Re: NANFA-- solo seining

Roselawn Museum (roselawn_at_mindspring.com)
Wed, 16 Jan 2002 10:07:30 -0500

Hi Jamie

I do it all the time, and Jim Pitts was the guy who taught me. I don't know
that I could add anything of substance to his article except to say that
extra care should be taken for your safety when you seine alone. Mud, falls
from rocks, snakes, and unexpected drop-offs in deep pools present real
hazards if you are out of earshot from help. Falling into the water
(especially very cold water) in waders is probably the worst. They fill up
alarmingly quickly and will pull you down. In any sort of current, this is
potentially life-threatening. It costs a little more money, but if you buy
the kind with the emergency strap across the chest, you can cut off the
intake of water with a quick yank. Even with that, I keep my sharpest knife
strapped on in case I have to cut my way out of the waders.

As for technique, I shorten the seine by rolling up the excess length on
the brails until I have less than a 6' length to work with. As soon as you
try to pull up the first time, you'll understand why. Your options for
trapping fish in the net are much more limited when you're working alone,
so you have to pick places in smaller, shallower streams where you have
some advantage. Pockets of water that form around stumps, logjams, and
sandbars are my favorite. If you can drive the fish into one of these areas
your chances are better. Also, streams that have large jagged rocks or
other obstructions on the bottom are very difficult to work alone. Those
that offer a sand or gravel substrate are the best.

If you haven't seined alone, you need to expect a fair amount of
discomfort. Even after two or three passes, your shoulders will be burning.
If the fish aren't plentiful or easily captured, it's easy to get
discouraged. In that respect, haste makes waste. If you study the location
ahead of time, the areas of advantage (and disadvantage) should become
obvious. Also, it's better to travel light...EVERYTHING is heavier on the
return portion of the trip...especially for us old dudes! Hope this helps.

Steven A. Ellis
Kennesaw, GA

At 08:30 AM 1/16/02 -0600, you wrote:
>How many of you seine by yourselves? What do you recommend for gear (net
>size) and/or technique?
>
>I see from the NANFA website the 1978 Apr-June issue of AC had a article by
>Jim Pitts called "Seining Without a Partner: How to Make the Task
>Easier". Does anyone have a copy of that article they could send me?
>
>Jamie
>
>PS - Anyone from SW Michigan (Berrien, Cass, Van Buren counties) or NC
>Indiana (LaPorte, St. Joseph counties) looking for a seining partner, drop
>me a line.
>
>
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/----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes / Association" / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org