Carey, I cuss when I get one or two in there... Can't imaging a whole school of them! I had a net load the other day with one small blue and a big 12 pound Buffalo that was losing his mind. He had the net so twisted up I could hardly get it to open so I could get him out. I will keep those guys for bait some times. Some times not. Usually when they make me mad I'll keep them. lol.

And those tiny catfish are so sharp. You look at 'em wrong and your hand starts bleeding!

Okay... I had to check your math. I copied the text into a word document. 1279 words, but in Bidens economy they cost 40% more so they are now 12.5 cents per word. So, that's $161.15. Just make the check out to Mrs. Catfish Tim. I still owe her for the shadow boxes she made me...

After all that , I’m glad I just open a lid and have bait! I know, not for the fishing you guys do!

I have purchased bait before from the local Asian market, especially when I was struggling when I first started. They often sell carp and mackerel (and others), and the mackerel is oily and bloody and I've had success on it but no big fish. It's expensive buying bait and nowhere near as good as some freshly caught bait, but it's better than nothing.

A few months ago in late spring I launched my boat and spent no less three hours trying to get bait, I was worn out and only had a handful of small fish, and thats when I decided to get serious about getting my sh*t together with my throw technique and bait locating skills. I have now got good enough to be fairly confident of getting bait every trip, although some days are still tough.

Of course now I've said that...

Buying live bait, let me say good live bait, is expensive. I have and will buy if they have the bait. I have never once been anywhere that sold live shad. I know they are really hard to keep alive for a bait shop, I get it, but in my waters, it's the single best bait by far.

Perch are the next, after that crawfish and/or cut bait. It's just really hard to fish for big cats here without one or both of the first two. I have been giving the Black-Salties a go this year and if I have been right behind a good rain, they have done really good. May just been from the fish getting all supercharged up from the rain, cause I have not had lots of interest in them other than that. Don't rain much here this year either. April through May it rained good here, not enough for any good run-off water for the lakes since and the Black-Salties have not done as well since then either. There has been no perch to buy for bait around here this year at all. Only leaves one thing to do and that is to catch my own.

The prices for all stuff I fish with seem to be always expensive, hard to get and doesn't seem to be getting better in either regard. I been wanting to get me at least one more net, have been wondering about these newer nets and how they do. This taped one sounds really interesting, then there is one with a chain skirt, you guys here are the only ones I know that have even heard about them. Most guys here that I fished with have all gotten to the point they don't fish much at all, if any. The younger guys I really don't know much about what they are using. This is another good topic on this forum, and as always thanks for sharing any and all info.

If you havent thrown at least a mild hissy fit trying to learn how to throw a net you aint squat !!! Lol
Is it more frustrating teaching yourself or trying to teach someone else , and gawd forbid they have less patience than you do 🤣🤣🤣

Have a buddy that can throw the big ones and it looks like hes dancing but man my jaw drops when it hits the water perfectly.

I think it's easier to teach someone else. The fact that at least one of you knows how to do it makes it easier. You are standing there cussing asking yourself what the heck am I doing wrong. lol...

Haven't tried a taped net. Nor have I ever pulled up a snake in my net. But otherwise, everything you wrote resonates deeply with me.

Great post!

Once you go taped net you never go back.

That much difference in these taped nets... I am at the point I need to replace my net, all the saltwater over the years has taken the biggest toll on mine. The mono really gets all hard and dried out feeling. Even rinsing in fresh and even doing a fabric softener treatment ever so often, it's just getting old and needs to be replaced I guess.

I don't have any doubt that any of the Fy-tec nets won't blow this out of the water, let alone the taped one. I just need to order me one at this point.

I throw a 6' 1 1/4th lb non-taped net with a 25' handline in shallow water,12' and under,where snags are more prevalent and the net should land on bottom nearly full pancake.In the deeper water,especially 20' plus,I throw a 7' taped Filtec with a 50' handline.Comparing the two in deeper water is night and day.I've thrown that 6'r in 20-25' of water and struggle to get bait,grab that 7' taped net throw in same area and load up in 2-3 throws.Of course it doesn't always work that way but I know that taped net is falling thru the water column all the way to the bottom wide open............so yea I'm sold.

happy i am not alone

Nothing brings out the emotion in a fisherman like talking about learning to throw a cast net. Thanks for all the comments fellas.
I can still see that video of Luke Nichols throwing the net in his back yard and watching it open and thinking how the heck does he do that!?