Thanks Juls for posting the net diagram. Fisherman should always review this before every season.

These are trap nets. They are shaped like an arrow. There is a "box" or "car" at the Lake end of the net, which is where the fish end up, trapped in it because there is a narrow "throat" that leads into it. Once the fish go into the box, few find their way out by going back out the narrow throat. There is a long lead net that runs to the shore side. The single flag marks its beginning. It ends just before the car or box. The wing nets come out at about a 45 degree angle from the box, on the left and right sides. Floats keep the net top at the surface. These wings help direct fish into the box. The fish hit the lead net and follow it out to the box. They either go into the box through the throat, out to the wings and are redirected back to the throat, or some manage to swim out away from the nets and escape. The two flag marks the end of the box. Each end of a net (and the wings) is kept tight with an anchor that is pulled tight and dropped. The boats come out, lift the box part of the net, take out the fish, then drop the box back down and check / reset the anchors so the net is working correctly. Yes, sometimes these box traps are set in pairs, on a line from shore. So be careful to look if there are more than one.

There are a lot of rules as to where and how these nets are set, and times of the year. The Islands area has numerous regulations. Too many to list here. Below are two links to these commercial fishing regulations. It only takes a few minutes to read the season and location rules. No perch fishing until after May 01. What fish do they catch and keep? Just about everything, other than walleye and sturgeon and a few other endangered species. If you go to the Port Clinton Fish Company at the right time (after the boats come in), you can see crates / boxes full of the various species they caught and kept that day for various markets.

https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/up...t%20pub002.pdf

Rule 1501:31-3-04 - Ohio Administrative Code | Ohio Laws

As for the net stakes shown on Lake Erie charts, these are old commercial fishing net stakes that were driven into the lake bottom way back, which were used to attach commercial fishing nets. Many or most are probably gone (rotted away), as most were made of wood. You'll see groups of these on charts, where they commonly did a lot of fishing. I've never heard of anyone hitting one, or seeing one on a depth finder. But, there may be a few still around. Maybe I'll get a chance to scuba dive one of the chart groups and see what's down there, or head out there for an hour or two and see if I can find any with the side scan sonar.