Has anyone used fish traps to assist in selective harvest of small bass or bluegill for management? Cooper Seeds has one that floats and is 36W x 36H x 48L. I was considering this for removal of large bluegill also.
Frank
LMB are difficult to catch in traps from my trapping experiences; SMB are easier to trap. Some traps styles will catch a few small (1"-3") LM bass. Bgills and most sunfish will readily enter most any style of fish trap.
Frank, I use a fish trap all the time. I made one from 1 inch PVC pipe (so it floats) and semi-rigid plastic netting you can buy from pond suppliers. It is about the same size as you describe. It has 4 entry points, 2 on each of opposite sides. They are simple round holes with a cone in the inside. I catch BG very easily. Can catch as big a BG as can get through the hole. Never caught a bass. I can put this out over night and some times have 30 to 50 fish by next day. Sometimes I get all small ones sometimes I get all big ones. Depends on where I put it and if the fish are moving around.
bz - Do you have a picture of your fish trap that you can email to those intereseted?
bz,
I am very interested in building a floating fish trap also, a photo would be great or a little more detail. Living in Thailand makes ordering anything from a normal supplier difficult and expensive however all forms of netting/PVC is available. Your fish trap - do you only set it at night? Do you bait it?
Sorry guys I haven't checked this thread for a while, haven't figured out the best ways to navigate this site and find my way back to things I've posted. I can get a picture and will email it to anyone interested. I set the trap out any time. Yesterday I set it out before dinner and went back after dinner and found it had about 100 fish in it. Set it out again this afternoon, same results. Set it out again before dark and will check it in the morning. Seems like any time works. I've gotten to the point where I don't leave it for more than 10 or 12 hours or it gets so full that I'm afraid I will hurt some of the fish trying to sort through them. I use my trap to sort out unwanted fish and get rid of them. Give me your email and I'll send a pic.
billcod6@gmail.com
Thanks for your photos.
bmcondello@bizfunctional.com
send it to me and I'll post it on forum for all to see.
I'll try to take some pictures tonight and send them.
Me too bz,
herrchipmeister@yahoo.com
Thanks
bz :
Thanks for the offer. My address is :
ewest@mnwlaw.com
Hey Lusk - It seems there is enough interest in this topic that a short article about this fish trap is in order for the magazine.
bz
What are you baiting the trap with?
Frank
To all, I emailed some pics and description to Bruce who offered to post it. The trap is I think similar to many traps of the type that have been used for years to trap fish and lobster. I don't use any bait I just put the trap where fish travel. I put it along shore, at the side of one of my docks where fish go in and out from under, or in a narrow channel between two parts of my pond. Some times I trap a certain area out and have to move the trap or wait a week or so for fish to move into the area. They seem to be territorial. I use the trap only for pan fish, can't claim to have ever caught a bass. You have all helped me immensely with your knowledge so I hope this works for some of you. Thanks.
I would like a copy also
weatherholtp@direcway.com
thanks
Me too please.
briceduncan@cox.net
Me too, please.
rludlow@sbcglobal.net
Thanks
bz - You said the trap floats. Have you ever used it in shallow water where it sits on the bottom. If yes, does the trap sitting on a sloping side of the pond have an affect on its catchability versus it hanging vertical in the water?
Bill and all, I hope your not all disappointed in this thing. It's just a fish cage with some conical entrances. It does work well in my pond. Just had it out again tonight, one hour and caught about 20 fish. Matter of fact Bill, I had it set out in a spot where it was near shore with one end of the trap in about 2 feet of water and the other end floating. As long as the top never gets submerged from being cockeyed and the trap entrances are under the water it seems to work fine. After seeing some of the pictures of peoples ponds on the other post I can see that my pond at 1/2 acre is much smaller than most. That may help me catch fish since it provides more structure for them to follow and places to set the trap. Anyway, Bruce should have my email so hopefully he'll post them soon. Perhaps I'll also send the email to you Bill in case Bruce is busy for a few days.
So can we see the photos?
Frank
I've now sent them to both Bill and Bruce. Don't know if they had a problem getting them or if their just busy. I'm not a computer whiz but I was trying to limit the number of people I emailed them to just because it takes a while to send several pictures over my standard phone line service. Now that I think about it I don't think it takes any longer to send to one person versus a bunch. So if I don't see them posted here tonight I'll try to hit you all.
Curiously, what do you bait your trap
with to attract bluegill ? I've tried
bread and dough products, but they
break apart and dissolve in the water.
Sorry about the bait question - didn't
see your earlier post.
bz - Bruce will get the pictures posted on this forum soon. I don't put pictures on this forum because I have not figured out how to work the posting process yet. I'm no computer wiz either. I got your photos and the trap looks like a pretty good one. I will look for the 3-way connectors this weekend at Home Depot or Lowes. I will first try and build a smaller version out of 1/4 mesh netting for use with small fish. I want to compare you trap's design and fishing success with my standard sinking wire mesh traps. Diversity in fish traps is always good to have.
I noticed from your one picture that most of the fish in the trap appeared to be hybrid bgill. H,bgill readily enter traps.
Hey guys; How's that for timing? Bruce to the rescue in his waders and ultralight keyboard!
Bill, just remember that the smaller you make this type of trap the less effective it is likely to be. This trap works on the principle that it gets in the way of fish movement and in their attempt to go around it some of them stumble into the entrance. I made this one as big as possible yet small enough for me to handle by myself for that very reason. A smaller one, or one of any size would work even better if you were to put it in the pond setting on the bottom, then wade into the pond and install some posts with some netting stretched out so that you create a set of "V" shaped wings from the corners of the trap that direct the fish toward the trap. I've done this before with smaller traps and it works great. You can even drive the fish into the trap this way. The wings can be any length you want. This may allow a trap like this to perform better in some of the larger more open ponds I've seen some of you have. Just a little harder to move the trap around. Interesting that HBG are easier to trap. I wouldn't have known that. I also find it very easy to catch crappie.
P.S. This trap is 3 feet by 3 feet by 4 feet.
bz,
Where did you get your netting material? I may have to experiment.
Thanks,
Ed
Ed, I got my netting marterial locally. Believe it or not there is a company here in Minneapolis that only sells fish netting. Don't remember the name but I found them by looking up "fish net" on google. I also know that Aquatic Ecosystems has the exact same stuff, (aquaticeco.com). What I used was 3/4 inch diameter mesh, it was cheapest. I think for around $75 you can buy a 4 foot by 50 foot roll. That's one reason the trap is 4 feet wide. Plenty of net to make a couple of wing dams for the thing if needed. Or buy a roll and share with someone.
Ed, this netting looks the same as some I have obtained from
Stoney Creek in Michigan. They even advertise in Pond Boss.
Hey bz,
What's the dimensions for the cones?
Thanks,
Chip
BZ, my internet link is a little slow also, the photos did not load before I read the part on give an email address for the photos. Have seen them now and appreciate you sharing the trap with us, no need for the email.
Chip, the cones on my trap are about 12 inch dia on the large end and about 5 inches on small end, they are perhaps 16 inches long. I just took a piece of netting about 2 feet wide and long enough to make this size cone and rolled it up into a funnel and wired it. Then I trimmed each end square so that the hole is round rather than the resulting odd angle with an odd shaped hole that you get when you roll a rectangle into a cone. Good luck. It's fun to make your own stuff once in a while. I know you can buy something similar (aquaticeco.com) but I get a kick out of figuring out how to make it myself.
