WEBVTT - Ep. 193: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - Fishing with Nets 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.200 Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Rieves 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.720 from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.040 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:18.479 my stories and the country skills that will help you 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.360 beat the system. This Country Life is proudly presented as 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.880 part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.960 outdoor podcast the airways have to offer. All right, friends, 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.080 pull you up a chair or drop that tailgate. I 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:34.760 think I got a thing or two to teach you. 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:42.879 Fishing with nets. There's two types of fishing when you're 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.960 fishing with nets, commercial and recreational. Now I guess there's 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:50.519 really four if you count catching fish and not catching fish, 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:53.199 and we're going to talk a little about both of 0:00:53.240 --> 0:01:04.480 them today. But first I'm going to tell you a story. Now, 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:08.039 this story has absolutely nothing to do with fishing nets, 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:11.039 only a little bit to do with fishing. But fishing 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:13.959 was what Tim and I started out doing before the 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:18.000 incident occurred. It was many years ago, during the middle 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:21.360 of the week, and we had both found ourselves too 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.720 sick to go to work, but not too sick to fish. 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:27.560 What a coincidence, I know, right, both of us at 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:30.440 the same time Anyway, we loaded tams boat with our 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:33.399 fly rods and crickets, which is just about the best 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:36.679 medicine ever invented, and we took off for the Salaine 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:39.679 River at Mount Elby. I know I've set it on 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:41.800 here before, but the dot on the map that we 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:46.520 all called Mount Elby has actually called Mount Elba Elba 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:49.280 for the folks that like to look up the places 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:52.160 of where I'm talking about. That was also the name 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:54.480 of the boat ramp we were putting in at that 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:58.320 would eventually be renamed in honor of my father, the 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:04.160 Lloyd Wilton Buddys Mount Elba Access. When I petitioned the 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:06.880 Arkansas Game and Fish Commission with a letter of my 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.520 family's legacy in that area and that place on the 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:14.640 river to rename it after my father, I related how 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:18.680 we generationally interacted with the land and the river over 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:23.799 the past nine generations. I didn't include the story I'm 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:27.360 about to tell you, but that day we backed the 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.720 boat in, parked the truck, and took off. It was 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:33.280 hot that morning and we caught fish pretty quickly. We 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:36.839 fished all the way down what we referred to as 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:40.280 the Stretch, and that's the location on the river about 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.520 three quarters of a mile along where the water deepened 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:47.840 and the current slowed down in a long straightaway. At 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.200 the end of the stretch is a place we call 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:54.360 Bug Island. Now. When the river is at normal pool, 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.320 it splits and wraps around the small island of willow trees, say, 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:02.160 and the river rocks. It's shady and a perfect place 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:04.960 to stop and cook fish. I've been doing it all 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:06.880 my life and planning to do so again and in 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:10.280 their future. We took a fish cooker and everything you 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:13.840 need and clean and cook the fish right there. They'd 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.760 never touch a cube of ice and go from swimming 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:19.760 in the river to swimming in the live well, to 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:22.880 being cleaned in the river and then being released into 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:26.840 three hundred and fifty degrees of hot peanut oil. If 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:31.160 you have the means, I highly recommend it. We were 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.320 the only folks on the river that day. Everyone else 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:36.840 was working, after all, it was the middle of the 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:40.120 work week, but by the time we hit Bug Island 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:42.480 it was close to noon in time to eat. It 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.840 was also Africa hot, and the only relief from the 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.080 bowl and sun was in the shade since there was 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.520 no breeze. Still pretty hot under the trees and standing 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:56.440 over that fire cooking fish didn't do anything towards cooling 0:03:56.480 --> 0:04:00.840 us off. We got done eating, got everything thing cleaned up, 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:03.800 and was sitting and staring at that running water that 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:07.720 flowed around the island and sweating. And I told Tim man, 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:10.400 I'm about to burn up in the shade, sitting here 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:13.520 like a dummy wearing the bathing suit I was born with. 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:17.760 And with that we both stood up commenced to peeling 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:20.840 off our sweat soaked t shirts and overalls until we 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:24.479 were naked as pick birds, tenderfooting our way across the 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.920 hot sand and rocks, until we waded out deep enough 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:31.120 to cool off in the muddy water of our river. 