Cast net question (KENT)

[Shrimpboy]

Last night I ran up to Renegade for a while with my buddy. He wanted to get out there in my canoe, so I thought "what the heck....I'll try catching some minnows before we go out." I spent an hour on the front lawn practicing throwing it before we left. After a comical show for the neighbors and somehow managing to have the net swing back and hit me in the nuts (twice), I pretty much got the hang of it.

When we got the berry I caught 50 or so minnows, but when I was finished, my brand new net had 3 or 4 two inch diameter holes in it. Am I doing something wrong? Is it just a cheap net? [#ff0000]How do I repair it? Can I patch it with a heavy monofilament?[/#ff0000]

By the time we got out on the water the sun was going down and a thunderstorm was moving in. We only fished for about 25 min before we were chased off of the lake. I caught one and missed 3 other good hits and my buddy missed 3. Kent, do you have a hard time hooking them with minnows? The cutt that I caught was a fatty! He fought so hard on the way in and was jumping so much that I thought he might be a koke (I couldn't see him really well until I had him in the light), He was only 14.5", but man did he put up a good fight.

-Jack
[signature]

[Kent]

Hey Shrimpboy, it is hard typing this while I am laughing so hard. Glad you got your casting net figured out, but trust me, if you are getting hit below the belt when you throwing your casting net you are definitely doing something wrong! You either snagged your casting net on something, or you got a net with some bad threads in it. Yes, I would repair it with some monifilament. About missing bites. There are a few items to be aware of:

First item, and by far the most important, use sharp thin hooks that are designed to be used with minnows. I have had good success using Eagle Claw Featherlite hooks in sizes 2 to size 4. I have also used a hook called a Shiner Hook that worked well.

Second item, remember that you are fishing with a large bait when you are fishing with a minnow, and it may take the fish a little longer to get the minnow down inside of its mouth. Be patient and let it take it for awhile. Not quite the same as fishing for catfish, but close.

Third item, if you hook the minnow under the jaw and out the top of its head you won't hook quite as many fish, but you will have far fewer fish swallow the hook.

Fourth item, if you are missing too many bites, use a minnow threader, and thread your hook through the minnow, from the rectum up through the mouth of the minnow and then connect your leader to your line with a snap, or you could put a stinger hook near the tail of the fish. Again, you will hook more fish, but you will also have more that are deeply hooked. (Comment: I do not like to use a treble hook when fishing with minnows. My feelings are you will hook fewer fish with a treble hook than you will by using a single minnow hook, and the ones you do hook will be harder to release and thus there will be greater fish mortality.)

Fifth item, if you miss the bite or if you hook the fish and reel it for a few feet and it gets off, immediately let your line go slack, and more often than not, the fish will strike again. I have had them strike several times, even after I have reeled them in for several feet before they got off.
[signature]

[hustler898]

Sounds likea lot more action than we had at Willard! Is it practical to tube the Berry for trout or do you have to troll or cover alot of water?

Al
[signature]

[Shrimpboy]

I like to tube it and a lot of people do. We were just drifting. I think that tubing is actually a good way to go this time of year. It can get you a little deeper than trolling without lead line and down riggers.

-Jack
[signature]

[Jedburton]

just a couple of questions where did you get your net (just for curious)? and where were you casting for minows. I just got back from strawberry catching minnows for bait with my casting net (kent was my inspiration). I casted out from the docks by the soldier summet boat dock and came home with easily over a hundred minnows. I plan on freezing them and using them for bait for the rest of the year as well as for food for my snapping turtle (he loves em'). I haven't had any problems with holes in the net yet, but when I was catching minnows at electric lake a while back I hooked onto some submerged brush and broke some of the guide lines that go down to the weights that I had to rety later. Do you know how well the minnows from up there work for fish like cats, bass, walleye, etc.

Jed
[signature]

[Kent]

I purchased my net from Sportsman's. I have caught minnows at Renegade and at Soldier Creek. Any docks at Strawberry or Soldier Creek holds lots of minnows this time of year. One trick to keep the net from snagging on the bottom is to not let it sink to the bottom before pulling it in. (I learned this the hard way after twice having to get on my boat to retrieve my stuck net from a different angle.) One catches regular chub minnows and red shiners (which are also a species of chub) at Strawberry. You may occasionally catch a trout minnow, which is illegal to keep. I have an old ice box that I put 3 -4 inches of water in that I dump all of my minnows into. Then I go through the minnows when I am done catching them and throw back any trout minnows, and put the minnows that I keep immediately on ice. I have caught many fish on both, but I have had the most success fishing with the shiners, probably because they are more colorful. Both should work well for all fish species around here that are minnow eaters. I have caught lake trout with them and have had cat fish hit them. They work well because their skin is tough enough that they stay on a hook (if kept cold before and after freezing) even after being frozen. If you add a little water to the bag (unless you are rich like BLM is and own one of those machines that vacuum seals the plastic bags) you will experience less freezer burn.
[signature]