Carp Netting in Prescott

Let me start by apologizing for the quality of pics as they were taken on my Crackberry…

I am not sure where I stand on this practice. We have all heard the rumors of huge walleyes being netted along with the carp and other rough fish. This is a live netting operation, and not gill netting. The fish are collected live in nets that I can best describe as a corral type of net. They set it off the beach and it spreads about 100 yards or so. They draw the net back in towards shore and collect the fish. They are stored in another corral net until the truck arrives to bring them out east to the processor….LIVE! The size and volume of carp and buffalo were absolutely unbelievable! And getting them out of the system can only be a good thing in my mind as at least those fish are not eating gamefish eggs during the spawn this Spring. But I am sure this does not even put a dent into their population. My concern is that these walleye are full of spawn and manhandled when sorted through. They are literally tossed over shoulders back into the water! We saw a 3-4# brown trout and some 4-5# largemouth bass and some absolutely HUGE crappies receiving the same treatment. I estimated about 75 or so monster walleyes between 24-29″ in the net pull I witnessed. I would feel a lot better if there was a DNR person present at the time they pull the nets. Or even a creel sensus person so that they could at least count the number of game fish per pull. I guess my gut would feel better if they did this after the spawn. The walleye being pulled into the boat was about 27″ as was the one floating.

I am not posting this to start a war or a long debate, just simply as an observation.

Ive wondered the same thing every year Tuck.I would like to believe the pro’s outweigh the con’s,but like you I have seen some absolute giants floating belly up or being mistreated on release.

I can only guess that the rough handling you observed is bad for the gamefish and the guys would be reprimanded if not fined by the DNR.
Either these guys aren’t sportfisherman and don’t know how to release fish properly or they are just clods who don’t G.A.S. Too bad, I am sure they are killing gamefish.

I have to agree and it is sad to see the walleye that are full of spawn not handled with care.

Tuck, Everyone knows there are no 24-29″ walleyes in the St Croix…

I’m not sure where I stand on this either

Chris-I’ve seen the guys netting a couple times down there, sorry to have missed it this year. I too had a little problem with the way they handle the game fish. After having time to think on it, I don’t really feel it’s a problem. I never once saw the guys jam a hand into a set of gills, nor did I see any floating afterwards. Like it or not I guess I gotta have faith that these guys are pros and know what they’re doing. jerr

I would think maybe sending this link to the DNR might be in order. I know these guys are out to do their job and make a buck but they are abusing our resource if they are mishandling the big mama walleyes. On the other hand I have heard that if you toss a bass at least 5 feet in the air that tends to increase their survival rate

I’ve watched them before and never thought they were mishandling fish. Never saw any floaters either.

A floating spawner is sad, but it gets back to the old arguement, what does it matter if you harvest in the winter or in the spring?

I would think that 10 times the fish die at every fishing tournament from bouncing around in a live well all day and getting released in warm water than do in this operation. And I dont think the amount that die in tourneys is unreasonable.

Now, if 100s were found floating in the next week, then we should start to get concerned.

We should do all we can to protect the resource and enforce laws. But too much nitpicking can become detrimental pretty quickly.

I agree in the overall scheme of things this isn’t a major issue but if these gentlemen are literally throwing the fish over their shoulders back into the water then a small correction on their part might save some fish. Tournaments have many rules and requirements and in most cases the person is penalized if a fish is brought in dead or dying. That doesn’t mean fish don’t die just that they make a good faith effort to protect them. I think that is all we are asking here. If some of the fish die it is one thing, if they die because of intentional actions then it is something else.

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A floating spawner is sad, but it gets back to the old arguement, what does it matter if you harvest in the winter or in the spring?

I would think that 10 times the fish die at every fishing tournament from bouncing around in a live well all day and getting released in warm water than do in this operation. And I dont think the amount that die in tourneys is unreasonable.

Now, if 100s were found floating in the next week, then we should start to get concerned.

We should do all we can to protect the resource and enforce laws. But too much nitpicking can become detrimental pretty quickly.

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Dave, this is exactly why I am conflicted with this. As I said…I am not sure how I “Feel”. I was mostly upset with the handling of the spawners. Speaking for me and the guys I fish with, those spawners caught through the ice (If we were EVER so lucky! ) were released with care. But yes, these guys have permits and little time to accomplish their mission. I am sure there are MANY-MANY walleyes we don’t see that are just fine. In fact, this type of netting at least is discriminary, meaning they can sort. Gill netting on the other hand…

Redneck…you were talking about throwing them on shore, right?

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The size and volume of carp and buffalo were absolutely unbelievable! And getting them out of the system can only be a good thing in my mind as at least those fish are not eating gamefish eggs during the spawn this Spring.

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This kind of statement is off in my mind.

I am not opposed to “My kind of fish” being harvested and used. It is good for the economy. With a statement like this it makes me wonder if you catch a Native Buffalo do you release it? Kill it? Or harvest it? There are so many fish in the Croix that are great to fish for other than the “game fish.”

Any fish no matter the species shod not be killed just to kill it. When the DNR does the surveys many of those fish are killed by accident. Should the DNR not survey our lakes and rivers? Same answer as Tucks Original question. It is for the best overall. Again it is always hard seeing fish die for no reason.
Aaron

I was hoping you would weigh in. I knew your view would be unique to most here, including myself. While I don’t kill every fish that I catch, outside of bass of course, I have little to no angst when it comes to species such as carp being netted from our systems. Yet, the walleye jerk inside me gets riled over the mishandling of big spawning females.

Seems a bit hypcritical doesn’t it??? I am much happier they are at least trying to release the non-carp for a chance to survive unlike the gill netters in this state.

Removing one carp probably saves millions of walleye each year, or at least gives the eggs a chance to survive. My guess is despite a few casualties the removal of those fish are overall healthy for the system. Thanks for the pictures Tuck

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Tuck, Everyone knows there are no 24-29″ walleyes in the St Croix…

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I would generally agree. Most if not all of those walleye are from Pool 3. The Croix walleye mostly spawn north of Stillwater.

-J.

“and some absolutely HUGE crappies”

Should I be down here fishing?

Thanks Kooty.

After I reread it I thought I might get some crap for it. I just would like people to realize the rivers are full of native fish also that make the rivers the great fisheries they are. Many of the beloved gamefish eat the rehorse, buffs ect. I do enjoy fishing for carp but I would rather be catching buffs. That is where I get jumpy about people killing anything that has a sucker mouth. This year I am planning to keep track of the sizes of the largest of each species I catch for the MAster Angler program. Last year I had 6 species that qualified but I did not enter any. The croix is one of the best multi-species fisheries anywhere in the world! I would like that to be thought not just a walleye fishery. I am not anti Walleye although I do sound like it at times. I do think this netting is good for the fishery also.

Aaron

My first thought is the group performing the netting either has a permit or license that they receive from the DNR – seem like there should be stipulations on how non-targeted fish should be handled and returned to fishery and enforced as a violation or revocation of their permit/license. This would be the same way that we all who purchase a license and the opportunity to fish in any state have to play by there rules – # of lines, # of hooks per line, # of fish you can keep, cull/no-cull, etc.

I have a comment about the tournament mortality. While it is a proven (and logical) fact that mortality in tournaments increases as water temperature increases, any astute tournament angler makes every effort to keep their fish alive or weight is deducted for each ‘un-releasable’ fish. In my 10+ years I can count on one hand how many ‘un-releasable’ fish I have had… Way too broad of a statement to be made in this scenario in my opinion.

-ted