How to Make a Peeler Pot for Crabbing

Change the bait to use your peeler pot for other crabbing trips.

Peeler pots help crab fishermen catch female blue crabs by taking advantage of the pheromones released by males during mating season in early April. During those weeks female crabs emerge from winter seclusion and prepare to molt and become desired soft-shell crabs. Peeler pots are identical to normal crab pots but they use live male crabs as bait. The males' pheromones summon the females, who become trapped in the pot. Specialty stores carry the materials needed for building a peeler pot. The list of materials is long, but the process of building the pot should only take one or two hours.

Things You'll Need

• 20 feet crabpot wire
• 12 feet galvanized 11-gauge smooth wire
• 2 feet galvanized eelpot wire
• Galvanized crabpot staples
• 1 zinc anode
• 6-inch piece of shock cord
• Cull rings and plastic hook
• Wire cutters
• Needle-nose pliers
• Hog ring fastener
• 1 3-foot 2x4 board
• Live male blue crabs

Instructions

1. Note that one "mesh" of wire equals the length between the two farthest points of a wire hexagon on the edge of the wire. Always cut a mesh at the halfway point of the next mesh.

2. Cut off a 20-mesh piece of crabpot wire. Count six meshes in from the edge and line up the 2x4 along the beginning of the seventh mesh. Bend the six-mesh length of wire up until it forms a 90-degree angle. Repeat this step on the opposite side of the 20-mesh wire. Create another identical U-shape and set aside.

3. Cut off an 11-mesh piece of crabpot wire. Trim off a half mesh from both sides. Lay the 2x4 on its thinnest side in the center of the trimmed wire. Fold up the wire on both sides of the 2x4 so that the wire sheet forms a V-shape. Flip the V-shaped wire over. Create two holes in the flat center of the wire sheet by cutting the 2nd, 3rd and 4th wires from the edge on both sides. Fold up the cut halves of wire. Set aside.

4. Cut off a two-mesh piece of crabpot wire. Trim the edges so that 10 hexagons remain on the top and 12 hexagons remain on the bottom. Bend this piece to form a tapered cone. Tie the wires together and press into an oval shape to create an entrance tunnel for the crabs. Repeat this step with another two-mesh piece of crabpot wire.

5. Cut off a piece of eelpot wire 25 meshes in length. Trim the width of this piece in half. Fold in half and fuse with crabpot staples to create a cylinder. Slightly flatten the rough end of the cylinder.

6. Lay the V-shaped piece of crabpot wire from Step 3 inside one U-shaped piece from Step 2. Ensure that holes you cut in the flat center of the V-shape are facing up and at the same level as the two tops of the U-shape. Tie the rough edges of the V-shape to the U-shape to fasten.

7. Remove one complete mesh from the bottom of the piece you created in Step 6. Place the cylinder from Step 5 over the hole you just created and tie the rough ends to the bottom. Use crabpot staples to fasten the other end of the cylinder to the V-shape above.

8. Take the other U-shape from Step 2 and place it on the construction from Step 7 so that you create a cube of wire. Fasten both of the bottom edges together, but only tie together the sides and top of one side. Leave one side of the cube unfastened so you may remove crabs from the trap.

9. Position the trap so the bait cylinder is on the bottom. Cut the wire on the bottom of two sides so that you create a hole for the entrances you made in Step 4. The holes should be two hexagons on top, three hexagons on bottom in size. Fit the entrances into the holes so that the tapered end is inside. Fasten the wider bottom to the hole.

10. Staple the 11-gauge smooth wire to the top square of the cube to stabilize the trap.

11. Cut out one hexagon from the side of the crabpot and fasten the cull ring in its place to create a space for small, illegal crabs to escape. Fasten the shock cord to one edge of the trap and tie it to the hook for easy retrieval. Attach the zinc diode anywhere on the trap.

12. Place a live male crab in the trap to turn your trap into a peeler pot.

Tips & Warnings

• When peelers aren't in season, use bait instead of a live male crab in the bait box.

References

• Blue Crabs Archive: Building a Crabpot
• South Carolina Department of Natural Resources: Blue Crabs