BajaNomad - throwing a bait casting net

throwing a bait casting net

vandenberg - 9-6-2005 at 12:55 PM

Can anybody enlighten me on the technique that's required to throw a bait casting net properly ?? Mine NEVER seems to fully open

videos

Skipjack Joe - 9-6-2005 at 02:36 PM

Vandenburg,

I really think you have to see it and have each visual step explained to you to get it right. The following URL shows 2 methods of throwing the net. I've used both but I get much better results from the second technique (the one where the net is draped over your shoulder).

http://www.ausfish.com.au/castnet/

There is another site that actually sells an instruction video for $20 that runs 20 minutes. I learned from them. Before a trip I pop that thing into the video player and then go the the marina (5 blocks from my house) and make the throws. I even catch perch by accident.

Knowing to throw a net is not only good for fishing. I sometimes go with Alex and just throw them in the coves to see what comes up (mostly rays and juvenile mullet and such).

good luck,
Skipjack

bajajudy - 9-6-2005 at 02:48 PM

Skipjack
That is an excellent step by step lesson.
I have sent it to several friends who have asked me if I know how to throw one
Thanks a bunch

"Attaraya"

Skeet/Loreto - 9-6-2005 at 05:27 PM

If you will go down to the Malocon/Pier in Loreto ask for Alvaro Murillo, He are some of his brothers will teach you how to throw it. If there is Bait coming into Shore sometimes North of the La Pinta will be a mexicano throwing, Watch and learn. Good Luck.

Skeet/Loreto

Lost those fish

Al G - 9-6-2005 at 06:01 PM

The video looked like the fish would swim out the bottom :no:

Oso - 9-6-2005 at 06:25 PM

Both of those methods are slightly different than the way I learned, but then my throws tend to be a lot more oblong than round in shape when they hit the water. The smaller the taraya, the easier it is to learn to throw. Leave anything more than 6' diameter to the experts until you get the hang of it.

BTW, it is totally, absolutely illegal for gringos to use nets at all. So don't leave it in plain sight and don't throw it on a crowded beach where some "oficial", self-appointed or otherwise, may see it as an opportunity to net you.

[Edited on 9-7-2005 by Oso]

Oso - 9-6-2005 at 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Al G
The video looked like the fish would swim out the bottom :no:

That's because it was on a flat lawn. In at least a few feet of water, the lead makes it close in, then when you pull it up (slowly) it closes at the bottom.

vandenberg - 9-7-2005 at 11:59 AM

ILLEGAL,

Oso, I was totally unaware that the use of a thrownet by gringos is illegal in Mexico. Thanks for that info.

Missing Net

Garry - 9-7-2005 at 03:29 PM

Hola All, Last time i cast my net here in Sacto, it ended up in Nopolo???? :?:

Skipjack Joe - 9-7-2005 at 04:34 PM

Oso,

I think your dancing bear avatar has the right moves for throwing one of those nets.

Skipjack

bajajudy - 9-7-2005 at 04:51 PM

Thanks for that info, Oso
Now I will have to email my friends to tell them to practice at night.
Hasta

Oso - 9-7-2005 at 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano
Oso..what is the statue of limitations on that no-gringo taraya law?

Bronze or Marble?

"Except when skin or scuba diving, fish must be taken by angling with a hand-held line or a line attached to a rod. The use of nets (except handling nets), traps, poisons, or explosives is strictly prohibited. Skin and scuba divers may only fish with hand-held spears or band-powered spearguns. It is illegal to sell, trade, or exchange the fish caught. Fish can be eviscerated and filleted, but a patch of skin must be left to permit identification.

The taking of abalone, lobster, shrimp, pismo clams, cabrilla, totuava, oysters, and sea turtles is prohibited by Mexican law. Anyone wishing to purchase any of these species to take into the United States must first obtain a form from the Mexican Government Fish Commission; only the Oficinas de Pesca located within Mexico provides this form. All purchases of these species must be made at designated public markets or fishing cooperatives."

Like many laws of many nations, some of this is just plain absurd. I'm not saying I've ever broken any part of this law :saint:

, anyone who's ever approached me on the beach to sell me clams, shrimp, or lobster has, of course, been a bonafide card-carrying member of a fishing cooperative. They told me so.

