Landing Nets for lure fishing

[Steve Burke]

Peter Waller:

 I have a Calibre net but rarely, if ever, use it now. What put me off was that the very soft mesh was breathed into the rakers of a pike and I had a devil of a job freeing the fish from the net. The Huntsman net is hard but I don't class it as rough. I am convinced it is fish friendly in that it removes minimal slime. A soft net tends to wrap a fish in a slime removing mesh.

I've very occasionally had the mesh caught in the gill rakers of a pike - but this has happened on a number of different types of net, not just the Titeweave ones. The only ones immune to this were meshes with large holes, which had other disadvantages. Having said that it's not a usual occurence by any means.

 

The upside of a soft mesh is that if a pike rolls itself up in the net (which jacks often do) it doesn't seem to do the fish much damage compared to a harder mesh. I think I'm right that Bruno and his team have found something similar when testing match fishing nets recently.

 

I take Peter's point about nets taking off slime. This appears to happen because it soaks into the material. However with a very tight weave there's less space in the weave for the slime to accumulate.

 

All meshes are a compromise and in extensive trials I found that the Titeweve mesh was the best I could find for pike fishing.

 

I'd add that I had no axe to grind here as I could fit any mesh to the frames I'd designed. The biggest downside to the Titeweave meshes was that in the Pikemesh size they were slightly more expensive than the competition. But what's a pound or two extra when it comes to fish safety?

[Newt]

Steve - given the issues you mention, I fail to understand why no thought to a net of the kind I posted a picture of above.

 

- slick so will not catch in any body parts (including gills) or remove slime to any great extent.

 

- mesh is not what I would consider large by any means.

 

- not subject to a fish being able to ball itself in the mesh, They have no place to get stuck/get purchase and the net won't have that much loose material in any event.

 

- no-stick for lures and hooks. They simply don't get caught.

 

- the net easily expands to it's full 3+ foot depth with a decent size fish inside. Maybe some tail sticking out if you have caught one over about 39-40 inches but that is the light part so no real problem.

 

- largest fish I've had in one is a catfish of around 40 lbs but it did fine with her. And the spines on catfish fins are rough so they catch in most net material but no problems with this stuff.

 

Is it just another case of very conservative UK anglers and "well, we've never used anything like that before" or am I missing a point somewhere?

 

Mind you (or anyone) - I have no vested interest in these nets and certainly won't be affected by anything that happens to UK fish (other than the fact that I feel bad when you folks are upset).

 

[ 10. January 2003, 02:52 AM: Message edited by: Newt ]

[Tim Kelly]

Hi Newt

 

Those rubber nets sound like a great idea. They aren't available over here though, which is why most people haven't tried them.

Martin used to have a great net, which he bought (mesh only) from America. It was a rubber coated mesh but the mesh was knotted, and so it became illegal to use over here. Since then we've been using either the Harris net or a tightweave net when we need to net fish. Neither are very satisfactory though. If you use the net as a pen to hold fish in the water with, I think the Harris net is a bit better as it's stiffer and less inclined to get hopelessly tangled if the fish spins, but you get much more fin splitting if you lift the fish out of the water with it. The tightweave net is better for lifting the fish from the water with but terrible if the fish spins in the net. The soft mesh can get wrapped in the spare trebles and the fishes maxilla and done up so tightly it's hard to undo!

I always try to hand land fish if it's reasonable practical to do so, and keep them in the water, just holding their heads out if possible. Bigger fish get the net, just to make sure they're landed, but they are only very rarely lifted from the water in the net.

I'd be very interested in trying one of the Frabil or Beckman "pen" type nets which are coated and knotless, made for Musky, but they are very expensive and would cost a lot to send over.

 

[ 10. January 2003, 10:41 AM: Message edited by: Tim Kelly ]

[Steve Burke]

Newt, I confess I've never seen one of the rubber meshes, let alone used one. What's the largest size available?

