Buoys are the road signs of the waterways, directing traffic and warning of hazards. On
the Great Lakes, buoys also mark the location of commercial fishing nets, which can
entangle sport fishing gear as well as boat propellers and keels.
Not only is it illegal to interfere with or damage commercial fishing gear, severed
netting can become drifting "ghost nets" that kill fish indiscriminately and
pose a random hazard to boaters, anglers and swimmers as well.
Simply giving wide berth to net buoys doesn't guarantee you won't become entangled.
Successfully avoiding commercial fishing nets also requires some knowledge of the
different types of nets used on the Great Lakes and how these nets are set up.
Gill Nets
Gill nets are the most common commercial fishing gear used on Lakes Michigan and
Superior. They are also involved in more losses of sport fishing equipment than any other
type of commercial net, even though they cover only a small part of the areas available to
anglers and usually are located away from concentrations of game fish, which interfere
with commercial fishing.
A gill net has floats along the top and weights on the bottom, which cause it to stand
like a 6- to 12-foot-high fence along the lake bottom. It is so named because fish too big
to swim through the netting get caught by the gills when they try to back out. Gill nets
are generally set perpendicular to the shore and strung end-to-end in "gangs"
that are frequently over a mile long and sometimes stretch for five miles or more.
The top of the net is usually at least six feet below the surface, so boats easily
clear a gill net. Trolling gear can easily snag these nets, however, especially when
trolling for lake trout in deep water. Gill nets tend to be clustered in specific
locations at certain times of the year, so if you are unfamiliar with the area, ask other
anglers or inquire at local sport shops whether gill nets are being used in the area.
Gill nets are marked with flagged buoys at either end, but because they can be so long,
you may not always be able to see both marker buoys at the same time. No law requires nets
to be marked a specific way, but as a rule the buoy at the end closest to shore
usually has two flags (commonly black or orange in color) at the top of a five-foot
pole, while the buoy at the deep-water end often has only one flag. Avoid trolling
near or between the marker buoys, and always pass shoreward of the nearshore buoy and
lakeward of the deep-water buoy.
On an echosounder, a gill net often looks like a sudden rise in the bottom of the lake.
Since echosounders record objects ahead of downriggers and other trolling gear trailing
behind the boat, if you act quickly you may be able to lift your gear and avoid snagging
the net.
Pound Nets
Pound nets (pronounced and sometimes spelled "pond nets") pose a hazard to
nearshore boaters and anglers alike. Pound nets are commonly used to catch smelt on Lake
Michigan, Green Bay and Lake Superior. They are also used to catch whitefish near Door
County and the Apostle Islands. A map showing approximate locations of pound nets in the
Apostle Islands area is available from the National Park Service office in Bayfield, Wis.
A pound net has a 600-foot or longer lead net and two wing nets connected to an
open-top "pot" supported by anchored poles that stick out above the water. The
lead net hangs from floats on the surface down to the bottom of the lake. Fish on either
side of the lead net are diverted along the net into a narrow opening between the ends of
the two wing nets, which curl inward to form a heart-shaped enclosure that funnels the
fish toward a tunnel into the net's pot, from which they are lifted by the fisherman.
Pound nets are limited to water shallower than 90 feet, so they are usually found along
the shore or near reefs. Most pound nets are set and left in one place for the entire
fishing season. Wisconsin law does not currently require pound nets to be marked, but the
poles that support the pot can be seen sticking out above the water from a great distance,
which makes them easy to avoid during daylight hours. Some pound nets have highway-type
reflectors on the corner stakes of the pot for visibility at night. Also, the shoreward
end of the lead net and the corner stakes supporting the pot are usually marked with
flags.
Since the lead net is usually set perpendicular to the shore, it is best to avoid
passing between the pot of a pound net and the shore. Watch for the lead net's floats on
the lake surface. Also, give a wide berth to the pot and heart area of a pound net,
because numerous anchor lines for the poles and netting may extend up to 100 feet in any
direction from the pot.
Trawls
Bottom trawl nets are presently used on Lakes Michigan and Superior by fewer than 10
fishing vessels operating out of a few ports along mid-Green Bay, at Two Rivers on Lake
Michigan and at Duluth on Lake Superior. Trawlers usually operate in the same area over a
long period of time, so they are very predictable and easy to avoid.