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:34.360 It might as well have been ours, we were the 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.240 only folks on it. We swam around out in the 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:39.960 deeper water for a while, then paddled our way back 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:42.440 up to the shallow shoal that tapered off the bank 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:45.200 of Bug Island. We were fixing it, get out and 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:48.080 get dressed and fish our way back to the truck. 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:52.320 But then Tim scooped up a huge river mussel along 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:54.839 the way, and we laid there on our stomachs in 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:59.160 the shallow water admiring that huge fresh water mussel, our 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:02.200 lily white behind glowing above the surface of the water. 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:07.320 I heard a noise behind us that sounded oddly like 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:11.440 a boat paddle bumping the side of a boat. Judging 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:13.880 from the look of hard that washed over Tim's face, 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:18.960 he'd heard it too. Then out of the blue, y'all 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:22.240 catching any fish. We looked back over our shoulders at 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:25.320 the same time to see an older couple float by 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:28.599 with fishing poles in their hands and big smiles on 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:33.760 their faces. I don't know what happened next, or what 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:37.560 they did. I slid under the surface, backed out into 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:40.559 deeper water, and only came up to take a peek 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:42.680 to see when they were gone. When I could no 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:49.080 longer hold my breath. Tim had done the same. I'm sorry, 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:53.920 mister and missus whoever you were, but with two teas, 0:05:54.960 --> 0:06:07.120 that's just how that happened. Fishing with nets commercial fishermen 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:10.640 have always intrigued me. There's just something about making a 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:13.920 living catching fish that appeals to kids, and that's when 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:19.560 my attraction began. I mentioned Carls one stopping last week's episode. 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:21.480 It was the bait shop on the edge of town, 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:24.080 where not only could you buy a bait and tackle, 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:28.720 but also turkey calls, duck calls, and ammo. You'd also 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:31.440 see the commercial fishermen in the area, stopping by the 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:35.159 visit or pickup supplies, or meeting folks that had ordered fish, 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:38.760 seeing those big hoop nets in the boat, and knowing 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:41.040 that guy was paying his light bills with fish he'd 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:43.680 caught from the river. Now, walk could be better than that, 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:48.000 I dare say nothing. That's got to be the easiest 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:52.920 job there is. Right now, anyone that's listening that has 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:56.279 ever had even the smallest experience of fishing a hoop 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:59.920 net knows that I have finally done it. After all 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.679 most a year of telling stories and talking about country 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.719 living on this platform, I have finally said the dumbest 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:08.960 thing I'm ever going to say by suggesting that easy 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:13.560 is an adjective that describes any portion of commercial fishermen. 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:16.680 There was a time when I thought being a duck 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.800 guide would be a great idea. Who wouldn't want to 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:23.560 get paid to go duck hunting? And there's always more 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:27.640 to the story. Duck hunting, in a way was what 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:31.120 brought my brother Tim and I to net fishing. We 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:33.800 talked about it forever. But over twenty five years ago 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.280 we met a man from Louisiana when he came up 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:38.040 with a group to hunt with us, and his name 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:42.800 was Jerry Boger. Now, Jerry would later start bringing his son, Zach, 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:45.560 along with others over the years, and he and his 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:49.440 family became instant friends of ours, and they have remained 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:53.440 just like our family ever since. I can go months 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.040 without talking to Jerry and pick up the phone and 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:58.400 give him a call and it's just like I talked 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:02.640 to him yesterday. Where am I going with this? Well? 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:06.720 Jerry Boger is a good fisherman, and most assuredly he's 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:10.120 the best net fisherman I know. And it was his 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:13.600 advice and tutelage that inspired my brother Tim to call 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:16.600 me one day and say, I'm buying some hoop nets 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:19.000 and we're gonna start fishing them in the Arkansas River. 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:24.640 You gonna be my help. I don't recall there being 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:27.000 a question as to whether or not I'd be participating, 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:32.000 So after checking the Arkansas regulations on fishing nets, Tim 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:35.280 bought three wire hoop nets and some bait from the 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:38.400 good folks down at Nets and more. The fish net 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:42.200 company in Jonesville, los Inna. He brought them back home, 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:44.719 sent me a picture of lane in his yard and 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.199 I'd never seen wire nets before, but man, they look cool. 