Instructions for Making Wire Crab Traps

If you have a taste for crab but are a "do-it-yourselfer" type, make some wire crab traps and land your own tasty catch. A wire trap has a bait box placed in the center, luring crabs to the trap. When they crawl in after the bait, they get stuck because the opening is large but the exit small. After you make and set the traps, check them at least every 12 hours to ensure your catch stays fresh and alive.

Things You'll Need

  • Bulk mesh chicken-wire
  • Measuring tape and marker
  • Wire cutters
  • Metal file
  • Zip ties
  • Marine rope
  • Floats
  • Small open plastic box with weights
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Instructions

    • 1

      Measure out two 12-by-20-inch sections on the chicken wire. Mark them and cut them out with the wire cutters. Measure two 10-by-12-inch panels and cut them out. File off the cut edges on the wire to smooth them out.

    • 2

      Zip-tie the panels together, making a box. Cut out the top and bottom by setting the chicken wire on the top of the box and cutting a shape in the same size. File off the cut tips to remove spurs and sharp edges. Zip-tie the top and bottom to the box.

    • 3

      Cut a 12-inch-diameter circle out of the chicken wire and then cut a 6-inch-diameter circle out of the center of the larger circle.

    • 4

      Coil the circle into a cylinder. Place the wide end of the cylinder on the open end of the box and insert the narrow end into the wire box. There is a hole on the narrow side big enough for crabs to drop into the box from, allowing them entry, but a confusing egress.

    • 5

      Tie marine rope to the top of the box. Add floats onto the rope. Place bait in the center of the wire mesh in a small, weighted plastic box.