:

True, everything froze overnight, so I had to break the ice with an ice pick (a kind of crowbar with an ax at the end):

About 20 centimeters of ice grew overnight. The broken crumbs are collected with a shovel:

10.

A crab catcher is a string bag on a metal frame. Crabs crawl here and can no longer get out:

11.

Inside is a diaper box with a bunch of holes filled with rotten fish. This smell attracts crabs:

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Frankly speaking, the catch awaiting us was not rich. But some kind of mollusk and a sea urchin climbed into the company of the crabs:

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We were dissatisfied with the result of this fishing and went fishing in a different way:

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Another option for catching crabs is using a lift net. To do this you need to make a new hole:

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Then the lift is uncovered:

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Under the mesh there is a heavy weight that folds and pulls the structure down, and on the mesh itself lies a bag of rotten fish:

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All this equipment is compactly folded and lowered into the hole. The depth here is about 25 meters and you need to wait a little less than half an hour for a catch:

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While the point is in order, you can set up a table and a special “barbecue” for cooking crustaceans:

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This grill is connected to a powerful burner that quickly boils water:

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Water is drawn directly from the hole. Sea water has the ideal salinity for cooking; there is no need to salt, pepper or invent anything:

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The men take out local delicacies - lard with whale skin. It's called mantak. Don’t be confused by the thickness: the skin of a whale, of course, is much thicker, this is the already prepared and trimmed version:

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For lard, of course, you need an appropriate “drink”:

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After 20 minutes, the most important and interesting part begins. Since the lift does not have sides, you must act quickly before the crabs run away. We hook as best we can and run 25 meters, pulling the net to the surface:

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Good result! A whole shovelful of crabs fell into this trap:

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Finally, throw the crabs into boiling water and wait until they turn red:

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Ready!

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In Chukotka they eat not only their claws, but also open their shells. Delicious!

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Towards the end of the fishing we met a Chukchi friend. Notice how comfortably the dog fits on the snowmobile:

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While the local entertained us with rides, the dog waited patiently in the snow:

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After dining on juicy Chukchi crab, we got back into the taxi and went to the village of Egvekinot. The next post is about him.

Stay Tuned!

Source

What do the experts advise?

Judging by the reviews, often baits made from a mesh structure are washed out with water. To prevent this, experienced fishermen recommend placing meat in bags made of gauze. You can also use old women's tights.

It often happens that, having pulled out the trap, the catchers discover that it is empty. To avoid dragging the structure in vain, experts advise catching it using a large piece of glass. By placing it on the surface of the water, you can watch what is happening at the bottom. However, water can get on ordinary glass and distort visibility. Therefore, it is best to look underwater using an empty aquarium with high sides.

As soon as a sufficient number of crabs crawl to the bait, the trap can be taken out. If the fishing process is carried out using a simple structure in the form of a frame with a net, there is a possibility that the catch will escape. Therefore, experienced catchers advise getting the device out quickly.

Crab meat dishes

Despite the cost of crab meat, the difficulty of cutting and its dull taste, you can prepare many dishes from it:

Salads - crab salad is one of the most popular dishes that involves the use of meat from this animal.
Soups are the second most popular dish made from this product.
Julienne with crabs.
Bruschetta.
Fricassee.
Rolls and sushi.
Cutlets.
Pies.
Risotto.
Pasta.
Casseroles.
Tartlets with crab filling.
Soufflé, etc.

The sweetness of peeled meat allows it to be used in both first and second courses, and even in desserts. Sometimes parts of the animal are divided into different dishes, and then several treats can be prepared from one.

In addition to how crab meat serves itself boiled, it can also be eaten baked and even fried, like any other meat - the effect will be unforgettable.

@ cookelma — depositphotos.com