fish trap

Its a trap... for fish. Its pretty much the basic trap that uses the funnels where fish can swim in but not out.

Step 1 Materials and such

most of the materials and such in this project can be subsituted and worked around depending on what you have.

materials

-wire mesh,
-plastic mesh
-some sort of mesh
It needs to be small enough that the fishies cannot swim out of it. I used a plastic mesh that i got from the fencing department in lowes

-thin enamel coated wire
-thick wire

-2 dowels,
They dont need to be very thick, i used bamboo kebabs.

posterboard, wrapping paper
something that you can use to make a cone stencil

Tools
wire cutters
something to cut the mesh with
needle nose pliers

Comments

[jorgeadelast]

Dear Austin, I cannot but wonder whether the cylinder should be longer, so that the inner holes of the cones are farther away from each other, so as to allow the fish to enter the trap entirely in its search for the bait, as shown in the attached image.

[SIRJAMES09]

i would be easier to use hardware cloth that you can buy at most any hardware store...I know that home depot carries it & so does Lowes.

It comes in different sizes(hole sizes & sheet/roll sizes) and all you need to cut it is a pair of tin snips.

You can use plastic wire ties to bind it all together or you can buy special clips....
follow the directions on this instructable, and you will have a trap that will last YEARS....

[dahut]

Very nice idea. I mean, sure you can spend the money if you got it. But if you have the time and materials to make this, save your fishing money for beer.

[clarkshooter]

you could probably catch some crafish/cradads in it

[carpe_noctem]

yeah i made something like this a few years ago trying to catch crawdads. it worked and i caught a few, but mostly i got bluegill... also for bait, i used old rotting fish that had been forgotten in the back of the freezer. we covered that in mesh as well, which kept it from getting devoured right away. also i heard dry dog/cat food works well, but i haven't tried it.

[austin]

This actually works very well for turtles, but you have to check it often so they do not suffocate if the entire trap is submerged.

[deathpod]

I caught prawn in Hawaii with a trap just like this! They were attracted to white and we put in some coconut and got several very quickly thereafter. mmmmmm

[Radke22]

Great instructable! 5/5! I have made mine and it turned out nicely. My first ever instructable is on how to make a ice fishing rod, if you care to check it out it's on this link: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-an-ice-fishing-rod/

[i can go supersonic]

is austin your real name because my name is austin to.

[Dinerro94]

im confused? how do you cut the hole ont the side to get out the minnows

[Samlakes]

simply cut out a square in the mesh any size but not to big or to small. a 2" by 2" square should do if you are catching small fish. look at the pictures in the make.

[castuckey]

Just curious if you would be willing to share the dimensions for this trap as an example. I'm making a scaled down trap with scratch paper before I buy material and am trying to determine the size or the math for making the cones exact. Any advice?

[austin]

the trap i made is about 2 1/2 feet long. and how did you taste that minnow if it was whole? Did you feel it swimming in your stomach? Ive heard people do that with goldfish

[clemsonguy1125]

what size fish do you catch

[jjay10]

Nice try making it a little bit bigger for larger fish, other than that the trap design is awesome!!!!!!!!!

[geodez]

sharks? /=P

[TheCheese9921]

I swallowed a whole minnow for $20 once they taste like crap

[Ghondi]

Well did you at least get paid? lol.

[WTHAI]

>I swallowed a whole minnow for $20 once they taste like crap >a whole minnow for $20 once >$20 Yes, he did.

[fishcatcher]

i use a castin net for shiners moma frys them and u dip them in salt and its good

[tooninator]

does it matter if the cones arent perfect? either way, i patched it up with a neat little thing

[alston]

if you make a med- large trap, catfish are easily caught with it. i'm using it this summer

[gwrober]

Great instructable! Note: Please make sure you aren't violating any fish and game laws by leaving traps unattended.

[GaGe]

What type of fish do you catch with this trap. It looks like a bait trap.

[survivor569]

did you catch much with this trap?

[dkfa]

ya know you can got to a well known fishing lake and know how big the fish are there and make this trap big enough so they can get traped,pit a little box of sinking fish food in it ,tie 2 piecies of rope on the trap and tie it on the dock or a tree and leave it there. come back tommorow and see what you caught

[hedgiehog]

Im going to make a big one for my cottage, the fish there are stupid enough to get caught twice.

[shotgun2078]

Guess wat? i had to eat a raw carp and the horrible fish smell went in my mouth for years!!!!!!!!!!(my mom says to) i hate her wen sshe does that

[klee27x]

ehh. What kind of fish do you guys catch? Do you eat them?

[Ghondi]

You catch bait fish like minnows or guppies. I'm sure you COULD eat them, but I ouldn't reccomend it... You could make a HUGE version of this type of trap with some garbage barrels or something for bigger fishies....

[austin]

yes i know that they sell these but i didnt want to spend much money on something i could make myself. The trap is for large fish than the soda bottle kind also the soda bottle kind isnt really that effective if you want to leave the trap for londer than a few days because the fish will die pretty quickly in them

[Ghondi]

Thats true. The soda bottle ones can be made bigger(by using 3-liter bottles) as to hold more bigger fishies...Also, I wouldn't suggest leaving any of these for more than a day....could turn out messy....and there is a great chance(around me anyways) that some punk kid will walk by and take it....

[Ghondi]

Nice trap. Two things though. First, they sell ones just like this but black at my local WalMart for about $6. Also, you can make a quick one out of soda bottles....I'll make an instructable of it sometime. Other than those...this is awsome man.