DIY Nesting Crawfish Traps

DIY Nesting Crawfish Traps

            There are two things that I can say for certain. Live minnows make great bait, and crawfish are delicious. Trapping either of the two is quite simple, and I can’t understand why it’s not a more popular hobby. Most people have seen the homemade traps made out of plastic soda bottles. These traps work quite well, but to trap a lot of crawfish, you must use a lot of traps. Carrying a lot of loose bottle traps can be cumbersome and annoying. These easy to make traps nest inside each other allowing you to carry three traps, along with the necessary bait and tackle, in a package the size of a two liter bottle.

 Materials Needed:           

 2 Liter Soda Bottle

1.25 Liter Soda Bottle

20 Ounce Soda Bottle

Knife

Small amount of wire, I used paperclips

Bait: Small cans of cat food work well.

Line: Bank line, Paracord, etc

Pliers or Wire Cutters

Marker

First, start by cutting off the top portion of each soda bottle. Start the cut near where the bottle starts to taper. Try to make the cut as straight as possible. Scissors may help. Next, place the top half of the bottle inside the bottom half as shown in the picture.

Make two small marks about an inch apart on each side of each half of the bottle. The top and bottom half should each have 4 marks total.

Next use your knife, or hole punch or drill if you prefer, to drill out a small hole where each mark is. Cut the wire into sections a few inches long. You will need two pieces of wire per bottle, so six pieces total. Now, make sure the holes one the bottle halves line up properly, and wire the halves together using the holes you drilled. That’s it! The traps are finished.

To transport easily, just place the bank line, bait, etc. into the smallest bottle. Then just nest the bottles inside of each other. Use the wire ties to hold the largest bottle together, and you now have 3 traps that pack into a small package.  

Part two of this article is coming soon, showing the best ways to use these traps, the best baits to select, etc.

                                     

Thanks for reading guys! And if you enjoyed my writing, check out my new books:

Budget Bushcraft & Camping
 

            By: Tyler Clay