Lobster Trap Buoy Alternatives?

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by zrbite

Late last season was when I first started trying to get lobsters. I ended up just getting the normal big bullet floats, drilling a small hole in it and adding a led light on it. Are there any better alternatives?

Yeah there are better ways to do it.

Here's my basic hoop rope setup that I've been using for over a decade.




Here's some shots of the floats.

It looks really complicated but it's not. That's a standard white Promar egg float stuck in the end of some thin walled PVC the whole thing is filled with 2 part urethane foam and on the light end that's just a small plastic container that holds a LED.


Since those shots I've upgraded the nets and made my own conical nets

...and I'm using better brighter LEDs.

The best feature are the floats and weighted float rode. That keeps the majority of my rope down deep enough that outboards miss it, and the clip setup allows me to adjust the slack out of it. I've been using this setup for over a decade and not lost a net with it.

If I was going with standard lobster floats I'd go with just half of one the pointed end pointing towards the hoop. I'd then drill two hose in the back one for a light stick and another for a 1 1/2 inch 3/8 lag bolt. Just screw the lag right into the float. It will keep that side down so put your light stick in the hole on the other side and it will stay up.

Then again I'm sure you can come up with something on your own.

Jim