Collecting net

[Ttw]

Collectors out there, what color of net do you use? On my last collecting trip I used a dark brown net instead of the usual white one thinking it would not scare the fish as much. I'm not convinced this theory worked out. It did make it harder to see the fish in the net among all the litter.

 

[Mike Wise]

Seine nets in Peru are usually green. The locals don't use dip nets much, if at all.

 

[Ttw]

I've not been able to successfully use a seine in small streams. As you know, often there is very little water where we get apistos.

 

[Mike Wise]

We used seines in water less than 1'/30cm deep. It's all in technique. Of course, you get more leaf litter than fish. Did your seine have bottom weights and top floats?

 

[Ttw]

Yes, floats on the top and weights on the bottom. You do use dip nets for water only inches deep don't you?

 

[Mike Wise]

No, we don't carry dip nets generally. In really shallow water you can set out the seine around an area and scare any fish in shallow water into it.

 

[Ttw]

Interesting. I will have to try that. Thanks.

 

[gerald]

I use dipnets for collecting along shorelines with really dense plant beds or fallen tree branches, especially in places where I cannot (or would rather not) try to walk in the water, such as areas with deep leaf litter, branch piles, and soft mud. If the bottom is walkable and fairly open (plants/branches not too dense) then a seine is usually more productive. My collecting experience is all in eastern USA, but habitat structure (and fish behavior) looks pretty similar to S. Amer. Different methods such as pulling a seine upstream, downstream, cross-current, or holding the net still and chasing fish into it often yields different fish species depending on their escape behaviors.

 

[Mike Wise]

I've never seen them used in Peru, but in Brazil an open-front, half cylindrical net called a rapiche is used where there is a lot of structure near the stream bank. These are used like a shovel to scoop debris and fish out of the water.

 

[Larry Rogers]

In my experience it is not the net color but the commotion in the water that scares the fish. They are triggered by anything that is outside what they consider normal parameters. Additionally some fish spook easier than others and once one starts running and flashing panic they all take to cover. If you get set up and remain still for a few minutes fish start to come out and resume natural activities and it becomes easier to capture shy species. I prefer to set a "purse"or "bag' net downstream and let fish "slip" down into it. Set the net, move away from creek for ten or fifteen minutes and work your way quietly upstream ten meters. Fish that had moved upstream during the initial activity will wind up in the net moving back down and fish panicked by activity coming downstream from above will "slip"downstream and also find the net. Less work and less stressful on fish. There will always be situations where you must seine or dip though.