Have oftened wondered whether to use a net or not when trout fishing? Which do you folks think is better on the fish? If I use a net the fish seems to lay fairly still in the net while I remove the fly but I know some body slime is removed by the net. When not using a net the fish often flops quite a bit in shallow water and I then need to hold the fish, with a wet hand to remove the fly. What do you folks do and why?
Bill from PA
I use a net. It seems that the conventional wisdom with trout is to use a net. With a net, there is less of a chance of playing the fish to exhaustion. You can keep the fish in the water while you remove the hook. I think more body slime will be removed with your hands than a net.
[This message has been edited by Devil’s Ditch (edited 14 November 2005).]
pafisherman,
Net? Not!
RW
“We fish for pleasure; I for mine, you for yours.” -James Leisenring on fishing the wet fly-
More often than not, I do not carry a net. Bulky, vest weighs enough already, superstition(-:, and I can release a fish easy enough without a net and without touching the fish. If I were to go fishing with the express intent of keeping fish, then I probably would take a net.
Allan
Net ??? It is like the kiss of death a net or a camera is a guarantee I wont catch a fish.Plus I like to walk a ways. Nets just get in the way and hung in the brush.
Nets are bad luck
Several years ago I received a “ketchem release” as a gift. Not the sort of gadget I would get for myself. But it turns out it works very well.
This tool makes it much easier to release the fly without touching the fish. Works 90% of the time. I don’t know if they are still available, but I’ve seen some Dr.Slick hemostats with a loop on one tip that look like the work the same way.
When I was a kid I had a red plastic tool with a large “bulb” on one end and a small bulb on the other. It was the same sort of tool, only this one cost around .29 cents.
[This message has been edited by dudley (edited 14 November 2005).]
It depends on the situation.
If I am fishing in a place where I may encounter larger fish and where I may be fishing a 7X or smaller tippet; I usually bring a net so I can release the stronger fish quicker. I use a folding net that I keep folded in a holster on my belt so it?s out of the way and isn’t a big deal carrying it to use if and when I may need it.
IF I feel I need the net for a particular fish I use it; if not I just steady the fish by grabbing its lower lip while leaving it in the water as I remove the hook. I probably release 99 & 9/10% of my fish this way without a net and almost never have to take the fish out of the water. I have the chewed up thumb to prove it 
.
Not any more. Most of my fishing is done in areas that require fighting through heavy brush to get to the stream, which makes a net more of a hinderence than a help. Even still, up to this past summer I was carrying a net clipped to the back of my vest. Unfortunately, I went to slide down a bank not realizing that the net had caught on a branch. Needless to say, I was suprised by both the sudden stop and the fact that the frame of the net could support my weight. After I managaged to break the frame and fall into the water, I decided that that was the end of carrying a net.
generally speaking, no, I don’t carry a net.
although there are waters I fish where you’d better have one, hell, you better have a big one if you want any chance of easily landing the fish. a hot fish in hot current is hell on wheels to land by hand.
mgj
I use a net. That way I don’t have to play fish to exhaustion or drop them a bunch of times. Seems like the responsible thing to do for catch and release. I can get the fish back in the water more quickly and they aren’t as tire.
-John
I own a net,Boga Grip and the ketchem Release…lol…but I never carry a 1 of em…it’s always the forceps and a no hands release…when I know I’m in pike water or heading for it…I’ll have the hookout in my hip pocket …and still, A no hands release…There are those rare occasions where you do have to handle the fish a bit…but I don’t catch that many monster pike to warrent the carry of a brush catcher…
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
Everyone wants to excel in this sport but at the same time we let traditionalists place restrictions on our tactics, methods, and ideas. I always assumed that fly fishing was a sport that allowed imagination, creation, adaptation, investigation, dedication, education, revelation? : Fox Statler, On Spinners (Not the dainty Dry Fly kind) “Spinner’d Minner Fly”
“Wish ya great fishing”
Bill
C&R Net .
The C&R net was invented years ago by Jeff Henry of Signature Concepts a local company. He supplies many of the big name companys you are all familiar. Others have long copied his design but he says it is too costly to fight it in court.
No Net
My fish have teeth, nets tangle too quick.
A 200 lb tarpon will not fit in most nets.
I do not need a net for redfish. I would use a net more in a boat than wading. If I do not want to touch the fish, I use my tools, I cannot remember the last time I used a net. I did not see any of the pirates with them. One or two might have sneaked on by but as a rule no net in Saltwater.
I could see the need for a net for Trout fishing where you need to be so very careful with the fish. But heck here you can throw the fish on the bank for 10 minutes and then back in the water to fight again.
Harold
[This message has been edited by Harold Hattaway (edited 14 November 2005).]
This has been a very interesting discussion. Here is my 2 cents… I absolutely use a C&R net for trout! First, the rubberized material is not as prone to take away the protective slime and scales. It is also less likely to get tangled in the teeth or tackle. There are so many posts on other forums where PETA is trying to outlaw fishing because they claim that it is excessively cruel to the fish. What more do they need than to see someone land a nice trout, hold it out of the water for an extended length of time, dropping the fish and then tossing it back??? The chances of that fish living to fight another day is very slim… As already repeatedly stated, using a net allows you to land the fish much quicker and not playing the fish to totaly exhaustion, contain the fish while the hook is removed (particularly if using barbed hooks) and gently and properly revive the fish and release it back into the water. Proper C&R technique and showing concern for the resource will help to keep the attacks from groups like PETA at bay.
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Catch and release net here, too.
