Another thread on rubber nets made me curious as to the best way to attach/carry the net. I use the big magnet method attached at the handle and clipped to my back and I guess it works ok. I tried attaching it to the top of the net and that made carrying easier but it made it harder to net the fish. It is a bit of a yoga class to reattach after use. I was thinking of getting one of those big zingers…
http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/31622?feat=1113-GN2&page=gear-keeper-retractors
I use a magnet too, but I took kind of a hybrid approach. I attached the magnet to the top of the net so that the handle is hanging down when I reach back for it. I left the coiled “lanyard” attached to the handle of the net though, so that it doesn’t interfere with landing the fish.
Great, thanks for that!
The Gear Keeper net zinger is EXACTLY what I use (for 2 years) & it’s great. Just pull your net to the front & when done, just let it go. Fantastic & easy! In fact, I have Gear Keepers for my sling pack for tools & my waterproof camera. The great thing is they all have quick releases so you can take the item off. With the camera zinger, I attach it to my sling pack & also clip it to a belt loop for use at Browns’ games, the zoo, soccer games, etc. If I want someone else to take a picture, I just squeeze the quick release. I could ADVERTISE these things!
I recommend Gear Keepers 100% & they are also the strongest zingers I have ever used. No, I am NOT affiliated with them in any way…just a totally happy customer.
This is the one I have for my net… http://www.gearkeeper.com/flyfish/landingnetretrac.html click on fly fishing to see their other stuff. The micro zinger (with screw post) works great thru the cordura nylon belt tabs on my Simms Sling Pack…no tools hanging in front of me but instantly available.
Mike
Ditto John N. I used cable ties to attach the magnet to the top of the net. The big advantage of hanging it this way is that the net is much less likely to hang up on brush when it is between your shoulders.
I used to use a het holder sold by Cabela’s that had plastic components that snapped together. It was a little tricky snapping back together but it could be done. Then I went to a very strong earth magnet type holder and that works really well and is easy to ‘snap’ back together, just get the two pieces within a couple inches of each other and they do the snapping. I always hang by net with the actual net up by my the back of my fly vest. The net has a stretch cord that I attach to a ring on the side of my vest so I can release the net if needed and it won’t float away. Larry —sagefisher—
This is the way my kids and I have been rigging our nets for awhile…
…fairly self-explanatory and it works for us…
I’ve got a bunch of gear keepers but they are just too big, bulky and weighty…
PT/TB 
PT, you haven’t had a problem breaking the frame of your net when jerking it loose?
We PULL it loose… I find it best not to be jerkin’ anything while FF :p…
PT/TB
Yet another vote for the John-N and PT method. The bag doesn’t catch on the bushes or drag in the water and the cord is out of the way too. The magnets are strong, but the net frame is stronger, no fear of breaking it (even my older, cheaper one). It takes a little practice to bring the magnet back together - the trick is to learn where your hand must be near your bum for the top of the net to be near the magnet (ymmv).
Greg,
I just hold the magnet attached to my net in my fingers, reach over the top of my back, with my right hand and wham…the magnets snap together…from time to time, I must clean off sand that accumulates on the facings of both magnets…works great when it’s almost dark and the big boys are moving about…
PT/TB
I use the magnet system as well. Works great. You do, however, need to have the secondary connection to the net handle should it get loose while landing or releasing the fish.
Get rid of the net and get a Landing/Helping Hand “Tailing Glove” instead. Stores in your pocket when you don’t need it, clips to any D-ring or your belt when you do, and can be used for practically any size freshwater…unlike a net.
You mean, maybe if I didn’t jerk my fly out of the fishes mouth, but pulled instead, I might get more fish on? Thanks, will try.
PT - generally I agree, and even did so when I used one of those 2-part snap-rings for car vs house keys. However, two points (esp. ‘cause others are ‘listening’ and want to understand). 1), I prefer to not tuck the rod between my legs or under my arm while re-attaching the magnet with two hands; 2) more critical – I have abandoned the vest for the last few years and use a chest-pack with pouch on the back, and the connecting point is low enough that I can’t reach it over my shoulder, so have to guide the magnet into docking ‘blind’. I guess I was responding with my own experience and not the general condition.
Quite fastwater you were fishing in that pic!
Just stick the handle in my belt in the back.
It’ll probably open up a can of (San Juan) worms and I don’t mean any disrespect at all to whatfly, but one of the benefits I’ve always thought to the use of a net in general is the ability to land a fish sooner than would be the case with hand landing, and I can’t imagine a glove changes that equation all that much. I’ve lived it myself and watched it countless times with fishing partners who eschew the use of nets, I can get a fish in the net much hotter and sooner than I typically can in my hand. Even if I’m not doing so consciously, I have to fight the fish longer when I hand land him, and when I hand land him a little too soon, I often wind up engaging in that dance we’ve all done of trapping him against my body as he flops around, or dropping him and (hopefully) re-landing him, or inadvertently squeezing him just a little harder in order to stop the squirming, etc. Either way, unless it’s dinks we’re talking about, I’ve never felt that I’m landing the fish as gently and expeditiously and returning it to the water as soon when I’m doing by hand instead of utilizing a net. Just one man’s opinion.
Certainly agree John, except in the case of little fish perhaps.
No offence taken, but you miss the point of the Landing Hand. The mesh allows you to grip the fish firmly, without squeezing, and you can release much faster than you can with a net, because once you free the barb, you just let the fish go. Plus you do not have the fish flopping around in the net rubbing off it slime with every turn. No muss, no fuss, and you never have to deal with the fish-is-larger-than-the-net problem, and the damage that can cause. If I’m fishing for dinner, I use a net. Otherwise I find them tedious and unnecessary. YMMV.
I agree with billspey. I use a ghost rubber boat net even when wading and tuck it into my wading belt in the back. Easy access and great support for the old tired back.