I don't buy or keep, if caught by accident, totuava or turtle, which has peeed off several pangueros. By my own personal code, I refrain from fishing with explosives or poisons. But cabrilla? Which freaking cabrilla? Mexicans call at least a dozen different species "cabrilla". As for castnets and taking clams while snorkeling. .. Some remote areas just don't have any cooperativos or places to buy bait... or game wardens...

Another personal code- if I can't eat it or freeze it within 24 hours, I don't keep it. Anything in an ice chest for 3 days is cat food.

Oso - 9-7-2005 at 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Oso,

I think your dancing bear avatar has the right moves for throwing one of those nets.

Skipjack

It helps to get a mental image of Flamenco dancers swirling their skirts.

BTW, some time ago I saw a plastic dish sort of thingee with a handle that was supposed to help the inept cast a net. Can't remember the name.

Diver - 9-7-2005 at 06:31 PM

Pompano,

But can you throw a lasso ? :lol:

8 years in Laramie, Wyoming; I've seen lot's of people try
and laughed a lot while watching! :lol:

Amazing how people can miss a defenseless fence post
over and over again ! :lol:

Same for defenseless fish, eh ?? :lol:

defenseless fish???

Al G - 9-7-2005 at 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Diver
Pompano,

But can you throw a lasso ? :lol:

8 years in Laramie, Wyoming; I've seen lot's of people try
and laughed a lot while watching! :lol:

Amazing how people can miss a defenseless fence post
over and over again ! :lol:

Same for defenseless fish, eh ?? :lol:

Somehow I am sure those BIG boys will know I am the one that defenseless. :lol:

I read that post about getting pulled backwards :no:

Albert

Help for the net casting challenged

Oso - 9-8-2005 at 08:41 AM

http://www.catchnbait.com/fiteccastnets.html

Live well

Al G - 9-8-2005 at 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Oso
http://www.catchnbait.com/fiteccastnets.html

Thanks for the info/link Oso.
I have a cast net, but great link for alot of things.
Al G

Pescador - 9-8-2005 at 10:10 AM

For years I had watched the guys at Bahia De Los Muertos go out and catch bait in the mornings with a thrownet. Some days they might sell you a little bait if they had extra and somedays when bait was hard to get, you were definately on your own. I decided that I should get my own thrownet to assure myself of having a constant bait supply. So the next year I come armed with a12ft. net that I had purchased at Cabela's. I watched the video and threw the net at least a half a dozen times at home in Colorado so I figured I was totally set. By the time I got to Muertos, I had forgotten completely about what to do or how to hold the stupid thing, but fortunately a friend of mine who was a local fisherman showed me how to do it. I threw the net for at least 2 - 3 hours that afternoon and actually got pretty good at throwing from shore for the small sardinas that inhabit the beach there. The next morning at daybreak, I am out in the boat and ready to go and since I did not want to get in the way of the commercial or should I say, professional fisherman, I kept off to the side of where they were throwing. As I mentioned before, I had practiced 2-3 hours the day before, but that was on land, now I was trying to steer the boat, a 14 ft. tin boat, get into position, and throw the net. Well you guessed it, when I finally got where I wanted to and went to throw the net, I followed the net right out of the boat and landed on top of the net in the water. Now the pangueros are laughing their butts off and they think that this gringo is there solely for their entertainment. In fact some of them are laughing so hard they are rolling in the bottom of their pangas. One of the guys comes over and asks if I am OK, and I respond that I am embarrased, since they make everything look so easy, and I just decided I could get more bait if I got a little closer to the fish.
Well, needless to say, I practiced for another 2-3 hours, IN THE BOAT, and got to where I could get a pretty good net into the water, and it opened up pretty well. By the time that daybreak arrived the next day, I noticed that there were about twice as many pangas as normal and they all are circling around me and watching intently. So I am feeling pretty c-cky and get into position to throw, but my focus is not in the right place and I fail to see a larger than normal wave coming in to the beach, so as I get about ready to throw, the wave hits the boat and I get knocked out. Now my audience are totally beside themselves and I figure that sooner or later they will quit laughing and get on with their job of catching fish. My friend comes over in his panga to see if I am OK and when he asks me if there is anything wrong, I reply that it is very easy to go fishing and throw a net in the morning but the person with real cajones goes skin diving to catch his bait. From that time on I was known as El Buceo (skindiver) and the pangueros would come by and always ask, with a great big smile, how El Buceo was doing that day. :lol:

