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Methods of collecting


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#21 Guest_netmaker_*

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Posted 12 July 2008 - 09:53 PM

Good to know about the mud clouds and minnows. Halibut do the same about 60% of the time....but most marine fishes run wide off anything that disturbs the sediment. I am not sure about freshwater critters.

The bristle seine was a spin off of enormous trawling gear that used Street Sweeper brushes attached to the footrope of large trawls. It slid over rocks and such and produced record catches of certain fishes that were untouchable otherwise.
My observations after I backed away from the commercial venue, was that there are probably areas that fish should NOT be taken from no matter what.

FYI: As for leaving bottom.......
It has a Samson Riverline leadcore sewn adjacent to it ....it ain't gettin' off bottom unless you pick it off bottom!


I'm working with some Midwest researchers using a Pocket seine (slender wings tapering up to a big belly and then tapering back down again). In its larger design it worked excellent for spot sampling in ponds, tidal pools and back water holes where only two folks could manage.

One is 8' long 4'-5'-6'-5-4' x 6mm stretched mesh nylon raschel
the other is 14' long x 4'-5'-6'-6'-6'-5'-4' x 12mm stretched mesh polyester raschel.

I'll post some pixs at the end of the season just for conversation.

sa va,
netmaker

#22 Guest_JohnO_*

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Posted 18 August 2008 - 08:18 AM

So far, I've had pretty good luck with my wal-mart pool cleaning net, umbrella net, and 10 foot minnow seine.

Actually the pool cleaning net has been my primary. It's somewhat rectangular in shape, so it does have a flat bottom. Fairly large, so it covers a good area. I briefly tried a fine mesh round net, not of much use.

Riffles are pretty easy. Put the net downstream and rustle up the rocks upstream, starting about 3 feet up (can't reach any further than that), progressing toward the net. That technique has yielded the majority of larger darters.

Then, there is the bottom sweep. Two ways I've done this, either sweep the net very rapidly across the bottom, or hold it almost parallel to the bottom so the net opening almost covers the bottom. Then, drag it toward myself, working it side to side to disturb the rocks. That sometimes will scare a large darter into the net.

For minnows, the umbrella net works pretty well, got it at Dick's Sporting Goods. Trick there is to have a long pole attached to the net's frame in the center, so you don't have to reach over the net to pick it up, that can scare the fish out. Set it in the water, flatten the net out so it's sitting on the bottom, leave it for a few minutes so the fish get used to it, then start herding fish in that direction. Neat thing about the umbrella net is that when you start lifting, the edges come first and the center tends to sag a bit, so any fish over the net tend to be scared toward the middle. That's how I finally caught some northern hogsuckers, little rascals were the devil to catch.

Haven't used the seine much because I usually am by myself. Seines are really a two person job.

Store the catch in new 5 gal paint buckets, as they come with very secure lids that seal and stay on if they fall over.

A lot of this is just persistence. I have found that when working a new stream, it usually takes a couple of hours of trying before you get a good feel for what is there. Riffles can be particularly frustrating. Some runs through the riffles don't turn up anything but craws and leaves. Fast net swipes across the edges of pools can turn up juvenile darters. Where there are young, there are also adults, though finding them can be difficult. Just have to keep at it until you strike gold. On one trip to the red river, I hadn't found a lot, until about an hour later. Then, one pass through the riffles netted two large variegates. Same went for the north fork, nothing but juvenile greensides, until I went a mile upstream, and found several large banded darters in a riffle. And I hadn't been able to get a large greenside anywhere, until I tried the forks of Elkhorn near Frankfort, and got four big ones. The large greensides weren't in the riffles but the flat sections of the creek.

Hm - tesselated in Madison Co? I may have to pay it a visit, don't have one of those yet. Haven't seen any of those west of Lexington.

#23 Guest_tadpoleboy_*

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Posted 11 December 2008 - 08:59 PM

have a dipnet and a stick, or two dipnets. Scrape along the bottom, cause a huge ruckus, and make sure you do it by a ledge or shelf, or somewhere fish can retreat. Put your nets on one side of the shelf, and swing the stick through from to other side toward the nets, most fish, provided you made a good sweep thru the shelf, will go right into the net. I have caught over 20 bluegill in one pass doing this.



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