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:52.440 I was excited. But it was like ordering the Charles 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:55.280 Atley strong Man course from the back of a comic book, 0:08:55.280 --> 0:09:00.040 and when the mail man delivers it, you realize the 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:05.240 muscles ain't included. What do we do with them? Now? First, 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:08.960 let's talk about what a hoop net is. Imagine a 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:12.000 dip net that you'd use to boat of fish after 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:14.480 you caught him with a rod and a rill, but 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:18.240 instead of having a shallow bottom in it, think about 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.680 it being three and a half feet in diameter and 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:25.480 fourteen feet long. About every two feet is going to 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:28.360 be a round fiberglass hoop that holds the net in position, 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:32.040 giving it a cylindrical tube shape when both ends are 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.000 weighted with a head rope and a tail rope and 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:39.439 stretched tightly between the two weights. And there's all kinds 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:42.520 of different diameters, meshing sizes and links of hoop nets. 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:45.880 This is just an example, but they all have what's 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:50.079 called a throat inside or flu where a separate mesh 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:54.439 funnel gradually narrows down into an opening that fish can 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:59.400 easily swim in through, but can't easily swim out of. Now, 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:03.200 once it gets in there, you got him, unless he's 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:05.560 small enough to swim out through the mesh of the net, 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:08.480 which is why there are mesh sized regulations on the 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:11.760 net so the small fish can get out. Now. These 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:15.560 contraptions are strictly made for rough fish like buffalo and drum. 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:18.920 And while catfish is a game fish in Arkansas, it's 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:21.480 the only one that can be harvested using a net 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:25.080 or a trap. Bring them under four inches can be 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:28.040 called in a basket trap and used as live bait 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:31.760 for flathead catfish. And that's a whole other podcast and 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:35.160 one we're planning on doing lately this year. But this 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:38.240 hoop net I've talked about, ain't going to catch fish 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:48.160 until we get it in the water. So where do 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:52.760 we fish it? Remember Jerry from Louisiana, Well, Jerry will 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:55.400 tell you that when you're fishing in current and the 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.720 river is inside its banks, that you've got to find 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:03.000 those eddies to conceal instantly catch fish. A fish can 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:06.280 obviously swim anywhere it wants to, but they have travel 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:11.200 patterns and tendencies, just like all creatures. They like gathering 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:14.200 in those eddies. What's an eddy? Well, how about I 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:17.920 tell you what one is. The definition of an eddy 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:22.080 is a circular movement of water counter to a main current, 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.200 causing a small whirlpool. Now let me describe it to 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:28.559 you like this. Men, you were sitting in a boat 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.880 facing up river. The river in front of us has 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:34.480 a curve that bends around to the right and continues 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:39.440 on the downstream. Side of that curve is where the 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:43.640 eddy forms. As the current comes around that bend, it 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:48.199 forms a circular motion known as an eddy. Fish congregate 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:51.520 there to catch bait, fish and groceries that get swept 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.839 up it concentrated in the water. It also gets them 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.000 out of the strong curve and allow them to rest 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:02.920 while they eat. Survival is the name of the game 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:07.079 and in justin calories, while expending the minimal mountain necessary 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:11.960 to do so is priority numero uno. But you can't 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.120 just find an eddie, weight both ends and chunk your 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.800 net in the river. That's no pointo. You're gonna have 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:20.679 to drag and sound check the depth of the water 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:23.200 to see if there's any obstacles. In there that could 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:27.079 damage or keep your net from laying out properly. And 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:29.440 I'm sure those garment depth and so on. Our units 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:32.280 like Claying I had on our big CEA arc boat 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:35.640 last January would easily do the trick. But if you 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:39.120 find yourself out of modern technology, a net drag on 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:43.440 a long rope will do the trick. Most net drags 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.800 that I've seen are around sixteen to eighteen inches long 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:49.839 and made a solid round inch and a half steal 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:54.080 on the bottom. They'll have four pieces of quarter inch 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:57.800 rod at even intervals bent in the shape of a U, 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:00.400 and well that to the shaft that look like a 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.800 grappling hook on the other end as well, that an 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.199 eye to attach a rope, and you'll use it to 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:09.280 drag across the bottom looking for obstacles like tree tops 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:12.559 or somebody else's net, or anything that could damage or 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:16.480 keep your net from fishing properly. You're also going to 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:18.439 need that drag to pull your net up when it's 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:21.600 time to check it and you're looking for a clean 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:23.920 shelf or a bottom where you can lay your net 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:28.600 out flat on the bottom like a cardboard paper towel tube. 