I have only been out crabbing here in the Puget Sound area maybe 15 to 20 times, and it has mostly been from a 12' row boat with either crab pots or rings. I prefer the crab rings because they are lighter and easier to get the crabs out of. The drawbacks to the crab rings, which are like a round (30"-36" dia.) collapsible sided net baskets, is that you must pull up rather quickly or the crabs just run out over the side. If you do pull up quickly, however, you can just dump them out (and into your new tote behind raft). Pick which ones you want to keep and throw the rest back into the water.

What I would like to accomplish is to do just that. I would plan on taking two or three crab rings, bungie them to a small raft, and drop each one (at stagetic loactions of course) with the proper length rope and a bouy on the end, during a low tide. Then anchor or tie up the raft to shore somewhere hidden and paddle around for awhile (maybe do some salmon fishing). An hour or so later, grab the raft and pull up each trap. Keep the crabs that meet state regs (6 per person in WA. and I think they have to be female greater than 6-1/4", but I could be wrong). Anyway back to constructing the raft...

How about a 6 foot catamaran with strip built pontoons and a flat deck with an 8-10" sided box on top all covered with fiberglass/epoxy and a few drain holes in the bottom. This also sounds like something you could tow the kids around in when you're not crabbing. From what I have read on this site, I would use a quick release waist strap with a secondary bungie, just in case of emergencies.

Any input would be great.

And Chip, you are more than welcomed to go with us this spring, if you're interested. Email me at csnw@nas.com.
SMF