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Posts: 59
| For all of you lone gunman out there, I have a question in regard to rod length when out ski hunting alone. I know the trend is in longer rods these days. Currently my longest rod is 7'6" which is my bucktail rod. I seem to manage ok netting fish with this rod length. Will adding another foot or so to the length of my rod make it more difficult to net a fish by myself? I've been eyeballing a 8'6" St. Croix Musky Premier, but I don't want to eat $225 if I can't get close enough to the fish to net them. |
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Posts: 2275
Location: Chisholm, MN | I've netted my own 50 inchers just fine with a 9+ foot rods. It might be a little harder but I've never lost one due to not being able to net my own fish. |
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| I am retired and fish by myself most of the time. I actually think the longer rods are an asset in netting fish. You get the fish close, then lift to pull it to the net and can drop the tip to allow a fish room if not ready to net. |
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Posts: 470
| Netted a 51" With a TI 9' rod off the deck of my pontoon boat in June with no problems...
RandalB |
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Posts: 408
Location: MN | I fish mostly solo. 9' rods are a bit awkward to net with compared to a 7' but it is definitely doable. In my opinion that tradeoff is well worth it for the added functionality of the long rod. Going from 7'6" to 8'6" is not going to be a big deal. Much beyond 9' - something like a 10'6" TI - I would think twice about. |
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Posts: 1969
| net fish solo with my 9' 8" all the time ..no problem at all, forget 8'6" get a 9' rod! |
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Posts: 523
| I fish solo a lot and use 10'6" TI rods for nearly all of my bucktails and a lot of top water as well. Netting fish isn't as easy as it is with a 7'6", but like nar160 said, the trade off in rod efficiency is well worth it in my opinion. |
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| I find it's hardest when you have a long rod AND a long leader, like my 9' trolling rods with a 4' leader. Very hard to net a big fish by myself. I don't have too much trouble with a 9' rod and a 14" leader. But I'm 6'2" with fairly long arms... |
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Posts: 1168
| No issues with longer casting rods. Netting solo with a 10 foot fly rod is a bit more of a challenge. |
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Location: 31 | Chemi - 7/29/2016 7:50 PM I find it's hardest when you have a long rod AND a long leader, like my 9' trolling rods with a 4' leader. Very hard to net a big fish by myself. I don't have too much trouble with a 9' rod and a 14" leader. But I'm 6'2" with fairly long arms... A little off subject but leader length needs to be 36" or less when fishing/trolling solo. I have no problem to 36” (unless I dork it), but when I tried to use 5-6’ leaders to keep the weed balls a little further away from the lure, it was really difficult to net them.
Edited by Jerry Newman 7/29/2016 8:39 PM
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Posts: 441
| I have netted several 50+ inch muskies, fishing by myself, using rods over nine feet.
It's not easy, but I wouldn't worry about rod length, so much.
Once I went to the longer rods, I haven't picked up a rod under 8'6" since. |
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Posts: 1405
Location: Detroit River | I've netted a lot of fish including a 50 while fishing by myself using a 9' rod. I have A Stow Master net, which has a handle that can extend for a total of 8'. Netting fish in the Detroit River & St. Clair Rivers can be a chore with the current pulling the net bag down current. Back in June I lost what would have been my new PB in the Detroit River but that was more due to the large boat wakes I was fighting. Had I netted the fish I most likely would have went over board. |
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Posts: 400
Location: Metro | I have an 8' 6' and have never really had issues netting a fish. I mean other than it already being difficult by yourself to net a fish. I wouldn't overthink and let that prevent you from getting a long rod. |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | It depends on your height. I'm 6' and my current longest rod is 9'6" and it's honestly too long to fish by yourself without issues. You basically need to grab the rod in the midsection in order to get a net under a fish.
Honestly I think that anything over 9' (for my height) is a diminishing return. I see a LOT of shoulder surgery coming in the near future with all of these long rods. True, they're great for getting a long cast or figure 8's, but physics says that all of that energy has to be absorbed somewhere and the weak point is your shoulder. |
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Posts: 69
| No issues for myself, just takes a little practice and patience. Trying to net a fresh steelhead solo in current with my 13' float rod, now that's a pain. |
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Posts: 833
| I run 8'6" to 9'6" solo all the time. No problem. Part of it is having the right net, I use a Frabill power catch.
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | Brad, you're also the size of Andre the Giant though...  |
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Posts: 833
| My impersonation of the Dread Pirate Roberts is top notch. |
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