Spot Shrimp?

Is anyone planning to try for spot shrimp this year on Hood Canal or Puget Sound? I have a trap rigged, but I keep thinking there has to be a way to catch them with a small trap on rod and reel. The regs don't say anything about something like that, but I'm sure they can write you a ticket while they figure it out. Anyone get shrimp by means other than the standard traps?

I have done the standard trap off a kayak and the trap via a rod and reel and they both suck! Be ready for a tough day, but damn they taste good!

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

My downrigger method worked pretty well...Sort of an older blog post.  Missing a few pics. 

http://guidesak.blogspot.com/2011/04/

Used a downrigger to pull up spectra line attached to a shrimp pot.  The beauty of this system aside from it being a lot easier than a rod and reel was that no one could steal your pots since no on else on the water has the mean to lift 600 to 800 ft of spectra line.  Also you need less weigh to hold the pot down since spectra has a lot less resistance than rope. 

Rod and reel is too dang hard unless you are super man or have a super low gear ratio.  I did it off a mini-x when I had no clue about kayak angling and thought my 9ft mini-x was the perfect platform for shrimping, halibut and king fishing.  lol.

I like Rudy's downrigger system.  But for those of us without one, what about using a Scotty line puller http://scotty.com/product/no-750-trap-ease/  and standard leaded line?

I know it isn't easy, I helped a buddy hand pull a 3 trap set when his puller shorted out.  But with a single trap, I reckon it's doable.  Just think of the sweet, succulent spots!  I won't eat any other shrimp than what comes from PNW/Alaskan waters...the rest are just bait.

My idea is to modify something like this with smaller mesh.

http://www.crabhawk.com/product/crabbing/crab-hawk/

I'll be out there. Tried the Scotty arm last year and it marginally lightened the pull. It's a workout, but makes those spots taste just a little mo better.

Will a scotty lake troller downrigger pull up a shrimp pot?  It seems like it may be too light, given it suggests a 4 lb ball maximum.

Will a scotty lake troller downrigger pull up a shrimp pot?  It seems like it may be too light, given it suggests a 4 lb ball maximum.

Hard to say...but the 1: 1 retrieve ratio is heck of a lot better than a 3:1 ratio of even the lowest powered reels...I am sure there are specialty reels out there. 

I used a half sized kayak pot with minimal weight inside since with spectra line, I figured there was a lot less resistance from current and bust due to the much thinner line.  The pot fully loaded probably did weight about 5 pounds or so since I added 2 pounds of lead total...I think...

The pots I pulled with rod and reel were standard sided pots with minimal weight using a TLD 30 two speed reel. I believe the low gear was right around 1:1.
The pots I pulled by hand were large rectangular pots with 10 pounds of weight in each. I used a Scott pot puller and it still sucked.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk