commercial fishing

[Turtlebait]

Thought I might like doing a little commercial in days to come but after reading some of the rules and if nots I'm having second thoughts.

After going to all the work of catching bait,setting and baiting lines how many on a percent% are throw backs as to under size fish on each trip?

With the hoop nets what is the average throw back of under size fish and game fish?

When line setting do you leave it set year after year in the same spot?
If not how long does one need to leave a line set before he decides to move it?

On a average what is the yearly public damage to commercial tackle,cutting lines/nets?

I see where a feller could go broke after buying tackle and throwing his catch back.Some of the rules sink.

[LA yard dog]

TB,

On my lines, if I have a 5% keeper ratio, that's decent. 10% is very, very good. I'll run between 500-700 hooks usually, so you'd be looking at 25-30 fish as decent and 50+ as very good per trip. I average around 4 lbs per fish. A kicker fish (20lbs+) is nice and I'll usually have a couple kickers a week. I'll usually have between 10 & 20 under size fish per trip. I use 2/0 and 3/0 hooks. Getting bait is the biggest deal. These last 2 days, I've thrown for bait for 2 hours solid both days, and haven't baited the first hook. It happens like that sometimes. Wasted gas & time.

I'll run 4 or 5 nets when there's enough current. Sometimes I'll have zero lbs per net, sometimes 100. They are very unpredictable...for me anyway. Buffalo and flathead mostly.

I set my lines pretty much in the same areas year after year, depending on time of year. Winter deep, spring shallow structure, summer deep, fall shallow mussel beds. I'll move my lines every 4 or 5 days if they're not catching fish.

I'll get several lines a year cut. I usually run my lines blind and pick them up with a drag, but sometimes the area won't let me and I have to tie on the bank. That's when they get cut or when someone takes fish from them. No problem with nets. I run them all blind. I've lost a few and hung up a few that I couldn't get to the boat. Sucks when that happens.

Buying the gear to make a living comercial fishing is several thousand bucks. I fish with some guys that run a hundred+ nets @ $225 per net. Another guy that runs between 3000 and 4000 hooks and 2 crews.

I don't do it for a living, but I'll still end up spending a couple thousand on gear every year, not counting boat and motor up keep. Make enough to pay for gas, buy good whiskey and eat fish everyday if I wanted to.

[Slipcork]

LA,

Does everyone in the boat have to have a commercial fishing lic.? Meaning you can't take helper without it? That's another $100, aint it?

[LA yard dog]

Only 1 commercial license is needed per set of gear. If you have someone helping you run your gear, you have to have a "Helpers License" per helper. A person can ride, or even run the motor, and watch without having a Helpers License as long as they don't touch any gear or dip net a fish or touch the gear or fish in any way, including helping clean or sell them.

Helpers License are $25 I believe.

[olduckhunter]

got a friend here that wanted to get a net to catch a few buffalo to eat and asked me to get the regs. i called the woodypeckerwood and fish place and the lady sent the regs. i couldn't make heads or tails of them whether we would be able to fish here on not. so far we haven't. i think it would be cheaper to just buy them from a fish market.

[LA yard dog]

1 hoopnet and license and tag is around $300. That be 75lbs of buffalo from a fish market, and you ain't gotta clean the nasty suckers.

1 gill net and license and tag is around $200. That be 50lbs from da market.

[NIMROD]

1 hoopnet and license and tag is around $300. That be 75lbs of buffalo from a fish market, and you ain't gotta clean the nasty suckers.

1 gill net and license and tag is around $200. That be 50lbs from da market.

You can buy rough dressed Buffalo for .90 to 1.00 per lb or ribs 3.00 lb from alot of commercial fishermen.Live ones can be had for .30 to .40 a lb if you want to dress them. You will have to catch lots of fish to make it worth buying your own nets. Could lose your net or hang it up first trip too.

[Turtlebait]

Thanks Ya yard dog and others,any bussiness has its cost of getting into it.
I don't see no commercial around there anymore,used to be several but has faded in to the past.
I don't see no problem in saleing the catch however I see alot of over all work getting it to market.
I've been reading about commercial on the web,to bad tuna doesn't swim in our lakes lol.