Bottom trawling is a fishing method that typically produces high levels of bycatch and is associated with benthic habitat damage. Pots (also known as creels or traps) are used as a less impactful alternative to trawling in a range of crustacean fisheries and has been proposed as a method to harvest New Zealand scampi (Metanephrops challengeri). However, pots designed in Europe for the ecologically similar Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) failed to capture scampi at an economically viable rate. Therefore, a series of laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the behaviour of scampi around pots and to identify the drivers of successful entries. These experiments were conducted in flume tanks with the entry performance of standard and modified designs contrasted with a control. Scampi were significantly more likely to enter a control pot than either a standard or modified pot entrances. The width of the entranceway was the biggest hinderance to scampi entering pots, as further experiments showed that scampi were significantly more likely to enter the control (15 cm wide) or 12.5 cm entrances than 7.5 cm entrance. The height of the entrances had no impact as the control, 12.5 cm, 10 cm and 7.5 cm high entrances had similar likelihoods of success. Lastly the angle of the ramp also had a significant effect on the likelihood of scampi entering the pots, with a 20° ramp having a higher likelihood of success than the 30°,40° and 60° ramps These results show that scampi require wide, gently sloping entrances to consistently enter pots. Consequently, for a scampi potting fishery to be successful, NZ scampi-specific pot designs should be developed and tested.