landing net for Pontoon craft

Hello,

I've recently acquired a pontoon boat, and I was thinking that a
longer-handled net might be nice. I don't need fancy wood (mostly I
just don't want to pay for it)--metal is fine. I was thinking that a
2-foot handle might be nice. I am looking for a decent netting
material (trying to avoid the scratchy poly netting material), and I'd
prefer a net that wasn't super-deep.

Anyway, does anyone have some netting products or experiences they'd
like to share? do I not need a long-handled net? It just seems like it
would be easier to reach a fish without having to play it into
near-death-submission. Any thoughts? Any nets to suggest?

Thanks,
TyKo

TyKo,
Your biggest problem is what to do with the darn net when you don't have a
fish on the line. Anywhere I attach it to my pontoon boat is a guaranteed
trap for my fly line. The blessed net gets in the way of kicking or the
trolling motor. The darn net reaches out and snags every brush that comes
anywhere near the pontoon boat. And attaching it to my pontoon boat with
velcro and those so called easy to release hooks that don't is a big mess.

Considering all of the above rants and whining the best place I found to
hang my net is with the easy to release hook on the top of my vest letting
the net hang down my back. This keeps it out of the water, away from fly
lines and under the tillar and in front of the deep cycle battery. If you
decide to go this way get a light weight net. Eight + hours on the water
will put a kink in your back.

The above being said why do you need a net?
1. To land more meat to put on the stringer? All of the above objections
DOUBLE when hanging a stringer and a net off a pontoon boat!
2. To reach a fish easier without having to play it into submission? It
varies some by species but IMHO in a pontoon boat fly fishing it's about the
same time difference to horse in a small, medium or large fish into a net
vs. into some release device. You might get the fish into a pontoon boat
net faster on the average but if you are not going to kill it, IMHO nets
probably stress more than a quick in-the-water release.
3. To land the really big fish. Maybe. It worked for me once when I was
wading. I would not have caught the world record bass (twice -duh!) without
a net. But I have not needed it for that reason since - LOL. In fact during
a 100 fishing days in Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia, I quit using a net
from my pontoon boat. FWIW if you have one of those little cheesy trout dip
nets like I did, which third of a BIG fish are you going to put into the
net - the head end or the tail end? Neither one will be easy to handle in a
pontoon boat.

To summarize I only take along a net when I'm after supper which is rare
nowadays. I try to keep any fish in the water and if using barbless hooks
just give em slack or use hemostats, pliers or those plastic bubble thingys
to get the hook loose. Over the years I found novel ways to let them get
loose - that's never a problem for me!

Hope this helps. Good luck!
John

"TyKo" wrote in message
om...
Hello,

I've recently acquired a pontoon boat, and I was thinking that a
longer-handled net might be nice. I don't need fancy wood (mostly I
just don't want to pay for it)--metal is fine. I was thinking that a
2-foot handle might be nice. I am looking for a decent netting
material (trying to avoid the scratchy poly netting material), and I'd
prefer a net that wasn't super-deep.

Anyway, does anyone have some netting products or experiences they'd
like to share? do I not need a long-handled net? It just seems like it
would be easier to reach a fish without having to play it into
near-death-submission. Any thoughts? Any nets to suggest?

Thanks,
TyKo

"TyKo" wrote:
Anyway, does anyone have some netting products or experiences they'd
like to share? do I not need a long-handled net? It just seems like it
would be easier to reach a fish without having to play it into
near-death-submission. Any thoughts? Any nets to suggest?

Go to www.jannsnetcraft.com, they have everything you need to make your
own.