Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Adding to depth of seine

Anybody have any experience adding to the depth of a seine or any comments on doing so? Just thought I would post this here to see what kind of comments I get before contacting and discussing this with a seine netting supplier. And of course I'll probably have to wait to contact the supplier after the holidays.

I have 140 feet of seine that was once 200 feet that I got used from a retiring fish farmer in Minnesota for only $50.00 several years ago. It's 8 foot deep and has served me well for the price, but in order to seine a pond with a maximum depth of 9 feet and an average depth of 6 to 7 feet, I typically drain the pond down 3 feet. I'd like to avoid the pumping this time around and add a panel of material to the top or bottom.

I'm thinking a four or six foot high panel added to the top would be the way to go after removing and relocating the floats to the top of the new section? That's because my thinking is that it would be easier than relocating the bottom lead and mudline?

The present seine is only 1/8th inch mesh and since larger mesh is cheaper and the pond has no small fish due to a lack of reproduction (trophy male bluegill and female yellow perch only ) will probably go with 1/2 inch mesh for the added panel.

This will cause the upper panel to move easier through the water than the bottom 8 foot which I am unsure how negative of an effect that would be if at all.

Thoughts?

I typically call in an army of angler friends every spring to harvest as many 14 inch plus yellow perch and 10 inch plus bluegills as possible that are sold to taxidermists, but I'd like to see what we've been missing of hook shy fish. This is especially true with the bluegills.

The original seine. (The dog was not happy we had to stop for a picture. LOL)

Cecil, I'd add it to the bottom if you are going with larger mesh. The bottom of the seine has to go through the pond first, and by putting the larger mesh on the top of the net you will be compounding the problem of seining slow enough to keep the bottom of the seine on the bottom of the pond.

Yeah it's more of a PITA to add to the bottom, but you are only doing it once, vs. having to take more time to seine every time the seine is dragged thru the water.

Just for giggles, when you talk to the net mfg. ask them what a 3/4" knotless seine would cost in the size that you want.

Adding a panel the length of the net will take a lot of knot tying. With the age of the seine that you have, I think I'd run a length of nylon twine the length of the seine where you want to tie in the new panel, weaving it through the old seine every few inches. Then tie the new panel to the old seine AND the new nylon twine, putting a knots the same distance apart as the size of the mesh on the new panel.

I think that if the knots are too far apart where the two seines come together on the side of the seine where the fish would be, some fish might get between the panels and you'd never be able to get them out. Remember, you might use the seine sometime in the future for smaller fish, they might not all be 14" YP and 10+" BG.

That's an idea I may consider but PITA is an understatement! I may be better off getting the same size mesh and adding it to the top.



I think I did once and it was about 2 grand but that may have been 200 feet vs. 140. I could be mistaken though. I would consider a net under or close to a grand though.

Some good ideas. I might check into sending them the net and having them sew it together if I go that route. I can remove the mudline that is attached via zip ties to make it much lighter for shipping.

I think if I do the work I will hang it from the deck or my fence to do the work. Working on the ground won't cut it. Been there done that.

Thanks for your input!

Scott,

Did some checking on the Memphis Net and Twine website and I may be able to swing a new net with larger mesh for around $1200.00.

I should be able to make that back and if I pull in enough 14 inch plus YP and 10 inch plus bluegill. I have a waiting list for them and as soon as they are pulled from the pond and I list them they are snapped up. Last year we threw back a good number of YP just under 14 inches and some BG's just under 10.

The net I have is old and beginning to tear.

Cecil, for that money I'd get a spec sheet of what you want the seine to be and get quotes from all the net mfg's that you can. I believe there are close to 1/2 dz. out there.

That way you're comparing apples to apples. Who knows, you might save $100 or more.

Mesh size and type, number of floats, mud line, coating, etc., etc.

Since you will be getting a larger mesh seine, I wonder if you could send the old one in and get it coated to help make it last longer, or is it too far gone?

Yes definitely will be getting quotes!

