Strike netters

Mike Noles aka conman

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Exactly. Most of these jack legs aren't even real comm fisherman but they argue like hell pretending they are. I bet skimmer bought his license on Craigslist for $1000 so he and his friends can "do it for fun".

A resident RCGL can be purchased from any WRC license agent for $70. That's what most recreational and bait netters buy.
 

skimmer

Six Pointer
Exactly. Most of these jack legs aren't even real comm fisherman but they argue like hell pretending they are. I bet skimmer bought his license on Craigslist for $1000 so he and his friends can "do it for fun".
If you find one for $1k let me know. That's a deal! Btw, what does it take to be considered a "real" commercial fisherman these days??
 

Scrub

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
So people are only allowed to do certain things to make extra money?

Public resource should be a threshold of income to hold a license in my opinion. Some proposals being looked at that address this, whether it gets passed and implemented is a different story.
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Redbow, I’ll give you credit even if we don’t see eye to eye, you’ve been on the fish, but what’s the rest of the net hater crowd going to do when all their excuses for being a chitty fishermen are outlawed?
 

Scrub

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Redbow, I’ll give you credit even if we don’t see eye to eye, you’ve been on the fish, but what’s the rest of the net hater crowd going to do when all their excuses for being a chitty fishermen are outlawed?

Net haters? Not one but these part timers make it harder for the guys trying to do it as their main income. Same with the trawlers in the sound it’s as hard on the net guys than anyone. But in true fashion anyone against any kind of change to the commercial sector gets labeled. Setting a net entirely across a small body of water is fishing I guess...
 
Last edited:

FITZH2O

Old Mossy Horns
But it's legal so it must be okay lol. What if it had messed up your prop?
What if grasshoppers has machine guns?

Legal is legal, just like it is legal for you to get butthurt and make a video about someone doing what they legally enjoy doing.
 

6mm250

Eight Pointer
I've lived in eastern NC most of my life. I never heard a gill net called a strike net.

Mike
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
Net haters? Not one but these part timers make it harder for the guys trying to do it as their main income. Same with the trawlers in the sound it’s as hard on the net guys than anyone. But in true fashion anyone against any kind of change to the commercial sector gets labeled. Setting a net entirely across a small body of water is fishing I guess...
So, I know a few guys that have commercial licenses and do it for supplemental income.

How are they damaging full time commercial fishermen?

What if grasshoppers has machine guns?

Legal is legal, just like it is legal for you to get butthurt and make a video about someone doing what they legally enjoy doing.
Legal is legal, but it isn't always smart or polite.

I have no educated opinion on the biology or economics of commercial (or Commercial/Recreational) netting, but I have had enough experience boating around them to say that if they aren't well marked, the net-setter is impolite and inviting harm to his net. It isn't unlike leaving your car unlocked on a city street; inviting more harm than it's worth.
 

Mike Noles aka conman

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
I've lived in eastern NC most of my life. I never heard a gill net called a strike net.

Mike

That's because it's not. Uniformed people try to use a waterman's phrase for all types of net fishing when in reality, a strike netter is much like a person fishing for cobia in salt water. They run their boats slowly in brackish water with one person, usually the captain, on an elevated platform looking for target fish (usually mullet), with the mate down below ready to release the nets to capture the target fish. But "strike netter" is much more dramatic sounding than gill netter, so it's used by folks that don't know any better.
 

FITZH2O

Old Mossy Horns
So, I know a few guys that have commercial licenses and do it for supplemental income.

How are they damaging full time commercial fishermen?


Legal is legal, but it isn't always smart or polite.

I have no educated opinion on the biology or economics of commercial (or Commercial/Recreational) netting, but I have had enough experience boating around them to say that if they aren't well marked, the net-setter is impolite and inviting harm to his net. It isn't unlike leaving your car unlocked on a city street; inviting more harm than it's worth.
I hear ya, but in the daylight it’s an exaggerated problem. You can see it pretty clearly. Might be a problem if you’re shittin and gettin at 60mph, but in a little creek you’re a bigger :donk:donk:donk:donk:donk:donk:donk for going that fast. Not sure why you wouldn’t put buoys all along it, maybe someone that’s knows will chime in.
 

