Best way to store 600' of leaded line?

[Larsenvega]

I've done a bit of searching on here and have not been able to come up with a decent idea for how to store my 600 feet of leaded line (1/4" 3-strand) that I use for shrimping. I will be doing it from a 22' C-Dory, but more often will take out my 12.5' Zodiac to pull the pots when the family stays behind. Neither have a ton of deck space, which is why I am trying to figure this out. I have heard that it is possible to store the line in a 5-gallon bucket, but since I pull by hand I cannot see myself being able to properly coil it to make it fit. Any ideas are much appreciated!

[ken210]

I use a small garden hose reel I bought from lowes or home depot I dont remember which. But if you're going to be doing it all by yourself it might be a lil hard to do.

[akriverrat]

get a 30 gall plastic drum and coil it in there, stomp on it get it smashed down good and cut off any extra barrel. dont forget to drill some drain holes in it.

[DRIFTER_016]

How about a round laundry basket, not exactly tough but it might work. For the few bucks they cost it might be worth a try.

[akdeweyj]

Wash Tub

I've done a bit of searching on here and have not been able to come up with a decent idea for how to store my 600 feet of leaded line (1/4" 3-strand) that I use for shrimping. I will be doing it from a 22' C-Dory, but more often will take out my 12.5' Zodiac to pull the pots when the family stays behind. Neither have a ton of deck space, which is why I am trying to figure this out. I have heard that it is possible to store the line in a 5-gallon bucket, but since I pull by hand I cannot see myself being able to properly coil it to make it fit. Any ideas are much appreciated!

Buy yourself an 18 gallon plastic washtub @ Lowes, Homey Depot, Fred Meyers, Wally World, etc. They have two handles on them for mobility & 600' of line fits nicely in them. Cost was less than $20 last summer.

[Larsenvega]

I use a small garden hose reel I bought from lowes or home depot I dont remember which. But if you're going to be doing it all by yourself it might be a lil hard to do.

This might be a pretty good option. If I'm pulling the pot by hand and a friend reels the slack rope onto the hose reel, things would probably stay neat and compact on the deck. I had thought about the laundry baskets, but wanted something that takes up the least space possible.

[ak4195]

you can coil exactly 100 fathoms of 5/16's 3 strand into a 5 gal bucket,but you have to know what your doing,and it would take 2 people ideally.Since you most likely havent the experience of coiling line commercialy,Id go with a round or rectangular basket.
Twisted strand line has a "lay",which ideally is clockwise,but you cant fight it,if it wants to go counter,than roll with it.It would be hard to describe how to properly coil line,it would be much easier to show you.
But even then it will take a while for you to master it,but at least you could see how its done professionally.When it gets down to it,you really dont need a container,but for somebody that doesnt know how to coil it will make it much easier,also safer from the zodiac.
I live in the Valley,shoot me a message and perhaps we can hook up,Ill give you a crash course in dealing with bouy line.Ill show you how to splice too if you want,give you something to do during the winter.

ak4195

[ken210]

Larsenvega,
When I get back to Eagle river I'll pm you and you can come by and check out the set up f you want.

Ken

[skydiver]

For the last 5 or so years I have used heavy duty plastic trash bags. As you're pulling in the line, just feed it into the bag. Don't need to coil it. I have never had any problems with the line getting tangled when putting it back out.

[MRFISH]

fish baskets

lv, I've been using these for a number of years now...it's pretty much like the laundry basket suggestion, but these are much tougher. I like them because they drain well (good for a fresh water rinse, if you want) and all the slots let the rope dry well between uses.

I can't remember where I got mine. Maybe Donalson Co. carries something like this. They may have other suggestions, as well. They sell a lot of rope to folks going shrimping.

Here's a pic I found on the web:
http://store.vernondeon.com/index.ph...&ID=95&PID=156

[Alaska Gray]

I use a plastic storage container 20 gal.
This is very easy if the line is wet. The line will fall and it doesn't matter how the line falls in. I use to try to make circles but that was time consuming. Once it gets full I step on it and I have more room. I never had the line tangle.

