I also need some ideas on how to design the access hatch for easy emptying and re-introducing bait. Do you have the bait locked in a container and is it suspended at the top or is it thrown loosely in the cage?
I use a short sock or the end cut off a tube sock and a bread tie to put fish food in for bait. Dog food will add a oily film to your pond if you use it everyday for a few days. It has alot of animal fats in it.
My trap works well for culling panfish so the openings are tall and narrow. I suspect I could widen the center of the slot to accommodate catfish, but I have not used it for that. I tend to get alot of small YOY panfish along with crawdads if I put it at the shore, but when I hang it off the dock over 7 foot of water about 1 foot below the surface, I tend to get more 4" fish.
I made a trapdoor for the bait area out of a piece of plastic and a coffee can hinge. The opening for trapped fish access is a ferrule from a range fan hood and a small bucket lid. Both accesses are held in place by rubber bungee cords bolted to the mesh...
