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I need to build (or buy) a bunch of slat baskets, only problem is that apparently the wire mesh type that I am familiar with are not allowed under TWRA's rules and regulations.

Anyone have any tips or tricks on building, or know of where I can buy inexpensive commercial slat baskets that are lawful to use down here in TN?

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Holders of annual sport fishing license, Sportsman License, Lifetime Sportsman License, Jr. Fishing license, Lifetime Senior Citizens license or residents 65 and over (prior to March 1, 1991) or under 13 may fish with one slat basket, provided the slat basket is marked with a metal tag, obtainable from the TWRA for an annual fee of $8.00. Possession or use of more than one slat basket is prohibited. A slat basket is defined as a device used for taking nongame fish and catfish only. Slat baskets may have only one outside funnel opening and must be made of wood, plastic or cane slats which are placed lengthwise and so constructed that there must be a minimum of four openings in the catching area, each being at least 1½ inches wide and 6 inches long. Fish taken may not be sold.

The slat basket may not be set within 100 yards of the mouth of any river, creek or slough. Slat basket must be checked at least every 72 hours.

Applications for metal tags can be obtained by writing to: Administrative Services, TWRA, P. O. Box 40747, Nashville, TN 37204. If you are applying in person and need directions to the TWRA central office, call 615-781-6585.

So, you really need only to buy or build a couple. Personally, I'd build them and get my permit and have fun!

I hope this helps...

Dave

Edited by wd-40
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Thanks Dave, I am buying a commercial fishing license for 2013, so I am planning on either buying or building a bunch of slat baskets to catfish commercially on both the Hatchie & Mississippi rivers, I was planning on starting with an initial 10 slat baskets and a string of 8-10 trotlines (200-250 hooks) eventually adding to them as time/money allowed.

But like that TWRA clippet you posted states, they have to be made from wood, plastic or cane slats, where as the only ones I know how to build are made out of wire mesh, they looked sort of like a hoop net only a bit more sturdy.

I am sure I can figure out how to build one within TN guidelines but I want to make absolutely sure that I am in compliance or they could fine me or even yank my commercial license for 3 years.

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Well I do enjoy being out on the water, but smelling like fish 24/7/365 isn't going to be all that appealing, small price to pay I guess for being able to paddle &/or putter around the Hatchie & Mississippi every single day though.

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Thanks Whiskey, those look simple enough to build, I wonder how many seasons I would be able to get out of bamboo though.

Riverrat, thanks for the heads up on memphis net and twine, I actually would prefer to use hoop nets, especially the wire mesh kind, but I had a local guy telling me that slat baskets were the way to go so I thought I would look into them more.

You wouldn't happen to know if the wire mesh type hoop nets/traps are legal down here in TN would you? I cant seem to find any statute or regulation saying one way or another.

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Hoop Net

A barrel shaped net made of synthetic cotton, linen, or nylon, and supported by hoops. A hoop net

is also known as a barrel net, set net, funnel net, and trap net. One or more throats are attached

inside the hoop structure. Legal mesh size of hoop nets is one (1) inch or smaller or three (3) inches

or larger on the square. See Section III. for special restriction on 1†or smaller sizes

Dave S

Edited by DaveS
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Thanks Dave, yea I have been trying to research all of this stuff, but the only internet access I have at the moment is through my cellphone and unfortunately I cannot see well enough to read .pdf files since the print is so small and my phone will not enlarge them like it can with the print on this forum.

I do really appreciate all of the help everyone has been giving me, I am really looking forward to this endevour and I hope and pray it will be a successful one.

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Thanks Dave, yea I have been trying to research all of this stuff, but the only internet access I have at the moment is through my cellphone and unfortunately I cannot see well enough to read .pdf files since the print is so small and my phone will not enlarge them like it can with the print on this forum.

I do really appreciate all of the help everyone has been giving me, I am really looking forward to this endevour and I hope and pray it will be a successful one.

We hope so too. Go after it with the best knowledge you can get, be safe, follow the laws and enjoy life at it's fullest! It seems Tennessee has something against "metal" of any type in our waters!

Good luck and keep us posted!

Dave S

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Thanks again guys, I got a little excited and went ahead and got my commercial fishing license Friday, so about 6 months earlier than I originally planned, so I have been busy making trotlines all weekend.

I will probably wait on making my slatbaskets &/or hoop nets until I get all of my trotlines made and out in the water, since I can run trotlines by myself and from my canoe, not ideal I know but still doable, a flatbottom Johnboat would definately make my life easier, especially if I am going to do slatbaskets and hoopnets by myself, so I am probably going to have to buy or trade for one here shortly.

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Well I am making stabilizers/outrigging for the canoe and that will help a great deal, but I will still eventually buy or trade for a flatbottom, I figure if I wait until the weather gets colder I might catch myself a pretty good deal on a nice one.

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Guest Riverrat

I was sent a link for a 14 footer, trailer and trolling motor for $115. on craigslist, but it was sold when I called.

Where do you plan to fish with commercial lic.?

Edited by Riverrat
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Lower end of the Hatchie to start with, I am going to hold off fishing on the Mississippi until I get a bigger boat, the stabilizers I added to the canoe should help some but I haven't had the chance to test them to see how much they help yet.

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I never got the chance to test the stabilizers, I caught a decent deal on a 2008 Fisher 1432 w/trailstar trailer, both in like new condition & then I ordered a 2012 4 hp 4-stroke Nissan outboard to push it around, which should be arriving some time today.

