Big Bend Florida Sportsman Guide

Fishing Tips

How to Keep your Boat Clean While Cast Netting Bait
Thanks to Jack Hexter

While in the keys recently, and wanting to net some bait, my friend, in the process of getting his cast net out, handed me a large plastic “tub” and instructed me to put a couple inches of water in the bottom. This “tub” was actually a concrete mixing basin available at Loews or Home Depot. 

After throwing the net, my friend cleared it into the trough, keeping all the bait in the water I had added, and keeping all the grass and weeds and other junk, in the basin. This keeps your bait healthier and makes clean-up a snap. Just pick it up and dump the unwanted trash back overboard 

While storing this 2.5’x3’ tub might be a problem on a flats boat, on a 23’ or larger offshore boat, it should fit somewhere below deck and out of the way. On a flats boat, especially if fly fishing, it could be placed on the casting platform and used as a line tamer.

Safer Net Bucket

I’m not the only guy who has lost a brand new Calusa Cast Net. The Calusa net is a great net but the bucket with "Calusa" emblazoned on it is a magnet for thieves.  At $200 or more each, the loss really stings. 

Get a clean 5 gal bucket with lid and drill drain holes in the bottom where they won't be seen. On the side of the bucket, write Chum bucket, crap bucket do-do bucket or whatever strikes your fancy. 

I don't imagine a "CRAP" bucket would be as readily stolen as a Calusa net bucket.

Cast Nets and Button’s don’t Mix.

This never happened to me but I saw it happen to a deckie once.  Gene Miller was one helluva deckhand even if he only weighed 110#.  Agile, smart, quick and strong enough to do most deckhand tasks, Gene was a little guy that who got things done.  (Died of a heart attack at age 39) 

Gene wore nothing but shorts and a Tee-shirt aboard so he never had a problem with cast nets and buttons until one evening, when he was dressed for a hot date, a tourist on the dock was trying to throw a big net with no success.  “Watch this,” Gene said as he flaked out the net and threw one end over his shoulder.   

The shirt Gene was wearing that evening had tabs and buttons on the shoulder.  Of course, the net hung on the button and one little guy in nice clothes went flying off the dock.  If I remember correctly, Gene was working for Tommy Browning on “The Finest Kind” at the time.

Cast Net Conditioning

If you buy a new cast net, the net often will not cast well at first.  Sometimes it takes a bunch of casting to get the lines and mesh straightened to where you easily make perfect circles. 

You can speed up the process by soaking the net in 5 gallons of warm water with ¼ cup of fabric softener for an hour or so followed by a rinse with fresh water.  Hang the net over night with the leads just touching the ground.   

Repeating this process occasionally will insure a long and trouble free life for the net.

Cast Net Storage—Long Term.

Clean the net carefully.  Make sure there are no pieces of fish or anything that might attract insects or especially mice.  Wash carefully, clean out the bucket, dry, and store in a cool dry place.  I’ve seen lots of good nets ruined by hanging in the sun for weeks on end.

Removing a Million Gilled Minnows from your Cast Net

When you throw your net over a school of baitfish that are just exactly sized to gill, you some times fill every mesh with a minnow. This makes a messy and time consuming job, something you don't want to mess with when you are going fishing.

The simplest way to remove these gilled minnows is to fill your net bucket with water and allow it to soak over night with the lid tightly sealed. The next day, get away from your house and shake the heck out of your net.  The minnows will be soft and most will come right out but you must remove them all.

Take the net to the nearest car wash. Lay the net on the grate over the sump and pressure wash the net using soap. This will knock most of the minnows out.

Next, hang the net and blow any remaining minnows out with the pressure washer. Rinse then dry the net and store for your next trip.

I never use bleach on my cast net.

Bait Gill Net 

I got my bait gill net at Sigma Marine in Tarpon

Springs, FL. Sigma has a large web site and several national outlets. You might be better off to call Sigma Marine in Tarpon and ask for Bill Schuster. If he isn’t in, I am sure anybody who works there can tell you what you need to know.

I haven’t used the gill net in daylight so I don’t know if it would work. It is, however, deadly at night. Place the net over one side of the boat and hang a light on the other side. When you get a bunch of bait up in the light, turn the light off on that side of the boat and turn on a light by your net. Be ready to haul the net or you will get so much bait you cannot lift the net. It is that quick sometimes.

The net, as I bought it was 10X10’. I cut it to 5’ long and 10’ deep to comply with Florida Regulations.  To assure that it hangs straight, I ty-wrapped an old 5’ spear shaft to the bottom and a piece of 1” PVC pipe to the top. I can roll it up and store it in a length of 4"(I think) pipe.

Caution, if you leave this thing out it can be torn up by a shark in a heart beat. Pay attention or you will loose it.  

Sometimes Squid will hang on it and you can pull the net up

a little and catch them in your live well net. If you have never used a live Squid, you are in for a wonderful surprise.

Cast Net Safety

Many years ago, I was yanked off a dock by some unseen monster.  I cast my net off the end of a dock in Mobile Bay and was suddenly fighting for my life.  The wrist loop on the cast net cinched tightly around my wrist and only by very good fortune was I able to get enough slack to slip the line off before I drowned.  Dolphin, Manta, Tarpon, Gator?   Who knows?   

Cast netting from a drifting boat is hazardous, especially if the current is strong; more so if you are alone.  If the net snags, you are pulled overboard, and the wrist loop cinches around your wrist, drowning is likely. 

Here is a safety device I designed years ago.  Actually, this is a second shot at the safety device.  The net I bought after loosing the net to the monster that pulled me off the dock was rigged with a loop of inner tube.  This wrist loop is a short length of “Bungee” secured to the end of the cast net line.