Rubber landing nets

holty

Angler
So my old (and well used) nylon landing net needs to be replaced. Wanting to go with the non tangle rubber jobbies with a sturdy handle. Looking for something that will handle fluke and medium sized bass (28" to 36"). I'm thinking a 26" x 38" hoop about 24" to 30" deep with a handle 48" to 60" will do the trick. I have spent time on line looking at the Frabill's, Ranger's etc but I have not found what I feels is the right one. What are you boys using as a scoop? thanks

regards Holty

think they will have a decent selection at the Ward Melville show?
 
Hi Jay, so I went thru this net evaluation thing about 5 seasons ago. What I wanted was a big enough net for the larger offshore fluke that we regularly see, with the ability to slough off the sharp hooks and bucktail jigs that we use. Because it seems that a big fluke will ALWAYS do its best fighting once on the deck, flipping and flopping around, its a pretty sure bet that the second hook of our bucktailed B/S rigs would get stuck in the regular nylon bags that our older nets carry. A big waste of valuable time and annoying as hell to untangle. Especially in mid-August, with the blow-torch hot sun beating down and the black flies chewing the cr@p out of us, while trying to untangle a big fat mess. I hate that! No freakin' Bueno, man!

And so the search was on for a suitable net upgrade. I rejected the pure rubber net versions, only because in the large size I needed they became too heavy, in my opinion. What I settled on was a nice big one from Ranger. It has very heavily rubber-coated nylon webbing, with a deep pocket and flat bottom, which is super important for fluke - but also works great for bass.

I looked at everything available and settled on the Ranger 9800TFB. Look here: Tournament Series | Ranger Products

It has served me well over the seasons. The only down side was that the locking push button for the extending handle rusted up enough that it became a little kloogie to use. I did the drill-thru on either side of the very substantial hoop arbor, permanently secured the handle in the extended position with four SS nut and bolts. All fixed and ready to scoop our next mini-halibut.

I like this particular net so much that I searched around for its replacement net bag - and put it on my older, regular fluke net. That worked out excellent as well.

So that's where I'm at in the big net department.

As far as availability at the Ward Melville Show goes - I really couldn't say. I got mine from John at Trophy Tackle, but this net is commonly available as most of the better fishing tackle shops on the Island.
 
Last edited:
So my old (and well used) nylon landing net needs to be replaced. Wanting to go with the non tangle rubber jobbies with a sturdy handle. Looking for something that will handle fluke and medium sized bass (28" to 36"). I'm thinking a 26" x 38" hoop about 24" to 30" deep with a handle 48" to 60" will do the trick. I have spent time on line looking at the Frabill's, Ranger's etc but I have not found what I feels is the right one. What are you boys using as a scoop? thanks

regards Holty

think they will have a decent selection at the Ward Melville show?
There's a great net with rubber mesh and an angled handle that braces against your elbow for better leverage; Hard to move 30+ lbs of fish when you need to if you're trying to do it all with your wrist. Don't recall the name, but they were cost-prohibitive for me - around $70. It was kick-ass. Just very pricey.
 
Thanks Pete. I like the 9800FB hoop size (28x30) but don't feel the need for the 36" depth for fluke and medium bass. The 9788FB has a 25 x 25 hoop with a 24 depth. I am tempted with this one as I feel it will be better for one handed use when solo (often for me) but wish it was a little deeper. I really need to see them and do the touchy feely thing. Yesterday I went to Dicks for the hell of it to look some over. They had a few Rangers but none of the above. Motivated and with the wife out with friends I motored out to J&H all the way from Huntington and was very disappointed they had practically nothing. I may try Cow Harbor when I have time this week. There is no rush as it really won't be needed until the middle of May. thanks again

regards Holty
 
So not liking the handles on the new nets I came across and really liking the light 1 1/4" fiberglass handle on my old net I took a chance with a 30"deep flat bottomed rubber coated Ranger replacement net. It was a perfect fit. That 10 lber will slide in nicely.

regards Holty
 
Ahhh, nets...That's a great topic.

I say that because many boats I fish on have crappy nets...Sorry, just being honest.

Very important piece of equipment, especially for fluke (my humble opinion). Those flatties can get awfully tricky at the net. They back up, they dive, they see the net coming at them and react accordingly. You need a good quality net and more importantly, you need a quality NETTER. A guy who doesn't :poop: his pants when a doormat comes to the surface. A guy that doesn't chase the fish with the net - because that never ends well.

It's also really important to be a seasoned fluke fisherman when it comes to the "rod control" part of putting a BIG FLUKE in the net. The angler has most of the responsibility in that he / she must know that you CANNOT pull a fluke's head out of the water! If you do, that fish will almost always go berserk and act erratically (which does the netter nor the angler ANY good). Secondly, the angler needs to realize how important it is for you to move the fish in the direction of the net and CONTROL it so the netter does not feel the need to start chasing it!!! VERY IMPORTANT!!! Ask the person with the net to go to the side you feel most comfortable dragging that fish too (don't over-think it). You'll get a feel for it over time. Practice on the smaller fish. For me, it's my left side. I'm a hockey player and I shoot lefty, I feel more comfortable dragging the fish on my backhand side towards the net...I just feel more confident in that direction.

Netters: The deeper you plunge that net, the more difficult it gets to control - keep that in mind!

That being said, all of this is made easier with a high quality net that isn't too heavy or bulky.

But I'll leave it you net experts to explain exactly which net to purchase. What do I know :rolleyes:
 
All good points. I would add that as the fish is being swung aboard in the net, the man with the rod should put his reel into free spool so that the fish can be lowered to the deck without dragging the rod tip downward. Sounds awkward and unimportant, but doing it makes it a lot easier for both the netter and the fisher.
 
And ideally the angler holding the rod, after going free spool, will step back out of the way and let the wire man (big gamefish) or netter (inshore fishing) secure the fish once it's on deck. There are a lot of crappy nets out there, but usually it's the netter, not the net that loses the fish.
 
📱 Fish Smarter with the NYAngler App!
Launch Now

Members online

Fishing Reports

Latest articles

Back
Top