Well it finally happened. After years of collaboration with Dr. Herzog in developing the X-Treme version of the Mini-Missouri Dual mesh sampling trawl, it finally lived up to its name: THE ARMADILLO TRAWL.


When this net is deployed in the water, the 1/4" heavy duty 1000 denier knotless outer covering of mesh, blows up and looks like a giant albino armadillo, hence we renamed the beefed up version that most all fisheries agencies in North America are using today . It is still classified as the Mini-Missouri net but we refer to it as the H.A.T. net [HERZOG-ARMADILLO -TRAWl].






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compliments of Dr. David Argent Un. of Cal. in Pa.






Now. seeing an invoice from a net shop to a fishery researcher for an "ARMADILLO TRAWL" has prompted many a phone call from accounting depts.


Bait! :

Working all day in a hot net shop is lonesome and tiring on the legs. Talk radio provides some laughs but nothing close to an accountant asking me why their fishery collection staff needs a net to capture ..."armadillos"?


"Yes, this is C. Smith of the FRDGC state agency . Is this Greg Faulkner? I am looking at an invoice for a. . . an.. . . . Hmmmm. . . . armadillo troll...trawl."





"Yes , that is correct , we sold your agency three complete packages of the Model 8 HAT net, or Armadillo trawl".




"My question, Mr. Faulkner is why would Dr. John want to catch armadillos in the first place, especially when he is in fisheries and NOT forrestry?"



Line twitches....hold steady...hold steady...don't make any vibrations.....



"Well, its like this, armadillos are special and secretive creatures. They can't swim so they blow all the air out of their shells and walk across ponds and rivers.....on the bottom."




"Yes, that's fascinating, call National Geographic or Disney, but why does Dr. John need a $950 net rig to catch these creatures. . . . ..and what is this charge for Otter Boards???"



Bait taken. . . . bailer clicking, . . . . . . . line running.........



"Well, when these critters are crawling across the bottom, they often stop and . . . .hmmmm. . . . . investigate some of your native fishes. . . . investigate being a mild word if you see what I mean. Its a startling discovery and may lead to a nationwide project to see just how much "investigating or shall we say, "collaboration" the armadillo participates in with your native fish.
Armadillos are impervious to most mammals but a river otter is there No.1 enemy. The Otter Doors simulate a noise made by hungry river otters that scare the armadillos into the net."

Silence. . . . . . you have to be cautious here. . . . sometimes they spit the hook. . . . . .


"...Oh I see. My goodness, who would have thought?"



.........line running fast...hook set...........drag whinning............... start reeling in!



"Dr. John and his colleagues trawl these creatures on the bottom at night. They then check to see if they caught an armadillo in the 38mm mesh ...the big mesh and any fish in the 4mm mesh, the itty bitty mesh.....its a very refined piece of gear and we are the only ones who make it."


Fish landed.............................

The phone usually rings in a day or so, I get 'politely' chewed out for the tall tale...and then all is well again.



Well, now its not such a Tall Tale. . . . . the Mini-Missouri trawl ( aka) Herzog Armadillo Trawl just caught it first armadillo!

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Shucks..gotta' change my story line............


FYI

The critter was caught on land and returned back to the bamboo stand it came from, in my back yard.

gf

I like the thought of Dr. John running one of these nets when he's not in the studio.

Nice net, and even better story. I wouldn't be able to make half way in before I busted out laughing.

I Like It!