Water is roughly eight hundred times denser than air, so a net moves slowly however hard the arm behind it is swinging. The fish doesn’t have that problem. Come at one from behind and it does what it’s built to do instantly — shoot forward and away, faster than anybody can drag a hoop through water. Chasing from behind just turns the net into a second predator, and I’ve watched fish dodge three or four scoops that way before spooking for good. What works is a fish swimming into a net that isn’t moving.
How it goes
- Net in the water before the fish is close. Hoop under, mesh hanging open, held still. A net that shows up at the surface at the last second is a shadow appearing out of nowhere.
- The rod steers. The net waits. Rod low and off to the side, leading the fish across the hoop. Nobody lifts.
- Head over the rim first. Once the head passes the front of the hoop, the fish’s only way out is straight into the mesh.
- Lift when the whole fish is inside. Not at the head, not halfway — a fish lifted with its tail still hanging out will kick right back out of a half-full net.
- Leave the net in the water once it’s in. If the hooks need a second, the fish can wait in the mesh with water over it instead of on a rock.
If the fish isn’t ready, don’t net it yet. A green fish that turns when it touches the hoop is how leaders get cut on the rim and trebles end up in the mesh instead of in the fish. Give it another short circuit or two. That minute is nothing next to a fish that broke off at the rim.
What the net itself changes
Rubber or rubber-coated mesh strips a lot less slime than knotted nylon, and treble hooks slide out of it instead of weaving themselves in. Anybody who’s spent four minutes cutting a crankbait out of a nylon net while a fish lay in the bottom of it already knows what a rubber net is worth.
Good landing starts well before the net shows up. Catch-and-Release Starts Before the Fish Is Hooked covers that part, and wetting your hands is what comes right after the fish is in the mesh.
One more thing on hoop size: buy it for the fish you’re hoping for. The fish you usually catch fits in anything, and the day the net really matters is the day it barely fits.
