Gill nets.

Blais said:
Doc,
That is some fascinating stuff! That's a skill I'd love to learn, do you have links to any guides?
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Hey Blais,

Some books:

How To Make & Mend Cast Nets, Ted Dahlem, Great Outdoors Publishing, 2000, ISBN# 0-8200-0612-2

Netmaking, Charles Holdgate, Emerson Books Inc., 1972, SBN# 87523-180-2 (highly recommended, but only available as a used book, or at library?)

Down East Netting, Barbara M. Morton, Pea Soup Publishing, 1988, ISBN#
0-9728496-0-2 (available as a reprint from Pea Soup Publishing)

Make Nets Here's How, H.T. Ludgate, Jann's Netcraft, 1976. (very good little book, available here )

Netmaking, P. W. Blandford, Brown, Son, & Ferguson, 1986, ISBN# 0 85174 491 5 (reprint of an older book - pretty good)

A Text-Book of Netting and Net Making, Blackfriars Press, (orig.) 1948,
ISBN# 978-1-40679-871-5 (just got it, so I really can't give any opinion, yet)

On line: here.

Nice work DOC. did you make the cordage to?
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Thanks bikermike. The cordage is dollar store jute. Cheap (350 feet for a buck) and great to learn with. Having to work for a living means having to take short cuts.

Very good advice, while folks may talk about gill nets "only for emergencies", in my state it won't matter. They are 100% illegal and if the PSK you have one in, gets anywhere near a water source and gets discovered your in it deep.
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All the more reason to learn how. Not against the law to carry a roll of cordage with you, at least not yet. :(

Doc
 
tknife said:
Earl, relax there buddy. As stated in my original post, I'd only use one in an emergency. Lets not turn this into a tree huggers vs guys who go out and practice wilderness skills thread.
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Oops, pardon me. I should have read more carefully. In an emergency, all bets are off.
 
Realistically, in an emergency making a fish trap is easier than setting a gill net. Fewer things to carry as well. I'm not a tree hugger, I am a retired game warden, and anyone thinkingh of rotenone or other chemicals, including crushed up bucket berries or leaves, will do a great deal of damage to the are. Copper sulfate will catch fish, but will also kill every microorganism that it comes in contact with.

In an absolute emergency you might get by with using illegal gear. An emergency of your own making won't cut it. Think about what you carry for emergencies versus what you carry because it might be cool to try.

Building a gill net isn't hard. You can use bobbers for a cork line and twist lock sinkers for a lead line. The Vietnamese do it in motel parking lots. Just don't pack one in just in case, because that isn't an emergency, it's poor planning.

Gene
 
Well, if you are worried about a random spot check from a warden, there are ways around it.

Perhaps a small, inexpensive mesh hammock? Even if it won't hold you, they'll just see a hammock. And with some imagination, it should make a passable gill net for larger fish. If you want to capture minnows, cheese cloth- tell them it's a bug net or partial sun shade.

My personal favorite is a two liter bottle, preferably one with a larger mouth like the store brands use. Fill it with water along with your small, regular bottles. If you need it, cut off the top, invert and insert, bore some small holes and use something to pin/tie it together with some offal inside as a fish trap. It might be minnow and shiners, but thinking of it as sardines without the brine.
 
Gene Martin said:
and anyone thinkingh of rotenone or other chemicals, including crushed up bucket berries or leaves, will do a great deal of damage to the area. Gene
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Hey Gene,

What are bucket berries? I am aware of a few different natural fish poisons/stunners but I've never heard the term used. BTW, I don't support the use of fish poisons, it's just intellectual curiosity.

Doc
 
When I was up on Lake Athabasca I saw abandoned or storm washout gill nets here and there. No one gave a damn about taking the damaged nets out and they would just keep killing and wasting fish 24-7. These were not the little hand toss nets, but huge 100 footers with floats and weights. If a net was badly snagged up, it was left. I saw way too much of this up north and it turned my guts. Aboriginal people as natures guardians, pfffffft. Ya right. I saw more waste and garbage on a northern reserve than I ever wish to see again in my life. An abondoned or non retrievable gill net is a HUGE killer/waster of fish. Please be carefull with them.
 
Many years ago I made a hammock out of 550 paracord, It would be usable as a gill net but its a lot more usable as a hammock to lay in while I'm waiting for fish to take a baited line.
I found camouflage Miskito netting at a discount yardage store. I have made head nets that work fine as dip nets by just attaching to a looped willow stick. dip nets are usually not a problem with game regs (better check your area laws) and you can always eat your bait if you have to.
 
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