08-15-2011, 10:28 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Most of the places I gather my bait there is little or no chance of snaring gamefish species in a net throw. But in times past it was a real concern at places like Strawberry. Back when they planted fingerling trout...and there was also more spawning naturally...it was not unusual to end up with a few troutlets in a haul of chubs or redside shiners. These days are are virtually no redsides and very few small chubs...not enough to make it easy to gather what you need. And DWR is planting larger trout to get by the hungry cutts.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The other place where you can get in trouble easily is at Willard. A good place to gather carp fry but lots of gizzard shadlets in the same areas. Catching and possessing shad is a BIG NO NO. So if you do any carplet netting you need to sort through each haul carefully.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have never ended up with trout in a cast net. But I have caught "unintended" targets. Probably the most notable was up at the Farmington Bay Bird Refuge last year. I have "privileges" through a fellow BFT member so that I can get in to a runoff canal that is otherwise off limits to the public. Last year we were a week later than usual and the water had already been dropped for the fall. My honey hole was a shallow muddy mess, covered with duckweed. No flow and no minnows. But I saw some movement a few feet away and sailed out the net. Bad move. The water erupted and there were 3 HUGE carp in my flimsy little net. Just about towed me off the dike and out into Salt Lake. I finally got them rassled up on shore but it took me over an hour to get that fine mesh net undone from their spines. Left several big holes that I had to patch. The only consolation is that I ended up with a big bunch of carp meat for bait.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Down in Arizona I watched a young boy throwing a cast net to get shad (legal there) for his dad to use for bait. It was right next to a steep rock bank with current flowing by. After one throw the boy disappeared beneath the water...towed down by something big he had accidently netted. His dad dove in and got hold of him and hauled him out. But the rope around the kid's wrist looked like it might pull his arm off. As the kid coughed and sputterd the man gave a couple of mighty hauls and dragged up about a 50 pound flathead catfish. The downside is that a nearby officer made him release it because it had not been caught by hook. I'll bet that kitty had some tales to tell his buddies...about the kid that got away.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The other place where you can get in trouble easily is at Willard. A good place to gather carp fry but lots of gizzard shadlets in the same areas. Catching and possessing shad is a BIG NO NO. So if you do any carplet netting you need to sort through each haul carefully.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have never ended up with trout in a cast net. But I have caught "unintended" targets. Probably the most notable was up at the Farmington Bay Bird Refuge last year. I have "privileges" through a fellow BFT member so that I can get in to a runoff canal that is otherwise off limits to the public. Last year we were a week later than usual and the water had already been dropped for the fall. My honey hole was a shallow muddy mess, covered with duckweed. No flow and no minnows. But I saw some movement a few feet away and sailed out the net. Bad move. The water erupted and there were 3 HUGE carp in my flimsy little net. Just about towed me off the dike and out into Salt Lake. I finally got them rassled up on shore but it took me over an hour to get that fine mesh net undone from their spines. Left several big holes that I had to patch. The only consolation is that I ended up with a big bunch of carp meat for bait.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Down in Arizona I watched a young boy throwing a cast net to get shad (legal there) for his dad to use for bait. It was right next to a steep rock bank with current flowing by. After one throw the boy disappeared beneath the water...towed down by something big he had accidently netted. His dad dove in and got hold of him and hauled him out. But the rope around the kid's wrist looked like it might pull his arm off. As the kid coughed and sputterd the man gave a couple of mighty hauls and dragged up about a 50 pound flathead catfish. The downside is that a nearby officer made him release it because it had not been caught by hook. I'll bet that kitty had some tales to tell his buddies...about the kid that got away.[/#0000ff]
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