COMMERCIAL NETS

wannabewalleye

wannabewalleye

Well-Known Member
JUST CURIOUS HAVNT FISHED ERIE MUCH BUT WOUNDERING HOW WELL DO THEY MARK THERE NETS IS THERE A BOUY EVERY 100FT? AND HOW DEEP ARE THEY IN THE WATER COULD U GO OVER TOP OF THEM BY ACCIDENT AND BE FINE ID STAY CLEAR AWAY FROM THEM JUST INCASE THANKS FOR THE HELP AWSOME SITE BTW
 
you can drive over them:),!!! BUT DO NOT TROLL OVER THEM!!!!:mad::eek::eek::eek:-you can see the gates between them,if your spread is not TOO wide you can go thru ;)
 
Out of curiosity, what should a fisherman expect to happen if he is running riggers and accidentally runs into some nets?

Would the balls be impossible to retrieve and the wire would have to be cut?
If the balls get hung up on the bottom or in a net to the riggers simply let wire out until they're spooled?
If the wire does need to be cut, how would you go about contacting the net owner to hopefully get the balls back?
 
There are 2 types of nets, perch nets are on the bottom and I am guessing less than 10 feet high, you can troll over these as long as you are sure all your gear is a lot further than 10 feet from the bottom, these nets are marked at each end with a flag, they are required to identify the nets owner so a number or name or some identifier will be on the flags. These nets often run for a long ways so you may not be able to see both ends. They normally run these north and south.
The other type of net used is a can net, so named as it is held off the bottom by bottles or cans. This is used primarily for walleye. It can be at any depth , but it is ok to run , not troll between the bottles. The gates Horty is talking about is where there 2 flags within a hundred yards of another. I believe his advice is good that you can troll between, I personally do not. My advice is to avoid nets and give them at least a few hundred yards. As far as getting your gear back if you get into a net, I have never heard of that happening.
 
I got too close to nets last summer. Richard said smelts nets. My entire screen was full with nets bulging from each side. Lucky no hook up on the nets.

I sure give a wide berth now.

If you hooked up any equipment I don't think you will see it again.
 
If you troll over them with a following sea and get hung up you can be swamped and sunk in seconds as happened to some very seasoned veterans in a very good boat on Lake Huron a couple of years back, luckily they survived by hanging onto a cooler until they were rescued. They went down so quickly, they never had time to call Mayday or grab their lifejackets. That said, I would avoid crossing the deep nets when trolling at all cost. If you do get hung up, you best have a pair of good sidecutters very handy as you will not likely get the cannonballs off. The odds of getting them back from a commercial fisherman are slim too.

The can nets are often very shallow, I have caught them with my outboard before down the West end, luckily I was just coasting over them in neutral to be safe so no harm was done.
 
You are so right G.Mech . Back in the 80's got a down rigger ball hung up in a net. A 23' boat is no match for them, luckily I had time to cut the cable. I also agree with Whatsthepoint, but if you do come across a 'comercial guy with canon balls mine's the black one that looks like a fish.
 
First post for me but a topic I am able to help with, avoid the nets at all times...they can be harmless one time and a disaster the next. I personally hooked a gang of nets between the anchors with three riggers. Got them off in dead calm but lucky as it could have been bad. The nets could go off on a 45 angle or be missing a marker, you can not be sure.
Often the gear does not stay in nets and just leaves a hole in the web.
If you hit the nets the safe move is to cut your lines, loose 100$ in gear or lose your boat or worse.
Coming from a fellow troller and previous commercial fisherman, extra caution is justified around other users of our great resource, and their gear.
 
After talking with a commercial fisherman out of Port Stanley as I was under the impression about gates on the walleye or can nets. But he said there is no gate its just another net starting at the end of the other one. Nets can be a mile long. Was only couple weeks ago that I fished in between 2 nets and one side they went on back to back. No such thing as gates.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, nets are marked with a black flag? Do the markers indicate which direction the nets are going?
I read the north /south thing but if it's hard to see the end knowing which way to turn would seem important!
I fish the elbow and havn't seen many nets before.Thnxs
 
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