The Trap

Exactly, you hook some fishing line to the trap door, put a little food in the trap, sit a few feet away from the tank with the line in your hand and let go when the fish you want enters the trap.. I agree, they suck. 2 liter bottle DIY trap works 10x better.. they go in but have a real hard time getting out and you have a little time to get the trap out with the fish. You still want to watch the tank with the 2 liter bottle trap though because the fish get really stressed out when trapped in a clear bottle.

It depends on the fish you want to catch.. but a basslet would probably need a 2 liter, you could try a 1 liter but I think it may come out a little small once you build it. Doesn't hurt to try and only takes a couple minutes to build.

How to make one:
1. Cut bottle at the top of the largest part, about 3/4 up, just before it starts to taper.
2. Rinse out and scrub bottle clean with clean sponge.
3. Cut off the very tip of the bottle under the lip, this is the hole you want to cut and make big enough for the fish to fit through.
4. Optional, I used a teflon frying pan and got it warm and melted the tip I just cut off to make it as smooth as possible so it doesn't cut the fish.
5. Take the tip, looks like a lid to a slurpee, and turn it inside out and place it back into the larger part of the bottle. Now it is similar to a lobster trap. I poked a few small holes in mine to let air out better when I submerged it, but when you take it out of the water it spills out the holes so you have to do it quickly and have a bucket ready to release the fish in.