fish trap help

[itsacrispy]

Hey all,

So in my newbness, I figured I could simply stick my net into my 150 and snag the royal gramma for dyngoe in 5 minutes or less. Suffice it to say, it didn't work. I even enlisted my wife, and after half an hour and almost killing Durwin's xenia frag, we called it quits. The gramma promptly came up to my face and mocked me.

That said, can anyone suggest a tried and true method of catching this guy? I'd really rather not take the rock work apart, as things are finally settling down. I've read of people using empty two liter soda bottles w/ food inside, but I'm afraid the gramma will just jet right out when it sees my hand coming in.

Thanks all,
Mike

 

[patchin]

Catching fish is one of the hardest things to do. I had a fish trap and it took me a month to catch our maroon clown.

 

[Thales]

Buy or borrow a fish trap - 'the trap' is good - and be very patient.

 

[phishphood]

Try the 2L bottle with the top inverted. Cut it off ~where the curve stops and flip it around. Poke some small holes all around the body of the bottle. Tie some string to the edge of where the inverted bottle top contacts the top of the rest of the bottle and leave that part out of the tank. Toss some food in the trap and sit and wait with a beer outside the tank, string in hand. You only have ~3 or 4 tries to get it right though. Fish learn pretty quickly. Using a clear bottle also helps alot. Goodluck.

 

[itsacrispy]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll try the 2litre bottle first.

 

[patrickb]

I once caught a damsel fish (probably the hardest fish to catch) with hook and line that was attached to a chopstick. I bought the smallest hook possible from a fly fishing shop and made sure to take off the barb. I used mysis shrimp as bait.

 

[itsacrispy]

Thanks patrick, but I don't want to injure the fish.

 

[patrickb]

The injury to the fish is minor--especially when compared to the psychological toll of getting chased by nets for an hour and the physiological toll of transcontinental shipment. Anyways, you might want to try it if everything else fails.

 

[itsacrispy]

Thanks Patrick, I see your point. I really do hope that would be the last resort for me tho.