Casting Nets and baitfish

[TomD]

I dont know much about them or even hunting for baitfish if I had the means to catch them. Ive read about cheap nets that are prone to problems and prices ranging from $60 to $900. dollars. There are some pretty informative dealers
offering nets and applications.

What do you use and any tips when attempting this idea of catching my own baitfish.

I imagine you spot schools and try to get close enough? What about baitfish like gizzard shad or threadfin shad are they readily catchable. Trying to buy it is really getting hard to do.

[Travis C.]

I am just learning some about them too and intend to get one.

txnative was fishing with me in my boat below Center Hill when the gizzards were thick there. He pitched his out and dumped it on the back deck. There was a bunch more than I wish to catch, count or clean out of the carpet again... it covered the back deck with bait. :eek:

[Adrian]

I throw a cast net about 98% of the time I go fishing just to put some bait in the live well.I get them from Wal Mart or Academy and I go through about 1 a year. Why 1 a year, because sometimes the only place the bait is happens to be shallow and full of limbs or rocks and they can tear the net to sheds if you're impatient like me :) I suggest you start with a 5 footer till you get the hang of it. Finding the bait can be the hardest part occasionally. On calm days it's pretty easy to see the shad jumping by the ramp. You have to be very sneaky on days where there's not huge schools running everywhere and just pick up enough one a time jumpers till you get enough to fish with. You might have to hunt them down on slow days, they could be in the shallow mud, on the flats, or like I said, right there at the boat ramp. If you look at my last post you'll see what having some bait in the well can do to an otherwise dismal Bass outing.

Here's pretty much the method I use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo6MiaR_W3k

[tacklemake]

I throw a net and for new comers I would say a 4' or 5' would be a good starter net to learn on. Be for you go out on the water with the net throw it in your yard at the house until you think you have got the throw right then go out on the water. When I'm throwing for small shad like 3" to 6" I will use the 5 gal buck that I put the net in to put the bait in after I have caught them and this way there not on my carpet then I put them in the live well. You got to keep the live well running so the shad won't die and don't put anymore then 50 baits in the well at a time and exspect them to stay alive. When I'm looking for shad I all ways look in the shallow water because anything deeper then 5' the shad will swim out from under my net. Sunny days make it easy to see the school of bait in the shallows but when its cloudy and dark you have to look for the small breaks on the water to throw at. I like to pick a spot that I know there isn't any trees or rocks to get my net hung on and keep going there for my bait. I'm a true beleaver of the circle hook and I use them all the time and how I use them I put the hook inside the mouth and bring it up through the nose bone of the bait . This way the bait can swim freely with out being pull backwards and die. This way of hooking the bait its up right and you also can troll the bait up right and when that bait is alone in the water it a big target becuase everything eats them..............woody

[Pookie]

If you want a good net, try Memphis Net & Twine.

I learned a secret for making the bait ball up from a captain in Florida. If you go to the local Co-oP and ask for fish food, they will sell you theirs or a Purina brand in a 50# bag. Take about 2 qts of the food and place in a bucket. Add just enough water until it becomes a paste. Form small balls of the paste, just a little larger than a golf ball. When you see the bait, throw a ball or two in the water and they will attack it like sharks. Cast the net and load the bait bucket.

[tkwalker]

That is where I bought all of my commercial and guide fishing nets ...
Their Web address is www.MemphisNet.net

Now the State of Tennessee allows for the use up to a 10 foot radius (That is a 20 foot Diameter ) casting net ... Remember when throwing the 10 foot that is a lot of weight ... As you get older they will work on your Rotary Cuffs ... Ask Me ... :p ...

Remember guys that are casting nets below Cordell Hull There is a lot of exposed rebar in top of the deflection wall right in front of the spillways ... Also a lot along the lock wall especially the last 100 feet running down stream .... Good luck <'TK>< :)

[Jake47]

What type of fish are you guys targeting with the natural bait? I was on OH last weekend and had bait all around me, but couldn't catch many fish. Only a couple Cats and Drum.

[MNfisher]

If you want a good net, try Memphis Net & Twine.

I learned a secret for making the bait ball up from a captain in Florida. If you go to the local Co-oP and ask for fish food, they will sell you theirs or a Purina brand in a 50# bag. Take about 2 qts of the food and place in a bucket. Add just enough water until it becomes a paste. Form small balls of the paste, just a little larger than a golf ball. When you see the bait, throw a ball or two in the water and they will attack it like sharks. Cast the net and load the bait bucket.

I have done this in the gulf, but never even thought about doing it here...does it work in TN?

[jaysouth]

At 0430 this morning I was tossing a cast net at Brushy Creek in 4-6 feet of water. It was slow work, It took a dozen casts to fill the livewell plus an eating size drum.

Buy a 5 foot net and go on youtube to get an idea of how to throw one. There are methods that don't require you to put netting your teeth or lay a wet net over your shoulder.

Here is a good one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYPUVZYgv3o

[TomD]

Great tips and Below Cordell Hull is the plan. In the yard first. Great idea about the fish food balls.

[tkwalker]

Great tips and Below Cordell Hull is the plan. In the yard first. Great idea about the fish food balls.

Take large cans of Dog food ... Buy the cheap stuff ... Drill 1/4 inch holes in the can ... Toss them in where you will be casting ... The meat will oooozzz for weeks ... This draws the bait fish ...

The can will eventually turn to mother earth ... They are tin and ferrus material and will rust big time and deteriate ...

Also like to add .. If your objective is to learn to throw a large net ...start with that net ... When you start small and move up ... You had might as well start over ... The heaiver the net the dynamics and the game changes in the way it unfolds and is delivered ... It is like flying a Cessena 152 to Landing a a Boeing B-52, in effort, strength, delivery, and retrieve ... Plus folding to recover dump and refold on a deck of a boat ... I bought a 4 foot radius net last year to do some casting from my dock ... I had might as well have been thowing a PUP TENT ... I could not get it to flair or develope the envelope ... Why ?? ... I threw a 20 foot dia for 30 years ... One or two cast is all you need ... (I always used the saltwater Menhaden mesh , Memphis Net & Twine !!;))

Oh by the way... I haven't held a cast net in the last 12 years ...and I only threw 20 foot Dia. (10 foot radius) nets ... But the method I used was learned from a guide in East Tennessee Years ago ... But actually originated in the Middle east Thousands of years ago from beach casters ....You don't have to put it in your mouth and teeth ..In Fact you can launch it from between your legs ... Don't ask me to demonstrate ... I can't even hold the nets anymore ... But do some research ... ;)

FOR SAFETY !!! ... ALWAYS CARRY A SINGLE BLADE KNIFE THAT IS ATTACHED HIGH TO YOUR LIFE VEST CHEST HIGH THAT YOU CAN REACH WItH ONE HAND!(POP UP pfd, COOLER BELOW DAMS) ... SINGLE BLADE QUICK RELEASE IN CASE YOU HAVE TO RELEASE YOURSELF FROM A SNAG OR WRAP AROUND A LEG OR ARM IN CURRENT ... Been there and have two Tee Shirts ... <'TK>< ;)

[tacklemake]

If you need some help I can show you how to throw it I live in Hendersonville near lock 3 ramp at old hickory lake............woody

[TomD]

If you need some help I can show you how to throw it I live in Hendersonville near lock 3 ramp at old hickory lake............woody

Im working on an advance on my allowance and Ill contact you. thanks