H'Islander

Question for E-Conn or those who might have some commercial experience....Is untended submerged gill netting for fluke legal in CT?

I was drifting for fluke with some friends off of a local beach. We all snagged "bottom" at the same time - There was little current, and the snag seemed to be moving, so we were pulling this thing up thinking it might be a ghost trap or other rigging. As it came up we noted it was a gill net and thought it might be adrift until we noticed it was weighted to the bottom. We took the coordinates down and dropped the net, we thought it sank away but it must not sink fast and it got tangled in the props when we tried to motor away. Now we had to cut it loose as we were drifting near some rocks. as we were cutting it loose we noticed it had fluke tangled in the mesh and it dawned on us that this net was set on purpose for fluke.

I called the CT poachers hot line and asked it that practice was legal - they didn't know and were supposed to call me back but they never did.

These fish that we saw had to have been in the net for days, they were deeply tangled, scarred and bruised heavily from the net.

I've never heard of an untended gill net.