# Nets coming between Port Sanilac and Harbor Beach



## RedM2 (Dec 19, 2007)

For those who aren't aware....
http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MIDNR/bulletins/106c9d8


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## seabass810 (Apr 2, 2010)

On may 2 out of port sanilac I thought there was a boat setting nets. Buoys and flags looked just like those pictured.


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## Honkkilla59 (Dec 12, 2013)

I hope for the fisherman in Lake Huron they don't start netting your ports. We had to deal with the Nets in Manistee for years and what a pain in the a**.


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## chuckinduck (May 28, 2003)

Honkkilla59 said:


> I hope for the fisherman in Lake Huron they don't start netting your ports. We had to deal with the Nets in Manistee for years and what a pain in the a**.



It got to be a joke over there. Just not funny ha ha. Lost some gear and a rigger ball to a floating net there about 7 years ago.


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## BucksandDucks (May 25, 2010)

There were buoys with flags out in front of sanilac last year. I assumed they were nets


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## GuppyII (Sep 14, 2008)

Yeah, it sucks but there is nothing we can do about it, deal with them and use them as structure. ... one guy on FB was going on about cutting the floats on the nets..smh.. that's the type of sheet that'll make a mess for everyone out there. The net will stay there for a couple years till the DNR removes it, we will pay for a new one and it'll keep killing fish... just stupid.


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## danielwebster (Aug 22, 2009)

GuppyII said:


> Yeah, it sucks but there is nothing we can do about it, deal with them and use them as structure. ... one guy on FB was going on about cutting the floats on the nets..smh.. that's the type of sheet that'll make a mess for everyone out there. The net will stay there for a couple years till the DNR removes it, we will pay for a new one and it'll keep killing fish... just stupid.


Good advice, it is sort of funny how people get so worked up about nets. Fishing the nets can be effective if one studies up on their shape, and uses correct techniques.

A problem is when junk gets left behind and is no longer marked.


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## idylmoments (Apr 28, 2002)

If I remember there was an attempt at commercial fishing for whitefish out of Port Sanilac in the late 80's/early 90's. Wasn't viable. Can't see it working now that the lake is sterile.


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## chuckinduck (May 28, 2003)

danielwebster said:


> Good advice, it is sort of funny how people get so worked up about nets. Fishing the nets can be effective if one studies up on their shape, and uses correct techniques.
> 
> 
> 
> A problem is when junk gets left behind and is no longer marked.



Correct. But that's the problem. Junk and mismarked nets. People have died in the nets. No thanks. I'll just find my fish elsewhere.


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## RedM2 (Dec 19, 2007)

chuckinduck said:


> Correct. But that's the problem. Junk and mismarked nets. People have died in the nets.  No thanks. I'll just find my fish elsewhere.


I'd recommend having a good set of wire cutters readily available next to your downriggers in the even you run your cannonballs into miss-marked nets.


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## born2fish (Aug 1, 2005)

Most of the complaints being posted on here reference problems with tribal nets (Manistee) not state-licensed gear. Almost no problems are ever quoted on this site with commercial fishing off Alpena and Tawas. The DNR has put together a website devoted specifically to this research fishery south of Harbor Beach and north of Port Sanilac. On that website are detailed maps of the fishing grounds. Additionally once the nets are set in the research zone later this month, the DNR website currently states that it will be posting the GPS coordinates for each net.

The website also says that if successful for whitefish the chosen fisher is willing to give up a massive quantity of gear in Saginaw Bay. The site states that this one trap net fishery for whitefish in 80 to 150 feet of water (which Alpena and Tawas has shown can be compatible with recreational fishing) will result in a 30% reduction in the number of commercial licenses and gear in Saginaw Bay and potentially a 50% reduction in commercial perch harvest in the Bay.

Here is the website:
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10364-355666--,00.html


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## andyotto (Sep 11, 2003)

About 20 years ago my brother and I got into a net with our riggers off Tawas. It was totally our fault as every time we passed the net we would pick up a king. So we got greedy and got a little too close. All four rigger rods went off and for a second we thought we were on. Then the riggers started screeching out line and we were in trouble. Tried backing out and they were stuck good. We grabbed some pliers and cut them off. Lucky to have had the down rigger drags not cranked down to tight or they could have ripped right off the boat. Now the only nets are up off Au sable point. Anyway morale of the story is the nets will draw fish but don't get too close.


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## JAA (Oct 6, 2004)

YA that's Bull Crap, They can stuff them right up their Butts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## fisheyejack (Mar 6, 2007)

A potential 50% reduction in commercial perch harvest? The only way there will be a reduction on their harvest is when they give them a quota based on what the resource can support, they still have no limit on amount they can harvest, while they cut sportfishermans limit in half to 25.


