A trammel net is made up of three panels suspended from a float line and attached to a single lead line. The outer two panels are of a larger mesh size than the inner panel. The fish swim through the outer panel, then hits the inner panel and carry it through the other outer panel, creating a bag and trapping the fish. Smaller and larger fish become wedged, gilled or tangled.

Trammel nets are usually made of nylon or cotton webbing. It has floats and a lead line so it is kept at a certain depth in the water column. The net can be a stationary bottom net, drifting, floating, or encircling. Bottom set nets are adapted to sample fish on the bottom to mid water depths. Floating nets can be dragged through streams to sieve out the fish.

The biases involved with this type of sampling are size selectivity, and if the fish are present. The mesh size is specific for a certain size of fish, smaller and larger fish will not be sampled. Only the fish present in the area will be sampled.© 2009 Veins of Life Watershed Society / All Rights Reserved / if you wish to use any info for commercial or non commercial usage you must obtain permissions from The Veins of Life Watershed Society