Nets in the bay - a 1st Encounter

[Scalem]

On the topic of nets - in the bay. I was scooting across the bay before sun up, you can see well enough with a glow to the east, in the open water heading north, coochie on my left, heading toward hole in the wall at peel and I see a flashing light. I can see the silouette of a small boat, one POB. No other lights on the boat, I think because he is turned away from me, but I didnt see an all round light either. I honestly thought he was signalling me, I presumed maybe in distress, so I stayed on a course close enough to get a better look. Wrong! He was a netter ( presumed commercially licensed)with a net out spanning several hundred meters which I didn't see until I was nearly on top of it. The skeg caught it for a second as I was coming off the plain, but it didn't hook up fortunately, no harm to either net or my boat, as much as I was surprised at the bump I felt as it lifted the motor off the rams for a second.. In all the years I have fished the bay this has never happened, and apart from recognizing the big black on yellow commercial rego on the boat, I wouldn't have known the 1st thing about who these guys are ( there was another boat and net half a K away)

This thread is not intended to be a sledging of commercial netters, I am just interested how to know who these guys are, do others regularly come across them? Apart from the rego I would not know, and if they used the correct signalling to warn a boat they have a net out??? I know now, chalk one up for experience, if I see a similar signal which looked like a flash light aimed at me, I will be more cautious, it could be a commercial netter or someone genuinely in trouble. Can someone clarify what to look for if they are legally netting our bay, or should I get more familiar with the phone number you call when you see suspicious activities on the water.

Scalem

[scottar]

There are a couple of lots of pro netters that are based in Victoria Point - most likely one of these. The nets do go a long way. I nearly ran over one myself during the day in the tinnie on the banks south of Coochie as due to the draft I don't tend to pay too much attention to marked channels. The fisho was a few hundred metres away madly waving an oar in the air trying to get my attention. At night they would be virtually impossible to see until it was too late. Not sure of the requirements, if any, for marking at night.

[chris69]

Letters before the rego numbers and they should be yellow and yes flashing lights at either end normally to mark the net.

[Noelm]

The entire net was floating?

[Scalem]

The entire net was floating?

Yes mate, appeared to have brown cylindrical floats every 3 or 4 Mtrs apart, from memory.


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[Scalem]

Letters before the rego numbers and they should be yellow and yes flashing lights at either end normally to mark the net.

Can't remember seeing any to mark the ends of the net, just the one from the operator which I thought was a flashlight, hence my mis-interpretation of what was going on, as I was preparing to assist if someone was in trouble.


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