I made myself a lobster pot and after chucking it in the drink and waiting for a couple of days, I went to pull it up.
I didn't realise that pulling a pot was so hard, the pot is easy to pick up on land but trying to pull it up with a rope, aint so easy.
Add to the problem having to lean over so the rope didn't rub against the tube and I decided that I might give lobster fishing a miss until I can find a way to pull the pot.
Does anyone out there drop lobster pots from your boat and do you have any gadget you attach to your tube to aid in pulling them up?
I’ve never tried hauling lobster pots but lifted many a prawn pot. A 2ftx10ft length of conveyor belt laid over the tube takes care of any rope rubbing.
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There is a place on this planet for all of Gods creatures.........right next to my tatties and gravy.
If it was something I was going to do often I'd mould some fibreglass over the shape of the tubes to act as a protector & maybe build in some raised guides to keep the rope from sliding off the ends of the glassed area. Fairly easy to do by masking off the tubes & fender area then lay up a few layers of glass & resinover tge madked area. Once hardened remove & trim to size, glass in a couple of guides then flowcoat the outer surface & you have a tube protector you can fit when needed, a couple of tie points should be all thats needed as it will be perfectly shaped to the tubes.
Obviously a bit more work than just tieing something on but a fairly easy project if your handy with glass & resin
You'd need something to catch onto the ring & keep the pot up but would an Alderney ring set-up work?
Size of the buoy needed might be an issue if you haven't got much room in the boat.
I did have a plan to buy a plastic drum close to the same size diameter to my tubes and cut it to make a sleeve to sit over a section of the tubes where I unhook sharks and marlin etc. This would work pretty easy for what you have in mind. This 60lt drum below is close to my tube size.
In saying that Ive never damaged my tubes having unhooded many sharks and other big game alongside the tubes!!!...in saying that I have gone back to a little fibreglass 14ft centre console for that style of fishing as Im afraid braided fishing line could slice the tubes. My daughter is still chasing game in her rib though!!
Back on the lobsters, having worked on a crabbing boat from the IOW when I lived in the UK its vitally important that the netting on the pot is tight. This isn't so important for crabs but lobsters don't seem to like the loose netting to crawl over.
Both here (Oz) and the UK lobsters are pretty easy to catch by snorkelling for them.
Beamishken, I was thinking of making a laminated ply form to go over the tube with a mat between them. I have done fibreglassing, even took a course and I learnt that it is messy, itchy and sticky. And, my talents at containing mess to a small area is not good and everything in my house will get fibreglassed.
Jeff, Yep I am using a rubber mat. Doesn't take the weight off the pot.
Paintman, An "Alderley Ring" never heard of one and had to google. Interesting to know what weight it will lift. The problem with a Lobster Pot is, it has to be heavy because if it moves when a lobster goes to climb on it to get the bait, it won't climb on it.
There has to be a relationship between the water resistance and the weight it can pull. Looking at the weight of the anchors used to demonstrate on youtube I can't understand why they would need any assistance to pull them up.
Orwell Boy, Very funny, if I had, I probably would put up with the effort of pulling them up. I am new to Lobster Fishing and I need to learn a bit more. I starting to think that to successfully get Lobster cheaper with less effort is a seafood supplier.
The Alderney ring method, I think, would work if you've only got a couple of pots to to pull up. There must be a bit of a knack to choosing the correct sized buoy. The buoy I've got is too big and 'skips' across the water rather than being semi-submerged.
An anchor (10kg on mine) with a few metres of chain plus a bit of tide and the frictional resistance of the tubes does make it quite hard work particularly if you have anchored in deep'ish water.
Jonp, the plastic drum idea is excellent as I am using a rubber mat at the moment and the friction is too much. The rope would slide on plastic easily.
I'm moving towards diving on the pots to empty them and attaching a lift bag if I want to bring them to the surface or move them.
Paintman, An "Alderley Ring" never heard of one and had to google. Interesting to know what weight it will lift. The problem with a Lobster Pot is, it has to be heavy because if it moves when a lobster goes to climb on it to get the bait, it won't climb on it.
There has to be a relationship between the water resistance and the weight it can pull. Looking at the weight of the anchors used to demonstrate on youtube I can't understand why they would need any assistance to pull them up.
Depth of water & amount of anchor rope you have out. Shallow water it's not an issue but deep water it's hard work!
Inclined to think jonp's plastic drum is the way to go. A lot of the smaller Cornish day boats use a length of rigid plastic pipe cut so it slots over the gunwhales to make it easier to pull pots & nets plus avoid damaging the wood work.
If this pic works for you you can see the grey plastic on the starboard gunwhales of FH1 & FH11. https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/liza...-210014776.jpg
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