Good net for Salmon

[Starcraft]

Hi all,

 

Can anyone recommend a good net for Salmon pier fishing? In the summer I use a cradle for pike, musky and whatever else but I'm assuming I need a proper net for salmon. Something where my spoon wouldn't get tangled in the mesh and that's big enough for salmon, but fairly portable and not some huge monstrosity of a net.

 

Thx in advance.

Edited September 15, 2008 by Starcraft

[fishindevil]

Well you need a net big enough to handle a big fish,but it also has to be strong,and has an extension,to get down to the water if you are fishing off a pier or harbor wall !!!...i would also recomend a rubberized coating so hooks will not get all caught up in it,they really do work !!! you can get one for around $60 bucks and a few good brands are the frabil,lucky-strike,and well if you want the best then theres the beckman, they usually are around $100 dollars,they also have alifetime warranty on the net locking system...hope this helps....cheers & good-luck

Edited September 15, 2008 by fishindevil

[silveradosheriff]

I am using a large Frabill Pro Formance net and am very happy with it.

I added an Opt-Tackle 'net clip' to keep the mesh under control while preparing to net the Chinnies.

 

:-)

[Rich]

I bought a rubber coated Lucky Strike landing net with about a 12 ft handle when extended. It cost me 70 bucks I think, well worth every penny. No tangle ups in the rubber coating and seems to be easier on the fish.

 

However, Sugarpacket hoisted a 25lb carp up with it this spring and bent the crap out of the handle. I bent it mostly back into shape but it takes a lot more strength now to extend the handle.

 

That being said, I've seen other nets simply break under that much stress. So I'd say it's a pretty sturdy net.

Edited September 15, 2008 by Rich

[camillj]

I bought an extension that painters use for rollers ... the ones that you twist to set at the desired length - it just happens to fit perfectly inside the handle of the big frabil net ... so with a carefully drilled hole about a foot up the shaft and a bolt with a wingnut and I have a perfect 12 foot extension for my net ...

[silveradosheriff]

Forgot to mention that I also trashed an Unlucky Strike net as well.

[Starcraft]

thanks for the recommendations guys. i'll keep everything said here in mind when i head over to LeBaron.

[Canuck2fan]

Do yourself a favour and just get a big enough rubberized 4ft long handled net. Then go to a pool store and have them cut you to size a length of aluminum the length that will fit in your car then an extension that goes over it..... If it is less than 5 ft just have them give you another length of the inside tube. Get them to give you two spring buttons. Now you take the net hoop out of the net you bought and put it in the inner handle. Take a cold chisel and tamp it in to shape it for the two ends of the net (that is the hardest part but it doesn't have to look pretty). Now drill your two holes for the screws. Put the screws in with lock tight. Drill out your holes for the buttons that click for the length. Now you put the buttons in the inside of the smaller diameter poles about 10" from the bottom of the one with the net on it. Same for the extra length.... Now you have a fifteen foot long net system

 

So when you need all three lengths on a tall pier you carry the second the extension inside the outer diameter pole.

 

YOu should be able to get a 15ft long net handle for under 30 bucks and about a half hour of your time.

 

Also when netting a fish you have the fish in the net then you put the net beside the pier and pull it straight up hand over hand you don't scoop it like you would on a boat.... That way you won't bend the handle. Of course you do have to worry about buttheads driving over it while it is on the pier and sitting on the ground in the parking lot LOL.

Edited September 16, 2008 by Canuck2fan

[JFish]

I needed a new net as my old one got taken to the dump by accident. I wasn't too impressed to say the least. Anyway, I checked a few places and the nets were in and around $60 - $80. I thought that was a little expensive. I went over to wal-mart and checked out their nets. They had exactly what I was looking for. Perfect size for salmon and the handle is probably long enough however I may add another couple feet onto it. Best thing was it only cost about $38 and is the same quality as the $60-$80 nets.

 

JFish

[CLofchik]

What Canuck said about pool shops, usually good places to find handles. Also you may be able to pick up a broken handle really cheap.

 

Also when netting a fish you have the fish in the net then you put the net beside the pier and pull it straight up hand over hand you don't scoop it like you would on a boat.... That way you won't bend the handle. Of course you do have to worry about buttheads driving over it while it is on the pier and sitting on the ground in the parking lot LOL.

 

This is why I never lend nets to anybody on the pier.

 

Frabill's have a pretty neat locking neck that's plenty strong, their mesh is also holding up alot better than the blue Lucky Strike nets.

[Canuck2fan]

What Canuck said about pool shops, usually good places to find handles. Also you may be able to pick up a broken handle really cheap.

This is why I never lend nets to anybody on the pier.

 

Frabill's have a pretty neat locking neck that's plenty strong, their mesh is also holding up alot better than the blue Lucky Strike nets.

 

I know I hate to even let use my net to net a fish for me. Quite often unless I really know the person I net them myself on a pier. I would rather lose a fish that bust the handle now that I got it set up perfectly for where I like to pier fish...

 

I bought the cheapest net I could find on sale at Walmart it was under 20 bucks I just wanted the hoop to hold the netting. I could not for the life of me find aluminum tubing in the right diameter to make my own hoop. I then bought a new larger rubberized mesh for 8 bucks. I lucked out at the pool shop the owner's wife was working on a Saturday morning in January (it was blizzarding out too) and she was so happy to see a customer she gave me the two sections of handle I wanted for free since she couldn't be bothered to figure out a price. So I got the net for under 30 bucks and it is about 14ft long before the hoop so I don't miss many fish LOL.