HotSoup

Old Mossy Horns
i think i would like the strike netting as defined by conman. Now gill netting is to be avoided at all costs. LOL
I sure know some rec boys that should love strike netting.
I swear to God i think they enjoy catching bait more than fishing. :)

Im better at catching bait than target fish.
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
We had them set a net right next to our decoy spread last week. The most important thing to remember is that they own the water and the fish. You are just an interloper and it would be best if you just stayed off the water. If you get a hankering for some fish or seafood then please buy them at your local market or restaurant. So please stop your whining about something you know absolutely nothing about. :ROFLMAO:
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
How many of those ducks that you own in the water that you also own did they catch? Asking for a friend...

I just thought it was a bit rude that they came into a small bay where we were setup and just started dropping a net right beside us like we weren't even there. Like they "owned" the place. Yea, it may be legal and all but it sure wasn't very polite.
 

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I just thought it was a bit rude that they came into a small bay where we were setup and just started dropping a net right beside us like we weren't even there. Like they "owned" the place. Yea, it may be legal and all but it sure wasn't very polite.
Oh I agree wholeheartedly but did you have this conversation with them? I would have.
 

Nana

Big Ole Nanny
Contributor
So were you a commercial fisherman? Were you making your living by setting nets? Please answer honestly.

Answer honestly???? Really????? So you are implying I would lie? LOL!

My husband and I set GILL nets(like those you filmed), not strike nets, commercially as one of the many legal ways we made a living. We also worked full time jobs, ran a taxidermy business and did shade tree boat mechanic work. For us it was another legal way to be self sufficient. We also raised a hog each year and put up about 500 pounds of venison as a family. We loaded our own bullets and I made deer hide moccasins. So you can hold back on the self righteous "plunder the resource" narrative. The fish were sometimes sold to seafood markets, sometimes sold as bait and sometimes used to fill the family freezer of five or six families. The nets were set legally and ethically with regard to other folks using the waterways. We had nets destroyed every single year and then the seasons became so restricted that it was no longer financially feasible for us to continue. We were also then and continue to be avid recreational fishermen with both inshore and offshore boats. It wasn't about catching a lot of fish. We fished hard recreationally for fun. And we didn't need the nets to get on the fish. Still don't.

Few folks can actually make a living setting nets........if they do it is hard work. For the life of me I don't understand why it matters if someone supports their family by making money with the license by selling the fish or saves money by filling their freezer with what they catch with the license. A fish is a fish.........If I didn't net the fish and put it in my freezer I would net it and sell it to the market. Same fish.

You don't like it, I get that. To each his own.
 

redbow

Ten Pointer
I called it strike netting because that's what a local that has spent his entire life on the water told me it was. He said when it was outlawed in FL., they came up here and started doing it. I am not against netting. I just don't think it is right to set a 800 yard net in a creek that is 40 yards wide.
 

redbow

Ten Pointer
We had them set a net right next to our decoy spread last week. The most important thing to remember is that they own the water and the fish. You are just an interloper and it would be best if you just stayed off the water. If you get a hankering for some fish or seafood then please buy them at your local market or restaurant. So please stop your whining about something you know absolutely nothing about. :ROFLMAO:
When I first read this I could of sworn it was a conman post. Sure sounds like him.
 

Clark

Ten Pointer
We set gill nets for years, primarily for live bait fishing. Used to be able to catch fish back then for the freezer. Gave that up when the license moratorium went into effect.
I am concerned to run a boat when the long nets are around, I often don't see the floats marking the ends and can not tell where the nets are set. Sometimes I don't see the net at all - I've fouled the props twice and had to cut my way out (been on the receiving end as well). It is scary hanging stern to any kind of sea or even a good current. Came REAL close to turning over a duck boat by striking a net behind Cedar Island. Nets are set just off Atlantic Beach and Shackelford Banks, and I come blithely trolling along (pulling my planers, of course) and may not see until I'm on or past the net, so suddenly I'm trying to get the planers out of the water before they foul on the net. I think better marking is needed, or the set boat needs to be nearby to warn people.
 
Top