Do you need a net?

[spinner1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHfgFiDV93o

I don't fishing without one.

Pointed my buddy to this trout and he left his net at home and guy shooting video left net at home.

[Uncle Jesse]

I usually carry a net when trout fishing but rarely need one, but don't we all hope we will need a net?

[sagefisher]

Spinner,

Yep a net is always good to have even if you don't use it often. Combine the net with common sense when it comes to where to cast and where not to, and very few fish get injured.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[fishdog54]

It's like anything. It's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. I think more times than not I've needed it for smaller fish that took a fly too deep to just reach down and unhook it. Even with pinched-down or barbless hooks, there's not a lot of room in a small mouth to maneuver fingers or hemostats sometimes, and you can't have the "patient" wriggling around. A well made net also has that "traditional" appeal! I'm biased though, because in the past, I've made wooden trout nets. Love em,whether they're hanging from a fisherperson or the wall of some rustic cabin!

Best regards, Dave S.

[Troutfisher]

I always use a net on all except for the smallest trout. It's easier on both me and the fish.

[sagefisher]

All of the guides I use on the rivers use rubber nets, very easy on the fish and the hooks don't hang up in the netting. I have the soft nylon nets, both the long handled boat net and the short trout stream net, but I have set both of them aside for the newer rubber nets in the same size. About the only time I don't use a net is when I can slide a hook release tool down the leader while the fish is still in the water and release it that way.

Larry ---sagefisher---

[Lotech]

I always use a net. Whether it's a big fish or small. If the basket is deep enough, you can always keep the fish in the water while extracting the hook. That being said, nets are like spare tires. If you take one along you won't need it. If you don't take one, you will.

[fishdog54]

That new rubber netting "seems" to be catching on. Sorry, I don't like them! They are some kind of ugly, IMHO! Why take a beautifully made wooden net and stick one of those abominations on it??? Sure, stick one on an ugly aluminum or graphite net frame, but it sorely detracts from the beauty of a wooden net. I would rather not carry a net at all!!! Just my $.02 worth!

Best regards, Dave S.

[JohnScott]

The short answer is "No."

For the kind of fishing I do, wade fishing for trout in moving water, and considering that landing fish is one of my lowest priorities, and that I tend to a minimalist approach, a net is just one more thing to get in the way and detract from my experience.

Having watched any number of video's of guys using nets to land trouts, it usually strikes me that it takes them longer to land and release a fish than it would someone not using a net. Skillfully releasing a trout landed without a net is no more harmful to the fish than releasing a fish landed with the aid of a net.

Since this was posted on the "Learning Experience" Forum, I think a couple observations about the situation presented are warranted. First, if you want to land a fish, put yourself in position to do so. Second, if you want to land a fish, rely on yourself and not some guy with a camera, especially when he is not in position to help.

The guy in the video who is fishing would need a very long handled net to land that fish, probably longer than the rod he is using. ( Likewise for the guy with the camera. ) Fishing off a high bank is seldom a good idea. He could have approached from the opposite side of the creek and been in wadable water, best I can tell studying the video. If he had been wading he almost certainly would have been able to land a 20" trout ( which may well be an overestimation of the fish he had on ), with or without a net. Or, if his cameraman had been down on the stream instead of up on the bank, he might have been of some help, again, with or without a net.

A bit of planning after being put on this big trout probably would have resulted in a landed fish. That planning not including bringing along a net in the first place.


John

[bluefish]

Had he been wading, the fish wouldn't have been hooked in the first place in that small high-banked stream. The fish also would be likely just have wrapped around anyone in the water without a net and broke off. A net was a needed in that situation unless you wanted to seriously damage the fish. Better to carry a net than to not.