DIY Lobster Snare

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

I bought a pvc Lobster snare today and it is EXTREMELY simple to make. We have already found a few improvements. I will be building one this weekend with prices and pix. It costs 25 bucks to buy, but looks like it can be made for less than ten! I am also working on a ten foot breakdown for those deep places you can't reach with a short snare.
:idea:

[Bob3]

An el-cheapo snare can be made fron 1/2" PVC & some very heavy mono, shouldn't cost more than a buck or 2 to make.
There's a guy in MI that's making the things just like that, sell for about $10 - $12.
I still like the production snares w/SS wire rope on them, they still work well after a few thousand bugs.

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

After speaking to an FWC official, I was told to review the law in Florida. The green snares that everyone here uses (generalization) is a SS cable covered with plastic tube. I was told this is still ILLEGAL and it just depends on how much of an @$$ the LEO wants to be on enforcing it. Also the mono line one is SO simple you can't maintain pressure on the snare and let go without the bug getting free. It is a constant pressure manual snare.
What we have to build is a "locking" snare that you can tighten and release and still retain the bug. This design sells in dive shops locally for 25 bucks and can probably be made for about five. Also it will be whatever length you want, not just the 36" length.

[Bob3]

I was told this is still ILLEGAL ... I don't see the function as being any different than the ones with mono, with the tubing over the cable the bugs won't be injured & can be released unharmed.

From the FL Regs:
"•Gear such as spears, hooks, wire snares, and any device which could puncture, penetrate, or crush the shell of the lobster is prohibited."

An @$$ warden *might* write you up, but it'd get tossed in court, as the intent of the reg is to prevent injury to the bug.
Remember to keep your fishing license WITH you either on the boat, your float, or in a pocket.
Leaving the license in your car while beach diving is grounds for a ticket. Quite a few have been written for this "offense" this year.

As far as using a non-locking snare, you just slide your hand down the tube maintaining pressure & tension 'till you're hand is on the bug. BAM, in the sack

[klausbh]

If I remember correctly, the official wording in Florida law is that any device that can injure the lobster is illegal to use. They specifically mention wire snares, since those can literally cut the bug in half. One with a plastic hose around it is both safe and legal, and an appropriately thick plastic line (e.g. weed whacker line) should be fine too.

-Klaus

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

I talked to an FWC in person this weekend. He said only an @$$ WOULD write you up, but there quite a few "cowboys" in the FWC. He said technically, if the snare has a "blocker" which prohibits complete closure of the loop smaller than a three inch circle, it is considered "lobster safe." He said there must be a covering on the cable, or the line must be ROUND weed trimmer style plastic that has no cutting edges unlike the square stuff. If using anything with a tensioner, like the automatic snare, it must have a no crush limit of at least the three inch diameter circle without a bug in it. If made of round plastic weed trimmer line, it does NOT have to have the blocker if it is a manually operated unit.

He also said that if a communal catch container is used, there must be some way to designate which person has which lobsters on sight. He said my idea of cable ties was an awesome idea. This way there isn't any argument that one diver has 18 bugs!

(The idea was to carry different colored cableties. Each diver using the communal box is assigned a different color band. When they catch a lobby, they band it and throw it in. Each diver wears the band on their bc on the front rings. This way each diver's limit can be checked quickly.

I hope to make a few of these snares to bring with us to SoFlo. (See South Florida Trip in Florida Conch Divers) Whew it's official

[JustAddWater]

Snares are a big no no here in California, as tempting as it is. Even worse, snarers get absolutely no street cred in the pen.

[Dive4Life]

Your killing me. This is the second post i've read about California and snares. Guess you shouldn't use one over there. Here in FL they are AWESOME!!!! I hate using a tickle stick and a net. HUGE PAIN IN THE @** if you ask me. If someone could get some directions on how to make a snare (sizes of pvc, cable, etc....) that would be awesome. I'm sure it isn't that difficult but the locking mechanism has to be a pain to make.

[murphdivers286]

Let's see some pixs of those lobster snarks.... Maybe I should start this on another thread.

[xnight]

Just finished one today, went to home depot and spent two hours there trying to figure out a mechanism that would be safe for the lobster and came up with this...........

pictures to be posted as soon as my son comes home with my camera


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xnight/snare079.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xnight/snare091.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xnight/snare083.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xnight/snare081.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xnight/snare086.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xnight/snare087.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xnight/snare093.jpg

[Tom Winters]

Colored rubber bands work faster than cable ties, and you can slide one off your wrist and tag while you bag the lobster.

[snokat]

This is a leftover 40"- 1/2" PVC with an elbow. 66"s of 1/8" galv. cable, a 5"-1/2" PVC handle(pull), with a 1/8" U-cable fastener and 6" of plastic tube on the snare end.

Drill a hole just below the elbow to pass the tag end of the cable through, about a 1 1/2-2" will due. Bend it and lay it flat on the PVC and duct tape to your hearts content. The U-fastener goes on the opposite end at the end of the handle, add duct tape. Even Homer Simpson couldn't foul this up.

These are some of yesterdays victims, Hans and Franz, 4 & 5 pounders.

[FatRob]

I was going to send a picture of my gloved hand, but I can't be bothered! Why do you need a snare? Can't dive for lobstahs up here anyways!
Oh and you want gloves on up here! Water's a bit nippy!

R

[snokat]

I grab 95% by hand, but being 6'3" gives me quite a wing-span. This is more of a tickle-stick for me, but in deep holes I improve my catch by quite a bit. Also, it is handy to flushout eels that often hangout with their eel budddies.
Kevlar gloves are my REAL weapons.

[funkyreuben]

That looks awesome! You should send your pics and write up to make magazine (http://www.makezine.com/blog).

Chris