The traps are a really nasty thing. While it is fun in the beginning, it gets annoying. Especially when you are on your first quest for crabs/lobsters. Changes that are needed for lobster traps:
- lower the rate of loosing them
- increase reaction time, when they are 'blobbing'
- increase the chance to catch a specific species, if you have the quest for one
tips:
You can set out more than one trap at a time. For me 4 worked best, becourse i dont need to move with them. I can handle 4 traps at a time from a single spot of my ship. When you set the traps out, make a rest on 1-2 seconds between them. So that you know, when the next one will be ready, after the first one started bobbing. Every bob means one catch. Dont wait too long, or there are too many inside and the trap will sink. (Up to 4 is possible, 3 are already rare.) It seems like spots can be fished clear very fast with/for traps. I move my ship, when 1 or two of my 4 traps haven't cought something. (You know ... the 2 seconds when it should be ready but isnt.) Dont hesitate to pull empty traps. You will only get confused with the order of setted traps, if you let the empty ones too long within the waters. (And I am not shure, fi they have an internal wear down depending on the time, they were set up.) Someone else suggested to me to set out 10-15 traps on a long pier but i havent tried yet.
Some numbers. To get my first 10 quest-lobsters (spiney lobsters) I got/lost
- 59 lobster traps
- 45 + 51 lobsters (normal ones, facing both directions, i suppose the rate normal vs uncommon changes with increased fishing skill)
- 19 crusty lobster
- 12 fred lobster
- 13 hummer lobster
- 11 shovel-nose lobster
- 17 rock lobster
- 10 spiney lobster (my quest ones, i stopped after i got 10)
- 51 + 37 crabs (see above at normal lobsters)
- 15 blue crab
- 15 apple crab
- 16 king crab
- 14 dungeness crab
- 18 snow crab
- 17 rock
This is all with gm fishing. My second request was for ... can you guess? ... 15 spiney lobsters. Forunately i got invited into a fishers co-op project, where you donate your spare catches and pick out what you need, so the second one was done fast.