Throwing a Cast Net

runningboar

runningboar

Joined
May 27, 2006
Messages
2,325
I am trying to learn to throw a cast net, unsuccessfully I might add, I just can't seem to get it to open all the way. Anybody got any pointers?
 
Wish I did. I moved here right after Georgia allowed there use in catching shad for bait.
 
I used to have a pamplet regarding that. If I can find it I'll send it to you. Basically grab hold with both hands, part of the sinker end in your teeth and get in the backyard and practice. It has got to open in a circle to be effective. If it hits in a kidney shape....keep practicing.
 
Hey Guys..

Runningboar...

Bass Pro Shops has a casting net contraption that you may find handy..

It's like a handle type of thing you load the net onto and toss it..

Don't know,, have never tried a casting net..

Wouldn't have minded one the other night as there were Millions of minnows in the harbor..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
I've seen ppl use them for smelts before. But I could never get it to open properly, so dip net it is for me.
 
I used to have an old uncle who could throw a cast net, but I never got very good at it, even with a little one for bait. I remember that my uncle put the end with the lead sinkers over one shoulder after he threw his dentures out in the water holding it in his teeth. :D Quite a few people along the Florida Panhandle coast use cast nets to catch mullet because they often school in shallow water and you usually can't catch them on a hook. Really fresh mullet is good fried, and smoked mullet is even better, but not so fresh mullet is not worth fooling with in my opinion.
 
Twist your whole body in the direction you throw the net in to impart spin, which will help open the net. Different sizes require different methods of being thrown.
 
Chris,

I'm with you on that one. I watch guys throw them here and it seems like alchemy and witchcraft to me. I'd steer clear. Mac
 
I've caught hundreds of minnows/mullets with a cast net...and now looking back....it seemed like quite the mystery to me too the first time I did it. A couple dozen throws, though...and I could do it right every time. It's really not that hard...you just need to adjust your thinking.

Most people treat it like a large frisbee...which is why it doesn't open up all the way...but closes back on itself.



Think about the motion your body would go through if you had to bend over to lift a heavy box off the ground and onto a truckbed without moving your feet...and the box is off to one side. It's a heave-ho operation. Not a spin move. No wrist flick. More of a forward fling.

Also, couple that with the 1/2-turn knife throw (or mumble-t-peg) concept...as in, your not trying to spin it open...but throw it out in front of you...with just barely enough spin to get it open.

You put one part of the net in your mouth to keep the net "reigned in" for a micro-second before letting go. Helps spread the net out completely.

Don't get any fantasies about throwing it yards out in front of you...at best, 5 or 6 feet.


Now, this technique applies to a large (7') net with weights used for saltwater.

I can't throw the small minnow nets...or, at least...I never needed to. :D
 
Daniel,

Thanks those are some real good tips and it seems I was doing a whole lot wrong, flicking my wrist, trying to put too much spin, and trying to throw it too hard.

I am on leave this week so have time to practice, I am resting today and recovering gear. We are going back out tommorrow and I will give it another try, I'll let yall know how round two goes.:thumbup:
 
Hillbilly,
Thanks for the vid, I have been watching several videos on line today and think I have a pretty good handle on it. One thing I have noticed in all the videos is the nice, easy, smooth motion they are using to cast the net. I was trying to heave it and spin it as much as possible to get it open, one time after several trys I heaved it so hard I fell off the rock I was standing on, much to the amusement of the young people that were with me. I see now it is a nice easy motion and technique over power. I have a 6 ft net and really think after studying a bit today I will be able to use it, I honestly thought it would be easy, someone practiced makes it look so effortless. It is raining here or I would be in the back yard now.:thumbup: Chris
 
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