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Put out my pinfish/crab trap for 2 1/2 days this past week at Shell Point using the remains of a grilled chicken for bait. Got zilch/nada/zip--no blue crabs, no pins, no nuthin'. I did catch one small (2 inch) pin on a piece of shrimp to use for live bait, but that was it. And this was in an area where I normally catch up to a dozen pins/grunts/crabs over only a single night later in the season, using the same bait. Still pretty slow...

Any chance threre's a fox in the hen house?

Possibly. Not one, but maybe two! Had a cormorant not far away, along with its "buddy", a pelican. The pelican landed within seconds of the cormorant and followed it around trying to anticipate where the cormorant might surface. I saw the pelican pick off at least 2 fish that the cormorant had scared to the surface, as well as go after the cormorant while it was trying to swallow a fairly good-sized fish at the surface. Too far away to get a good ID on the fish, but they could have been large grunts or pins. This happened after the trap had been in the water for 2 days and 2 nights, but the trap itself was undamaged, still sealed, and empty (except for the bait) when I retrieved it.

Howdy Apalach, Sounds like maybe the pins aren't around yet, or,, maybe it was your bait.
'Think if I was a pinfish, I'd rather have something raw and maybe smelly, like some good old mullet guts or a couple of cut LY's. 'Don't think grilled chicken would get it.
I hear guys talking about using catfood or a poptop can of regular sardines (hold the mustard/hotsauce). Of course, in a couple or three weeks there will be so many, the grilled chickin mite be good..
I noticed RMS has a stack of traps for sale for about $25-30. 'Guess I'll have to pick one up and give it a try, myself, pretty soon.

Hey Q,
Now that's a new one--that pins might be 'ticular about their chow! Or maybe even blue crabs. But I've used grilled chicken (I've gotta eat too, dontcha know), cat food cans, canned salmon, fish remains, etc. and not noticed a lot of difference in the results. If you bait it, they will come! That is, assuming they are there to begin with. Trying to catch pins on hook and line on Friday (using fresh frozen shrimp as bait!) suggested to me that there just was not much there, at least close inshore. Haven't been out to the flats as yet. Matter of fact, I think I caught the only pin bait-stealer in the area...

Yeah--head on over to RMS and pick up one of those traps. So far as I can tell, the main difference between a pinfish trap and a crab trap is that the crab trap is about twice as big (and costs more). Seems like they both work about the same. But, you're right--the time is gettin close. Nothing like having a good supply of live pins before heading out though...

I fished with CD"S Nuts yesterday. We caught over 125 trout. Not one pinfish. Not even a grub tail missing the whole day. Never saw one,nada,naught,zilch,nuttinhoney.
They're either hiding because of all the trout or they are not here yet enforce.
Caught a few good size ones a couple weeks ago but none since.

Shucks, Apalach, I didn't mean to sound like, I thought you were an amateur pin-fisherman.
I'm sure, with your background in marine research, you have trapped all kinds of sea critters, and no doubt, know better, than a landlubber such as myself, the best bait to use. I'm sure you are right- Them pins will eat just about anything, that looks or smells like protein.
I just kinda got tickled at yer grilled chickin bait. 'Thought I'd mess with ya about it and offer a few suggestions.

No offense taken Q--in fact I didn't mention the additional point that it was a Publix rotisserie chicken! I figured that would give rise to even more comments about maybe the lemon pepper seasoning driving the pins away! But maybe we need to sponsor a little middle school science fair project here comparing the attractiveness to a pinfish of a Publix barbecue chicken as compared with a Publix lemon pepper job. Let's face it--inquiring minds need to know...

Rotisserie chicken. I was fishing off of a sea wall in Virginia catching trout after trout on frozen shrimp. This guy came up and asked what I was using. I said "shrimp". So he leaves a comes back about 20 minutes later and starts to fish. I am still catching fish like mad. He hasn't got the first bite. So he comes back over and I asked him what kind of shrimp he got. He said "Cajun Shrimp". He couldn't even get a crab to nibble on it.