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3. A Small Stream Trout Net

I now spend the majority of my trout fishing on small streams, sometimes on VERY small streams. This may mean my crawling through thickets of willow and alder like a snake and never making a full aerial flycast the entire time, relying on bow-n-arrow casting for the most part, along with some roll casting. B-n-A casting, btw, with the right rig, can punch casts as far as 30feet, very accurately and with instant engagement.

One problem I have in such tight quarters is actually getting a grip on those pretty little trout that almost certainly no one else has ever got a look at. Handling green fish in tight quarters on a short line too often results in escaped fish. When you work hard and burn time getting into position to get a proper presentation on a specific cut only to have your hard earned trophy flip off the hook at your knees, gets old fast. A net helps A LOT.

I already own several nets, including two beautiful Clint Byrnes numbers (his bamboo "dry fly " and a larger custom bird-eye maple) as well as a nice Euro-style C&R mesh net I like. But in those dense thickets even the smallest nets normally available are too big. And, outside of C&R mesh, standard mesh sizes simply let those 9" trophy's slip right through.

I began an earnest search for a tiny stream trout net this summer, eventually looking at some offered by custom makers that frankly I couldn't justify the money for, considering other priorities coupled with the fact that it would be used entirely for 8 to 11in fish. I decided to make my own, which is not ALL that hard to do.

Last week, however, I found myself "shopping" with my wife and in-laws in a tourist town (yes you SHOULD pity me) and in one of those cutesy gift shops (that smell like ... lavender and spice) I found some tiny "decorative" trout nets hanging next to a cute resin-molded black bear holding a sign I refused to read. I picked one up and found it was a real net, unfinished, but made of steam-bent ash in a pleasing tear-drop shape, with a fine-meshed soft nylon bag. It measures 14” x 5” and was $18.

I took it home, unstrung the bag, sanded and stained it, topping it with 6 coats of Spar urethane and … Voila! I’ve netted a bunch of little trout with it since and it fits the bill perfectly.

Hard to beat that coiled up holstered net. I use to sell a lot of them...can't think of the name of those nets now. You draw it out of the holster, and it springs into round.

Here's a place that sells them in PA.

http://handypaknetco.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=6&vmcchk=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=86

Beautiful net, Paul.