They’re Netting Now!!

I just came from Prescott and they are netting now. They were in the process of pulling a hug net across the whole bay. I’m guessing by later today they will start pulling fish out but I don’t know for sure. I’m heading back over there after work about 5:30 and bringing a twelver if anyone is interested in meeting. I’ll be driving a gray Silverado and wearing my old black FTR hat. If you live anywhere near the area this is a must see event. The only problem is I can’t guarantee when they start pulling fish out. I would guess if they aren’t tonight they would tell us when. Watching them sort and throw back giant eyes, muskies, cats and every big critter around is awsome.

I made it there by 5:20 and just missed the main show by only 20 minutes. By main show I mean the ultra piggy eyes. Many witnesses said it was amazing. The biggest was said to be 12 pounds. The netting guys were great and answered all my questions. They said the eyes are easy to sort and they get them out first. I saw quite a few limits tossed out but most of the giant ones were already tossed. Absent from the nets that are normally caught include: flatheads, paddle fish, trout (nice ones) small mouth and unfortunately sheep heads.The fish kept are all the gems like carp, buffalo suckers and every vairation of those breeds. No bighead carp in the nets here but they did get one in Pepin. These fish are sold in markets around Chicago as TABLE FARE!!! Holy Schnikes! This was their first of about 5 forays. I got the captains number and he told me I can call him to find out future dates. I’ll try to stay in touch with him and pass along the info. It is a site to behold. Following are some shots I took.

Hundreds

Trash Fish

Big Trash Fish

Lots of big buffalo’s

Musky

The operation

Oh and you missed out on the free beer. That was the first/last time I offer free beer to all members.

This is really cool Suzuki! I’m glad you made it down there and got some pics to share with us! You’ll have to share those future dates with us and maybe we can get down there ourselves!

That is an amazing sight, great pics. I should of went….only live in River Falls. Let us know when they will be doing that again, may have to take my little girl down there to watch.

Suzuki…I was there at 2:30 today…and stayed until 5:15. I noted the time because I knew you were going to be there 5 minutes after I left.

I got 2 pictures and the batteries in the camera died. I think it would be better with a video camera.

Man there were some big muskies and all the eye’s were over 15 inches…where are they when I’m out there?

I think they are going to be there again in the morning.

suzuki:

Were these DNR people or commercial fisherman? I bet it is really cool watching and looking at all of those live fish!!!

Mark

Great photos. Looks like alot of fun to watch. Let us know if you hear when they are going to do this again.

They were commercail fisherman and not the DNR. They said they would be back today.
If you get there from 3 pm on, I would think you would see some good fish. Before 3 they are just pulling in net.

Brian,
Let me know if your heading down, my truck is in the shop until Saturday, but i should be able to make it by 3pm hopefully. 651-308-6785.
Awesome pics Mike, thanks for sharing. Wish I would have seen the free drinks, I would have been there. .

Neat pics, and interesting!

I don’t mean to sound stupid, but over here in MD that’s not the type of fish the commercial guys are after. Plus, commercial netting here is not looked upon favorably by the recreational angler.

What do they do with the fish they keep?

It sounds like the commercial guys & the rec guys get along in your area! Whats the deal?

Bigjim,

The guys are netting what we consider “Trash Fish”. Most of us don’t target these fish for food and would just as soon see the population knocked down a notch!

If these guys were keeping the walleyes, well there may be some fist fights!

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Neat pics, and interesting!

I don’t mean to sound stupid, but over here in MD that’s not the type of fish the commercial guys are after. Plus, commercial netting here is not looked upon favorably by the recreational angler.

What do they do with the fish they keep?

It sounds like the commercial guys & the rec guys get along in your area! Whats the deal?

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Why should it be a mystery? Quality of fishery? Abundance of game? We’re talking about a VERY big river system here and this small pocket of it isn’t going to hurt anything. Also, they’re not killing the fish we are passionate about. All the “game” fish go back to the open waters. Isn’t that what the recreational guys do with catch and release? There’s no difference in the deed.

We also know that in these waters, the rough fish population is quite high. There is no shortage of them and finding an acceptible use for them is fine in my opinion. Again, they hardly put a dent on anything by netting this small area of 1000s upon 1000s of acres of water that make up this river system.

Why are they disliked out east? I don’t see the reason if they’re doing the same out there as they do here. Is it something carried over from the salt water side of life? You’ve stirred my curiosity.

By the way, welcome to the site! We don’t have many out your way and I’d love to hear about experiences or techniques from your “neck of the woods”. What river systems do you frequent out that way?

Jon, Thanks for the reply! I understand the type of fish they’re netting. We have a fair amount of such fish here too! Most folks here who fish for carp or other “trash” fish do it just for sport, and there is nothing that prevents the taking of “trash” fish like carp or suckers if a person wants to eat them. I’ve even eaten them, but it’s not a favorite of mine! Suckers are OK if fixed properly.

I could understand anglers fighting the taking of gamefish. I wouldn’t stand for it either! There has been an on going battle here between commercial interests & recreational anglers, primarily over Striped Bass.

As far as I know the only netting of “trash” fish here, is done by the DNR when doing fish counts, or sometimes in the few lakes we have the DNR will remove such fish if they feel they’re causing a problem with more desirable species.
We had the famous Snakehead incident here, not too far from where I live, but that was a different situation.

I’ve never heard of any commercial taking of such fish here.

My question is, what are the fish used for? Do they net them just to get rid of some of them and throw them away somewhere or do they have a use for them? Commercial guys don’t usually net fish without some pay involved!

They ship them off to the Chicago Fish market and actually make a dang good profit I’m told. “Fresh fish from the pristine waters of Northern Minnesota”.

The year I watched them they placed them live in a big tanker truck and off they went. They said they got more for them if they were alive.

Stillakid2
Thanks for the welcome! I was typing when you replied! (My typing sucks!)
I don’t have a problem with removing the fish. Should help other species, unless it removes prey.
I’m just curious about why the commercial guys were involved.

I would be glad to discuss fishing with you! I also like to hear about what folks in other areas are doing. One of the other members asked me about tips for fishing tidal waters, so maybe I’ll write an article about it.

Most of the fishing I do is in tidal rivers.

LMAO

……………….. I was thinking along the terms of Henry Winkler (Arthur Fonzarelli) but yours is better!

As a (somewhat) interesting side note. I was visiting the Afton Museum a year or so ago. Someone from Afton actually figured out a better way to net fish, which is still used today. Just don’t recall what it was.
But the fish they netted were put in barrels of water and shipped by train to Chicago. Again, the artical said “for table fare”. Don’t recall the date, but it was in the 1800’s.

Chicago has a love of our fresh fish from the pristine waters of MN

great photos. . . I showed this to my dad. His comment was how come we don’t catch any like that? I’m running low on excuses!