Pescador

Al G - 9-8-2005 at 10:34 AM

I have tears in my eyes :lol:

I thought I would be all alone in this process/world
Albert

[Edited on 9-8-2005 by Al G]

bajabum - 9-8-2005 at 12:30 PM

Much easier to meter around, find a nice meatball and jig a sabiki rig. 2-5 baits per drop and you have all ya need in no time. Chummin with a can of cat food helps keep em under ya once you find em. Just make sure you pinch off the barbs and use a spoon to unhook em and drop them into the bait tank, this way they stay alive longer and remain very lively.

I fish florida every year and everyone there makes bait with a cast net. Every time I try I end up with lumps on my head and bruised elbows and hands from the weghts! After a day or 2 of abuse I usually pull out the old sabiki rig! The only good thing about cast nets is...one good throw and you have all the bait you need for the day and then some!

Oso - 9-8-2005 at 06:22 PM

Pescador, great story, great line- "I meant to do that" :lol:

Just to be my usual peedant self, they were actually calling you "El Buzo" (Boo soh). Buceo (boo say oh) is the sport of diving, bucear, the verb -to dive-, buzo- diver.

Spoon to unhook them??

Al G - 9-8-2005 at 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajabum
Much easier to meter around, find a nice meatball and jig a sabiki rig. 2-5 baits per drop and you have all ya need in no time. Chummin with a can of cat food helps keep em under ya once you find em. Just make sure you pinch off the barbs and use a spoon to unhook em and drop them into the bait tank, this way they stay alive longer and remain very lively.

I fish florida every year and everyone there makes bait with a cast net. Every time I try I end up with lumps on my head and bruised elbows and hands from the weghts! After a day or 2 of abuse I usually pull out the old sabiki rig! The only good thing about cast nets is...one good throw and you have all the bait you need for the day and then some!

Well I'm a little embarrassed, but I have enough sabiki rigs for the next 110 years. I was buying lots of different sizes and inadvertently duplicated one of the orders. I have a large gallon ziplock full. At the time I didn't think I could use my cast net and wanted to be prepared. :lol:

At the Mulege tourney I will be handing them out if anyone wants them. After a few attempts with my cast net, I may decide I need them. :lol:

Albert
Thanks for the info on how to use them.

Pescador - 9-9-2005 at 01:17 PM

Some guys use a spoon to unhook the bait from the sabikis, personally I made a dehooker from a piece of fairly stout, maybe 1/8 inch diameter stainless steel wire which I insert into a dowel with epoxy. The other end is bent in a u-shape and when I get a load of baitfish, I lift up the rod and hold the rig over the bait tank. Then I run up the line to the hook, give a little shake, and the bait falls off into the tank (most of the time) and I never touch the bait. This keeps the bait alive and friskier than if you touch the bait with your hands and remove part of the slime. A spoon or a knife edge does primarily the same thing, I just think the dehooker works better. If you are not real handy, then you can get the thing premade at Cabelas Look up NS-11-9259 at www.cabelas.com

Pescador

Al G - 9-9-2005 at 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pescador
Some guys use a spoon to unhook the bait from the sabikis, personally I made a dehooker from a piece of fairly stout, maybe 1/8 inch diameter stainless steel wire which I insert into a dowel with epoxy. The other end is bent in a u-shape and when I get a load of baitfish, I lift up the rod and hold the rig over the bait tank. Then I run up the line to the hook, give a little shake, and the bait falls off into the tank (most of the time) and I never touch the bait. This keeps the bait alive and friskier than if you touch the bait with your hands and remove part of the slime. A spoon or a knife edge does primarily the same thing, I just think the dehooker works better. If you are not real handy, then you can get the thing premade at Cabelas Look up NS-11-9259 at www.cabelas.com

I think i'm handy, but for 11 bucks mine is on order.
Thanks
Albert

synch - 9-16-2005 at 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

Great resource, but I think there should be a bit more emphasis on the slight rotation to spread the net.