Ropes & Floats
Floats
Each State and Territory has different rules and regulations around the use of floats on crab pots. Please see the abbreviated rules and regulations that were current at time of publishing. Click through to check each state’s regulations
QLD: The pot or dilly must be attached by a rope to either a:
- Solid, light-coloured float at least 15cm in all its dimensions and marked with the user’s surname.
- Fixed object above high water (e.g. a jetty or tree) – the rope must have a tag attached to it above the high water mark with the user’s surname on it (sunken and unmarked pots are illegal).
NOTE: The 2nd part of the rule is specific to Queensland and can be extremely helpful in reducing the scourge of pot ‘share farming’, damage and theft. By using appropriate rope and tags the chance of your pot being raided or stolen is significantly reduced. Please see more details below in the ‘Rope’ section.
NSW:
- A float/ buoy to be labelled with CT (Crab Trap), initial and surname, year of birth (YOB) and postcode of the person who sets, uses or lifts the fishing gear. The minimum height of the float being at least 50mm above the water with all letters to be a minimum of 15mm and in a colour contrasting to the buoy. There must also be a 50 gram weight attached to the float/buoy line so that no line is floating on the surface of the water. (Note: if using Crab’n Gear’s Lead Core rope Fisheries have deemed it to be ‘in the spirit of the law and as such the additional weight is not required.)
- The float/ buoy must measure not less than 100mm in all dimensions.
150mm Round Floats
Crab’n Gear sell 150mm round foam floats as they are the smallest floats that can legally be used in both QLD and NSW waters
White High Density Styrofoam
Not all styrofoam floats are equal. There are many ways to measure the ‘quality’ or density of a float, but the most simple one is density. If it is low density there is more air in the foam and it is lighter than a high density foam that is heavier and far more durable. If the foam is heavy it can take a bit of a beating and will survive whereas low density floats will crack and flake quickly. High density foam will also last a lot longer and can be sprayed with coloured spray paint for easy identification or burnt into for easy identification. When spanner crabbing a white float can be hard to identify in the water so painting them a bright or iridescent colour will help you to track them down.
Yellow PVC Foam
PVC foam is weather-resistant and has a smooth surface that is easy to print on. Many crabbers like the PVC foam as they are more durable and if they are hit by a crocodile or similar they will not break up as easily and as a result there is a higher likelihood of the float still being attached to your pot.
93mm Yellow PVC Football Float
Football floats have many uses across the fishing industry. Some people use them in crabbing as a ‘tail float’ where the main float is tied up to 600mm from the end of the rope and the tail float is threaded on the rope and held by a knot at the end. Tail floats can help with easy pot identification as well as making them easy to retrieve.
60mm Orange Cylinder Float
Cylinder floats can also be used as tail floats but are also very popular for use on lift dilly style crab pots so that the rope attached to the top ring is floating above the pot, so when the pot is retrieved the crabs are not scared away by the movement of the rope as it is retrieved.
Ezy Float – Inflatable Pot Float
Ezy floats are a minimum 160mm in all directions and were designed to make it easy for people to store their floats between uses, especially when space is limited. The floats can be easily inflated with one or two breaths and are made from heat welded plastic that is both UV and salt resistant. A large shackle is welded onto one end making it easy to tie the pot rope to. When the session is over simply unscrew the lid, let the air out and put it inside the pot with the rope! The lid has a tether to ensure it can’t be lost with the neck extending out making it easy to inflate. Finally the plastic can easily be written on using a permanent marker making it easy to comply with state regulations.
Ropes
There are no restrictions or regulations in regards to what type, colour or thickness of rope can be used in QLD or NSW, so it is more of a personal choice.
When choosing your rope of choice there are a few things to consider.
- Does it sink or float? Floating ropes have a higher likelihood of being caught in your or another boat’s prop, which can lead to lost pots or damaged equipment. Ropes that have a negative buoyancy will sink out of harm’s way and can remain undetected.
