Entanglement Experiences: Especially Both Hands/Arms.

[Timeliner]

I have often said ( and proved ) that the dive flag/ rope/weight is the most dangerous piece of equipment that I own. I hate dive flags ! They are just Idiot Magnets that Try to Kill You.

 

[Nelson1345]

Wow! Double pucker factor!
Thanks Thalassamania. I think I'll go cruise the gillnet boat docks again and study 'em some more. It's definitely helpful to visualize contingincies with a visual aide. I also will pay more attention to "net behavior" when I pass fishing fleets on my motorsailer. I'd always watched for the end of the set floats with binoculars but watching the net itself, near the surface, could be illuminating.
I didn't formally appreciate how invisible they become under water.
They're pretty darn noticeable on the surface!

When encountering them underwater are there usually floats still attatched?
I had assumed they would be the lst visual tip off available in most cases
that a net is near. Or else, the surrounding heavier rope. Guess it's not going to be that easy...

I have never seen a net with the corks still on it in the water. The corks float away and the lead sinks. The web alone stays neutral and moves with the current.
I been around these gill nets a lot cutting it out of the fishing boats prop after they run there own nets over! (pays great) I found that this stuff gets caught on everything!! Masks, regs, lights.... What works good for me is to keep as much of the free net in front of me as possible and then use a small serrated knife to cut any spots that might be caught and work my way back out. I have used a smooth blade but it don't cut at all. These nets can't be ripped by hand either tough stuff.

 

[jim T.]

Thanks Nelson1345.
Do you have any suggestions about ways to see/spot them when they're floating neutral to avoid swimming into them?
Will hand held dive lights bounce any light off of the mono, show any discerning glint at all?

I did get to watch some fishermen reeling up a gill net on a boat ramp the other day and it
certainly was invisible underwater! It give a greenish tint when exposed to daylight, so I wondered if a light or filtered lens on a light might reveal that better. Probably not though.
Wish they'd outlaw the stuff. But then you'd be out of a job!