Prawning for BC boaters
May 23, 2019
If you are a boater on British Columbia’s West Coast you are into prawning or you have at least thought about it. Prawning is simply part of the West Coast boating experience.
As rewarding as this pastime is it’s not without some downside.
How many times have you heard fishermen say… “Somebody stole my trap!” or… “I am sure I put the trap down in this area.” or… “What? No Prawns!” While it could be that the trap was stolen it is more likely that, in a strong current or rough sea, the trap was continually being lifted off the ocean floor and moved a great distance away.
To minimize the hassle of losing your gear and increase your chances of catching more prawns you MUST make sure your trap stays put and is not moving. If a trap is moving, prawns will never enter the trap.
Pro Marine Products are the leaders in the revolutionary movement to “Thin Line Prawning” and we want to share our secrets and solutions with you so you can catch more prawns and lose less gear.
Think about this… If you put a trap down in the water with nothing attached to it, the trap will not move. The trap, by itself, does not offer enough resistance in the water to cause it to move. The reason the trap moves is the drag that is created when we attach 400ft or more of large diameter line, usually 5/16 leaded line or floating poly line (or both), from the trap to an identifying Scotchman float or buoy at the surface. In a strong current or rough sea, the large diameter line and Scotchman create a great deal of resistance and drag in the water. This is the cause of the trap being lifted off the ocean floor and floating away.
Traditionally, fishermen have been adding more and more weight to their traps to stop them from moving. This is counterproductive and not the solution. If the cause of moving traps is resistance or drag, the solution is to reduce the cause or quite simply… reduce the drag!
We have developed an innovative way to set and retrieve prawn traps. The Pro Line Hauler is a compact, rugged, mechanical spooling device that uses strong (450lb test) thin (2mm) diameter round braided nylon line to attach your trap to the float at the surface. This thin line offers 14 times less resistance in the water and greatly minimizes the drag that is causing your trap to move.
The Pro Line Hauler is easily installed in a Scotty deck or rail mount and comes pre-spooled with 450ft of line. It can be used on any size vessel… even inflatables and kayaks. It does not require an independent 12V power source because it is driven with your cordless drill. We use a ½ inch DeWalt 20V cordless drill but other quality 20V drills will have similar results. Our testing revealed that there is sufficient torque in the ½ inch cordless drill to raise a prawn trap from 400ft twice without replacing the battery.
Using the Pro Line Hauler saves a ton of space as it is much smaller than today’s cumbersome and expensive line haulers and there is no need for big tubs and containers to store large diameter line. Plus, the option to purchase additional spools for your Hauler means it is easy to set a trap in one location and then move further down the shore to set another trap with a second spool. More traps more prawns!
Using the Pro Line Hauler will save you money, space, and the frequent disappointment of losing your gear or coming up empty handed. With thin line hauling there is none of this…
