How to make a crappie landing net

[hydro]

Well it’s been a few days and I have 4 coats of varnish on the net frame. Now it’s time to lace the net into the frame. I used a fine cord like what you fine on a mini-blind to do this. It fits through the holes in the hoop and will snug up nicely. To get the cord through the holes, I used a wire loop to pull the tag end through.

An inner cord is used to keep the net on the inside of the frame, and the net is laced in place.

[hydro]

Once the net is securely laced to the frame, it can be checked for depth.

You can see that this net is plenty deep, much more so than I want it to be. The purpose of this net is primarily to flip crappies into the boat and the extra depth just gets in the way. To fix this I gauged the depth that I wanted and carefully cut just under the row of knots to shorten the net.

[hydro]

To re-close the net I used a metal snap ring from a key chain. It’s easy to string onto the net loops and adds a little weight to help keep the net bagged down when in use.

Once the net is closed it is done! Here is my daughter in her crappie landing stance.

[Jordyn Kaufer]

that looks awsome!!

[Sandmannd]

Great Job!! That's an awesome crappie net!!

[slipperybob]

You've got some madd skillz!

[fishinJohn]

That looks great hydro. The best part of woodworking is the results custom to your needs. If you get it right, that is. I don't suppose you have a shot of your shop, for further inspiration. I am setting up one in my little basement and everything is on wheels. Dust is problem though.

[hydro]

FishinJohn,

The shop that I have nowdays isn't much to look at. I have half of my pole barn (27 X 30) insulated and set up for multi-use projects. I do work on older cars (see the '71 Duster on the rotissiere in the clamp picture) and most of my machines are on wheels so that I can store them when not in use. If you have a shop in the basement, a good dust collector is the best investment you can make, and will keep things much cleaner. If you want to learn more about woodworking do a search on the Minnesota Woodworkers Guild. They have monthly meetings in the twin cities area and are a great group to get to know. They have all skill levels from just interested to amazingly talented.

[fishinJohn]

Thanks,

I'll check it out. So much to learn and do, it's nice to meet people who can make it happen.

[Nordy]

Very nice net! Can you email me? I have some questions for Hydro.

[email protected]

[MSRiverdog]

That's a pretty net hydro, I like the long handle.

[mike morris]

Very informative post. I did pretty much the process as you did to make my net. Except I didn't get a whole lot of time to make it, and I used lesser quality wood. Not as quality of piece as yours turned out to be, but here are a couple pictures of the net that I threw together.

[hydro]

Mike,

That's nice work! It's good to see some of the pieces others have made.