[SeaNic]

Headed into the stiff South wind this morning at 7 Am. Worked my way down to between 78 A and 78. Trolled 9 lines with a mix of tandems, storm type umbrellas and large umbrellas. Worked east-west a few times south and north of 78 and 78A. NOT even one pull down....check lures often and all were clean....
Had two friends from work with me so the conversation was at least good. One of my friend's mother recently past so this was a good break for him...
Had to be back at 12 noon, so started to head into shallower water. At 37'-38' a deep line goes off, then the 2nd deep line goes off, then the third....you get the picture...
another GILL Net...saw it on the fish finder but it was too late....lost 5 umbrella rigs and BROKE one of my Penn Stand-up rods trying to get FREE of the gill net...darn! At one time I tied 4 braided lines to a cleat to see of I could raise the thing - no luck. Snap goes the braid....
The net was UNMARKED at:
38 - 34.819
76 - 27.452
CAN SOMEONE HELP TO NOTIFY DNR ABOUT THIS....I saw a thread from yesterday off Ches Beach about another gill net. This **** has to stop. NO MARKERS OR FLOATS ANYWHERE....I am sure the gill netters will be having a yard sale on umbrella rigs this winter...
Stopped by Tylers to see George to give hime some business to re-stock about 6 pounds of lead I lost :thumbup:....after speaking with him about my loss, the gill netters MUST be controlled.
By the way - NO fish for SeaNic today....but made the best of it.....
Going to re-tie some rigs this week, add new swivels to main lines, add lost braid, and be back at at later this month :yes:...
- Sean

 

[AIK68J]

Soory to hear about your bad day out. Too bad couldn't have some one watch the area to see who comes to pick it up.

From the DNR site:
ANNAPOLIS- The end of February marked the end of the striped bass drift gill net season in the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) officers working up and down the Chesapeake Bay confiscated 71 illegal gill nets during the three-month season. Nearly 1,000 pounds of fish along with waterfowl were removed from those nets.

Sixty-three nets were seized in the Upper Eastern Region from Rock Hall to James Island. These nets were unattended, unmarked and some were anchored. No arrests or charges have been filed on any of the nets; however, all are still under investigation.
Officers tagging striped bass seized
from illegal gill nets

Three nets were seized from the Lower Eastern Region and Michael A. Parks, 48, of Ewell was charged with fishing an anchored net. Five nets were seized from the Central Region from the Patapsco River and near Holland Point. These nets were unattended, unmarked and some were anchored. No arrests or charges have been filed on any of the nets; however, all are still under investigation.

Used for the commercial harvest of fish, a gill net is maintained in a vertical position in the water with sinkers or floats. It ensnares fish by means of a mesh too small to permit passage of the body of the fish or withdrawal of the head once the posterior margin of the gill covers has passed through the mesh. A drift gill net is not secured or anchored to the bottom, including a net rigged with up to 20 pounds of weight at each end. It must be attended by the licensee in a boat within two miles of the net while it is in waters of the Chesapeake Bay, or within one mile when the net is in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, its coastal bays and their tributaries, or a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. An anchor gill net is a net that is stationary in the water and secured to the bottom by conventional anchors or heavy weights.

 

[mosgo]

It's not like they do it on purpose, Those nets cost big bucks and letting them go isn't smart. Yes we do have rouge netters that let them sit and it gives watermen a bad name. It takes no effort for everyone to throw all of them under the same bus. If one guy does it all of them do it... Incorrect. Im not siding but the gill nets that are illegally set those aren't watermen, those are criminals. It makes me sick to see what happens when they get lost. It's devastating. It's the commercials that don't do there job correctly and safe that make this industry so frowned upon.

There are sides of being a waterman that most don't see. Constant vandalism is one of the biggest. As a kid that was all I wanted to be. A waterman, just to live on the bay. After becoming one I found that we have one of the most frowned upon occupations. I was in the paper a few years back when I was on a boat setting a gill net and after we set we anchored up and ate to give it some time. less than 500 ft away. A 25ft boat rolls up pulls a buoy and anchor on one side and began swinging the net into the bay. Of course we called the authority and the boat was dealt with. The reason it made the paper was because the man doing it was a journalist and was looking for a good story. I guess rouge nets was his plan but didn't happen.

I am sorry for your loss of rigs and rod,Its a shame that some are being reckless out there. It's everyones bay,But some think they own it.
Be careful out there

 

[FINN TANN]

This was a wide spread problem this weekend from above Chesapeake Beach to the Potomac! 2 day weekend soak on the anchor and haul em in on Monday morning and off to the market .....usually they never had this many fishermen trolling about this time of year to bring this much attention to what has been going on for generations...

 

[goinsfishin]

The net was UNMARKED at:
38 - 34.819
76 - 27.452
CAN SOMEONE HELP TO NOTIFY DNR ABOUT THIS....I saw a thread from yesterday off Ches Beach about another gill net. - Sean

I got caught up in the one off Chesapeake Beach and immediately tried calling DNR on the radio.....Coast Guard came back and supplied the DNR report number....410-356-7060.
I called and filed a report and the investigating officer called me back within 10 minutes.
We had a very detailed conversation and they were glad to have the GPS coordinates, said they'd have a boat out Monday to take it up.
he also said this year they've had more illegal nets than any recent year.
Call DNR right away 410-356-7060......they need all the help they can get !!!!

 

[JFP123]

It's not like they do it on purpose, Those nets cost big bucks and letting them go isn't smart. Yes we do have rouge netters that let them sit and it gives watermen a bad name

So...they don't do it on purpose or they do do it on purpose? I'm confused.

 

[goinsfishin]

So...they don't do it on purpose or they do do it on purpose? I'm confused.

The nets that are anchored, submerged and untended are done on purpose.
Drop it, let it sit and fill up for a couple days, come back for the big haul, and off to market for the payday.
These criminals have GPS units just like we do....they know exactly where they set that illegal net.
The legal nets will be marked and tended....I have no issues with these guys, they're harvesting a commercial catch in a legal manner.
It's the scumbags with the illegal nets that need to be caught and prosecuted, and if their net gets confiscated all the better.

 

[Chop Chop]

Banning nets is not going to stop the criminals. Taking their boats, trucks, nets, heavy fines ($150K), and putting them in jail for 5 years will make them think twice. Today they can go out there a break the laws without much worries. Just ask Boss Hog of Tilghman

 

[27 sailfish]

That guy might write the net off- now that he knows the DNR/CG has the GPS #'s for it.They might be watching it - to catch him in the act of pulling it.

We have some rain coming soon - some call it "poachers weather".The poachers know rain makes radar less effective and if they gio out at night without lights- tough to be spotted.One reason DNR will pull over boaters without running lights - besides a safety issue.

Great more then one fisherman reported it :thumbup: - gives DNR better info that it is still there.

 

[rocksandblues]

if i lost all those lures to a net I would consider lowering my anchor and drifting back across it and pulling it up with the windless