Net stakes

[Squatch]

I here a lot of people talking about dodging nets. I have a map of the western basin and it shows indicators for net stakes. Do I need to avoid these areas? Do I need to avoid them all the time or only certain times of the year? Is there an indicator out on the water that I will see if I come across some?

[Capt Juls]

The net stake notations on marine charts typically do not cause problems. These are what you want to keep an eye out for.

Easy to see on calm days, but not so easy when it's rough out.

Know which flag is on which end, so you know which way to go around them. Single flag on the land side (south end), and double flag on the open water side (north end).

[Billy Boy]

When traveling at high speeds you can come up on the nets quite quickly before you see them. If you’re trolling or drifting scan the lake ahead of putting your gear out. Binoculars are helpful. Most likely you will only come across 1, or 2 net sets. Once you find a net in the area you are fishing you can mark it on your electronics. They will probably not move them for a day, or two. Keep an eye out for the work boats pulling, or placing nets. Occasionally I have seen them run 2 nets end to end, so be careful with that. If you see a single, and double flag continue looking to make sure there are not 4 flags. Just stay clear a good distance. BTW they are fishing for perch. I have seen boats trolling near the nets all day thinking the commercial guys know where the fish are. There is no commercial walleye fishing allowed on the US side however the Canadians do.

[West Basin]

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.

[fishfinder]

Thanks Jul, I have seen them out there from land but I have never seen them while fishing, but now I will know which way to go

[itsbob]

The nets people are talking about avoiding are the commercial fishing nets. The net stakes on charts can be disregarded. You can actually run over a commercial net and most likely not be an issue. The nets are actually too deep to hit with your prop. The only thing you could possibly hit between the flags are small floats that have ropes around them that run down to the nets to keep the nets suspended. The floats can bang into your hull and most likely not cause a problem, but I'm always worried that that rope could be picked up and wrapped around your prop. But if you troll into a commercial net, you most likely will lose all your gear. As the copilot, I am always on the lookout for the flags of commercial nets, logs and other boats. When i see a flag, we will slow down and try to find the other flag and see if it has one or two flags. When we determine where both flags are, we then run around that net. But when you see a net, there usually several more nearby, and we will really be on our toes to look for any more flags. Those flags are not easy to spot either. If you have sun glare or bigger waves,they can be hard to spot. And don't get too close to the flags when you pass. Some of them have multiple floats sitting near those flags too. If running back home through those nets, try and follow your trail so you know that path is clear of nets. When we are fishing near the US/Canada line we often run right on that line because there are no nets there. They may set one end close to the line,but hardly ever across it.

[Squatch]

Thanks for all the info, I'm just getting into walleye fishing so can't afford to loose a lot of gear. I really appreciate all the help you guys give people on this forum. It really helps us novice fisherman to be successful when we come out to fish. Your information and tips really helps me to be confident enough to plan trips to Erie and give it a go. Thanks again for all your help...it is greatly appreciated.

[LtDan]

On one reef I saw 2 black fags 2 Saint reef

[West Basin]

Lake Erie commercial fishing regs:

"Each trap and fyke net set singly, or the first and last net in a string of nets, in Lake Erie must display one red
flag on the inshore end and two flags on the offshore end. The top flag on the offshore end must be red. The second flag may be any color except orange. The flag on the inshore end must be at least three feet above the water line and the flag on the offshore end must be at least six feet above the water. All flags must measure no less than 18 inches on a side."

We didn't mention that in earlier posts here.

You may go to the link below to see diagrams of the three types of commercial fishing nets in Ohio waters of Lake Erie:

Boating Around Commercial Fishing Nets

[Capt Juls]

On one reef I saw 2 black fags 2 Saint reef

Those are marking "Egg Mats", that the ODNR uses to check the success of the spawn. They are placed on Toussaint every year.