Net tangle in Jonathan Creek

Thought I’d give you a heads up. I had a member here with me this AM. We stopped on a ledge mid-Bay in Jonathan. It was vacant except for a couple of 10+ inches crappie. While we were pulling up and heading into a rising sun while not looking toward the mouth, I ran headlong into a carp net stretched a full 1/2 the width of Jonathan and supported by white 1/2 gallon “Purex” jugs. One would think it would be very obvious but given the conditions and the fact there WAS NOT a boat near the net, I ended up having my Terrova wound up in it. It was absolutely no more than a foot under the surface near the jugs. Luckily the motor was barely running as we picked up so it was easily cleared from the prop and skeg. The net was full of Asian carp that were very unhappy with the situation. Not that I wasn’t.

Nobody has been a bigger advocate for the commercial betters taking huge numbers of carp out but if this bet was an indication of how these nets are going to be set and tended, we are in for a prolonged battle. I was patient and didn’t damage the net. I can see where others may be much less likely to be as patient as I was. I wish I had taken pics of my motor tangled in the net but I was kinda busy. I did take a couple after I got clear. Attachment 312745Attachment 312746


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Netters and net obviously. I hate auto correct.


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Most likely fish and wildlife set those nets. I see here on my home lake Taylorsville every year when there doing surveys for diff species throughout the year. Same white jugs

if I saw those I'd think they were someone's jugs for catfish and would have probably ran into the net also trying to go between them so as to not disturb them. Aren't they supposed to be marked better than that??

I need some more info on how to avoid nets. I am like wannabe. I would have just thought catfish jugs. I really don’t want to mess any nets up.

I’m looking into this. You may get a call from someone to get some more details.

Thanks for posting

There was some orange styrofoam floats in Barnett bay a couple of days ago. Looked like possible nets!

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We posted this on Crappie-gills-n-more.com Facebook page and got some folks riled up. This post was to get folks to be cautious and observant, both things I wasn't in this case. I take full responsibility for getting into and out of this net.

I spent 2 hours this AM talking to a prominent member of the commercial fishing industry in our area. He and I both came to a common-ground solution. There needs to be a standard way all these Asian carp nets are marked PLUS F&W needs to start a campaign top educate the public of the presence of nets and how to identify them. Having orange floats in one bay and white jugs in another is just going to cause a bunch of similar occurrences. The nets must be marked a standard way, say orange or flor-green balls or jugs every so many markers.

Every marina and launching ramp should have F&W signage telling the public what the markings are and to avoid them.

This is the beginning of the battle to eradicate most of these invaders but we all, fishermen, boaters, and commercial fishermen, have to be on the same page.

Good to have you on board on this Adam. I hope Jessica is listening also.

Ideally they should have similar markings, large enough to be easily seen, and lastly with pieces of reflective tape to be seen with a spotlight during the night or lowlight dawn/dusk situations. I will gladly be pro-active in sighting and avoidance of netting areas but it helps to see them in time to correctly react.

In closing, my primary concern is safety for all. Any time spent bending over water, outside the side plane of the boat hull, increases the chance of an overboard situation that could result in a drowning or stress induced stroke/heart attack. We all should have pdf’s on when being in these situations.

Prior planning produces positive results.

These nets need to be marked with a flag on each end

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jwest4164

These nets need to be marked with a flag on each end

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and every float attached to them, some of them are several YARDS long

Today, A silver carp leapt over 8' out of the water and landed on my bimini top, then slimed his way off, another wedged himself between the transom and the outboard, this all happening while I'm side scanning an old bridge in Donaldson Bay at 4 mph. There is no coexisting with these invaders. Whatever it takes to eradicate them, DO IT NOW!
BTW, 4 hrs of spider rigging, zero crappies.:puke

The netters can have the whole lake as far as I'm concerned, the fishing success rate has plummeted exponentially.

Checked into it and this is something the KDFWR carp crew was already strongly considering. I dont have a timeline on it, but the wheels are in motion.

Hopefully we can reach a logical compromise, as nobody wants anyone running into a net.

-Adam Martin

I barely missed one on the TN side that was just marked by an old styrofoam block, looked like it was part of an old dock flotation pod or something!!
I actually anchored and was catfishing when they came to pull is the only reason I knew it was a net!!! It also covered 1/2 of the mouth of the bay from the channel side.
I agree with some sort of standardized marking (flags) or whatever as I don't want to damage someones equipment or mine.