Muskie Nets

[Gill]

Any opinions on the best landing net for muskies and pike? (Frabill, Beckman...) And, are those knotless weaves worth the extra cash?

[David Swenson]

I use the Frabill Big Game Net and I am very happy with it. It has the knotless weave and does considerable less damage to the fish than ordinary nets. Also do not have any problems with the hooks in the net. I would reccomend it to anyone.

David Swenson
http://muskieguide.homestead.com/

[Fish-n-Freak]

If you must use a net, please use one of the good ones! I try to land all of mine by hand, and remove the hooks while they are still in the water. If they have the lure under their chin and I can't get the hooks out or cut, while they are in the water, then I do use my net -- Same one as Dave, those are nice nets!

[Long Gray Line]

Yup! Frabill Big Game, it's deep enough to keep the fish down in the water while you're removing the hardware, good strong handle, easy enough to use by yourself if you have to.........

[Gill]

For about ten years I have landed muskies by hand, and usually try to keep them in the water while taking hooks out. I have used one of those cradle types to land fish during tournaments or when a fish is hooked poorly. But, I've had some encounters close to disaster with ol' esox using that thing (not much room for error when both hands and your face are within a foot of a steaming-mad muskie). Do the Big Game nets have a collapsible handle? Also, where can you buy them?
Thanks for the replies.

[AWH]

I'll second the Frabill recommendation. I just bought one for this year and it's absolutely awesome. In the past I've been using a Beckman with an untreated bag, so I can't really offer a fair comparison on brands. But the treated bag is something I would never do without again. I've had 7 fish in the net so far without a single tangled hook or any split fins on the fish that I've noticed.

AWH