Awesome video mate. I don't think I'll ever get sick of underwater footage. Despite the thievery, at least you have a better idea about how long to leave the trap down than everyone else. Must have been gutting watching them wander on and then off while you were editing. Cheers for more great content and it was lovely seeing the old boy come out for a fish and get the best one.
Loved this ep Sammy! Just an idea, try cutting some vinyl tube that's the same inner diameter as the ring around the trap. Slice it down the middle and feed it over the outer ring of the trap, might stop them getting scared of it 🍻
As the all the critters in that part of the world are eccentrically weird, why should one think Aussie rock crabs would look normal. they are certainly weird, and I’ll bet quite tasty. the weirdest part of this video is how they catch them. Does a flat mesh panel even count as a “trap”.
Here in the PNW, we use chicken innards that we leave in a plastic bag, in the sun. We pour it into old nylon socks and tie to the net. Stinks like heck, but the Dungeness absolutely go nuts. The other standby is canned catfood. We put lots of holes in the can and wire it to the nets. Good results.
You may have noticed the couple of pots that came up with more crabs had been sitting on the bottom with the food containers down. that gives the swimmer legs room to push through the net without letting them to touch the bottom and avoid getting caught. The old man used to make his pots with a larger square profile sides to help get the net off the bottom, he also had weights to make sure the bait was facing down so they had to dig in to get at it. he would love to see this video to see how his theories stacked up. Great content.
Yeah, we had two clips on the bait, and clipped it to the top and the bottom of the Crayfish pot. That way the crays couldn't sit on the outside of the pot and reach in and grab the bait and pull it towards them and feed from the outside without entering the pot. Dad also made his original pots bigger, six foot square and about 3 and a half feet high. I remember about 50 years ago when I was just about 7 or 8, going out with him to lift some pots, and it was all he and my older brother could do to pull one up, and when they did, the entire pot was full of crays. They had no chance of lifting it into the boat, and so dad had my brother hold it just awash, and we took it into shallow water off a sand beach, and dad started pulling crays out and dumping them over the side, because in those days you could only take 20 crays as a non-commercial fisherman. It took a long time, and I forget now how many the pot had in it, like 90 or so. I put a pot down in that same spot about ten or twelve years later, and got 19 crayfish in it. And the last time I was on the island, I put three pots out over four nights, and got just 2 crayfish.
Went on a charter. Spanner crabbing and fishing on the Banks. Charter dudes reckon turtles get into the crabs, but now we really know. Great vid Sammy!
I know you tried hard to get tis video out but was disappointed that this vid didn’t Havel subtitles. Although I enjoyed the video but I’m deaf and didn’t want to miss thing, hopefully it was only a one off. But I do know how hard it as to get this vid out and I was very please to see that you put something up earlier to explain it might be late. I alway can’t wait every till Sunday to watch your vids. Keep up the good work and I hope you did find someone to help you as advertised.
G’day James, really sorry to hear that mate! Just so your aware the subtitles are controlled/added by RU-vid not people posting the videos like myself. RU-vid generates them automatically. They could potentially just be taking a little longer than usual this time. Apologies again for the inconvenience though! 🍻🍻
Since the crabs were turning up at 15-20 minutes does that mean 25-30 minutes would be the best time to pull the trays back up? Another cracking vid mate. Love how you're always trying something new.
Hey Sammy, I noticed in the crab videos they get to the bait and attach the bait bucket but don’t like the feeling on the net or they start to swim away free I wonder if you had the bait on the underneath of the net then they would have to push through the net to get to the bait getting them stuck rather then escaping 🤔
Hey Sammy apology excepted,question do you think you've be put them down the wrong way,an upside down is the right way,as they can get full through the mesh🤔an they caught all the crabs that way
I reckon it’s something I need to do some tests on! It’s definitely got some evidence that’s it’s the way to do it hey, hopefully it wasn’t a fluke! 👌👌
I reckon if you had little feet on the underside of the pot to keep it a bit more off the bottom the legs would get caught easier because the one that was upside down had the most and it would have been slightly off the bottom due to the bait holders
Hey mate awesome vid again. If you swap out the white floats with some yellow 10 or 20L drums you can see them a whole lot easier and save some time if it get lumpy.
Yeah the old man and I were saying we needed some bigger floats, they just take up some much room on the boat! Worth it though so you can find them! 👌👌
I’m guessing someone has already noted the species of ray ,but if they haven’t it’s an Eagle ray common in SA Great footage Sammy really gives perspective to what you see on the sounder as well Cheers from SA
Yep. That’s an Eagle Ray. Lots of them in Hawaii as well. We also have what they’re calling “Spanner crabs”, which we call Kona crab. Very good eating but I’ve never seen them alive underwater. Didn’t know they could swim like that. Very cool. 🤙🏼
Epic footage! That ray was going nuts. The trays seem to work better upside down, I’m guessing cause there legs fall through the mesh more easily being spaced off the bottom by the bait cages. They moved pretty freely over trays when flat on bottom. I’d be rigging them with a bait cage either side to space it off the bottom whatever side they fall.
