Seafood is delicious, but why pay sky-high prices for lobster and crab meat at the grocer or a restaurant when you can catch your own. All you need is a lobster trap and some bait. Then sit and wait. Of course, it won’t do a whole lot of good to set a trap in an area that isn’t known for lobster or crab. Mostly all you’ll reel in is a pitifully empty trap. Find just the right spot and set up your baited trap and hopefully, come back to find it full.
A lobster or crab trap is a slatted box, built to where the door only swings forward. Once the lobster or crab has pushed forward far enough into the trap, he can’t back out of the trap. All you have to do is bring the trap up, open it and remove your dinner. Before lobster traps, men had to spear the crustaceans at night while holding a lantern over the water. When the lobster would come out to search for food, the fishermen were waiting, spear in hand. Lobster traps have made catching the little crawlers so much easier.
Lobster traps are useful for catching shrimp and crawfish, too. Just cut up some red fish, cod, or herring, place it in the trap and sink the trap. Come back later and check the trap. You might find a trap empty of not only lobster, but the original bait, too. Crustaceans and fish often pick at the bait through the slats, as the bait floats around inside the box, emptying the trap of the alluring food. To prevent this somewhat, you can tie the fish pieces onto the slats with thread or fishing twine.
Artificial bait is now being manufactured to lure lobster, crab and other crustaceans into the traps. Some questions have been raised as to the safety of the artificial bait. The bait is usually protein, actually, peptides. The lobster detects the amino acids and are drawn to the trap. As it breaks down, it releases the peptides which draw the crustaceans. Some of the artificial feed is actually a scent and not real food. It is sprayed onto the bottom of the cage before the cage is lowered.
Salmon was once used as a lobster trap bait, but some states have now outlawed this practice, since it encourages the risk of certain viruses. Some studies have proven that the use of salmon racks or carcasses encourage the spread of the disease but salmon eggs are still acceptable bait in most areas.
Research is underway to study the possibility of using soy as a lobster or crab bait. The soy can be mixed with fish pieces or fish extracts, vegetable oils and other ingredients. If you do set traps for lobster or crab, follow the area laws about which baits are acceptable. Bait your traps and set them between midnight and dawn, then come back to check them between 10 a.m. and noon. You should have much success if you use good bait and have a good fool-proof trap.
