anyone here catch/castnet their own live bait?

[jimmythegreek]

I was wondering if any of u guys who use live bait catch ur own? I used to castnet in saltwater for bait, and I just tried it this year from the boat in freshwater. With bait at 5/6 bucks a dozen, its xpensive to use IMO. Ive seen guys w the minnow traps, was gonna buy one and try it they are less than ten bucks. I made a few attempts at some herring on the surface last week on swartswood but didnt get any. They are fast suckers, I threw right on boils from a good distance away and nada, the same throw on saltwater bait woulda had a couple. The bait dives so fast when the net hits the water its unreal, they would come up as 5-10 feet down bait balls on the FF after the throw. And the new regs say 10 bait max at a time when it comes to herring, total BS. Anyone got any tips to share?

[Skunk City]

A buddy of mine usually drops a couple bait traps wherever we fish. Never any huge numbers, but some small sunfish and other small baitfish usually end up in them. The only place we've used the castnet was in the meadowlands in one of the Hackensack River estuaries. Got a lot of baitfish and one HUGE carp that we thought originally was a snag lol.

[sonnyjim]

In the NJ fresh water reg. you can not use a castnet in any lake or trout stocked waters in NJ

[AndyS]

Umbrella net works for me.

[tycomps]

umbrella used to be my favorite, just bought a cast net but have yet to try it.