Wooden Crab Pot Buoys

[psychicrhino]

Anyone make their own buoys from wood? I have looked several places in the regs and cannot find a description of materials that
may be used on buoys for recreational crabbing. I am building a house right now so I have a lot of scraps handy especially thinking about some 6x6 scraps I have. Couldn't I just cut them down to 10-12" long, put a point on one end and drill out a hole in the nose to attach line. Paint them and put my info on them? Also, cannot find specs on colors for buoys? I only ask because here In Texas the regs specify specific materials and colors for commercial vs sportsmans buoys for catfish jug lines and blue crab traps. Thanks for the help.

PsychicRhino

 

[Daveinthebush]

No restrictions on bouys. I have often thought about using a seagull decoy.

 

[potbuilder]

Yeah make them out of wood so they soak up water and sink ! Thats a giant backwards in technology!! A gallon antifreeze jug with the cap caulked would work way better.

 

[psychicrhino]

No restrictions on bouys. I have often thought about using a seagull decoy.

That is funny, I was thinking about some old duck decoys I have, having read so many posts about having sets run for you or stolen. We have a similar problem here in east texas where folks will run your throwlines/limblines if you flag them or hang them out of the water on a branch (for river catfish). So, I now only tie my lines on roots and then several inches underwater - flagging goes 30' or so upriver from the actual line. Just saying that there are thieves everywhere and folks learn to adapt I guess.

@Potbuilder- thankyou for the reply. I have read many of your posts and do not doubt your experience. Here in Texas it is increasingly frowned upon for folks using things like antifreeze and oil jugs and such on the water I guess to help protect the fisheries from the contents of the jugs when they fail/leak/sink. I am surprised that no onehas ever used wood for buoys in the past - preplastic era. We use a lot of wood here for things that float like turtle traps, jon boatss and the like but we just seal/paint them first. But most of my experience is on freshwater so salt water may be different? Thanks again.

PsychicRhino

 

[Daveinthebush]

If you did use wood, you could fiberglass the outside and it would be waterproof. I think a battleship shape would be an interesting theme or a F&G Trooper boat. :idea:

 

[psychicrhino]

If you did use wood, you could fiberglass the outside and it would be waterproof. I think a battleship shape would be an interesting theme or a F&G Trooper boat. :idea:

Ha! I dunno, maybe I could wrap the wood in aluminim and oxy weld the seams Oh, or what about clear 2 liter soda pop bottles with the lables removed and the info written in brown sharpie and marked on gps. Would be near invisible but meet the letter of the law? Probably would simply lose more traps than could be nicked Or have em run over with the lines twisted up in someones wheel. All good ways to make friends I am sure. Oh wait...one more....wood cut out and painted to look likethe top of a tire floating...would be visible...but likely avoided. Alright, that is it...I got all the silly out now.

 

[psychicrhino]

I lied..thought of one more. Buoy made to look like a bloated fish carcass floating belly up! Hmmm, people might avoud but then would something see that from below and try to eat it...or from the air and try to haul it off...nevermind.

 

[JR2]

I saw a huge inner tube being used in PWS last year. A guy I know uses duck decoys for crab pot in Homer, uses logs as well.

 

[kasilofchrisn]

There was a member here who used green buoys.
He said you had to be close to see them which helps with theft.
He also said he thought more than once about them being missing before he finally spotted them.
I've almost ran over similiar buoys and almost set crab pots right on top of them.
That could have been bad for the pots and my boat.
A friend of mine in Homer was telling me of a guy who used to set illegal King crab pots in the bay after they had closed it.
He used a chunk of driftwood for a buoy.
Most people avoid driftwood especially if it has old line on it that might foul a prop.
Personally i'm not sure I would trust a homemade buoy made from scrap wood of questionable species. You could always add a foam bullet buoy to it for added insurance though.
If the cost of a good buoy is too much for your budget then maybe pot fishing isn't for you?

