Lobster Trap

Hi everyone,

So excited to share my first Instructable!!!

Here it goes and hopefully if you have some time to kill this winter you will be ready for lobstering the ol' fashioned way.

So in my research I found that the old style traps where made of oak or beech. I found pallets of oak and ripped them apart.

I measured a three foot metal trap to get my dimensions so when I bought the "guts" of the trap they would fit.

So there are certain regulations traps must adhere to so the runners at the bottom have to 3/4 inch thick so I made my bottom runners that width so I didn't have to add any more wood at the end.

To build the frame I used three inch deck screws with pilot holes.

The netting you see there is stapled on with stainless steel staples and webbing from broken traps that I salvaged.

So the guts come in three parts. Two entry nets that lead to the "kitchen" and the larger net that leads to the "parlor" of the trap. You are looking at the funnel that leads to the parlor. These were installed with a staple gun and stainless steel staples.

This is so vital. You have to have two vents that allows the little lobster to get free. Check your local regulations about what size and how many are needed. These vents were found on the beach and can be used no problem. The one thing about vents is that they need to be attached using steel rings. Steel will corrode over time and the vents will become free allowing regulation lobsters to escape if the trap is lost.

So this is an experiment. I added three bricks to this trap. I put three in based on the fact that there were three in the metal traps I fish. I used snips to cut out pieces of bent and broken traps and used the staple gun to secure the metal and bend it around the brick so it would stay in place.

Here is a good shot of the funnel leading into the parlor where the lobster usually are when hauling the traps. The second view is from outside the trap looking through the parlor down the length of the trap.

Ok, so it didn't go exactly as planned. As you may have noticed this trap is floating. Lobsters love to be on the ocean floor. So we had to add weight and add weight I did. I got back to the ramp and brought along this rock and put it in the parlor and dropped the trap overboard. It finally sank. Once a wooden traps soaks you can take out any unnecessary weight for future hauls.

Here is the finished product with buoy and rope. Remember the rope has to be a sinking line and the buoy has to be marked with your license numbers to keep everything legal. There also has to be a breakaway link tied near the buoy so if a whale got entangled it would be able to break the line and be safe. There are many regulations so be sure to talk to your local harbor master and check state and federal regulations before fishing.

So it's basically using 3/8 wood and the frame was 1 1/4 square. It was all used pallets. Nails were galvanized 1 1/2 inches. Staples were stainless steel.

Lobster for breakfast is soooooo good!!!!

All the best,
Keith