As far a coating the old net that's an idea but if I get a new net I doubt I'll have much use for the old net anymore. And I'd probably attach the mudline from the old net to the new net. Not sure it would be worth it coating the old net. It would probably cost at least $50.00 shipping just one way due to the weight and size of the box.


I'm now wondering how large of mesh I could go up to with out risking damage to the fins of the fish. Larger size mesh reduces cost, weight, and drag. With my market, fin condition makes or breaks the sale of a fish. Also wonder if knotlesss would be easier on the fiish or it's not an issue.

Found a source that says the net should be 1.5 to 2 times the depth and 1.5 to 2 times the width of the pond. Fortunately I have a 200 feet of mudline I can attach.

So max pond width is 130 feet. 130 X 1.5 is 195 feet. (The one we used in picture above had been cut down to 160 feet. Or was it 140?

1.5 X the pond max depth of 9 feet is 13.5 feet. However most of the pond is 8 feet or less.

Also looks like 1 inch mesh would be the size to use according to the table at the linked source as the fish in the pond are at least a half a pound. Even the new perch and bluegills I add each year are at least 1/2 pound.

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/wkrec/HarvestingFishPonds.htm

Larger mesh would surely be easier to pull. That would be an advantage over what you have I would think.

I would definately go knotless. IIRC the net was 160' at that time in the picture.

I agree on the height vs the depth. I think we still had a lot of fish that scooted out under it because we couldn't make a large enough "bag" with the net and keep the bottom of the net in front of the top of the net at the same time.

Also, look at your pictures of the seine in the water. I think that if it was only 140' in the picture, and the pond is 130' across at the pier, then we wouldn't have that much starting to wrap around the pond. I believe I'm holding the rope in my hands in that picture, and I'm about 30' from the pier.

Think about the 1" mesh. What's the possibility of gilling any of the YP in the pond if that size is used? Or would their heads be too big to get stuck in the net?

Thanks for the excellent comments Scott. Someday I need to get better at record keeping so I don't have to rely on my poor memory.

Very true!

more money but you might consider adding a bag to the seine, I used to do commercial minnow seining and it sure brings your catch rate up. I have only used not less and got both from Memphis twine.

Thanks Dale. I definitely thought about it.

How hard is that bag on the fish? Do they get crunched together more so than forming a bag by bringing in the bottom of the net-- ahead of the rest of the net -- towards the end?

It's imperative for my market that the fish I pull out don't have damaged fins or abrasions.

Cecil

This might sound dumb but I was thinking if you seine to catch BG for mounting would it be better to invest in a shock system so not to damage the fish and only select the ones you want and let the rest be for a later time. Just thinking outside the box since seining can and does damage fins .

Pat W

Pat,

Doesn't sound dumb at all. I have a old shocker box and cables, and dead man switch, but need to build the boom etc. Just haven't got around to it.

That said it's AC and probably won't reach down far enough for the yellow perch or even the bluegills, which hang close to the bottom in 7 to 9 feet of water most of the year. I had a modern shocker outfit come out once as barter for some taxidermy, and he got very few yellow perch and large bluegill. But they were definitely in the pond. Don't know if it was AC or DC.

Bill Cody thinks after a few times the fish in my pond will move as fast as possible from the range of shocker boat anyway. I know I would! LOL

BTW I'm waiting for a quote from these guys. Seem to offer the best price with no middleman.


http://www.millernets.com/index.html

http://www.millernets.com/seines1.html

Gonna go with the following 1/2 inch mesh knotless but 12 feet instead of 10 feet and the pond width is 142 feet not 130. (Just checked it. I think it's 200 feet the other way). They also claim 1/3 more in depth and 1/3rd more in length is sufficient for seining vs. another source that says 1/2 more.

http://www.millernets.com/kd1210.html

Cecil, Miller Nets is where I got my fyke net and seine. We had a small oopsy on the fyke net order, and they handled it extremely well.

They do a bunch of big seines for TPWD also.

Good to hear!