Best Watercraft Accessories for Alaska 2022
LeeLock Crab Cracker leelock.com LeeLock made some refinements to the prototype we used last year. The aluminum tool is now anodized and has four measurements labeled in ¼” increments from 5 ¾” to 6 ½”. This allows you to measure legal crabs in Alaska, Canada, Washington, Oregon and California. It’s a very useful tool that sits on top of a 5-gallon bucket and allows you to separate the two clusters from the carapace and guts. You keep the clusters while the unwanted parts fall into the bucket. We’ve cleaned a few hundred crabs at this point with the tool and definitively state that it should be part of your Dungeness crabbing toolkit.
EZ-Puller EZ-HT2 Electric Pot Puller ezpullerinc.com If you need an electric pot puller for shrimping and crabbing, look no further. This one proved itself useful at Kodiak Legends Lodge in Larsen Bay where they regularly pull crab pots filled with tanner crab. It includes a 2” extended aluminum mount, sleeved gunnel mount, sleeved deck mount, and 2.5 hp 12v DC motor. The electric motor is water resistant, sealed, encased in an oil bath, has roller bearings, steel- and bronze-alloy gears, and a die-cast aluminum gear box. The electric-switch assembly comes with a 14-foot, 8-gauge harness. The system works well and effectively pulls in heavy pots from the deep.
MyMedic Boat Medic First-Aid Kit mymedic.com This first-aid kit is unique in that the contents are encased within a waterproof, floating, dustproof and crushproof case. Although designed for boaters, it can be used anywhere a first-aid kit with these features is desired. Editor George Krumm keeps one of these in his powerboat at all times. The case comes in several colors from drab to fluorescent. The first-aid products within are organized in categories: bleed, burn, medication, sport & outdoor, topical, airway, hydration, sprain & fracture, and tools & devices. With any of the modern, compact first-aid kits, we recommend you familiarize yourself with the contents as well as how they are packed within the kit, as the kits are very full. This kit is fairly complete, but we recommend buying a box of assorted Band-Aids to add to the few that are already in the kit, since Band-Aids are one of the most-used items in first-aid kits. 
Frabill Floating Trout Net (17” x 22” and 19” x 23”) frabill.com These nets are sweet! Things we really like are that the hoop is the lowest profile of any floating net we’ve seen; that the coated-mesh bag is softer than some others we’ve used; the removeable, replaceable lanyard and of course, the sizes. The net bag is flat on the bottom, and the hoop is gunmetal colored. The 17” x 22” version is big enough and the bag is deep enough to net a 30” fish. The 19” x 23” model (marketed as a Floating Wade Net on Frabill’s website) is big enough to net any Alaskan trout, steelhead and most salmon other than Chinook. 
Onyx Youth Paddle Life Jacket – Blue onyxoutdoor.com Our tester likes how comfortable this jacket is to wear and he also likes the bright-blue color. Additional comments included that he could put it on and take it off without help, and that he had plenty of room underneath to wear warm clothing on cool days. Onyx designed this vest with paddling in mind, but it is also suited for fishing, tubing, water skiing, etc. 
Beckman BN1822C-44 Landing Net beckmanfishingnets.com If you like to troll for kokanee or rainbow trout, this is a great net option. It’s lightweight, but features an 18” x 22” hoop with a 12-inch-deep net bag, so can handle any kokanee and just about any trout you will encounter. The handle extends from 4’ to 8’, which we found really handy when trying to net fish while navigating downriggers. The coated-nylon bag is easy on fish, and we love that hooks rarely get snagged in the material.
Rising Lunker Net risingfish.net If you’re looking for an exceptionally durable, US-made net for landing big trout and small salmon, this is it. It features available modular handle sections that allow you to use it as a hand net while wading or in a float tube, or with the extra sections added, as a boat net. All pieces except the net bag are anodized aluminum. We chose the clear Lunker XL (22 inches deep) rubber net bag as we’ve found fish don’t spook as much at the net with a clear bag, compared to a black bag, and the 22-inch depth of stretchy rubber enables anglers to land 30-inch rainbows. The handle sections, with the screw-on end cap, allow you to stash small items within. With the end-cap in place, the handle section is watertight. The handle sections are knurled for a secure grip. The hoop and handle are available in a rainbow of colors.
Promar TR-830A Crab Trap and accessories promarnets.com We tested the TR-830A crab trap for Dungeness crab and it worked well. The trap is commercial grade; it’s round, made from steel and has rubber padding on the steel to help reduce scratching your boat. It’s heavy—weighs 20 pounds—so that it stays put on the bottom, even in heavy currents, without having to add weight. With lighter traps, we’ve had to add rebar sticks to add weight and limit the amount the trap is dragged in heavy current. It is not needed with this trap. Top access makes it very easy to both bait the trap and remove crabs. In addition to the trap, we tested Promar’s 4-arm trap harness and 6”x14” floats. Both were excellent accessories for this trap. The large floats are easy to spot on the water.
