Your crab traps are one of the most important items in your tackle itinerary. You need them to work well and you need them to catch crabs. I recommend using the topless crab trap since these definitely seem to work best.
Topless Crab Trap - Copyright JP Photo Credit
There is no doubt that in order to keep up with the flow of the catch, the traps need to work well, and the topless traps do just that. There are many reasons why I suggest using the topless crab trap, here are some of them:
Easy to store on and off the boat - This is the number one reason why these crab traps are great. It does not matter what size boat you have, you only have so much real estate and when you can save space it makes a huge difference. Also, storing them at home and transporting the traps from home to the dock is much easier with topless traps. Get yourself a plastic
milk crate and these traps will stack nicely with the crate at the bottom. The milk crate makes them easy to carry and easy to clean. At the end of the day you can just stack all your traps in the milk crate, place them on the dock and hose them off. Click here to check out the milk crate I use.
Easy access to the crabs - Without a top like the traditional box trap, it's easy to shake the crab out of the trap and into the basket. It also makes it easy if you need to reach in and grab the crab or put your tongs in to get the crab out.
Less tangles - This is huge. You don't want to spend all day un-tangling line on your crab traps. Other traps have too many ways to tangle. This is a more simplistic design to allow more catching and less fixing.
Closes tight when pulled - The topless trap keeps the crabs in when you're pulling them up. String it once and you won't need to keep adjusting the doors. They'll close up tight when you pull the line. Also, the momentum of pulling the line up will keep the crabs at the bottom of the trap.
You'll want to get some thick line to attach to the trap. The thick line will be easier on your hands when pulling the traps and it will also last longer.
Crab Trap Line - Copyright JP Photo Credit
It's ok to go lighter on the door lines as long as they are nylon or heavy monofilament. However I suggest 1/4" solid braid line for your pulling line that goes from the buoy to the door lines - as shown in the above photo.