How about "catting" your 'yak to that of a good buddy -- build a full platform. paddle out with canoe paddles.

But don't take my word for it. Ask anyone who was at R2K1 how successful a crabber I am!

Shawn

: 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