"Bandit" Lobster Pots

[tomytuna]

maybe someone from environmental police can actualy pull the string and confiscate do to improper markings? NAH, they would get their uniforms all dirty.

[sportsman250]

Never seen a rec pulling up those pots all comms I think they lose so many bouys there that they use the bleach jugs. I work throwing distance from most of them. Some of them don't use any markers there and just drag the big treble and always seem to find their pots I cant find my 4 on a regular basis

[Storm]

Lobstermen sometimes substitute plastic jugs for buoys in high traffic areas where the buoys often get clipped overnight. Keeping good buoys replaced in a main shipping channel can be an expensive proposition. Small diameter line is intentionally used at the surface so that the line will easily breakaway. Otherwise, gear with good rope attached to the buoy is sometimes unintentionally towed offcourse by a tugboat or other large vessel - making the gear difficult or impossible to recover with a trap drag. The plastic jugs also have a tendancy to breakaway on impact, versus the more resilient styrofoam buoys.

My favorite method of operation in shipping channels is to use no buoys at all. That way, I don't need to replace many buoys, the gear never gets towed, and my competition doesn't know where I'm fishing. The only downside is I have to spend additional time dragging for the gear. I'd rather drag for gear than have a tugboat snag a twenty trap trawl and tow it a half mile away from where it's supposed to be.

Most likely gear marked with a jug is legal gear and the traps are properly tagged with the owners ID. At least here in Maine, buoys are supposed to be marked with a license number, but sometimes guys get lazy and fail to mark the jugs. Jugs obviously can't be branded with a hot iron the same way a buoy can, but most guys mark them with a paint marker.

I hope this clears up any misconceptions or confusion. Otherwise, I would be more than happy to answer any questions.

Storm

[CaptainCJ35]

I dont have a gripe with commecial guys doing what they have to in order to stay in business.

That being said, its getting hazardous in low light and bad weather. The plastic bottles they are using dont have enough floatation in the fast tides, sit low in the water to begin with, and are sometimes just tough colors to see... green, dark blue, black and even clear.

Coming into the harbor last week, I was mid channel by Deer Island Light. Sun was setting and the glare was pretty harsh. At the last moment, I saw something in the water that wasnt right and dodged it. I swung back for a look... two small detergent bottles tied together... 6" under the surface... I only saw their small wake.

With inboards and big props, even at cruise rpm, the plastic bottles get sucked in a mashed on the blades... this fouls even the line cutters I have installed on each shaft. Twice this season, I've had to dive under the boat and cut myself free from the lobster pot... or pots... I was dragging or anchored to in the middle of a busy shipping lane.

It's bad! ... too much coffee... ranting again.

[Storm]

I dont have a gripe with commecial guys doing what they have to in order to stay in business.

That being said, its getting hazardous in low light and bad weather. The plastic bottles they are using dont have enough floatation in the fast tides, sit low in the water to begin with, and are sometimes just tough colors to see... green, dark blue, black and even clear.

Coming into the harbor last week, I was mid channel by Deer Island Light. Sun was setting and the glare was pretty harsh. At the last moment, I saw something in the water that wasnt right and dodged it. I swung back for a look... two small detergent bottles tied together... 6" under the surface... I only saw their small wake.

With inboards and big props, even at cruise rpm, the plastic bottles get sucked in a mashed on the blades... this fouls even the line cutters I have installed on each shaft. Twice this season, I've had to dive under the boat and cut myself free from the lobster pot... or pots... I was dragging or anchored to in the middle of a busy shipping lane.

It's bad! ... too much coffee... ranting again.

Guys that lobster fish in Portland Harbor purposefully rig their gear so that the buoys only show at low tide. That way, the buoys get clipped half as often as they would otherwise. Even with enough buoyancy or rope, the tide is so strong in the main channels that buoys won't show on a hard running tide. We tend to haul the gear when the tide is slack and the buoys are more easily found. Boats hauling gear in a strong tide tend to drag their gear through everyone else's gear, creating a mess for everyone involved. Dragging for lost gear during a high tide also creates a major nightmare and is highly shunned upon.

Storm

[CaptainCJ35]

Guys that lobster fish in Portland Harbor purposefully rig their gear so that the buoys only show at low tide. That way, the buoys get clipped half as often as they would otherwise. Even with enough buoyancy or rope, the tide is so strong in the main channels that buoys won't show on a hard running tide. We tend to haul the gear when the tide is slack and the buoys are more easily found. Boats hauling gear in a strong tide tend to drag their gear through everyone else's gear, creating a mess for everyone involved. Dragging for lost gear during a high tide also creates a major nightmare and is highly shunned upon.

Storm

That's a good point.

I guess my main gripe is the shear number of bottles... not the practice of using them. An earlier poster noted that this has been going on for years... and I agree... but the number of bottles employed and their location in high traffic areas has exploded.

[Storm]

The amount of gear being fished in the inner channels of Portland Harbor is a common complaint of the tugboat captains, the local ferry service to the islands, and the oil tanker pilots. The harbor is supposed to have a buoy free zone, but I'm not aware of anyone complying.

There are so many buoys I dread coming through what we call the fairway into Portland at night. Buoys are as much a problem for me as they are for a recreational guy. The last thing I want is a fouled prop at seven or eight PM when I'm hoping to get back out fishing the next morning at five AM. Many times I've jumped off the boat at night to clear the prop when I couldn't see the rope I was trying to clear. Somewhat of a nuisance when you've already spent twelve or fourteen hours on the water. By winter, most of the gear has been moved offshore and it isn't as much of a hazard. Then we just hope we don't slam into an unseen ice patch.

[Storm]

I was returning to the harbor one afternoon when a boater called the Coast Guard to report a buoy being towed by a seal or some other entangled mammal. The guy had followed the suspect buoy for almost an hour. As I approached the harbor I could see a boat zig-zagging back and forth. I figured this must be the boat following the entangled mammal. The Coast Guard requested that the boater stay with the buoy until a member of marine patrol or marine mammal lifeline could be dispatched to the scene. The guy was becoming increasingly impatient with the request because he wanted to go fshing.

When I passed the boat I discovered the guy had been following a buoy that was simply running with the tide. The guy had reported to the Coast Guard that he was following the entangled mammal closer and closer to the breakwater.

Not wanting to embarrass anybody, I called the Coast Guard dispatcher on my cellphone to report my observation. I asked the dispatcher if she understood that the guy had been following a buoy for almost an hour that probably hadn't moved ten feet. The dispatcher laughed and told me she understood.

Storm