- Breaking strain – It’s a balancing act between the more the better, the thickness and the price of the rope.
- Thickness – This is a pseudo indicator of its breaking strain but can vary between different types of rope material and also leads into the next point.
- How it feels – Some materials feel a lot softer on your hands and others feel like they are going to cut you in half!
- How it ties – Some ropes are a lot easier to tie knots with and hold knots more than others, also some have a strong memory making them difficult to use.
The rope is used for one thing, to connect your pot to the float. However in Queensland is it also legal for the rope to be attached to a ‘Fixed object above high water (e.g. a jetty or tree) – the rope must have a tag attached to it above the high water mark with the user’s surname on it (sunken and unmarked pots are illegal).
This rule can be extremely helpful in reducing the scourge of pot ‘share farming’, damage and theft. By using appropriate rope and tags the chance of your pot being raided or stolen is significantly reduced helping to create a much more enjoyable crabbing experience.
In NSW there is a requirement that ‘There must also be a 50 gram weight attached to the float/buoy line so that no line is floating on the surface of the water’.
Lead Core Rope
Crab’n Gears Lead Core rope is a 4.5mm polyester braided outer rope that has small ingots of lead joined through the centre of the braid. The 10m shanks have 25g of lead per metre of rope that causes the rope to sink straight to the bottom keeping it well away from boat props. The ‘Mangrove Root Black’ colour and diameter of the rope enable it to blend very easily into the environment making it virtually undetectable when used to ‘tie off’ to a tree on the bank of an estuary. The ideal way is to tie it off to a tree or fixed object (ensuring it has a labeled tag above the high water mark) and then run the rope down the back of the branch or trunk until it reaches the ground at which point it can go out to where the pot is. Even if the rope does hang down straight from a branch it can easily be seen as a mangrove root or stick that has been caught during the high tide keeping it undetected. As the tide goes in and out the rope on the bottom will become covered in a thin layer of mud and/or sand making it very hard to see, even in crystal clear waters. The Lead Core rope is extremely flexible, easy to knot and with a breaking load of 320 kg is extremely strong. It has been found to be one of the best ways to discourage others from raiding or stealing people’s pots. The biggest problem is remembering where you left your pots!
Sink Rope – Black & White
Crab’n Gear Sink Rope is available in three diameters, 6, 7 and 8mm. Made from PP Raffia and Polyester, it absorbs the water, so it has a negative buoyancy allowing it to sink to the bottom of the waterway. Ideal for floating your pots the sink rope will go along the bottom and then up to the float, rather than from the pot up to the top of the water and then across the top to the float. Being below the water reduces the chances of it being caught in props and also getting caught or tangled in passing debris like weed, sticks and logs. When a rope catches debris like this there is a higher likelihood that the additional surface area of the debris can drag the pot in the tide reducing your catch and increasing the chance of your pot being lost.
The Polyester and PP Raffia are soft on your hands and have excellent flexibility making it great for knotting and splicing. Sink rope is stronger than traditional PP or ‘Telco’ ropes with up to 25% higher breaking loads than PP rope.
- 6mm 820kg
- 7mm 860kg
- 8mm 1200kg
With outstanding wear and abrasion resistance and added UV resistance for long life Crab’n Gear Sink Rope is the ideal rope for you to use on your pots.
6mm x 10m Shanks
6mm x 250m Coils
7mm x 250m Coils
8mm x 250m Coils
Green ‘PP’ Rope
Crab’n Gear’s Green Polypropylene Danline or ‘Telco’ rope is a 3 strand rope with great strength to weight ratio with a breaking load of 600kg. Available in 250m coils it is ideal to use for Spanner crabbing where you often require up to 70m of line per pot/tray. The Danline has excellent wear and abrasion resistance and is flexible enough for knotting and splicing. It has added UV resistance for long life and as it is made from polypropylene it does not absorb water so it will float.