Collecting Your Own Fish
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Part 3 - Making & Using Collection Nets
From our Part 1 - Introduction to Fish Collecting article, you learned about the rules for not hurting the reef, doing your research on your local fishing laws, and picked up other basic tips for getting started with collecting your own fish. In Part 2 - Catch Buckets, you learned what to put your collected specimens in, how to properly care for them in the buckets, and how to build your own catch bucket. Now you need a net to catch your fish with.
In this article our intent is to show you how to make your own fish collection nets, not to explain how to use them to catch fish. This topic is covered in detail in Part 6 - How to Capture Fish. Now, we used two nets in our collecting. One was a 150' x 6' set net, and the other a 75' x 6' drop net. The set net was used for working in a stationary spot to collect fish that have one main house and don't stray far from it, and usually congregate in groups, such as Yellow and Kole Tangs. While collecting the main target fish, you also pick up other that are around the net area at the same time. The drop net is used for swimming and moving around with, to seek out targets of opportunity. These are fish that have various houses and roam openly on the reef from house to house, and often at long distances. We call this our search and find collecting method, which we discuss in detail in Part 6 - Capturing Fish.
Since a vast majority of you will not be commercial collectors, you will be using shorter nets and that is what we will be helping you construct. A 20-30 foot net will probably be all you need. You will be seeking individual specimens for your tank and not collecting a great number of fish at one time. Collecting your own fish is sort like the "ultimate pet shop". You can go look for a fish you want and hopefully be successful at catching it. You will also have total control over the quality of the fish.
Remember to check your local fishing laws first. Are the fish you want protected? Do you need a fish collecting license or a permit to have certain types of nets? We suggest you do not use throw nets as they trap the fish and they get tangled up in them causing gill, scale and skin damage. Make sure the mesh on the net material you are going to use is small enough that it does not gill the fish, and is of legal size to use. You want to stop the fish without them getting caught in the net.
You will want to use a 9-12 pound test 3/4" stretch monofilament net material. This is what we used. If you want to collect the smaller specimens, you will want to use 1/2" stretch. Stretch is the size of the hole in the net when it is symmetrically stretched out from corner to corner. We purchased all our net over the years through the The Nylon Net Company, who you can contact to request their catalog by phone or email and order the materials you need. You can always have them or another net company pre-build a net to your specifications. For the size nets we need it is cost prohibitive to order a pre-built net. For the smaller net you need, the pre-built option may be the easy way to go.
The height of the net will determine what you will be catching. The larger specimens have a tendency to swim higher off the bottom. We use a 6 foot high net as an all purpose net. This allows us to capture just about anything that we want. In fact, I can not recall a fish ever swimming over our net, unless the current is running strong and it lays the net down and the fish go over the top. To capture small to medium sized specimens, go with a minimum 3 foot high net. Fishes like Angels, Puffers, Damsels, Butterflies, and Surgeons/Tangs will usually go into the net near the bottom or middle of it. Wrasses and Eels tend to hug the bottom. Because of their skinny, sleek bodies, and if of a smaller size, they have at tendency to go through even tiny holes in a net. Parrotfishes and the larger Surgeons/Tangs tend to travel a bit higher, and if quite large, can crash a net easily. If you want to collect larger show sized specimens, a 6 foot high net is more practical. Specific details about the characteristics of different fish are discussed in detail in Part 6 - Capturing Fish.
If you decide you want to build your own net, here is what you will need:
- Net Material - As discussed above.
- Leads - 3" long cylindrical shape with hole down the center.
- A Tube Cutter - For cutting leads in half.
- Vice Grips - For holding leads when cutting.
- Floats - The floats are usually a drab orange-rust color about 3" long with a hole down the center
- 1/4" Polypropylene Rope - The color doesn't matter. This rope is used for making your float and lead lines.
- Nylon Net Twine - Used for sewing the float line and lead line to your net material.
- Small Eye Net Needle
- Rit Dye - One package yellow and one package gray colors. Used for dying the net material.
- A Spool of 15 pound test Monofilament Fishing Line - Used for mending net in the future.
- Put HOT boiling water in a 5 gallon bucket.
- Add the two packets of dye.
- Stir until the dye is completely dissolved.
- Immerse the net in the water for 30 seconds then take it out.
- With one person at each end of the net, walk in opposite directions stretching it out as far as you can. Hold it stretched out for about 30 seconds. This will put the "set" in the net and make it easier to handle later on during construction.
View our Fish Collecting Net Diagram
and follow the instructions below to make it.
- Load the net needle with the nylon twine. To do this, tie the end of the twine to the "tang" in the center of the needle. Then run the twine down the needle, then up the back side and around the tang, again. Repeat the looping until you have about 20 feet of twine on the needle and cut off the the twine.
- Slide your weights onto the lead line rope. You will want to place one lead every six inches center to center on the bottom of your net. For the float line you want one float every 24 inches center to center for the top of the net. This will keep the net on the bottom for the set net method and allow a good sink rate if you opt for the drop net method for capture. Tie a knot in one end of your rope and string your leads and floats from the "bitter end" of the rope. For a 20' net string 41 leads onto the lead line and 11 floats onto the float line.
- Start sewing the lead line by tying a triple half hitch knot four inches from the end of the rope. Then hold the end of the net to the rope, run the net needle through the first net eye and tie a double half hitch. Slide a weight into position down the rope to the knot. Thread the net needle through three of the net "eyes", then tie a double half hitch, through the net eye, around the rope and net after stretching the net, to where the net eyes are symmetrical (3/4" x 3/4"). Repeat this process spacing the weights and pulling the net over them until the net is complete. When you get to the end of the net, tie another double double half hitch to finish the end of the net.
- Follow the same procedure and attach the float line to the top of the net spacing the floats accordingly as mentioned above.
You're getting closer!! Having learned how to make your catch buckets and collection nets, the only thing left to make now is one of the least time consuming, hand nets. Then, after you read about how to capture, decompress and transport fish, you'll be ready to start collecting.
Debbie & Stan Hauter
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