Sunday, May 26, 2013

Mudbug (crawfish) Traps

Good Morning, hon!!!

I am glad to be awake this morning, how about you?  I had a very fine rest with lots of adventurous dreams, so I am glad to be awake in the cool quiet morning and spend a nice peaceful.

I wanted to show you the crawfish trap I built!!  I used this website:

http://in-this-life-like-weeds.blogspot.com/2008/10/diy-how-to-make-crawfish-trap.html

I wanted to build a crawfish trap for several reasons:  to stay in touch with my heritage, as a possible income source (crawfish), to see if I could, and as a survival skill.

It is prudent, I think, to learn skills as often as may be.  First of all, it keeps your wits sharp and provides an excellent example for your children.  Even if you fail at something, that just provides a nice opportunity for a chuckle (I fully expect that, when I try to learn cast netting, I will be posting photos of me hopelessly tangled up in the net).  I have found that the more skills I learn, the more gumption I have, and that is what I want to pass down to my children.

Here is what I did...
These are the supplies I used:  small gauge fencing, wire cutters, pliers, wire, and the internet :)


I rolled out the fencing and made it as flat as possible.


With the wire cutters, I cut across the bottom edge.  I did not use precise measurements--no need.  I just used the wire as wide as it was (36 inches) and cut off about a 4 foot piece.  Watch out, those little edges are SHARP!

I tried to cut long lengths of the wire to "sew" the long edges (or the selvage edges for the sewers out there) together, but the wire I was using was too stiff, so instead I decided to "twist tie" the edges together.  Much easier.
 
This is a twist tie I cut.  It is about the size of a hair pin.  The sharp bend in it helps to make it be tighter when twisted together.
 

In order to make the cone, I had to find out how wide the trap was.  I did not need a measurement, just a length, if that makes sense (it will in the following photo :) ).  I tied a string to a pen, then just stretched a string across to the other side to "measure".

Then I drew a semi circle onto a piece of newspaper to make a template and cut it out.

Then I traced the outline of what I cut out of the newspaper.

 
Then I cut out the semi circle.  I cut out two, but only ended up using one.  Cutting the wire is much easier if you hold the wire like a ski pole instead of like scissors. 

I carefully (!) trimmed off the pointy ends and made sure that I collected each one.  These would be really bad if someone stepped on one or if a child or pet ate one!

I formed the cone by making a fold in the middle of the STRAIGHT edge of the semi-circle then bringing the straight edges together.  I then twist tied the straight edges ALMOST all the way to the top.  Stop at about 2 inches from the top or so because you will be.....
 
Cutting off the tip of the cone.  This is where the crawdads enter.  I folded the edge back to make a smoother, larger opening.

I then fitted the cone into the trap and then twist tying them together.  As you can see, I had a much bigger cone than the trap needed, but that actually worked out wonderfully because then I knew my cone would not be too small AND because I was able to fold down that sharp edge so it would not snag me as I carried it. 

And there you have it!  One REALLY large trap (you can make it shorter, but I would not make it smaller in diameter).  Instead of putting a cone on the other end, I just folded it over and used one of those large clips that you use to hold lots of papers together.  This makes it easy for me to open and dump my catch out :).


I will add a part two--baiting and setting the traps--soon :)


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