Hi,

Strange questions...

A friend of mine just got this XL101 Crabfish Crawdad Minnow Fishing Trap Cast Net thing. He asked me if this could be used to catch Herring for catching salmon.

Question: Is it okay to use this thing for herring and if not, what can it be legally used for and where? I ask because the regulations say cast net, but any time I look up cast net, it's that net with the ring of weights around the outside you spin into the water. Is this just another form of cast net?

Thanks

not to discourage, but this is a Prawn trap.
you will have a tough time catching herring in it.

2 ways to catch herring

#1 dipping a ballup from your boat (usually get lots)

#2 stand on one of the bridges over the Gorge and jig them (not as productive)

Good luck !

In case you didn't know a herring jig consists of about 6 little flies hanging off of one line dropper style. I think they go for about 3 bucks.

In theory that trap could be used for prawns but there are a number of reasons why it wouldn't work very well at all.

A cast net only works where you can traps fish against the bottom our open water schools of Herring are tough to target that way.

A Sabiki rig as shown can work well under the right conditions.

I got 10 packs of sabiki rigs off ebay recently and am giving them out to my friends to use. My one friend wants to show me up by using the trap I showed. I just want to keep him legal. He's First Nations, and I don't know much about that side of fishing and I'm the one showing him how to fish Blind leading the blind.


I've heard that with sabiki rigs you want 5 or less hooks, is this a reg or just something to make the rig easier to use?

Also, what is "Dipping a ballup?" or am I reading that wrong?

Keep any eye out for gulls and seabirds, when you see lots of them diving in one spot
they are likely working a "ballup" or herring ball.
seals and ducks herd the bait from below into a ball and the gulls pick away at them from the surface.
If you can get close enough in your boat you can "dip" the bait in a fine meshed net.

A trick I use on those is instead of putting a weight on the bottom for casting, you can put a heavy spoon instead, the flash attracts the herring.

Also when you feel like you've hooked one, leave it down and let the hooks fill up. The first one squirming will attract the others.

Good luck, its getting pretty close to spawning time for em.

Thanks for the help.

I might hit up the bridges tonight. I saw a few guys on Craigflower on my way in today.

When is the best time to jig for herring off the gorge bridges? and what set up do you use??

Hey Karrie,

They use regular herring jigs and a lot of guys will use a big spoon on the end for extra flash. I've tried it a couple of years but only ever got a few each time, so I'm not sure when it peaks?