Yes, just when we thought we had gotten rid of the “gill nets” it appears that there is a bill in the State of Alabama making its way to approval putting them back in the Tennessee River. The argument is that there is an industry that is suffering from the lack of ability to use gill nets in our waters; yes this is the argument one of our Senators is using to get this bill passed. The few that would benefit from this passing seems to be gaining steam in our legislature, the question in my mind is does the benefit out-weigh the harm and the answer is “no-way.” Yet it seems to be ready to be passed by our State leadership for the benefit of a very few people; why?
Fish Chokers or gill nets act as a mesh that catches the head of a fish “via squares of mesh that slide over the head of a fish and then jam tight right behind the gill plates–they’re locked in place.” Killing everything it locks into the net, sure they are not targeting game fish but what prevents them from getting caught; size maybe, but a big 5 lb plus bass or 2 lb. plus crappie will get caught in any gill net used to catch a carp or cat fish. “Game fish would very likely be caught, occasionally in large numbers, as a by-catch of the nets, which can extend for hundreds of feet, forming a sort of “wall of death” around anything on the inside. While the commercial netters could not legally land them, they very likely would be killed in the process of being shucked out of the mesh–they’d wind up as buzzard bait along the shores. The bill as written has no limitations on net length or square footage–whole feeder creeks could be “stop netted” with a damming effect from shore to shore.”
If you haven’t got my drift it’s time to voice your opinion to your local leadership if you don’t well we can all just complain about them passing this bill and my guess is it will take generations to change it once it gets put in place; I’m old I will survive through it, will you? Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com www.fscebook.com/FishGuntersville Email: bassguide@comcast.net Call: 256 759 2270 Captain Mike Gerry
Quotes: from Frank Seargent “ Gill Nets for TVA lakes are a Bad Idea”