 

Has anyone any experience of using them for pike? They certainly look interesting.

[The Diamond Geezer]

I like the sound of the mesh that Peter Waller is using, but in the meantime, is there anything wrong with this?

[Adz]

Peter Waller:

Onto the arguement that large meshes don't support internal organs. I have received a degree of ridicule from one or two leading pikers, in Pike & Predators, after suggesting that holding a pike only by its chin offers no support whatsoever to a fish that was designed to be supported throughout its length by water, thus putting its internal organs at risk. Simple common sense dictates that there is room for concern on this matter. But Nev Fickling knows better than anyone, as we all know     , and James Holgate was a fish monger and both think my concern is out of place! But I do think that using a large mesh is taking this concern to extreme. BUT, I stand to be corrected on that one. The issue re split fins is perfectly valid though.

Peter, there is large and then there is LARGE! Some of the salmon gye's I've seen make the fish in them look more like quilts than fish - great for scale removal, not so great for the fish.

 

I've got no scientific evidence that this would damage internal organs, but from my laymans common sense point of view, if it's at all possible that a particular mesh will cause damage, then a different mesh should be used.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with you about holding fish by the jaw only - in fact it's debateable whether very large fish should be removed from the water at all. Certainly double figure rainbow trout, 'factory farmed' for put and take fisheries tend to suffer badly when released if removed from the water for unhooking. The body shape isn't too different and the position, size, shape and composition of internal organs are almost identical too, so it's at least relevant to draw comparisons.

 

Cheers,

[Polly]

ginger:

I am almost sure that's what I like, a positive attitude in an angler!!! Should I be at Swanton on Sunday to witness the new and ultra successful Polly and Little Bruv?

Hi Ginger,

We should be @ SM somewhere, sometime on Sunday so probably see you there.

Not too sure about weather though, Little Bruv rang this morning and we decided to see how things are tomorrow before making our final go or not decision. He, for once didn't sound very keen to go. Maybe it'd the prospect of us getting another soaking but I'm sure he'll come round. As for me, I'm positive this is going to be "the" week, at least two thirties each!!!! I can feel it in my water.

See you there, weather & Little Bruv permitting

[Rob Ward]

The Diamond Geezer:

 

The Diamond Geezer:

I've just received a QED Huntsman from Harris..The mesh is large but it would have to be one small Jack to be able to get its head through.

Rob

 

You don't say anything about the feel of the net itself. From my recollections this is an unnecessarily rough & hard mesh and I've always wondered why people use such nets when really soft ones that still resist hooks are readily and cheaply available.

 

Steve Burke did a lot of work on nets and his were beautifully soft.

 

Richard

The mesh does appear a little on the rough side when dry but it's somewhat softer when wet, as Peter says I've found softer mesh to stick to the fish and remove more slime. I think the most important factor is that the hooks dont get caught up which I've never had happen in the Huntsman.

 

When I land a Pike I unclip the trace, gather the net and transfer the fish to my unhooking mat as quickly as possible. The fish are returned to the water in the mat and handling is kept to a minimum. I only ever weigh anything anymore that looks like it could be a double.

[Tim Kelly]

The Diamond Geezer:

I like the sound of the mesh that Peter Waller is using, but in the meantime, is there anything wrong with this?

 

A handle would be useful?!

[Newt]

Steve Burke:

Newt, I confess I've never seen one of the rubber meshes, let alone used one. What's the largest size available?

Not positive about the largest. Mine is 21" x 24" at the opening and will expand down to over 36" with the weight of a fish if needed. From the fit, I suspect the net would easily fit on a larger ring though - possibly to 30" but at least to 28".

 

I think the best bet would be to order only the net part since you don't need to ship the weight of the handle and I think the UK ones are probably better in many cases. I can try to source them if anyone is interested. I bought one from BassPro but at the store and haven't checked the catalog there or Cabelas to see if they list the net-only for sale.

 

And if it wasn't obvious from the picture, no knots.