Mike
There is no greater fan of flyfishing than the worm.
Patrick McManus
I am a slow learner. Last year I didn’t use a net because I was just going to put them back. But I brought them on land to get the fly out. Since then I have learned more about what damages or hurts fish, I started using a net with a longer handle. Now they and the fly tangle in the net. I have forceps but have not tried them. I don’t think I would be as quick or adept as Bill probably is. I see tools to release the hook but they are 20 bucks apiece and you need two to cover all size flies. So…I am going to try to use 3/8" pvc pipe and cut a slot in it…maybe with a flare at the top to help get the line into it, and then just slide it down to the fish and push the hook back out…and never touch the fish or take him out of the water at all. Haven’t tried it yet…but bought the pvc…actually bought some hard plastic pipe that fits to a toilet or faucet water line.
Gem
I did not use a net for many years. I fish for trout, salmon and steelhead in upstate NY. I was wading in Lake Ontario in February and caught one large steelhead after another. It took forever to land then release them while wading in waist high waves! Since then I began carrying a net and I have been able to land and release large fish quickly. I now also use a net on small streams and am able to handle the occasional large fish better.
Not using a net works fine for me until the fishing gets great - then I really need one!
I now use barbless hooks all of the time as 99.9% of my fish are trout . On streams I just use my fingers to cradle the weight of the fish in the water and unhook with the other hand . In lakes I use a longhandled C&R net when fishing from a boat to lessen the time the fish is on the line . So exhaustion is not too big a factor . I believe that for trout fishing barbless is the way to go . You need too strong a grip on the fish if you have to rip a barb out of their mouth . IMO
I don’t use a net, and never touch a fish I don’t intend to keep. I use forceps to remove hooks, and sometimes tear up a fly doing so, but that’s a small price to pay. I don’t use barbless hooks, but do squeeze down the barbs on the hooks I use.
“Why you should use a net”
The subjet of “Why you should use a net” has come up before and I put
this together so here it is again.
I am on the board of the Fox Valley chapter of TU and 2 of our board
members (Jim Hlaban and Todd Hanson) were on the state C&R committee.
The final recommendation of the committee were adopted by TU national.
After working with these people you come to find out there they are
really committed to C&R and to spreading toe word about Proper C&R. I
know from my experience the following the steps out lined in CPR that
the fish I release do better then the fish I caught with out using the
proper C&R. I have little problem with fish getting caught on the net,
the net I use is a fine mesh and they don’t get stuck on it. Once in a
great while a fish will catch a tooth on the net but it is easily freed.
I put the question to both Jim and Todd and here are there replies
Jim’s…
> From: Hlaban, Jim
> Subject: RE: Why a net?
>
> It allows you to get the fish under your control sooner, before it is
> exhausted. It provides a soft wet buffer between you and the
> fish, you can
> suspend the fish in the water easier, preferably upside down.
> Ask her if she
> has seen our video. A demonstration of how to do it is
> valuable. That is why
> we felt the video was important.
Todd’s
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Todd Hanson
> Subject: RE: Why a net?
>
>
> Steve,
>
> Feel free to send this to your friend…
>
> The CPR method was developed by a group of TU leaders in Wisconsin who
> relied heavily upon an exhaustive search of the C&R literature and the
> advice of one of the country’s leading fisheries managers,
> Bob Hunt, of the
> WDNR, to develop the CPR steps.
>
> The goal was to develop something simple and memorable. They
> also wanted
> something that would apply to ALL types of trout fishers.
> (Your friend using
> barbless flies is a small subset of all trout anglers and can
> get away with
> some things that someone fishing with barbed treble hooks or
> nite crawlers
> simply cannot.)
>
> Given this, the CPR method works kind of like a doctor’s oath
> – it helps
> all types of trout anglers, plus it does no harm. Two points
> in the process
> apply here:
>
> 1. DON’T PLAY FISH TO EXHAUSTION.
> 2. HANDLE FISH IN THE NET.
>
> NETS ALLOW FOR QUICKER RELEASING = LESS EXHAUSTION
> With your hand you certainly can capture a fish or bring it
> to your hand to
> release a hook, but we hold that this is almost always done
> only after the
> fish is MORE exhausted than if it had been netted. If you try
> to counteract
> this by grabbing a fish while it is fresh, you still have problems –
> risking have it slipping back out of your hand, falling onto
> things, having
> to be captured a second time, etc. With a net, you get them
> under control
> just once and put them back fresher.
>
> Interestingly, next time you net a fish, notice how it “gives
> up” to its
> situation of having been captured. Once netted, fish seem to
> surrender and
> don’t thrash about much (given you keep them the net bag in
> the water as, of
> course, you should). I don’t know why this is. Maybe there’s
> a lesson with
> those horse tamers who envelop horses in grain these days to
> restrain and
> calm them.
>
> A recent study a few years ago demonstrated that 80% of
> exhausted fish kept
> out of the water for 60 seconds and returned to the water
> died within a
> couple days, whereas just 10% of exhausted fish returned
> after being out of
> the water for 15 seconds died. Remember, those fish that
> scamper out of your
> grasp may still be “dead fish swimming” if they’ve been kept
> out of the
> water too long. Trout gills are fragile. If you use the net,
> you can get a
> firm but gentle grasp, get the hook/s out, and get the fish
> back in the
> water. In fact, you can do the entire process while the fish
> is still in the
> water, as I usually do:
> - get the fish to the bottom of the net
> - tuck your rod
> - reach into the water to turn the fish upside down
> - grasp the fish through the net fabric
> - poke the
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