# interesting cast net catches



## Rockstar (Jun 23, 2004)

At Rudee tonight I caught shrimp... not the tiny clear ones, but large green colored shrimp... how would you go about hookin' em to keep them alive? Are they any good steamed  ? I also caught a small scaleless fish that looked like some sort of grouper with brown speckles... At Lynnhaven I caught some large needlefish and then what looked like a FAT clear squid or small octopus. Just thought i'd share,.


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## mud (Sep 23, 2007)

There are several post about hooking shrimp and show excellent diagrams. Free bait....Sweet!


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## Honey Hole (Sep 27, 2005)

A lot of shrimp in the grasses inside Lynnhaven lately, and a couple worthy of the steamer. Good bait, but EVERTHING will eat'em... almost a hassle.

Most interesting cast net landing this year: a "healthy" woman's bra.


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## justinfisch01 (Feb 19, 2006)

I have caught tiny flounder about the size the of a half dollar. I would love to raise one in a tank and watch it eat and grow


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

justinfisch01 said:


> I have caught tiny flounder about the size the of a half dollar. I would love to raise one in a tank and watch it eat and grow


That probably was a hogchoker and not a flounder. I get those from time to time as well. I've caught all kinds of crazy stuff...a 9.5 pound largemouth bass out of the lake off of Lynnhaven and Holland. I've caught 3-4 foot gar in the Chickahominy River. I've caught gizzard shad in Willoughby Bay after a heavy rain. Big carp up to 3-4 pounds, all kinds of small catfish, a houndfish, an eel, and of all things a cinder block (almost destroyed my net). 

I think the weirdest thing I've ever caught period was a single shot 12 guage shotgun in the Ohio River when I was 15 years old. It was covered in Zebra mussels and was mostly deteriorated. Gave it to the local police department but never heard anything else about it. Crazy stuff.


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## Oyster (Jun 28, 2000)

I’ve caught mantis shrimp on the eastern shore in the cast net. They look like a cross between a shrimp and a lobster. Again, very good bait that all fish seem to like. I just wish I could catch more of them.



justinfisch01 said:


> I have caught tiny flounder about the size the of a half dollar. I would love to raise one in a tank and watch it eat and grow


Have you ever seen the small flounder that look like they are covered with fur? They are known as Hog Chokers. They are weird little flounders.


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## Oyster (Jun 28, 2000)

One more. One dark night while cast netting for bait I felt something heavy in the net, I pulled it up and dropped it on the bank at my feet. The next thing I know I have a thick snake looking thing squirming all around my legs and feet. This thing flat freaked me out and had me dancing like I was in a 1975 disco. It turned out to be a 4’ conger eel.


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## emanuel (Apr 2, 2002)

Hmmm, this could be an interesting thread. Let's see:
Other than the couple of times I've thrown a net and needed 2 or 3 extra people to pull it up...
#10 jack crevalle
multiple undersized trout, reds, black drum and flounder as well as plenty in the size limit.

The craziest one was one time I caught a baby mangrove snapper, in Georgia and the next cast brought up a fresh, stinking turd.:--|


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## basstardo (Jun 5, 2006)

emanuel said:


> and the next cast brought up a fresh, stinking turd.:--|


You mean the elusive stinky brown trout. I hear the Elizabeth River is full of them.


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## Carolina Skiffer (Aug 16, 2006)

basstardo said:


> You mean the elusive stinky brown trout. I hear the Elizabeth River is full of them.


Correction - That would be Huntington Park. They close that place like every other day because of floating butt candy.


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## togman (Oct 12, 2003)

*Shrimp in Rudee*

What size mesh is your net to catch the shrimp? 

Where they big enough to eat? I have heard you can catch bug enogh shrimp to eat in rudee at night with a can of catfood, a spot light & a dip net, just never know the best place to try as you really need to get in to the water.


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## Sea2aeS (Jan 7, 2005)

2-3 inch cobias
spadefish the size of half dollars 
1-2 inch bluefish 
little triggerfish the size of quarters
small 2-4 inch jack crevalles 
lookdowns 
a 3ft ribbonfish
sergeant majors
pipefish
seahorses
gobys or blennys, w/e u wanna call em.


seen a 70-80lb bluefin tuna caught in a castnet.


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## lipyanker (May 31, 2006)

one evening i was cast netting for minnows pulled in a 4ft water snake with a half eaten smallie in its mouth  thats the last time i saw that net, that fish, and that snake I was outta there


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## kastinkenny (Aug 17, 2005)

*castnet catches*

Fishin with some friends at rudee inlet years ago, casted my 12 footer and low and behold, i have a sturgeon in my net. It looked just like the picture in the va fishing regs booklet.


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## cobiadude33 (Aug 12, 2007)

I've pulled up small flounder, small spanish macks, bluefish, and a few jellyfish.


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## TDAU (Oct 9, 2002)

juvenile (2-3" complete with the full set of mini dentures)barracuda in Rudee inlet,Baby Tarpon (4-5") in Hatteras.


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

I've castnetted some weird stuff in Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach over the years. In my late teens, I caught a _Pristigenys alta_ (short bigeye), a tropical deepwater fish that's very expensive in the aquarium trade. I put him in my tank, where he proceeded to terrorize a blue damsel. He'd bite the tail off, the fish would struggle around for weeks until it regrew, at which point he'd bite it off again. The bigeye lived for about a year and was one of the most beautiful aquarium fish I've ever kept, especiallly with the flourescent orange circles on his dorsal fin and completely clear tail.










I've also caught lots of baby barracuda, baby tautog, seahorses and pipefish there.

If you look real close, there are also very tiny sea anemones on the sea lettuce you pull in on an outgoing tide.


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