collecting natives

[Brentw132]

I was wondering what the standard method of collecting natives is? What kind of equipment is typically used and where does one aquire this equipment?

 

[Noto]

You need two pieces of information: What sort of natives do you want? And what do your state regs allow? If you want to catch a bass or other sportfish for your tank, you'll need to follow the state regulations on acceptable capture methods, size limits, etc. Same goes for non-game and "bait" fish, though the rules are usually much looser there.

Many of the smaller fishes, and juveniles of bigger fishes, can be caught with minnow traps and dipnets. If you want to greatly increase your efficiency, get a seine and a partner to help pull it.

 

[mkalski]

I have 2 largemouth bass and a bluegill. I caught the blue gill with a small hook as well as one bass. Another bass I caughht with a net, it was probly ,5in(at the time!).

 

[Dark Jester]

Biggest thing is as Noto said, check the regs in your area and make sure you're allowed to do it. Even if you're allowed to catch them, often times you are not allowed to transport them alive without a permit. A real pain.

Other than that, netting, minnow traps, or just fishing for them. If you fish for them, I'd recommend barbless hooks to minimize damage.

 

[AutumnEffect]

I caught all mine in nets so far, and will be trying some minnow traps this week to see how they do. I like to get my fish small as I find they take to aquarium living better/quicker than larger fish.

I see you are in PA.

Here are the regs you need to know regarding taking fish: http://fishandboat.com/fishpub/summary/inland.html

There are different regulations for some inland bodies of water: http://fishandboat.com/fishpub/summary/panfish.html


eta: Here is a link confirming that legally obtained fish may be transported live and placed in an aquarium: http://www.fishandboat.com/images/pages/qa/fish_regs/aquarium.htm

 

[AutumnEffect]

Oh, and I just use a large aquarium net bought from the lfs and eventually strapped it to a longer handle. If you want to get serious about netting, and will be using it very often, you may want to look into a better net such as the Perfect Dipnet. But for me, since I only catch a few here and there depending on my current aquarium stocking needs, my rigged together net works just fine. I've caught minnows, darters and juvenile sunfish with it.

 

[Dark Jester]

I see you are in PA.

Here are the regs you need to know regarding taking fish: http://fishandboat.com/fishpub/summary/inland.html

There are different regulations for some inland bodies of water: http://fishandboat.com/fishpub/summary/panfish.html


eta: Here is a link confirming that legally obtained fish may be transported live and placed in an aquarium: http://www.fishandboat.com/images/pages/qa/fish_regs/aquarium.htm

I need to move to PA. NV sucks.

 

[AutumnEffect]

My mom lives in Reno, and while I have poked around in some of the creeks there, I never looked into the fish regs. However, I just looked them. You weren't kidding - they do suck!

 

[Dark Jester]

Yep. Basically can't take any live native fish away from the body of water where they were caught. There is a permit process to posess live native fish, but you still can't go catch them yourself. Basically have to buy from hatcheries and maintain logs of where and how many of each fish you obtained from each location. Only like $15/Year for the permit, but you effectively grant the DOW access to your house/aquariums whenever they want to stop by. A real pain. My first tank was going to be native until I ran into that.

Bonus though, is sunfish and stuff that aren't found natively in Nevada are fully legal. Planning on ordering some from Zimmerman's Fish in the spring. Also any fish that is not considered a game fish can be legally posessed without a permit, you just can't catch them, so darters and stuff can be ordered online legally as well.

 

[FLESHY]

Because I like to get my fish small and grow them up (gives you a more "show quality" fish in my mind) I like to use seine nets as well.

I go out with a university, and we net fish for our school collection.

Remember to check the rules and regs. If it wasnt for the university and a special permit that we have we would NOT be allowed to collect fish in the state of Wisconsin.