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## Ralph Smith (Apr 1, 2003)

born2fish said:


> Most of the complaints being posted on here reference problems with tribal nets (Manistee) not state-licensed gear. Almost no problems are ever quoted on this site with commercial fishing off Alpena and Tawas. The DNR has put together a website devoted specifically to this research fishery south of Harbor Beach and north of Port Sanilac. On that website are detailed maps of the fishing grounds. Additionally once the nets are set in the research zone later this month, the DNR website currently states that it will be posting the GPS coordinates for each net.
> 
> *The website also says that if successful for whitefish the chosen fisher is willing to give up a massive quantity of gear in Saginaw Bay*. The site states that this one trap net fishery for whitefish in 80 to 150 feet of water (which Alpena and Tawas has shown can be compatible with recreational fishing) *will result in a 30% reduction in the number of commercial licenses and gear in Saginaw Bay and potentially a 50% reduction in commercial perch harvest in the Bay.
> *
> ...


Was reading on that before.....great news for the bay, hope it works out


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## fisheyejack (Mar 6, 2007)

Did they finally put a limit or quota on their current perch take ?


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## DOUBLE DOWN (Aug 13, 2004)

OK, here is my concerns...

1) The 4 Grids cover a vast amount of area, all the way out to 200 feet (well over 10 miles offshore) from approximately 4 miles north of Sanilac to 1 mile south of Harbor Beach. We all know that whitefish are present in these areas because we see them on our sonars. They are easily marked because they are schooled and pelagic. The problem is that they are the most mobile fish in our Great Lakes, swimming vast distances to stay on preferred temperature zones and bait availability (just like salmonoid). The Commercial Fisher has a 3 year contract and a huge playground to try to connect the dots and stay on these fish. So, he will be laying up to 7 nets in this 100 square mile area to target them. Even when he properly posts these net locations, good luck in keeping up tracking them because he will have moved them before you will ever know.

2) What is the Fisher's Quota and will he be keeping other Un-Targeted species which he may be licensed to catch such as perch, walleye, lake trout, etc.? It may be easy for the DNR to have the Commercial Fisher perform this RESEARCH Study for them, only to find that it probably is a new Gold Mine. And now other competitors want a piece of the action. Hell, no sport fishing goes on any more between these 2 ports anyway...

3) What happens to the un-targeted or game fish as they are netted? Up to how long could these fish be trapped in the nets? What will be their survivability ratio? I sure would appreciate some video footage of this commercial fishing process to sooth my concerns. I would hope that is not asking too much. I watch it on Alaskan TV shows all the time and cheer on these fishermen. I'm not an Anti-Commercial Fishermen--I'm just an Angler and Big Water Troller.

4) "Nets attract other game fish"... Ahhhh, I believe they attract fishermen. Be careful, you may get just what you did not "ask" for when trolling near them. I wish that maybe there would be a benefit about these nets helping Lake Huron fishermen target elusive whitefish too, and maybe there will be. 

So these are my concerns, not trying to rant. I'm definitely not a whitefish expert and would love the opportunity to catch them myself. Who knows, maybe we all will learn something from this experimental study. My son has caught 2 in his young lifetime. Very memorable moments--I am jealous!


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## DOUBLE DOWN (Aug 13, 2004)

This is the 1st ****** he caught several years ago. Both fish were caught in the month of April in skinny water. They seem to eat gobies in the springtime while spawning just like our remaining fish population. A few get caught in the SCR during this time also.

I have a heard of other anglers snagging them in deep water or on a rarer occasion will hook one on a spoon. Targeting while jigging them like the Superior UP anglers do probably would be the recommended way to catch them, but nobody does in Southern Huron. Probably because it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Heck, try finding a school of perch in L. Huron (She is a big body of water)!

Which leads me to one more question. How long does this netting season last? Purdy's out of Sarnia, ON goes out from ice-out to ice-in? That is a long season. Will we have to compete with these nets in shallow water too? :gaga:


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## Tracker Targa (Jul 17, 2008)

A friend gave me a huge whitefish last week I smoked it it was awesome. He got it trolling at hb. The nets are depressing I was very concerned going out in dense fog where they might be. How often do they move the nets


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## RedM2 (Dec 19, 2007)

Tracker Targa said:


> A friend gave me a huge whitefish last week I smoked it it was awesome. He got it trolling at hb. The nets are depressing I was very concerned going out in dense fog where they might be. How often do they move the nets


From what I understand the nets could be moved anytime. Recently, I've heard there is some concern regarding how often these nets will be checked... sounds like people are worried they won't be checked often enough. I'd hope the DNR would monitor a "research" program like this very closely so the nets are checked at a rate that is _more_ than adequate.


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