Nets everywhere!!

Fish-Ninja

Fish-Ninja

Member
Went out of Bruce today trying to make the run east but gave up to many nets
 
Nets are low enough, not a problem running anywhere., just have to be careful if your trolling deep.
Those jugs have a rope going down too the net.
 
That would explain the price drop -- it went from $20/lb to less than $15/lb in the last few weeks.
 
Fish Farmer said:
Nets are low enough, not a problem running anywhere., just have to be careful if your trolling deep.
Those jugs have a rope going down too the net.
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You are correct that the perch nets are 10' high and sit near or on the bottom but the walleye nets that are out at Port Bruce right now are canned nets (the ones with the white jugs between the flags). The commercial guy told us yesterday they are suspended about 10-12 feet below the surface right now. You cannot cross them with any gear in the water except at the gates between the strings of nets. The gates are about 600-800 apart between the looooooong strings of nets which are a few thousand feet long.

Typical Perch Net


Typical Walleye Net
 
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Those little white jugs are impossible to see until you are on top them if there is any wind at all.... And sometimes you see the odd seagull floating out there and it freaks you out. It would be way better if they were orange or lime green and bigger.

I don't care that the nets are out there... A healthy commercial fishery is great! But the way they conduct themselves with minimal effort for safety or consideration of others says they are either trying to hurt people or are they dangerously ignorant. If it costs more to mark the nets better I get it... But if the counties along the shore want more of a share of the billions in recreational fishing and boating they should help figure out how to help share the lake.
 
Here's a link to the Ontario Commercial Fisheries Association pamphlet about safe boating around nets, it shows how the gates in the canned nets are set up:

http://www.ocfa.ca/downloads/safe-boating-brochurepdf.pdf

I 100% agree that more could be done to mark the nets but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of effort on behalf of the government to make it happen. All you can do is pay attention and be cautious unfortunately. The commercial fishery has been on Lake Erie since 1790 & I don't think it's going to go away to make our fishing day a more pleasant experience.

Funny story, I was out with a gang from work on a charter yesterday & we trolled through one of the 'gates' in the walleye nets at Bruce with an 11 rod spread in the water. We had to suck the planer boards in about 75 feet each side to fit through but we made it by about 10 feet each side! I never would have tried it but it was a bit of a rush with somebody else's gear.
 
The hole point I started a new post is it got me going! drive to bruce get the boat ready to make a nice peaceful run east for perch and the nets are from bruce to burwell and that's how far we went before turning back don't know about the rest of you but I don't care what they say if you can go over them or not I'm not going to risk my friends and family and my boat they should have to fish with rods just like us lol don't care how much it cost for fish I will never support them anyway you want it go catch it =)
 
The fishery has been on the lake since 1790 but if maintaining the couple of 10's of millions (at most) commercial fishery is costing them tourism $$ and development that is greater than that... Well it's Canadians at their best. The US side of the Great Lakes (any of the states along them) is a playground of tourism.

As much as I enjoy walleye and a day out at long point I am getting pretty tired of the nets and the jack asses that leave beer cans in the sand and toss cigarette butts in the water near my kids. Very tempted to move the boat to a Lake O marina and enjoy the sport fishery next summer. Port Dover marina has been a refreshing escape from the adolescent 40+ yr olds but getting waaaaaay off the thread topic there ;) The aggravation of the nets this year is the final straw. It was not like that the last few summers.
 
as a side note ---where is all their catch going???? haven't seen perch or walleye in the stores for a long time now.

even the vendor at the local farmers market hasn't had any but didn't stop to ask why
 
jrr said:
It was not like that the last few summers
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This same set of topics including the 'ban commercial fishing', 'the nets are in my way', 'where do the commercial fish go?' and 'why aren't the nets marked?' has come up every year since 2012 on this forum...do a quick search and you'll see what I mean. Rather than eliminate the commercial fishery and all the restaurants and people that rely on them, maybe a bit of self education and diligence would allow both sides to live in harmony.
 
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G.Mech said:
This same set of topics including the 'ban commercial fishing', 'the nets are in my way', 'where do the commercial fish go?' and 'why aren't the nets marked?' has come every year since 2012 on this forum...do a quick search and you'll see what I mean. Rather than eliminate the commercial fishery and all the restaurants and people that rely on them, maybe a bit of self education and diligence would allow both sides to live in harmony.
Click to expand...

All I ask is that they mark the nets better. A 6 inch black flag about 5 feet off the water isn't ok. Mark them better and it's my fault if I run into them. But black flags on dark water is crazy along with the small jugs that get lost in a ripple.
 
Maybe we could use the location of the nets to tell us where to fish, sounds like the comercial guys are believing the fish to be migrating east from Bruce to Burwell. Stay on the west side of the nets. The more people suppling net location info the better.
 
Leaky said:
Maybe we could use the location of the nets to tell us where to fish, sounds like the comercial guys are believing the fish to be migrating east from Bruce to Burwell. Stay on the west side of the nets. The more people suppling net location info the better.
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They know where the fish are....and they are all fishing the top 30 fow....HINT!
 
packrat said:
as a side note ---where is all their catch going???? haven't seen perch or walleye in the stores for a long time now.

even the vendor at the local farmers market hasn't had any but didn't stop to ask why
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Sobeys in Dunnville was loaded with fresh Perch and Pics last week. And they were under 15 bucks a pound. That tells me the supply is bigger than the demand. Perch this past winter if there were any and this spring were over 20 beans a lb. I think you told me that.

As far as nets it seems to be the topic of choice this week. All I ask is mark them so you and I can see them. Apparently there is no standard. Mark them all the same so we can see them not someone in an Airplane.
 
WhatsthePoint said:
Sobeys in Dunnville was loaded with fresh Perch and Pics last week. And they were under 15 bucks a pound. That tells me the supply is bigger than the demand. Perch this past winter if there were any and this spring were over 20 beans a lb. I think you told me that.

As far as nets it seems to be the topic of choice this week. All I ask is mark them so you and I can see them. Apparently there is no standard. Mark them all the same so we can see them not someone in an Airplane.
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haven't checked Sobeys in Brantford(don't usually shop there anyway) havent seen any advertised in the Metro weekly flyer either
 
Anyone catching fish instead of nets???????? Not me so please post so I can dream. PIER YE PIER YE Packrat does not catch nets only fish.
 
jrr said:
All I ask is that they mark the nets better. A 6 inch black flag about 5 feet off the water isn't ok. Mark them better and it's my fault if I run into them. But black flags on dark water is crazy along with the small jugs that get lost in a ripple.
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Very well said.
 
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