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:33.080 Here's a little something extra at my house. All my 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:39.640 kids call those tubes dut does because they could never 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:42.760 pick an empty one up to play with it without 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:44.800 sticking it to their mouth and going dut to door. 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:47.960 Do you alls kids do that or mind? The only 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:52.720 ones probably just mine. I live in a circus. All right, 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.559 let's get this thing in the water. We're going to 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:59.040 need a heavy anchor and a long length of rope 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:02.520 rope that's tied to the head and the tail is 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:06.560 dependent upon the depth of the water. Jerry likes to 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:11.079 use five sixteenth hollow braided line for a big hoop net. 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.560 He's gonna use about thirty pounds of weight or more. 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:17.960 That's gonna be on the anchor, and that's gonna go 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:21.160 on the tail end of the net, and it's always 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:25.880 pointed upstream. Get your weight in the line and then 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:29.480 the tail end of the net. We start feeding that 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:32.680 net out, tail in first, and we're gonna float downstream. 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.200 Take all the slack out of that net, and to 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.640 link the rope we've got tied to the head end. 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:43.120 That rope is attached to a rope that's called a bridle, 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.160 and it goes from one side of the coop to 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:48.840 the other on the front, kind of like a handle 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:51.480 of a bucket. The head rope is tied right in 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:55.080 the middle. Stay with me now, because we're gonna review 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:57.440 this and get squared away in your brain bucket in 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:02.320 just a minute. Pulling further downstream about thirty to forty feet, 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:06.160 if not further, We're going to attach a small weight 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:08.600 around ten pounds, and from that weight we're gonna run 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:11.160 a twenty foot line with two to three pound weight 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:15.680 with a float tied in the middle. Now, this keeps 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:17.960 the rope off the bottom and makes it easier to 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:21.320 catch with a drag. It doesn't take long for salt 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:23.680 to cover a rope up, and that makes it hard 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:28.400 to find. The float sure makes it easier. Now, I 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.320 know what you're saying. Why don't you just run a 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:32.760 float from the weight on the headline to the surface 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:35.440 to be easy to run without even having to worry 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:37.480 about using the drag. Well, let me tell you why, 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:40.400 the same reason you like your truck. When you park 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:43.560 it and walk away, folks will not only covet your 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:46.800 hoop nets, but they will also run them, steal your 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:52.040 fish and take your nets. All right, erase the blackboard 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.160 and you'll cranium un let's review it. We found an 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:58.280 eddy that has a clean bottom where we can place 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:01.760 her hoop net. On the tail end of our net, 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:04.440 we attached a long length of rope and a big anchor. 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:09.400 Splash goes the anchor, and now we're slowly motoring or 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:12.800 floating backwards down the river, letting the net pull out 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:16.240 of the boat slowly as we hold a little tension, 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:19.400 so it goes in the water like it's fishing already. 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:23.720 Letting the head rope out, we dropped a ten pound weight, 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:27.240 followed by the float and the rest of the rope 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:31.640 with a small weight. Now it's time to go do 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:34.960 whatever and be confident that while you're occupied with some 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:39.120 other activity that you're also fishing. With every tick of 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:43.680 the clock, I'm on the yard, also fishing, eating supper, 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:50.440 also fishing, slumbering in the bed, also fishing. The hardest 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:52.360 part for me in tim was not going back to 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.880 check our nets. You gotta let them fish, and time 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:59.520 is on your side. If you remember, we didn't bait 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:02.680 this net. We're catching fish that are just out making 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:06.920 a living and doing their thing, swimming upstream. Now they'll 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.800 still be snacking grub as it floats downstreaming into the 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:12.439 water column there brought them there in the first place. 