[breausaw]

I totally agree with Alaska Gray, you don’t need to coil the line just let is fall in the bucket. I use one of those large round plastic garden tubs you find at Home Depot or Lowes, think it’s a 15 or 20 gal type.

Fished commercial 24hr halibut openers back in the 80s with tub gear, we never intentionally coiled our line, but when using round tubs it tends coil naturally.

If you haven’t bought your line yet Steve the Pot Builder sells a non-leaded sinking line that’s easy to work with, good price also.

Not much room in them C-dory cockpits, keep it simple.

[ak4195]

I get the impression he's hauling by hand sometimes(zodiac),its one thing to spill line off a hydraulic gurdy or shiv into any sort of tub,another to pull by hand and drop it into a tub.Leaded line tends to be stiffer than what most people used to use (unleaded nylon soft lay ) spilling line off a line hauler.
Then theres the topic of "running out the gear" vs throwing it out,you can set a pot and throw out 100 fathoms of well coiled bouyline in maybe 5-10 seconds,tub or no tub vs running it out(letting gravity and the boat do its bit).Less gear driftage,which can mean way less bouyline needed in the first place.
Another thing most people may not be aware of is that you dont need leaded line for the whole length of bouyline.Use pre cut lengths of floating poly nearest the pot,tied to the leaded line,this helps keep your bouyline from snagging on the bottom,,poly is strong and cheaper than the leaded line,you might get 2 or 3 bouyline settups from that 100 fathom shot of leaded 3 strand.

[potbuilder]

I get the impression he's hauling by hand sometimes(zodiac),its one thing to spill line off a hydraulic gurdy or shiv into any sort of tub,another to pull by hand and drop it into a tub.Leaded line tends to be stiffer than what most people used to use (unleaded nylon soft lay ) spilling line off a line hauler.
Then theres the topic of "running out the gear" vs throwing it out,you can set a pot and throw out 100 fathoms of well coiled bouyline in maybe 5-10 seconds,tub or no tub vs running it out(letting gravity and the boat do its bit).Less gear driftage,which can mean way less bouyline needed in the first place.
Another thing most people may not be aware of is that you dont need leaded line for the whole length of bouyline.Use pre cut lengths of floating poly nearest the pot,tied to the leaded line,this helps keep your bouyline from snagging on the bottom,,poly is strong and cheaper than the leaded line,you might get 2 or 3 bouyline settups from that 100 fathom shot of leaded 3 strand.

"Less gear driftage,which can mean way less bouyline needed in the first place.":confused:
Please 'splain this to me or am i missing something?? Why do you need less buoyline?? The depth your gonna fish is the depth your gonna fish no matter how you set the gear and you still need 25-30% more buoyline than the depth of the water.

"Then theres the topic of "running out the gear" vs throwing it out,you can set a pot and throw out 100 fathoms of well coiled bouyline in maybe 5-10 seconds,tub or no tub vs running it out"

I'm :confused: again? So the extra minute it takes to run out 100fathoms of bouyline and knowing that its set right vs. a throw it out in a coil and hope that a ******** in the rope doesn't snag up the whole mess, sink the buoy and /or float your pot/pots away(somebody stole my gear :eek makes sense ? Me i'll take the extra few minutes to set my gear running out the lines. (but what do i know:rolleyes

[jrogers]

The baskets that MRFISH has a link to are sold at Donalson's or at least they were last year. I looked at these, but then went with small (5 gallon?) trach cans from AHI with holes in the bottom. They have the really tough gray ones (I forget the brand) that should last forever. I coiled for a while onto spools, but then I figured out that I don;t have enough friends, nor good enough friends to sustain this. Dumping into a bucket works well, and as long as you feed it back out and don't dump the bucket, it never tangles.

Larsenvega, are you saying that you pull your pots from an inflatable with a 600' line by hand (no davit), and coil the line on a spool?

Jim