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Netting tips,
Over the years I found with some painful experience that losing fish due is to poor netting. And watching others make the same mistakes over and over again, it never fails to amuse me when someone says I got the fish to the boat but lost it at the net. First the net handler has the most important job; they need to be able to guide the net not to spook the fish. It is the anglers job to guide the fish into the net. I have seen and early in my fishing career, have done it myself - that hacking, jabbing, thrashing, and scooping netting technique. It at most times never works and even more it scares the fish away from the net. Now after years of fishing by myself, I am able to net my own fish with one hand and handle the rod in the other, with little to no hassle. First, let me go over how I land a fish using a net, even if I have a net handler. The first thing is to be calm and not in a hurry. Fish on! Ok I have a fish on and it is getting close to being netted. I have the net ready in hand and put it into the water just so the rim of the net is under the water so the fish can pass in to the net with out touching it. Now it is up to angler to guide the fish into the net. This is a lot easier than the net handler trying to net the fish. Once the fish is in the net, now the net handler can complete the netting by getting the catch deeper into the net or maneuvering the net so the catch will net itself. First and most of all, being slow and calm will make the netting of any catch will be easer. After the fish is netted I will take the handle and net and take straight up making the net a bag. Let me explain once the fish is netted, I will lift the net with the handle point up to the sky, which now makes the net a bag holding the fish. What this does is take all the weight off the connection point where the handle and net rim joins. Also it will make it easy to pull the fish into boat lifting from a straight pull instead of a lifting action using the handle. Once I have the fish in the boat I open the reel releasing all the tension from the line and rod, remove the hook and put up the rod. Now I can remove the hook and take the fish out of the net, weight it, measure it, take a few pictures and release it. If the fish is bleeding, I will put in the live well to see if will recover - if it does, I release it. If not, I will keep it and either give it away at the ramp where there are always people waiting for a good catch. Good luck in your fishing and netting
Over the years I found with some painful experience that losing fish due is to poor netting. And watching others make the same mistakes over and over again, it never fails to amuse me when someone says I got the fish to the boat but lost it at the net. First the net handler has the most important job; they need to be able to guide the net not to spook the fish. It is the anglers job to guide the fish into the net. I have seen and early in my fishing career, have done it myself - that hacking, jabbing, thrashing, and scooping netting technique. It at most times never works and even more it scares the fish away from the net. Now after years of fishing by myself, I am able to net my own fish with one hand and handle the rod in the other, with little to no hassle. First, let me go over how I land a fish using a net, even if I have a net handler. The first thing is to be calm and not in a hurry. Fish on! Ok I have a fish on and it is getting close to being netted. I have the net ready in hand and put it into the water just so the rim of the net is under the water so the fish can pass in to the net with out touching it. Now it is up to angler to guide the fish into the net. This is a lot easier than the net handler trying to net the fish. Once the fish is in the net, now the net handler can complete the netting by getting the catch deeper into the net or maneuvering the net so the catch will net itself. First and most of all, being slow and calm will make the netting of any catch will be easer. After the fish is netted I will take the handle and net and take straight up making the net a bag. Let me explain once the fish is netted, I will lift the net with the handle point up to the sky, which now makes the net a bag holding the fish. What this does is take all the weight off the connection point where the handle and net rim joins. Also it will make it easy to pull the fish into boat lifting from a straight pull instead of a lifting action using the handle. Once I have the fish in the boat I open the reel releasing all the tension from the line and rod, remove the hook and put up the rod. Now I can remove the hook and take the fish out of the net, weight it, measure it, take a few pictures and release it. If the fish is bleeding, I will put in the live well to see if will recover - if it does, I release it. If not, I will keep it and either give it away at the ramp where there are always people waiting for a good catch. Good luck in your fishing and netting
