I noticed a silver dollar sized crab walking out of my last crab trap, at that point I decided to make a real calico crab trap out of half inch coated garden/chicken wire. In hinesite which is 20/20 I realized the reason I was not catching crabs in the summer months was because the wire basket I used to make the old trap was allowing the smaller crabs to escape.
Took a week to make, many small wires to bend with a needle nose plyers, and nothing like this to model after on the internet. I found some info/videos on how to make a blue crab trap out of standard chicken wire to get some ideas. I eyeballed everything and shaped it up in my spare time after work, a few hours a night.
Trap is 24"x20"x6"tall, has three tunnels and a large bait pen in the middle. The top rear is held closed by a small bungy cord and S hook, which is unhooked to release any traped crabs, simalar to how a large blue crab trap at the bait shop works. Same sized bungy cord is also used to keep the bait pen door closed.
This is a very ruff prototype trap that is ugly to look at but will be perfected.
I have only used this trap one time and it rocked. This trap works very good, but being the perfectionist I am I already have another one in the works, having figured out how to make the tunnels true cones and equal in size and shape. The next one will not take as long.
The trap was lighter than I expected so I zip tied some rebar into it to weight it down.
This trap works perfect. Does not move in the waves and keeps all sized Calico's.

View of the back of the trap where crabs are extracted.

Pretty neat, BJR

Nice job.

Sweet BJR

Put up a schematic if you can. Thats a nice trap

Sick stuff right there Boca, now lets get a pic of that bad boy filled with crabs when you can man!!..

Schematics.....ummmm...not really sure how to do all that but heres another picture before adding the last entrance. I'm gonna start just making a rectangular box 24"x20"x6" or a little smaller so it's not so bulky to walk with, with one end open. Then place tunnels, cut wire away, twist wires in to secure tunnels. I'm going to place the bait pen last on this one still in the middle with the same door set up. Then bend up the back, bungy cord it, and add rope. Make sure to have the trap door hinge facing the way you will be pulling it in from the surf. I've got other things going on so havn't got the next one started but will brake out the good camera and take pics.

I've had this sitting on the bench for a week ready to build V2.1. I freeze up jumbo ladyfish durring the mullet run, cut them whole into quarters, then freeze, and save fish carcases/heads/skin from table fish I clean to eat (palomettas, bluefish, etc.) for bait.

If you catch a dozen in each of them you will be set up

That is a lot of snipping and bending

Thanks Boca

Keep us posted on V2.1

Tight work

Nice trap. Post up more picks

Nice trap. What size are the tunnel entrance and exit holes? I know what you mean about twisting and bending. Took a while to make my fish bait trap here: viewtopic.php?f=58&t=27729

Nice job man!

Finished this one in only a couple nights after work, much faster that version 2. I'm not happy with the bait pen size on this one. I went 20"x20"x5". I'm happy with this size which is easier to pack around, and also happier with the tunnels. I need to find this chicken wire in bigger rolls than 60 inches. There just isn't enuf scrap left over to make all the parts. I also need to write down the mesurements like a recipe to make this a little easier/faster than eyeballing it everytime. I like eyeballing it when making it though, fun to see something come together from nothing. Have not tested this one yet will soon.

thats cool. I built one with my two 7 year old boys. I just used pvc pipe and chicken wire and caught alot of blue crabs. Saltwater did a number on the chicken wire as you would imagine. I was in a hurry so i didnt get any quality coated wire at the time

Jay

Nice Work!!

This isn't a blue crab trap. Much cheaper and easier to just bend up chicken wire to make a blue crab trap. No pvc needed. There is alot of info on how to make a blue crab trap on the web. Nice project for you and your kids though.

I pulled the bait pen and door on this one and put in a better size so now its perfect.

Trap works well. Its to tall and a little to lite. I'll make another soon. Heres the pics of it full. Only thing I caught out there today was a sunburn on my neck.

Nice BJR! Atleast you hauled in some bait man. What makes you think its too tall and lite bro? Take it easy.ce

It flipped in some of the waves. Totally unexceptable. I would say I caught around 15 crabs at a time. I only keep enuff out in a cut milk jug to use for bait I leave the rest in the trap in the water keeps um fresh.

If you were to build another. How long would you say per each from start to finish if aiming for a set of 10 ??

It took me 3 nights about 2 hours a nite for this one. I would say 6 to eight hours for just one, but I have no plans drawn mesurements taken. Just bending wires. No zip ties on these. I need to come up with a plan to make it faster If I were to make and sell them, which I really have no intention of doing. I gave the first one away as a gift, rather than canabalize it for the wire. The chicken wire Im using I get at Home Depot and it's only in 60 inch rolls.
If you had 10 traps and caught 15 in each then you would have 150 crabs.

Sounds good Boca, i eventually need to get my hands on trap one day i keep telling myself.

nice trap BJR!!! good to see it full of crabs, here is a crab trap I built about a week ago, have yet to use it, cant wait!!

looks good chris, hopefully you filler' up.

Boca, I havent seen
many calico crabs in the panhandle...I have seen them before though, certainly not as plentyful as blue crabs...Unlike blue crabs i've only seen the calico in the surf especially at night. We
catch babies in the net but at night the few we caught werent that much smaller than the "average" blue crab...NEVER seen them in the bays like the blue crab though up here.

Jay

Right on jay. My goal with this style trap is. Calicoes in the surf for bait not to eat. Blue crabs are not overly abundant here in the south. If I were up north I would only make blue crab traps. The reason for the smaller gaged wire is to catch smaller crabs.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....i thought you were after the ADULTS for food.....I gotcha.....Yeah every 3 steps up here you step on a blue crab....Me and the boys scoop our nets and catch quarter size calico crabs during the day in the wash...

Damn that sucks! Please seal the bucket with a battery bubble pump and send all of them down this way over night delivery . Tks!