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| I know, this subject has been beat to death. I'm just curious, for those you have used both of these nets, which one did you like better? If you chose beckman (the finsaver model) which one, the pro model, magnum, or magnum extra deep?
Thanks,
MJB |
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| The small meshing on the "finsaver" does not allow for quick movement of the net in the water. If you are trying to make a move on a fish or avoid the net from a fish, it is difficult to do so. Just do yourself a favor and buy a Frabill Power Catch or Big Kauhuna.
Thanks
Rob Manthei
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| I have the new "Finsaver" Magnum Muskie net from Beckman, and it is pretty awesome. I wouldn't get anything smaller than the Magnum, the Pro is a little small for fish over 45 inches. By the way, you can still move the net through the water with the small mesh! Beckman and Frabill both make excellent nets, I have just been using the Beckmans from day one and they have been great for me.
Chad |
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| The Big Kahuna from Frabill gets my vote. Great net.[:0] [:sun:] |
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| The Beckman Fin Saver gets my vote,big square bag at the bottom allows lots of room for the Musky to stay completely under the water,as you get tools etc. ready for a clean release.The handle being round is also a plus,with a long handle you can clip the net from side to side into Downeast Rodholders,for hands free supported catch & release holding pen,and the bag is deep enough that the fish stays under the water even in rolling waves.The new loop is also very light now,made of airplane grade alunimum,and holds up to the strongest fighting big slobs! Capt. Larry |
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| Sorry Rob buddy old pal, but I disagree.
The Beckman fin saver is fine for quick boatside netting. It does have a little more drag, but you just have to put a little bit more effert into it. I found out first hand that the little bit more effert is not much at all. If you are ready with the rim in the water, everything is a peice of cake after that. I can even do it one handed by myself.
The pen is big and I never saw a cut fin all year. |
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| I use a Beckman... but if I had to make a purchase today... both Frabil and Beckman would be great choices. I don't know what I'd actually end up buying. This is kind of like the Chevy vs. Ford debate. Both good products... and comes down to personal preference.
The questions I have about nets is HOW BIG OF A HOOP do we really? With the wider, deeper, flat bottom bag styles available today... do we really need a 50+ inch hoop? I gotta say, the Big Kahuna is absolutely HUGE. Where do you even put that size net in your typical fishing boat??? Is it necessary? |
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| I still use a Frabil Kwik-Kradle. I just like the way the fish lays in it for working on them and letting them rest prior to photos/release, it is truely a "in water live well" Unfortunately this net is no longer made and you would need to find one used or in a shop somewhere.
This is not a great net for "scooping" fish but I have never lost one due to netting problems and I've owned one since the first year they were out.
Have a friend who used the Big Kahuna last season with no problems. I used Jason's Beckman to land a mid/upper 30's fish for him last year and never noticed the drag.
Kinda boils down to personal preference as I believe both companies are making "fish friendly" bags. Personally I like the strength, handle and hoop design of Frabil but wouldn't hesitate to purchase a Beckman as they too are quality products.
Good luck with your choice....
Mark
Musky Adventures
Eau Claire, WI |
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| I have been using a Beckman net for year's and other than having to replace the bag every other year or so it has been great. I see no need to change. |
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| Lets face it both are great nets. One isnt going to put more fish in the boat than the other. Use your GUT FEELING when picking one out.
MUSKY ILLINI
"reap the whirlwind Sheriff Brady, REAP IT!" |
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| After fishing with Beckman Nets for the last 10 years, I have literally stepped into the Frabill Big Kahuna!
These are awesome nets. The following are some key points that caused me to switch over:
1) The handle has been designed with ergonomics in mind. It is triangular and fits nicely into your hand. There is a nice rubber handle on the end and the pole is knurled to give you added gripping ability.
2) The power catch shaped handle means that the pole won't turn when looking to lock in the spring button. This is very important when you want to keep the net stored in the boat without the handle extended all the way out. The spring button will hit the hole every time.
3) The yoke is heavy duty extruded aluminum with a limited lifetime warranty.
4) The yoke is black which will eliminate glare and anodized which will resist corrosion (rust).
5) The hoop features internal cross-x extrusion which gives it unbelievable strength and support - again backed by a limited lifetime warranty.
6) The net is coated which allows for tangle free use as well as prolongs the life of the net. Hooks can't get embedded into the net which is extremely important!
7) The net is knot-free! No knots to hurt the fish.