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:15.520 We're just going to have them hemmed up where we're fishing, 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:18.439 and they'll be just as healthy and full of vigor 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:22.000 when we run the net a minimum five days from 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:25.280 when we set it. So after a week we're going 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:27.520 to head back to the river. We're going to chunk 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:29.720 our drag in to catch a hold of that headline. 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.879 We put it out tail then first, so we're going 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:37.320 to do just the opposite to run it. And when 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:39.760 you throw your drag out, you're aiming for the head 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:42.760 rope that's the end with the little float holding the 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:45.159 line off the bottom, so it wouldn't get sealted in. 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:48.600 Now you don't have to do that it, So don't 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:50.919 be hollering at me about this is wrong and it 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.360 ain't the way your grandpa did it. While I'm interested 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.800 in hearing how you did it, I ain't about to 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:59.119 listen to anything I've described here is wrong because it ain't. 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:03.640 Now how do I know it ain't well, Jerry's son, Zach, 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:06.479 owns one of the best restaurants in Louisiana, and I 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:08.920 understand that's a bold statement because there are a lot 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:12.320 of great places deed down there. But they run fish 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:15.399 through that restaurant faster than grass runs through a goose. 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:19.680 And Jerry provides a large portion of the fish, and 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:21.840 this is how he catches them, and they feed a 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:26.240 lot of folks. It's called Big Zach's Place at Logusport, Louisiana. 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:28.240 Y'all check it out and tell them I sent you. 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:32.880 But guess what, we ain't done yet. Me and Tim 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:35.520 don't even fish the county nets that I just described 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:39.840 we're going to, But right now we're fishing that big 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:42.880 nets little brother, which works the same way, but it's 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:46.600 a lot easier to handle, and we use bait. The 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:49.720 wire nets we fish are eighteen inches in diameter and 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:53.399 four feet long. They're the same as regular hoop nets, 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:57.080 except there's no hoops. The net mesh is held in 0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:00.240 place by wire on the inside, which is concer great 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:04.480 reinforcement wire. You just bend it into a loop. You 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.320 can fish them several ways, one of which is how 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:09.720 I just described with a big hoop net. Another way 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:13.320 is to suspend it vertically beneath the water with a 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:17.280 throat facing down above the bottom. Fish will feed upwards 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:19.720 drawn it into the net by the bait, and you 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:21.960 can also just bait it up and chunk it overboard 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:25.679 in a good spot you've already picked out. Now, the 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:29.520 bait we use is usually soy beans and cheese mashed 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.280 them into a big old block, and we put it 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:35.199 in a mesh bag and throw it inside and it 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:40.080 slowly dissolves. It leaves a scent trail of food downstream, 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:43.600 and as the fish feed upstream they follow it into 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:47.960 the net. Tim and I fish ours and current, always 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:51.440 with a mouth facing downstream and anchor tie off the tail. 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.960 That's pretty simple, in a very effective way to catch fish. 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.040 It's also a lot of fun and we have a 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:02.120 great time doing it. I be interested in do it. 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:05.959 Check your regulations where you live. Hit the folks up 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:08.720 down there in Jones, Louisiana, and you will get you 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:17.679 a net that you can fish. Hey, I hope you 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:20.600 all enjoyed the Squirrels and coons in Arkansas film Clay 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:23.320 Bow and I did over on the Made Eater YouTube channel. 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:26.440 If you haven't seen it, hop on over and check 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:31.520 it out. Clay's Alaska Wolf episode dropped this week too. Man, 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:35.080 it's good. We got two more loaded and ready to 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:37.480 fly and they'll be dropping over the next two weeks 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:42.480 on Tuesdays. We'll also be at the Black Beary Bananza 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:46.640 in Bentonville, Arkansas, on March the ninth. Tickets are available 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:50.359 on their website. You just search Black Bearry Bonanza and 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:52.560 you'll see the link. It's gonna be a lot of fun. 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:56.680 There's gonna be some great demonstrations. We're gonna record a podcast. 0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:00.680 I'll be MCing the al Hooton contest and get ready 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:04.679 for this Case Knives will have a booth there, and 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:09.640 my friend John Pantusso and my fellow ar Kansen Chris 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:12.399 Taylor will be there too. Chris is a knife maker 0:21:12.760 --> 0:21:15.680 and has designed to build three skin and knives for case. 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:19.480 I got all three of man something special. Rince the 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:22.280 youngins off, help Grandpa find his teeth, and y'all come 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:25.359 see us. It's going to be a good time until 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:29.800 next week. This is Bret Reeves signing off. Y'all be careful.