Yesterday I posted a short fishing report from the weekend and gave a review about a new (to me at least) fly that I have been developing. I also recently posted about shopping for and buying a new net. To read that post, just click here. What I failed to mention in yesterday's post was that I used my new net for the first time last Saturday. It is important for me to mention at this point, I rarely ever carry a net with me unless I am in waders and have a net attached to my back. As for taking one in my boat, I just haven't done that in the past. That's about to change though.
When I spotted my new net in my garage, I decided that it was time to test it out on the water. I didn't expect to use it. I wasn't planning on catching anything big but then again, that's not always something that you get to plan for. However, when I hooked into a decent bass (for this lake at least) on a new fly that I was testing out, the desire to land that fish went through the roof. At that point, I sure was happy to have my net. As the fish got closer to the boat, I simply scooped up the fish and didn't have to worry about losing it at the boat.
The bottom line for me is that this net is going to be as staple in the boat as much as a fly rod will be. I didn't have to fumble the fish around which hopefully translated into putting less stress on the fish. I was able to net the fish, photograph it, and return it quicker than without a net. While I won't be netting bluegill and 10 inch bass, it will be nice to land those medium-size to bigger fish and return them to the water quicker. I wish that I would have started doing this earlier, but I guess you never stop learning as you move down the path of life. I guess that one could say that I just increased my fishing knowledge "net" worth.
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