 

[psychicrhino]

There was a member here who used green buoys.
He said you had to be close to see them which helps with theft.
He also said he thought more than once about them being missing before he finally spotted them.
I've almost ran over similiar buoys and almost set crab pots right on top of them.
That could have been bad for the pots and my boat.
A friend of mine in Homer was telling me of a guy who used to set illegal King crab pots in the bay after they had closed it.
He used a chunk of driftwood for a buoy.
Most people avoid driftwood especially if it has old line on it that might foul a prop.
Personally i'm not sure I would trust a homemade buoy made from scrap wood of questionable species. You could always add a foam bullet buoy to it for added insurance though.
If the cost of a good buoy is too much for your budget then maybe pot fishing isn't for you?

Hey thanks...haha yes, I will spend a little money getting myself and family to Alaska this summer and a tiny bit more locally staying for a month. I am sure your last comment was meant kindly though so yes the cost of a good buoy might break me I have been planning, packing reading, scheduling, this trip for nearly a year and as the time draws near just trying to get it all together. As far as the wood it is some cypress posts - used for thousands of years by the area natives for boat construction due to its durability. I also have two young sons who have really enjoyed helping me make toy wooden boats from the same scraps. I just thought it might be a way for them to do something hands on, get a little pride when they pull "their traps" with buoys they made.

When I was a teen I made almost all my own gear to catfish because we werd bout dirt poor. I made my own throwlines, made my own weights, made my own crawdad rakes and perch traps for catching bait, make my own paddles. As I have gotten older and became financially stable, I buy more and more ready made gear, mostly due to time. I also thought that making gear was a way to enjoy fishing when not on the water.

I lurked on this forum for years before joining and have read thousands of posts here. I have numerous times seen someone else ask something like "I wanna make a halibut harpoon". Only to see responders say something like"if you cant afford a storebought harpoon, how you gonna afford to grt out where you can catch one". So thanks again, cause yes the price of a piece of foam may not be in the budget

 

[psychicrhino]

Here we go. Looks lime they were popular at one time in lobster fishing at one time. Doesnt look to be much to them.

http://lobstertraps.tripod.com/id6.html

 

[potbuilder]

@Potbuilder- thankyou for the reply. I have read many of your posts and do not doubt your experience. Here in Texas it is increasingly frowned upon for folks using things like antifreeze and oil jugs and such on the water I guess to help protect the fisheries from the contents of the jugs when they fail/leak/sink. I am surprised that no onehas ever used wood for buoys in the past - preplastic era. We use a lot of wood here for things that float like turtle traps, jon boatss and the like but we just seal/paint them first. But most of my experience is on freshwater so salt water may be different? Thanks again.

PsychicRhino[/QUOTE]

Guess a guy could wash them out good before using them, pump'em full of foam then they would also be bulletproof(for awhile at least). Yeah wood makes a nice boat and i think that cypress gets hard as iron after some saltwater pickles it a bit.The Mainers used to make cedar lobster buoys but that stuff floats like a cork. I used to pot eels back east and we NEVER used buoys and always fished the gear "flat" and grappled the lines back up to haul them.

 

[potbuilder]

I saw a huge inner tube being used in PWS last year. A guy I know uses duck decoys for crab pot in Homer, uses logs as well.

Those duck decoys all must look like feeding ducks with their arses up in the air when the tides starts to run and they start getting sucked under water:lol: Whats he do have a row of 50 decoys out there ??

 

[psychicrhino]

These folks are selling them and making them for novelty but they give nearly a how to rundown on em.

http://lisamariesmadeinmaine.com/products/homeDecor/maineWoodenBuoys/index.html

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Daveinthebush]

Those duck decoys all must look like feeding ducks with their arses up in the air when the tides starts to run and they start getting sucked under water:lol: Whats he do have a row of 50 decoys out there ??

Some eagle would end up doing a nose dive as he reached his capacity with the lead line. Over here ya had better get your duck before the eagles see it or they scoop them up. :flybye:

 

[kasilofchrisn]

Hey thanks...haha yes, I will spend a little money getting myself and family to Alaska this summer and a tiny bit more locally staying for a month. I am sure your last comment was meant kindly though so yes the cost of a good buoy might break me I have been planning, packing reading, scheduling, this trip for nearly a year and as the time draws near just trying to get it all together. As far as the wood it is some cypress posts - used for thousands of years by the area natives for boat construction due to its durability. I also have two young sons who have really enjoyed helping me make toy wooden boats from the same scraps. I just thought it might be a way for them to do something hands on, get a little pride when they pull "their traps" with buoys they made.

