Jeff,
The only bad thing about a deep water cast net is that you might close the
drawstring on a stump or something and never see your cast net again.
I wish, though, that finer mesh cast nets were available. I have a hunch
that a lot of Chesapeake Bay creatures have escaped my cast net.
Bob
>A possible suggestion : do you think it would be possible to collect
>these
>Bluehead Shiners in greater quantity if you could pursuade them >to enter
a
>minnow trap deployed at their level. It might be worth >while to find some
>kind of bait that would be really enticing to >them...Or perhaps an
>umbrella seine?
Good to see you back online! Collecting deep water in swamps is difficult.
One thing I've been thinking about is making a fine-mesh cast net,
something
with about 1/16" inch mesh, about 8ft in diameter, and with sufficient
weight to counteract the extra drag of the finer mesh. Has anyone used such
a contraption? I think it would be particularly effective for sampling
things like Pteronotropis hubbsi/welaka, Notropis maculatus, Notropis
harperi... and might be the best way to survey for Notropis melanostomus
populations in Alabama (the real reason for the extra-small mesh).
cheers,
Dave
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