Cheers for the upload sammy, good to see you and the old fella getting out in a rare weather window. Looks to me like the culprit is a spotted eagle ray
Another great video Sammy! Looked like you did much better with the trays that landed upside down ... perhaps the bait trays stuck underneath raising the mesh off the ground helped snag more crabs? in that case, might be worth having a bait tray on each side as opposed to both on one side???
that underwater shot was awesome. always fun to see life underwater. interesting to see a few flounder visiting the trap as well. funny to see that crab pop up literally at 19:10 may not be an ideal moment but that fish did you a favor cause that footage came out awesome haha 22:31 those spanner crabs r like tanks but that ray just made it an easy snack!
That’s so awesome Sammy and Terry! Great to see you both out on the boat together again chasing some fish and crabs 👍🎣 That underwater footage was extremely interesting, love your work 😁
Greetings from the US. I've trapped the blue crabs here, and we use very different types of "traps". I am wondering....do your regs require you use those "flat" traps there? When viewing your vids, it appeared many crabs just "came and left", and if a trap that required them to enter, yet make it difficult to leave would be more successful? Also, it seems that without any sort of "canopy" or trap top, your bounty is overly susceptible to depredation, and your loss? I thoroughly enjoyed your video, and seeing a different way of crabbing!
Thanks for the advice. Our fisheries regulations determine what sort of traps we can use for certain species of crabs here. We use similar pots to you for our blue swimmers too.
hi sammy your resident fish nerd here i know im a little late but that ray is either a Ocellated Eagle Ray (Aetobatus ocellatus) or a Pacific white spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus laticeps), it is extremely if not impossible to tell the two apart by sight and the difference all comes down to genetics they also have a cousin in the atlantic simply called White spotted Eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) and again the difference is only really genetics
Great vid Sammy! So funny, don’t know if everyone got the same but after you mentioned about being apprehensive about losing your cameras you said “Gotta risk it for the biscuit” and immediately an ad for Nutella biscuits came on!😂 Apart from that awesome footage and interesting to see a tray not a whole cage, and the ocean floor being quite flat there. Good stuff. Keep it coming.
Sammy, that was some of the best footage I have ever seen. I saw one comment, they said it was a spotted eagle ray, did you actually find out what it was? I have been working on a new camera for filming under water, but it is hardwired, so you would have to sit there and watch the footage live, but going on what your footage has shown it only takes about 15 minuted before the action starts, so it may actually pay off to not leave the drop site and watch out for the preditors.. i'll let you know how it goes after we finish our testing. Thanks to you and the Phantom for another great show.
Wow you got heaps. I’ve been try to find these off Yeppoon for the last 17yrs, but just like Spanish Mackerel, Spotted Mackerel, Cobia, Trevelly & most other fish, these don’t live here, shallow poor water quality, overfishing & just being shit prevents successful attempts here
.I scrolled down a bit reading comments but didnt read them all. So, I don't know if anyone answered, "What kind of ray?" Spotted Eagle Ray. I've seen them leap out of water like a flying fish. And I've heard they on occasion land on a boat and injure people. I'm guessing their ability to "fly" is what put "Eagle" in their name? Great video. I'm your newest new sub.
Loved the audio picking up whale sounds. The antisocial crab buried himself and then came out of the sand again. Great footage of the ray trying to eat your bait.
Crabbing for alien crabs with fly paper. Someday if I ever get to Oz I'll have to do that. The whale song was cool to catch! That ray was really cool too. Definitely a day for alien critters.
Love my spanner crabs, shame i no longer have a boat to do it. Yeah i check every hour or turtle and shark take them off. Bait doesn't matter if they are there they will eat anything. Before restrictions where in place id easily get 80 a drop of 8 pots Best on edge of shipping channels
You had as many as 7 or 8 crabs on the net. However, when they can't get to the bait they leave. Your trps would be more productive if you used traps that allow the crabs to get to bait and are captured and can't get away. Just a thought. Thanks for sharing.
You fed that Cownose Ray a lot. I don't understand why you use a closed crab trap. My brother is a fulltime fisherman in Norway and also catches King crab. His traps are flat with weight at the bottom and floating top edge that open up the trap in the water.
We use round "rings" but we bridle them so they come up flat as we haul them in. Fishing for Dungeness. Some of the camera footage from here in the Pacific Northwest shows if you fish rings you want to pull them every fifteen or twenty minutes max as the crab come and investigate then many leave.
