8/21/21 NE of Cedar Point and ESE of Kelleys Island.(6 walleye came home) PLUS seen commercial net markers and I have a question.

[MIKE_OMZIG]

This morning headed out of Huron toward Kelleys and stopped about 40FOW to start my troll line.
Ran two dipsey divers one on setting 0.5 and the other at 3.
0.5 setting depth range was 55 to 80 feet of line out throughout the morning. And the 3.0 dipsey was set from 70 to 105.
Dipsey divers ran various spoons. Wonderbread, watermellon, goby pattern, perch pattern.
Also ran one crankbait (various bandits and flicker shads) unassisted at 120 and the put a 2 ounce weight on 50 + 90.
Speed was around 2.5 SOG and I trolled north until I seen a commercial net marker so I switched to east to avoid the net.

Most walleye came on the spoons. Brought home 6 walleye and only 1 was from the crankbaits. BUT it was the largest at about 20/21" long.
other 5 ranged from 16 to 19.

Also came across a few commercial nets. On one occurrence I could not locate the 2nd flag. I reeled my stuff up and waited until I was well past it before setting back up. My question is with the commercial nets, they always run between two flag markers? Stay outside of them and you are safe? Any idea on the length they can set? The next net I came across I located both markers and stayed outside of them.

[itsbob]

Most the flags I have seen from commercial netters the last few years have run in a north- south direction.On US side we usually can see a second flag,but sometimes they are really far apart and difficult to see.Not sure what the the number of flags on the pole mean.Some have one and others have two.

[West Basin]

As with a lot of Lake Erie topics, most boaters don't have nearly enough knowledge of commercial fishing nets. Generally most boaters don't encounter them because they boat in the summer and don't go far, such as up along the Canadian border line. In the Ohio waters of Lake Erie there are different zones, seasons, and locations for commercial nets. Below is a link to the actual regulations that determine the locations nets are allowed to be and times of year they can be there. I also included a diagram of a typical trap net, which is the type allowed in Ohio waters of Lake Erie (no gill nets are allowed). If you do a lot of boating and especially early and late season, you should have copy of the ODNR brochure on your boat that has this diagram and the info on commercial nets.



Ohio Revised Code for commercial fishing nets - areas and times.
Rule 1501:31-3-04 - Ohio Administrative Code | Ohio Laws

Brochure:
Boating Around Commercial Fishing Nets

[badboards]

Thanks for the illustration. I encountered a red flag NE of Cedar point this year didn't know what it was for. I thought maybe it was the dumping ground. Don't remember seeing a second red flag. Does anyone know what that flag I saw was marking in that area.

[MIKE_OMZIG]

Thanks for the reply West Basin. I will be sure to look at the ohio dnr website. I also seen a video discussing fishing nets and the person recommended a wire cutter to be carried on board and even said in some waters, it is required.

[LazyDays]

I’ve seen these flags marking the nets NE of CP. seems like most are between 200-400yard max. I’ve also encountered a couple sometimes red sometimes white pill-shaped buoys connected by about 20-30 feet of rope in this general area. Anyone know what these could be markers for?

[badboards]

I would assume you can't hit a net with your propeller. I'm glad I didn't snag the thing trolling. I don't know about the pill shaped floats.

[MIKE_OMZIG]

If you look at the diagram posted by West Basin, there are "pill" floats off the "wing" nets. It seems to me (from the diagram) these mark the outer side edges of the nets. Basically 4 markers for each trap net. The two flags and the two pill floats.

I’ve seen these flags marking the nets NE of CP. seems like most are between 200-400yard max. I’ve also encountered a couple sometimes red sometimes white pill-shaped buoys connected by about 20-30 feet of rope in this general area. Anyone know what these could be markers for?

[MIKE_OMZIG]

This was my concern; getting my crankbaits and dipsy divers stuck in the net. The posted diagram is very helpful as long as you can find the markers. But it is good to know what to look for.

I would assume you can't hit a net with your propeller. I'm glad I didn't snag the thing trolling. I don't know about the pill shaped floats.