30-Inch Stainless Steel Crab Trap

I've used Ladner traps for years. After some jackass stole mine I replaced it with the same. They are pricey but there's several subtle advantages to these traps. First, I tend to soak overnight near the end of the season when crabbing is less prolific. The door configuration of this trap works better at holding in legal size crab, compared to a square folding trap. The stainless metal won't leave rust stains on your deck. And this trap has some heft to it so it won't (easily) get picked up off the bottom in a 1-2kt current. It's an investment, perhaps 2X-3X in price when fully outfitted compared to a cheaper trap. But I find these advantages are worth it.I also use a Willapa Marine tunnel crab pot. Both are of the similar quality, although the Willapa is not stainless and lighter (so you need to weight it with rebar or a brick). The one advantage the Willapa has over the Ladner is the built in bait container. For some reason crab have a really hard time reaching into and slowly eating your bait. This means you can crab all weekend with the same bait with the Willapa but will need to rebait daily or twice daily with the Ladner. Maybe next summer I'll work on a different bait container for the Ladner so that doesn't happen...Both are good quality traps.

like the fact they are 100% stainless. the downside is the stainless mesh is very light weight and already had problems with the mesh breaking down. I would gladly pay more for a heavier gauge mesh. my guess is that i will be replacing them in less than one year. I crab in Puget Sound WA.

I use this pot along with an identical one to catch dungeness crab four days a week. Great eating.