Crackpots Marine
Octopus Shelter Pots
Our Octopus hides (or shelter pots as they are sometimes known) are economical, easy to use, as well as being easy to harvest. They are a moulded plastic tube that the octopus literally ‘hide’ in; and we fit them with ballast, a rope bridle and a snap hook.
Octopus traps or trigger pots, work differently to a shelter pot. They are more like a mouse trap – when the bait is taken, a triggers closes the lid. The lid then stays permanently closed until you pull your trap and clear it.
Our octopus hide’s have a single entry chamber that is ballasted at the bottom, so it rests upright on the ground. It allows the octopus to come and go freely.
The best spot for placing your shelter pot or hide is right in the middle of typical octopus feeding grounds, where there’s often not much shelter. Feeding grounds are often flat open areas of broken rubble, sand and seagrass meadows where the crabs, molluscs (like clams & mussels) and small fish live. If you place your shelter pots near a reef, they are unlikely to catch as there is plenty of natural habitat for the octopus to hide.
Remember, we don’t recommend placing them anywhere near your craypots.
Advantages of Octopus Hides over Trigger pots
An Octopus Hide allows you to be a fair weather fisherman. In bad weather, trigger pots still need to be pulled, otherwise the octopus inside will starve. Shelter pots allow them to come and go, so you can wait until the swell drops.
Plus some of the other advantages of an octopus hide include:
- Much cheaper
- No maintenance requirements unlike trigger pots
- Don’t have to be regularly checked for trapped occi
- No limits on the number you can fish with
What is an Octopus pot rig?
Rigs generally comprise a string or backbone of 6mm rope long enough to support the number of occy hides required. Plus you need to have enough rope to reach the surface, where a single float will locate the line.
Most occy rigs have between 4 and 6 hides per line. Each hide is typically placed 8-15 meters apart, with 10 meters is most common. Each hide is clipped to the line with the 75mm shark clip located on the bridle.
How to build a Rig of Octopus Shelter Pots
- Choose a float – a round 6” or 8” polystyrene float will work well
- You’ll need enough rope to go from water level to ocean bottom at high tide –we recommend 6 or 8mm PP green rope
- Then add a 9kg Ballast to secure the first pot
- Then a long line with an Occi pot attached every 8-10m
- Consider a ballast at the other end if strong currents or there are big swells
Tips for fishing for Octopus
- Look to drop then in areas that are flat, open, but with some broken rubble.
- Ensure the line is kept straight with no excessive loops of rope – good idea to pull the end of the rig once all hides are out to take the slack out.
- Place a ballast plate/brick one meter or more past the last hide and sufficient rope to reach the surface.
- You can fish in any depth but usually between 1 up to 20 meters as good ground is readily available close inshore.
- Optimal times to pull is between 5-7 days (professionals stick to this to maximise catch versus effort). You can pull a few days apart but the catch drops correspondingly.
- Hides left for extended periods often result in larger occi as they displace smaller animals over time.
- Move hides into deeper water if a big storm is coming or take out of the water temporarily.