When I was a teen I made almost all my own gear to catfish because we werd bout dirt poor. I made my own throwlines, made my own weights, made my own crawdad rakes and perch traps for catching bait, make my own paddles. As I have gotten older and became financially stable, I buy more and more ready made gear, mostly due to time. I also thought that making gear was a way to enjoy fishing when not on the water.

I lurked on this forum for years before joining and have read thousands of posts here. I have numerous times seen someone else ask something like "I wanna make a halibut harpoon". Only to see responders say something like"if you cant afford a storebought harpoon, how you gonna afford to grt out where you can catch one". So thanks again, cause yes the price of a piece of foam may not be in the budget

Sorry if I sound a bit gruff. But I see lot of post on here on how to visit AK as cheaply as possible and take home as much as possible in the way of our fish and game. It just irritates me thats all. Especially when you say you will spend a "tiny bit" here in Alaska.
I understand you worked long and hard to afford your AK vacation.The extra $7 a foam buoy cost must buy a whole lot more in Texas than it does here because I personally wouldn't drop $100+ in gear in the ocean with out the added insurance of at least one $7 foam buoy in addition to your homeade wooden one.
By the way do you know where the best Shrimp and Crab pots for Alaska are made? You guessed it right here in Alaska!
One of the manufacturers is even a forum sponsor and a forum member.
But hey you can get those Danielson pots cheaper somewhere outside of Alaska.
I would tell you where you can buy the best saltwater fishing jigs in Alaska as well but you would likely buy something half as good for half the money down there in Texas to save a couple of $$.
I make a lot of my own fishing gear and I can tell you it is usually not a cost savings. But it is fun to catch fish using something you made yourself.
Sorry if I upset you over an expensive $7 buoy!

 

[psychicrhino]

I can keep 3 crabs a day - do I need a cadillac pot or will a danielson do?

I will spend an obsene amount of money in alaska for my family of four in a months time.

I will follow every regulation and fay every fee.

I will be respectful of the resources.

I will try to eat fish daily and bring some back in a cooler. I will keep a fraction of what I catch.

All I asked was about wooden buoys. I did not mean to upset anyone. But it is a tone I have seen used many times on this forum. If you dont want outsiders cstching "your"

All you have to do is get the laws changed, close non resident seasons, close all the charters, restaurants, b&bs, filling stations etc that depend on folks from outside and you are golden.

 

[kasilofchrisn]

Good luck crabbing and fishing here in AK.
Have a wonderful vacation with your family.
I hope your wood buoy holds up and you don't loose your gear.

Btw they are not "my" fish. Our state constitution says they belong to all Alaskans equally. I don't think it mentions Texans in there.

Sent from my HTC One V using Tapatalk

 

[potbuilder]

Hope your going where its legal to catch dungies ?? I don't know of anywhere in south central that's open for dungies.

 

[psychicrhino]

@ kasilofchrisn. . Sorry if I misread your post " I see lot of post on here on how to visit AK as cheaply as possible and take home as much as possible in the way of our fish and game. It just irritates me thats all." And I say again that I just cannot understand your attitude. If you are upset by folks from outside catching your fish all you have to do is get the laws change and forgo the tourist economy. I dont doubt that the best traps for alaska are made in Alaska anymor than I doubt that Snap makes a better wrench than Craftsman. If I were a pro mechanic I would have Snap on tools, for my occasional use and a fraction of the price - craftsman works good enuff for me. If I were a cimmercial fisherman or if I was a guide or lived in Ak full time Iwould spring for better gear and pay the price.

I do appreciate the well wishes but it feels like you are making a lot of assumptions about someone you do not know. It feels like your replys are not actually meant to be helpful but rather to attempt to insult, and for what I do not know. I don't mind to be insulted or belittled, I just ask that you get to know me first. I will be on POW in July and August. Maybe we can hang out? I truely would appreciate your advice, maybe we could go out on the water and catch a few fish/crabs.

PsychicRhino.