354 
Ittinois Natura History Survey BULLETIN 
Vol. 26, Art. 4 
Fig. 13.—View of a trammel net, showing the two exterior large-mesh nets and the inner 
small-mesh net. 
formed when the inner net is carried 
through a mesh opening of the left-exte- 
rior net. The fish is held in the pocket 
until released by a fisherman, fig. 14. 
Trammel nets can be fished in all types 
of habitats found on the Mississippi. The 
method by which the trammel net is fished 
differs with habitat. If a backwater or 
quiet stretch of the river is to be fished, 
the net is set, fig. 15. If the river channel 
is to be fished, the net is floated or drifted 
downstream. 
Trammel net sets and floats were made 
during the survey at some of the field sta- 
tions in the D-MR section of the river. 
A summary of the trammel net fishing 
data is presented in table 24. Except for 
data collected from experimental tram- 
mel netting at Grafton in October, 1944, 
and at Quincy in November of the same 
year, the data relative to catches made in 
trammel nets of various lengths and mesh 
sizes were combined. Data from the ex- 
perimental trammel netting at Grafton 
and at Quincy were not included in the 
previous report on the survey (Barnickol 
& Starrett 1951). 
In 1947, trammel nets accounted for 
25.1 per cent of the commercial catch 
from the Missouri section of the river and 
14.5 per cent from the lilinois section 
(Upper Mississippi River Conservation 
Committee 1948, third section:19). 
Catches With Set Trammel Nets. 
—The set method of trammel netting is 
the one most generally used by commer- 
cial fishermen of the upper Mississippi 
River. When this method is used, the 
net is set around a school of fish. Some- 
times it is laid out in a zigzag or spiral 
fashion. Frequently the shore line is used 
as a backstop for the net. After the net 
has been set around the fish, a disturb- 
ance in the water is created with plungers, 
fig. 16. Usually the trapped fish become 
excited and, when they attempt to escape 