Trawl nets are pulled by one, sometimes two, vessels. Trawling involves towing a net
behind the boat, usually along the lake bottom. Trawlers can be identified by their slow,
straight course and the two tow cables extending from the stern.
While it is unlikely that sport fishing tackle will get caught in trawling gear, it is
best to stay out of the way of a trawler. These boats have a limited ability to change
course while towing a net, so avoid crossing a trawler's bow. You should also avoid
crossing in their wake, as the cable and net may extend 450 feet or more from the back of
the boat. And it's not a good idea to pass between two commercial fishing boats heading
slowly in the same direction -- they may be pair trawling, which means each is pulling one
of the two net cables and the net lies between them.
Drop Nets and Trap Nets
Drop nets and trap nets are small by comparison with other commercial fishing gear and
are easily set and moved from one location to another in search of better fishing grounds.
Until the mid-1980s, about half of the commercial catch of lake perch from Green Bay came
from drop nets, also called fyke nets. Trap nets are used mainly to catch whitefish near
Door County, in Green Bay and farther south along the Lake Michigan shore. Boats generally
can pass over both of these two types of nets without problems, but sport fishing
equipment is easily entangled.
Like pound nets, drop nets and trap nets have a long lead net that diverts fish into an
enclosure ("heart") and through a tunnel into a pot, where the fish remain until
they are removed by commercial fishermen. These two nets differ from pound nets mainly in
that they have submerged, closed-top hearts and pots supported by floats, frames and
anchors rather than by poles.
Drop nets differ from trap nets in that they are shorter and have a box-shaped heart
that directs fish through a series of funnels into the hooped pot. Trap nets generally
have wing nets leading into a V-shaped heart and box-shaped pot.
Drop nets are often set in pairs perpendicular to the shore, with a heart and pot on
either end of a single, 300-foot-long lead net. Drop nets usually extend only 6-8 feet off
the lake bottom. Like gill nets, drop nets have a flagged buoy on each end at the pots.
There is no standard number or colors for these flags, but you can usually see both of
them at the same time. As a rule, avoid trolling between the flagged buoys. If you cannot
see the other buoy because of fog or darkness, look nearby for the float used to mark the
net's heart for an indication of the direction in which the lead net and other pot lies.
Trap nets are marked like gill nets, often having a double-flag marker buoy on the
shoreward end of the lead net and single-flag buoys on the main anchor line and pot on the
lakeward end. Trap nets range from 600 to 1,200 feet long and are commonly set with the
pot in deep water (up to 90 feet). Trap nets are usually 20 feet high, however, so the top
of the net can sometimes be near the surface.
Unlike gill nets, you can usually see the flagged buoys marking both ends of drop nets
and trap nets at the same time. As a rule, avoid passing between the flagged buoys and
give them wide berth -- especially trap nets: like pound nets, they have many anchor lines
extending out in all directions from the net. Areas with large concentrations of drop nets
and trap nets are best avoided entirely.
If You Get Tangled
If your fishing equipment gets hooked in a net or on the bottom, your best bet is to
cut the tangled lines or cables and spend a few dollars to replace the lost equipment.
Normally, it will be your lures that get tangled, your line will break and that's the end
of the problem.
Snagged downrigger cables, on the other hand, can be quite dangerous. When attempting
to free downrigger cables from a commercial fishing net, always keep the bow of your boat
facing into the sea. This will help keep the boat from being pulled closer to the location
of the snag. If the net floats up near the boat, take care not to get it caught in your
propeller while unhooking your equipment.
If your prop or keel becomes entangled in a commercial net, take these steps:
1. Shut off your engine completely.
2. Radio the nearest U.S. Coast Guard unit. Every net is marked with the license number
of the owner on the marker buoy. In most cases, the owner will be more than willing to
assist you.
3. Do not enter the water, and never attempt to remove a net from the keel of a
sailboat. Hypothermia and drowning are everpresent hazards in such situations.
4. Keep any line-cutting to a minimum.
---by Clifford Kraft
For a free printed copy of this report, "Where the Buoys Are: How to
Avoid Commercial Fishing Nets," email your mailing address to Linda@seagrant.wisc.edu
