Your Favorite Gear?
"The Net"
Every fly-fishermen has his or her favorite gear. A piece of gear that goes along with you when ever or where ever you fish. Yes I’m sure we all have a favorite fly rod but in different fishing situations and the size of trout or stream we are fishing in, we will use a different rod.
Maybe it’s that worn comfortable fishing vest. The worn ones always seam to feel so comfortable and if it wasn’t for all the gear we stuff into them to make them heavy we probably wouldn’t even know we had one on until we needed something from it.
Maybe it’s that distinguishing hat. One that shades our eyes from the sun, keeps the dribble of rain off our brow or even something to spray bug repellent on to give off a scent to keep the bugs away. Even the hat may get replaced on certain occasions, especially in the heat of the summer to the cold of winter. From the down right pouring down rain to the quick roadside stream that you just keep the baseball style hat on instead of grabbing the ol’ fishing cap.
Well mostly I’m talking about the piece of gear that goes to every trout stream I visit. It’s none other than "The Net".
My net goes with me to all trout fishing streams, rivers and creeks. Know matter how small or large the body of water is or the size of trout I intend to catch. My net almost distinguishes me almost as my ol’ worn out top hat. My net is different but it serves its purpose well and in no way shape or form interferes or impedes my fly-fishing.
I’ve seen, though never can remember ever carrying around one of those wooden nets that dangle from the back of a fishing vest. My son Giddeon lugs one around though, as most fishermen do. I’ve followed him through the brush along the streams and watched it get hung-up in branches. He’ll stop when he feels a tug of the elastic cord attached to his net, which is hung up on a branch. He learned not to turn around too quickly to release the net from the hang-up. You know what happens, as soon as you turn to see what it’s caught on the darn net releases and flies at you. Though you probably wouldn’t get hurt if it did smack into you, we as humans have that instinct that when something unexpectedly is coming at us we react with getting out of the way. This is what may get us in trouble. Carrying a delicate 9’ fly rod in one hand and maybe holding onto a fly in the other, this is by far the last thing you want to do is quickly react to the net releasing from a branch.
Then in the water, from being in the sun week after week, the elastic attached to the net starts to lose it’s elasticity and begins to hang lower than it’s suppose to. When you’re in deeper water it manages its way, some how, to rest in front of you. This is the interference I’m talking about when your line gets tangled up in as you’re stripping line in.
Some fishermen feel they needn’t a net. On many occasions they wish they had one though and I’ve netted a few beauties for guys fishing with light tippets. I don’t like fighting fish to extreme exhaustion just so I can land a fish and release him without a net. I know and quite often, release trout without using the net, but I’m always glad to have it on those exceptional occasions.
I’m sure by now you’re wondering what kind of trout net I do carry. It’s simple. It is one of the old time spring rimmed nets that fold up and fit in a holster attached to my belt. I got my first one handed down to me when I was about 20. It had a wooden handle, stainless steel loop in which a cloth woven net was attached to. You had to learn how to fold the stainless loop correctly along with the net to get it back into the holster. You had to also be gentle but have a firm grip on the net when taking it out of the holster or it will spring from your hand, flip through the air and land maybe only a couple of feet from you if you’re lucky. I’ve watched my friend Rusty unfold one out of his holster quite a few times where it sprung out of his hands and once even got hung up in an overhanging tree branch. There he stood in the middle of the stream. A bent rod in one hand with a fighting trout on the end of it, looking around to where his net may have went after it sprung from his hand and only to find it by looking up into the tree branches!! Or he’d have it out and remember to hold on tightly only for the stainless band to unfold into a figure eight with the net lopped over the rim.
I have to admit you have to have a knack for using such a net. You have to load it properly into its holder also. The key to have the net work properly, I found, is to modify the holster it comes with. The thin half circle holder it comes with is so flat that it keeps too much spring tension on the coiled up stainless brim. Than upon exiting the holder there is so much force behind the coiled spring that it wants to just whip out of your hands. Trying to coil the darn thing up and keep it flat enough to fit back into the holder itself is sometimes a chore. My fix was to make my own holster for it to fit in. I simply cut a piece of stiff leather as a backing and then with some not-so-stiff leather made a pouch and sewn the two pieces together with rawhide shoe laces. The net fits in the holster snuggly but there is lots of room to get it in the holster and then when I take it out it doesn’t have all the tension on it. On the stiff backing leather I cut out holes for my belt. The net is always by my side. My vest actually covers it so it won’t get tangled in any streamside brush. The elastic cord I simply loop it through a boot loop or my belt, just in case it does jump out of my hands. Whala, it’s out of sight and out of harms way until I need it.
I don’t see these nets in catalogs very much any more. The newest one I got was quite a few years back. The handle is now a hard plastic and the net is the usual plastic netting. When I know I’m fishing in smaller trout waters I’ll tie a knot in the net high enough towards the brim so the trout won’t get to deep into the net when netting him. This makes for a quick release of the trout without him getting caught up in the netting.
Getting used to the net, especially folding it up and getting it into the holster takes practice to get it right. I guess it’s like getting used to a fly rod for the first time. It takes some people a little more getting the right feel and mechanics to get used to it.
What’s your favorite gear you just can’t be without on the trout stream?
~ doubletaper