Hi all,
I am currently in the market for a castnet.....i have been told that i will need to buy 2 to target herring etc and prawns as they are hung differently.....are the commercially available ones adequate?....nylon or twine?.....any tips would be appreciated...
Thanks
Shaun
Mate, I use the Surecatch brand, cheap at about $50. I have an 8' drop in mono, bottom pocketed.
I ripped the lead line off mine last week, priced some yesterday, the $50 Surecatch ones are the cheapest I could find.
I find this net is plenty good enough for me. Mullet, herring, prawns etc all get caught. These nets work fine, a little stiff at first, give them a soak in fabric softener overnight and you're away.
Jeff.
I also use the nylon sure catch cast net. I find them easier to use, I tend to knot up the lead weights on the other castnets. I seem to catch all sorts of fish in them from mullet, herring, prawns, whiting etc. The pockets also allow easy removal of the fish.
Cat_88
yeah go with a mono net, easier to throw, and lighter after a couple of casts as they won't hold as much mud and water. sure catch is ok, thats what I use, in a 9ft bottom pocket. If you can get the 3/4 inch mesh, as this will also catch smaller baits, and will also prevent the bait from 'gilling' themselves. The fabric softener tip is a great one, it gives your net more more of a bedded in feel and makes it easier to cast, you may have to repeat the process a couple of times for the first 2 uses as the salt gets to it a bit in the beginning.
Others may recomend a 'top pocket' or drawstring net, but these are definatlety not for beginners, they are harder to cast, tangle easier, and are less durable. If one of the strings break, there goes your whole net cos it just unravels from there, though when you get good enough, you can use it to gather bait from over the top of deep snags, pulling the net tight to gather the leadline before it reaches the snag, my brother is very good at this, he can sound out a peice of stucure that is holding bait, throw the net over it and pull the net up to get the bait before the net closes around the snag, I dunno how he does it.
I have two I use a nylon net for everything but if there are prawns about then I swittch to a cloth net as the mesh doesn't stay open and the smaller bait prawns get out but the nylon net is definately easier to throw as it opens better and is lighter
Stuie
IF IT CAN'T EAT A WHOLE PILLY I DON'T WANT IT
Will pick up a nylon surecatch....thanks for the tips
Thanks Jeff. Gave my cast net a good soak in fabric softener overnight. It works - the net feels a lot better. Smells nice too.
Wife thought I had gone off the deep end.
And when you dry and store the mono net make sure they are pread out as the mono has a memory and your cast will be not as spread out if they are left all bunched up. Itook me ages to work out why i wasnt getting a full spread with the mono nets after using the others.
Wade
Originally Posted by horseboy
yeah really i kne u had to keep them outa the sun
AAAHHH....... of course.
So has anyone got tips on finding prawns. I'll be trying brisy river since we have had rain lately.
I guess i need to look for surface scatter?
I use surecatch and have had success finding bait, but those bloody snags wreck a net pretty quickly. I've had to get wet a couple of times just to save the net.
not really surface scatter, they won't do that if there's nothing trying to eat them, try in the lee side of any mud or sand banks, as to much current will adversly affect the net and most will escape, bet time for it would be on the beginning of the run in, when the current is nice and slow, and the prawns can school up, when they do this, there's always a good chance you'll get a few leader prawns, you'll know their the leaders cos they'll be 3times bigger than the others.
I use a twelve foot with a top and bottom pocket which is made from mono.
I added about 2 extra kilos of lead to it to up the sink rate and it catches everything. I have a net that I use specifically for the bananas but that is a different kettle of fish, not for bait gathering that one.
Almako, an approach we take to finding prawns is head in about 5m or so from the bank and send a little bit of boat wash onto the bank. Look behind and if the prawns are there you usually see a couple flick up with the activity.
Guido
The best net I ever had was a 10 foot multi mono with lead chain for weight , was sewn together for me by a mates grandfather. Cost a bit but it made me look like a pro. You could throw that net over your shoulder backwards and it'd make a circle.
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