# Gillnet Survey and Night Fishing Questions



## Jeremy28 (Dec 1, 2007)

I have a specific question about the process of gillnetting that the DNR (or DWR?) uses. How far of a distance do they cover when they do a gillnet? I recently went back to Otter and tried fishing the area where that big Brown was gillnetted and got to thinking that maybe it was gillnetted clear out in the deep and then they just bring them to the shore? I originally thought that they probably got it in the nearby vicinity so does anyone know how far of an area they cover and whether or not they always start out in the deep and bring them to the shallows? Im just trying to figure out if the big brown could have been snagged by the net hundreds of yards away and in the deep. I think brown trout are somewhat territorial so that big brown is probably clost to where it was netted.

My second question is about night fishing and whether or not its even worth it when the moon is not full or near full? Both times I've been out to Otter, I've tried fishing well in to the early morning hours (one night from 12 -4) and have only caught one fish but both outings that i've tried this the moon was either not out at all or only slightly visible ("crescent" is what its called I think). Anyway, if anyone has any helpful input about fishing at night I would appreciate it. I tried mousing most of the time at night but then switched to minnows and finally caught one. Im surprised the mouse technique hasn't got at least a couple hits or anything because it looks so inticing and realistic but it does not seem to be working. Maybe its just because the moon was not out.


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## ColdWaterCoord (Jun 19, 2012)

Hi Jeremy,

My name is Paul Birdsey and I am the Coldwater Sportfish Coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. Hopefully I can provide some answers to your gillnetting questions.

Gillnets are typically set with one end anchored on or near shore and then stretched out into the lake. The nets are 80-125" long depending on the design, so all fish recorded in the surveys are captured within that distance of shore.

Gillnets are classified as passive gear in that they just sit there in the water and depend on fish swimming into them and becoming entangled in the mesh. As you are aware, many fish cruise the shorelines of reservoirs, so gillnetting provides and effective way to sample these fish. The large brown trout observed in the survey you asked about may have been cruising the shoreline, or it may have been attracted to the net by the struggles of smaller fish caught in the net. It is often difficult to interpret the data from a single large fish in the nets because of the possibility that they were attracted by other fish in the net. 

Brown trout, as well as most fish predators, are primarily sight feeders. They do however have a lateral line which is capable of detecting motion. Just my experience as a fisherman and not any scientific study, I would recommend a bait that puts a lot of vibration into the water if you are fishing on moonless nights.


Hope this helps,

Paul


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

Paul, Thank you for answering this question. I was going to take a stab at it but I only have enough knowledge to get it wrong, when it comes to gill netting.
It is great to see more DNR folks posting here.
Nothing better than getting the information first hand.

Can you also tell us the difference in gill netting and seining?
Thanks,
Grandpa D


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## ColdWaterCoord (Jun 19, 2012)

Thanks for the welcome.

In short, gillnetting is a passive technique as I described, whereas seining is an active technique where the net is drug through the water. Although there are several different types of seining, most of the seining we do involves having one person on or near shore at one end of the seine, another person stretches the net out and swings it in a wide arc bringing all of the fish back to the shoreline. The seining we use is predominately a technique to capture small fish.

Paul


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Thanks and welcome to the forum Paul.

I helped the WY Game & Fish gillnet Sulphur Creek Reservoir. We left the nets overnite. I was surprised how many of the fish died compared to gill netting catfish back in the Midwest. The holes in the nets we used varied in size and we put the smaller holes closer to the bank. Most all the fish we caught were ID'd, measured, and documented. It's a lot of work. WY G&F asks for volunteers to help. 

Seining brings back great memories. We seined minnows and crayfish to run our catfish and turtle lines back home. Amazing the variety of critters we would catch. And boy, it's very hard work.


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## Jeremy28 (Dec 1, 2007)

Hey thanks for the comments


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## ColdWaterCoord (Jun 19, 2012)

Wyogoob,

Thanks for the welcome.

We also use nets of different mesh sizes to catch various sizes of fish. Until a few years ago the nets were always set with the small mesh close to shore, however, the American Fisheries Society (the fishy version of the American Medical Association) released standardized methods for conducting surveys and they recommended randomizing which mesh is close to shore. The DWR has adopted those methods and that is what we currently do.

Most coldwater fish are not as hardy as the warmwater species and many do die in the nets. While this is not a good thing, the biggest thing to remember is that the number of fish killed in the nets is a very small fraction of the total population. For example, in Scofield Reservoir (where I most recently worked) we would net about 40-50 trout per year total. We stock 80,000 cutthroat, 80,000 rainbow, and 120,000 tiger trout per year in the reservoir, however. Ultimately, the biologists need some way to assess how the population is doing and gillnets provide that tool.

I appreciate everyone's interest in the surveys the DWR conducts. Most of the Regional Aqautics Managers are more than happy to have a few volunteers come help. Give them a call if you are interested. The phone numbers for each of the regional offices can be found either online or in the Fishing Guidebook.

Paul


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Interesting stuff Paul, thanks. I'd like to help sometime. 

My dad used a gillnet with only one size of hole. We targeted catfish in the 1lb - 2lb range, a marketable size in those days because most catfish were eaten whole, not filleted. We'd catch a few walleye and sauger, and keep them for ourselves. Then there were always gar, northerns, pickerel and turtles snooping around looking for a free meal. The turtles preyed on dead fish caught in the net and once in awhile they would get trapped in the net and drown. Those were the days.

A couple weeks ago I fished a private lake south of Evanston. There was a man from Utah working the lake with a gillnet removing suckers and chubs for the owner. His net was similar to what we used for catfish so many years ago. He would stretch the net out down at the inlet for 4 hours or so (at sun-up or sun-down). If he had help to run the net he would pivot the net over to the bank like a seine. We helped him that night and made some racoons very happy.

Chime in more often Paul, keep us posted.


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