Cast net tips?

With our new bait rules in IL, I think my motto this season is “got cast net, not afraid to use it”… so for anyone using cast nets to gather live baits, any good tips to share as far as river bait location, high water vs low water, etc. I’m looking for chubs, shiners, maybe some bullheads, baby carp, etc

This is all new to me, I’m thinking of a nice riffle area below an island for low water, and the mouth of a small trib for higher water. I’ve also heard various discharge areas are good as well…

Steve provided the following direction in an earlier thread about seining in the metro area

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On the river my best luck has been out of the main current. Downstream side of island points or up in a backwater with a slow current flow seem to work good during normal water flows. I have some shoreline spots that are protected from the main current out to about 15′ or so and have just the right depth to seine. A feeder stream that does not have a lot of current would be good. Bait will move up into that slack water and you can usually see them dimpling the water. Trouble with some feeder creeks is that the bottoms get muddy or mucky and it is hard to walk.

Before you start seining walk up stream and down along a nice piece of shoreline and look carefully in the water and look for bait. If you see white bass or smallmouth hammering bait along a shoreline – Bingo, you’ve found bait.

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Cast nets? MY WORD! NOT IN MN!

It’s hard sitting on the St Croix watching fish after fish being caught by a WI resident using fall shad caught with a cast net. <sigh>

There was a very good post a couple years ago when there was some confusion over this law. Had some good tips in it.

There are a few rebels without a cause that might pm you with some pointers. All I know about them is that they are sold in MN stores but are against the law to use.

Any out of MN help out there?

We used to use one in Fl and NY when we were stationed there and wanted to net up Mullet for fishing Blues. The easy part was we were up on a tall pier so it we could get a good spread with the net.
If you do get one. Make sure to get a tuturial video with it. You probably could go on You Tube as well and find some people showing how do….. It does take practice. Some people can make it look a lot easier than it is.

Just below sandy island points.. in 4-5 feet of water and shad will be yours.

where can i find the “new bait rules” Shawn? i’ve read through the 2009 regulations, but it’s very general.

my father in-law just gave me his old cast net and thrower (never used and at least 25 years old). i plan on trying it sometime soon.

Here’s a link to the rule – see section 875.50 “unlawful acts”

I’ll put up a detailed post in the IL section…

Shawn

ILDNR VHS rule

The spillway type place is generally the best way to go in my experience. If you’re going to catch anything, it’s usually in the first throw, maybe some deaf fish in the second or third, unless you’re at a spillway because noise doesn’t matter much there.

Basically, your above advise is sound. If there’s too much current, the net collapses and often the fish aren’t bunched up in the current anyways. In a little trickle off of the main current you can get into the baby carps. They really do segregate by species.

Little ponds and such that get flooded by the river can be a great place to catch bait when the river is high.

I’ve never caught chubs or shiners unless it was a spillway. They are too fast.

Shawn – I have been doing some looking at cast nets for an upcoming trip to the Missouri River for Blue Cats. I want a cast net that is easy to use and effective. I went to the Cabela’s website and read all the user reviews on the Cast Nets. The one that is most highly reocmmended is the FITEC Quick Throw Cast Mono Net. This net has a built in Throw Ring which is designed to make the net open up fully on just about every throw and it received rave reviews from the users. Most people recommended the 4′ to 5′ size because it is the easiest to handle. The mono net received better ratings than the nylon net. It comes with a DVD and good written instructions that according to the reviews are easy to understand and if followed will work perfect most every time. At Cabela’s the 4′ net cost $30 and the 5′ net cost $37.

You can order cast nets of different types here too. http://www.thebaitbox.com/
This shop is nice and where I book my trips in Florida. They also have a cast net rodeo there that is fun to watch or try too.

Practicing on dry land helps immensely. Its pretty easy and you’ll catch on quickly.

I’ll second Joshbjork’s recommendation of spillways. I used to throw before I read about it in the MN regs. Easy pickens.

I was just reviewing my 2009 Minnesota Fishing Regulation booklet. I never realized it before but you cannot even have a cast net or any other kind of fish net in your boat or near the water. That alone is grounds for a citation.
Page 59 – It is unlawful to possess on or near waters a net or any device that can take fish. The exceptions are angling equipment and landing nets used for angling, seines and traps for taking minnows for bait, and as other wise specifically authorized.

I guess you better not even own a throw net in MN. If you have one in your boat you are screwed – even if you’ve never used it.

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I’ll second Joshbjork’s recommendation of spillways. I used to throw before I read about it in the MN regs. Easy pickens.

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I said it before and I’ll say it again. They ban throw nets, but allow seining. Yeah, makes a lot of sense. About as much sense as a size limit on bullheads used for bait. Or as much sense as not allowing carp as bait, even if that carp is cut bait.

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Shawn – I have been doing some looking at cast nets for an upcoming trip to the Missouri River for Blue Cats. I want a cast net that is easy to use and effective. I went to the Cabela’s website and read all the user reviews on the Cast Nets. The one that is most highly reocmmended is the FITEC Quick Throw Cast Mono Net. This net has a built in Throw Ring which is designed to make the net open up fully on just about every throw and it received rave reviews from the users. Most people recommended the 4′ to 5′ size because it is the easiest to handle. The mono net received better ratings than the nylon net. It comes with a DVD and good written instructions that according to the reviews are easy to understand and if followed will work perfect most every time. At Cabela’s the 4′ net cost $30 and the 5′ net cost $37.

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Steve, I had one of those nets, and yes they are very easy to throw. I got it stuck in the rocks and broke a few support lines and didn’t want to mess with trying to fix it.