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“This is a Choctaw County tradition
that is dying out,” said the 44-year-old
roberts. “Back in the day, they either
had to run moonshine or run hoop nets.”
roberts said James Hall, Walter Wayne
Hall and Connie Littlepage introduced
him to net fishing, and he’s learned from
them all.
“James’ daddy did it,” roberts said.
“That’s the way his daddy fed him. it’s
important to him. C.A. ezell (ezell’s Fish
Camp founder) used to run hoop nets for
his commercial business. When they got
out of it, they had a bunch of old hoop
nets in a barn. So we started using them
to fish with.”
Although both roberts and Hall have
commercial fishing licenses, a requirement to fish with hoop nets, neither has
to do it to feed their families.
“We catch all we want,” roberts said.
“We don’t sell them. We fill our freezers
and then give them away. We give them
to people for birthdays or some other
reason to have a fish fry. We’ve got a
friend who is fixing to retire from the
(paper) mill, so we’re giving them the
fish for the retirement party. i just really
get a kick out of running hoop nets.”
roberts, who has worked in oil fields all
over the world for the last 25 years, said
timing is the key for setting hoop nets
successfully.
Gone Fishin’
By David rainer, Alabama Department of Conservation and natural resources
W
ith 6 feet of water covering the parking lot at the Tuscahoma
Landing boat ramp, phillip roberts and James Hall didn’t hesitate to
adjust. The road leading down the hill toward the Tombigbee river
became the makeshift ramp for the roberts’ custom-built aluminum
boat made specifically for the task ahead – running hoop nets.
roberts said their hoop netting is a tribute to the past when the folks along the
river scraped by on whatever they could do to put food on the table. in the 20th
century in rural Choctaw County, if you didn’t cruise, cut or haul timber, the
choices were somewhat limited.
38 | BLAZE | Spring/Summer 2014
“What we do is wait until the springtime
to do our fishing,” he said. “That’s when
the fish go up the rivers to spawn, and
they run the banks. They run the banks
for two reasons, to get out of the current and to feed. All your baitfish, the
minnows and shad, are in the bushes or
running the bank.
“When we set our nets, we want a good
bank where there are not a lot of trees
where your nets will get hung. You want
a place with current, but you don’t want
any eddies. if the water eddies, it will
make your net fold up. We tie the head
line to a tree or something. Then we put
a float on the tail line. it’s just easier to
grab the line that way. Some people will
anchor the tail line and use a drag to find
the line. That’s a lot of trouble, which is
why we use floats.”
roberts said the equipment is very
important for a successful trip. A reliable
outboard with a wide, sturdy boat are
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