Trout Bag replacement

[Heritage Angler]

RR - Don't let this project scare you - it's a piece of cake! Here's what you'll need:

- A Griffin bobbin threader (you could use a piece of fine piano wire instead).
- 20 feet of 30lb dacron fly line backing (I dyed mine black with Rit dye).
- a dozen or so wire bread bag ties.

1. Cut the cord on the old bag to remove it from the net frame. You can cut it in several places to expedite the process.

2. With the old bag and attachment cord removed from the frame, now is a good time to check the finish of the frame to see if it needs to be touched up. The finish on mine was pretty good, but I used some 000 steel wool to smooth the finish, and give it a nice satin appearance. Wipe it with a damp cloth to clean it up, and make sure there's no gunk in the grooves or holes in the frame.

3. Make a "ball" with the end of the backing - I put a couple half hitches, one on top of the other, in the end of the backing, and heated it with a lighter to remove the frayed end. This ball must be big enough to keep from being pulled through a hole in the frame under tension.

4. Position the new bag on the frame using the bread ties. the bag is supposed to be on the inside of the frame. I used a bread tie every 3 or 4 holes to hold things in place - they get removed as you string the net up.

5. Starting at the handle end, feed the backing through the frame from the outside (use the end of the backing without the ball on it), pull through until the ball on the end of the backing is flush with the frame.

6. Feed the backing through the net bag just below the top rim of the bag, and bringing the backing over the rim of the bag, feed it back through the same hole in the frame it went into. The bobbin threader works great for this.

7. Move to the next hole in the frame by laying the backing in the groove in the outside of the frame, and repeat step 6. Do this all the way around the frame until you get back to the handle. Remove the bread ties as you get to each one in the attachment process.

8. At the last hole, pull the backing tight and put a couple more half hitches in it to keep it from pulling through the hole in the frame.

Nothing done here that can't be undone, and started again. It's a lot easier than this all sounds!