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Amen to that Riverrat! At leat I'd finally get a chance to see New Orleans though LOL

I just ordered a sonar/gps combo (Lowrance Elite-4 DSI) tonight, I will probably pick up some (at least 6, maybe as many as 10) slatbaskets this next week, and I am going to hit Walmart in th next day or two for a Minnkota C2 Endura 50lb motor along with an EverStart DC-29 to power everything.

That, along with everything else that I have either buit or bought should get me off to a pretty good start.

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Golf cart battery eh? Never thought about using one of those, thanks for the heads up Riverrat!

I went down to Nylon Net company in Memphis and picked up 6 slatbaskets, a 300ft spool of rope, 50 gear tags, mesh baitbags, a couple of knives, skinning pinchers, a dozen yo-yos, some terminal tackle and 40 lbs of cheese bait.

I still need to make more anchors and finish painting my fish market sign, but I am slowly but surely getting this endevour off of the ground and in the water.

My sonar/gps should arrive in the next day or two, the DSI technology will probably take some getting used to, the only other "fish finders" I have ever used displayed little cartoon fishies and I ignored all of the other scribbles (structures) on it because guessing was about as good as I was ever able to get trying to read those things.

But hopefully the DSI should help me see the bottom without having to guess what is what, this gear is to expensive to have it get tangled in dead falls or lost in the swift river current.

I am just wondering how much gear (or fish) I am going to loose to theft and/or intentional sabotage though, there are more than a few recreational anglers who think commercial fishing is da debil! And I am quite sure a few of them would go out of their way to screw with my gear or catch.

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Well I couldn't find any golf-cart batteries anywhere around here so I went with the DC29, which I actually was able to find locally at our little Walmart, I also snagged a Minnkota Endura C2 40, a 15lbs river anchor, 10 gallons of fuel, 6 cinder blocks, new numbering, a spare drain plug, a dozen more I-bolts, a large dry box and a smart/speed charger.

All in all I have spent a total of $4339.81 thus far getting equiped, licensed, etc.

I really hope at the very least, that I can make the majority of my money back, of course it would be nice if I could turn a little profit in the process, if nothing else I'll be eating really good though!

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Guest Riverrat

Check out a nearby golf course, see where they get their batteries. A local boat dealer may put you on them.

These amature fishor men think they have the run of the water. If I can patch a net in 5 minutes I'll do it there. If the holes are to big, it back to the house for a repair. Average 1 per week and a couple on weekends. I'm out there 7/365 making a living. They may think different if I came and pissed on their work station. Cause that's what they are doing to mine.

$4339.00 is about what I had to pay after insurance on my last motor. Coldest day of the year and my water pump goes out. I picked up a 6 hp johnson for a kicker motor just incase. I have 2 phones and a CB. But if out of area on both phones and no one is listening on the CB, you can be out there a while drifting.

I follow my wife to a down stream ramp and leave her car. We launch the boat at an up stream ramp. She takes my truck and gets her car, then off to work.

I don't burn unleaded gas in anything I own. So my gas bill runs about .25 per gallon more. Everything is refilled at the end of the day. Plus Sea Foam in everything but the car and truck.

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That is a very smart ramp to ramp system ya got there Riverrat, unfortunately there isn't enough access points on the Hatchie, at least not down this way or I'd try to do something like that myself!

I think there is a golf-cart place in Covington, so the next time I am in Covington I will stop in and ask them about buying a battery, I really would like to have a two batteries on-hand anyway so that if one goes down I can just grab and go with the other with no downtime involved.

I probably won't be carrying a whole lot of fuel around, maybe two gallons at a time since that 4 hp 4 stroke I bought sips on it real gentle like (nothing like my much thirstier 9.9 & 15 two strokes that I used to own), of course I am still breaking it in and not out fighting a current while pushing a fully loaded boat upstream yet either, but I wanted about 5 days of fuel onhand so I can just grab and go in the mornings.

And yea I got a bit of "sticker shock" when I started looking into new instead of used outboards, jeesh the first thought that popped into my head was that I could buy a pretty decent used truck for the cost of a new 9.9hp!

But I figured going new I would have a lot less downtime, all of my other outboards were bought used and abused and it seemed like I spent more time working on them than I did running them out on the water.

Anyway if I start making some money, I will probably invest in another larger flatbottom, I would really love to have something like a Beavertail 2072 monster jon or something for running hoopnets or maybe even gill nets out in the Mississippi, but since the Hatchie gets real tight and real shallow in some places so I figured a 1432 and slatboxes would work better on it, plus be cheaper to get started with and at the very least get me some commercial experience under my belt before I risked life and limb out on "da bigga ribba" guess I will find out for sure here soon, since I am almost ready to start running those slatbaskets, trotlines and yo-yo's along the lower stretch of the Hatchie, well the section inbetween Ripley & the Lower Hatchie Wildlife Refuge anyway.

If you have any advice for selling off any or all of my daily catch I would really appreciate some pointers, one of the ladies here in the neighborhood told me yesterday that the local university used to buy commercially caught turtles for their biology labs, I have my commercial turtle license but I wasn't planning on running any turtle specific traps, I just didn't want ones caught on my other gear to go to waste, which is why I asked the TWRA for one.

I haven't contacted the university yet, but it is definitely on my "todo" list.

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