Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Fly Fishing & Other Fish Species Gill nets? or other suggestions....

So I purchased a cast net to play around with and try on Tilapia. Have managed to get fairly good at using it, but not for my intended use. The tilapia seem to be way to spooked by it, and by me onshore. I don't think they make one that would reach out to them, guessing most fish are about 40' out once they see anything suspicious.

That leads me to a fyke net or something else. Seems like a good fyke net is way out of my price range for now, at least in the places I have found them for sale. Maybe others know of a good source?

Then there are gill nets I see listed here/there. I know nothing about nets, so I am wondering if anyone out there has experience in them? Would they destroy anything caught in them? Would I be able to set one out, wait 15 minutes for the tilapia to pass thru, pull in and keep the tilapia and release other fish unharmed?

Any other ideas?

I have experience with them as a summer biologist intern. They are hard on fish as they literally gill a fish. If you checked the nets often you could remove remove most of the fish that were'nt tilapia unharmed, but you'd probably injure and even kill some of your bluegills.

Interestingly we rarely caught a bass in them as according to the biologist the bass seemed to be able to avoid them for some reason. It could also have been because we set the nets in deeper pelagic water and bass tend to be more inshore fish with exceptions.

Would the mesh size in the netting be better one way or the other?

I see these tilapia moving around in the pond in big schools right now. I see no other fish mixed in with them. The other fish must be moving into deeper water, or something, and the tilapia are out on these sunny days. My thinking is run the line out, possibly get the tilapia to move around by my presence, then pull the net in right away in right away. I wouldn't leave it. Is this realistic? Are they hard to set up?

I can't use a seine, at least that's what my guess is, and to expensive to buy one for a "probably not". Everyone is probably cringing at this idea considering how much we like our ponds.

12# test line, large treble hook and snag 'em out. I pulled over 40 gallons of tilapia out of my pond 2 years ago that way. (eight 5 gallon buckets full)

I have tried this with things I have had on hand, and am willing to try again with perhaps the right knowledge and tackle.

How large of treble hook do you mean by "large"?
Do you also have to use weights or floats anywhere?
Is the idea to just toss the hook right on them and pull? Or is it some other technique like hold till they pass by?
Are you tossing by hand, or reel?

Sorry, never been around this type of thing. I need to learn a lot about this fishing stuff.

What size cast net do you have? Mesh and radius? Think you could handle an 8 or 10 ft radius?

I use a spinning reel, fast action 7' or 7'-6" rod. 2/0 or 3/0 treble hook. I took some small diameter solder and wound it around the shank of the hook for weight to cast easier. Cast past the fish, trying to target individual fish that you can see. reel until the hook is on the other side of them and give it a good yank like you were setting the hook in a bass that was way out there. Polarized glasses help a lot.

You will get LOTS of practice improving your casting accuracy!!!

Watch out, sometimes the hook comes back at ya.........

You must be reeling in pretty fast to keep the hook up near the surface on the other side of the fish, before you even set it? Did they not get spooked by it at that point? Was this when the tilapia became lethargic? I cast anywhere near them and they all dart to 50' away. I have considered trying to tie a float of some sort to the line and wait for them to pass by, but don't really see a way to make that happen effectively.

Or what you are describing above is like one quick smooth action. You land the hook about 4" the opposite side of them and it all happens before the fish gets a chance to dart?

I waited last year hoping they would slow down in the cooler weather to try this. Never happened for me, they just flat out disappeared. Went from zooming around the pond to gone .

Thanks Scott, I will give it some more tries.

I have a 5' with 3/8" mesh, 1# weight/foot. Even if I could handle a 10 foot, that gets it 20' plus the rope. So it might be 30' total? If the fish would come in 20' to shore that may work, but they just aren't co-operating with me. I keep telling them they are going to die, might as well be for a good cause, but it falls on deaf ears!!!!

Perhaps a blind of some sort in the area they like to hang out? It would be a delicate balance between having enough room to swing the net out versus how much the tilapia could see it coming. I feel that I couldn't conceal myself enough to be effective. Also, I am a bit leery about spending the money on a bigger cast net because it may not be any better. That money could eventually go towards a fyke net. The gill net I saw was practically nil compared to all the other things to try, perhaps it's poor quailty.

I would go with a gill net, As far as releasing fish it depends on how tangled they get. If you don't leave it out a long time you should be able to release most.

I was doing this when the fish were coming up near the surface and warming up in the sun. Yes, it's pretty much one smooth motion. How far past them to cast all depends on how skittish they are. It's something that is easier shown than described.

I just might have to hire you then
You work for food? If that's the case, you better be good at it!

It's times like these that I wished I lived in Indiana by all you Pro Pondbossers!

Well, a gill net is an interesting thing. It can be a really powerful tool to remove your tilapia but on the other hand it might be harmful for other fish.
Will other fish be harmed? Hard to say because there are many factors that aren't clear but I'll post something that I've mentioned in my experience:

1) the bigger mesh size, the easier is the releasing of the fish. Sure, too large mesh size will mean no fish at all In case you can buy a cheap one, don't bother to cut some strings to release valuable fish;
2) the faster you start removing fish from the net, the bigger chance of removing it in a harmless way. After certain time they manage to create such tangle that you will hardly remove it even dead. If it's not deep then you'll be able to see the floats of the net and even a little fish is strong enough to let you see that somebody's in the net.
3) fish are rather smart and I suppose that they see this net even in a muddy water. Some species can be caught rarely (my experience shows that perch is such fish. Exception - when they are on hunt, they aren't careful at all and it's possible to find a lot of them nearby in the net). Often I catch fish in the beginning and the end of the net - seems like they have tried to go around but without success. The same appears around larger holes in the net.
This doesn't mean you don't have to try - some fish species "visit" gill net often
4) torpedo-shaped fish usually tangle in a way more bad way than wider shaped fish.

Thanks for those answers and comments Grandulis. I did get a net, but it was to late for it. Weather got cold to fast and haven't seen them since. I am sure they are gone now, but at least I'll have the stuff to try next year.

At least you may have a try. Fish may not be as active and they feed less but at least they move a bit.

Example: my pond. During summertime I see lots of different fish and I'm not surprised to see some of them caught in a gill net or a fyke net. Now the pond seems calm and it seems like there is no fish at all but I still catch some.
Many of them go deeper so choose the right spot.