This is a warning to all diver who steal for my hoopnet

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by wiredantz

last night, only one out there....zodiac drive straight to me, dive right at my hoopnet..... Let me know how you would deal with this problem? We are talking about INTENTIONAL ACTIONS. PREMEDItATED. I am talking about the bad apples, who pop out there head and swim directly to hoop net to hoop net, and who jump and dive directly by your hoopnet, while your the only there for MILES.

I already told you what I would do Frank. As soon I saw them coming I'd paddle over to the net closest to them and pull it, and then I'd pull every net they moved towards before they got to it specifically so they couldn't check them before I did. Fresh checked nets have no bugs. You don't even have to pull them out, just drop them back down. It's not like they will find bugs in nets you have just checked.

Once I checked all my nets I'd then paddle over to the boat and tell them flat out I do not appreciate them diving my nets, and that any time they tried to so in the future I'd do everything I could to check them all before they got to them. I'd also tell them that I'm recording their CF number and if they continue to pull this shit I'm going to report them.

What they are doing is technically illegal as they are interfering with your legal right to hoopnet:

" California Fish and Game Code Section 2009

(a) A person shall not willfully interfere with the participation of any individual in the lawful activity of shooting, hunting, fishing, falconry, hunting dog field trials, hunting dog training, or trapping at the location where that activity is taking place. (b) A violation of this section is punishable pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 12000. (c) Any person convicted for a violation of this section that occurred within two years of a prior violation of this section which resulted in a conviction is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than one year, by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) and not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both imprisonment and fine...."

People do all kinds of crazy shit out there. I had a friend that actually made net decoys for hooping a local breakwater. Just ropes with lighted milk jug floats and little rebar anchors he made. He'd deploy half a dozen of them on each end of his sets then when divers tried to dive them he'd check his real nets before they could while they were looking for the fake nets. This also created a buffer area between him and other hoopnetters as people didn't usually drop their nets in the fake decoy nets. That may seem over the top but he said it worked for him.

I'm just saying use your head. One thing that won't work is dropping rocks on them because they will just put them in your nets.

I'd say keep an eye out for them, check your nets before they get to them, record their CF numbers, and tell them to stop it, or your going to report them to the DFG.

That's what I do, and it works for me.

Jim