8) The Big Kahuna is as big as it sounds. I won't have to worry about the size of the fish going into this thing - it's massive! |
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| Here is what Scott means by saying he has "stepped into" a Frabill net.
www.nevergetridofaluckyBeckman.com |
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| I will start off by qualifying my following statements by stating that I am the VP of sales at Frabill, Inc. (The last warning is that as a sales guy, the comments won't be brief.) I have been with the company just shy of 15 years and have seen drastic changes in the products we manufacture. Frabill has been in businees since 1944 making fishing products in the US. We are a relative newcomer in the musky market. To even be mentioned in comparison with a prestigous company like Beckman is very flattering for Frabill.
Frabill uses the services of our pro staff in designing products. Be it a tip up, ice house, minnow trap, or a catch and release musky net we have always tried to have our pro's influence our product designs. The tackle business finds me behind a desk or in an airplane more than my Tuffy. This holds true for most of our senior staff. We rely on serious users of a product to assist in the design of our products.
Our first attempt in the musky market was our Kwik Kradle. We worked closely with Pete Maina for two years (and probably 350 musky's)to perfect this product. Although the initial reception to this product was only lukewarm we found two very important attributes to a quality catch and release net. Knotless TangleFree netting is easy on the fish, drastically reducing split fins/tails and gill damage. The flat bottom nets allow use of the landing net as a livewell at boatside. Frabill has made these features available to the catch and release musky fisherman for 6 years. These key attributes will be found on both our Big Game and the Big Kahuna PowerCatch nets.
The PowerCatch net frames are explained by MuskyU in excellent detail so I will summarize (remember, I am a sales guy so summary is relative) with exceptional strength with a lifetime warranty on the HOOP and the yoke. This series of nets was originally designed to handle salt water fish. Stripers over 40 pounds. Pacific salmon up to 90 pounds. Cobia in excess of 110 pounds. Basically this frame will handle anything a musky fisherman can throw at it. The secret for successful catch and release of musky's is the netting. We have that covered too...
Has it been successful? Well, I am back where I started. To even be mentioned in the same post as Beckman is nice. To see Beckman now offering nets with knotless netting with flat bottoms is even nicer. If you are serious about a successful release of a trophy fish, consider these options mandatory. If you want to see something different when purchasing a new net, consider a Frabill...
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| The bottom line is Beckman came up with a big square bag deep net bag and Frabil copied it!!! |
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| I've had both a Beckman and a Frabill. Both are great nets, but I like the Frabill better because of the knotless design on the bag. It's very fish friendly. The big Kahuna is a very big net, but it lays flat in the boat, and with the handle pushed in it's very manageable.
Doug Johnson |
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| I too like the Beckman Fin Saver net, however unlike Chad, I like the Pro model and have not had a problem with fish over 45 inches. In fact a 54 incher fit very nicely in it!
Professor Johnson, the Fin Saver is a knotless coated mesh with straight sides and a flat bottom and too is easy on the fish.
Muskie regards,
Larry Ramsell
www.larryramsell.com |
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| Larry you are the edlder of the tribe, my man..
I want to make a motion to give LARRY his own message page. You can call it the Bottom line by Capt. Larry Jones.
Thanks Larry, for keepin it real up in the feild, alright!
MUSKY ILLINI
"whoops, I lost another guitar string, nana nana nana nephew" |
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| I got a mag fin saver from my girlfriend for Christmas(my smaller beckman is now on float trip duty). It is not the extra deep model, and was wondering if anyone has one of these or the deep ones, and could compare them for me. My boat doesn't have really high sides(Tuffy type). Thanks. |
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| The fact that Frabill offers a lifetime warranty on the hoop assembly is tremendous, since this is typically the area of the landing net that potentially could fail. Beckman does not offer the same type of warranty. I have seen the Frabill strength demonstrations at the sports shows and they are very impressive. I personally run both the Big Kahuna and the Big Game Series, depending on where I am fishing. Both models have performed flawlessly and most importantly have taken great care of the muskies inside. I love the handle design because I feel it gives an angler better control and leverage at the moment of truth. Frabill is determined to provide musky anglers with a quality product backed by a great warranty. Since their Vice President, Mark Gostisha, is a fanatic Musky fisherman, it really adds a lot to the product design and performance. Just my two cents.
Sincerely,
Tom Dietz |
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| As far as I know, Frabill's Kwik Kradle was the first net on the market with a square bottom and a knotless design.
I have been using either the Kwik Kradle or the Power Catch for the past 5 years and have yet to have a problem with either one of them. Super high quality nets that WILL NOT fail or break.
Ya know, everyone out there is going to use the net that they feel most comfortable with or has traditionally used forever. Stick with the net you prefer, but don't drag this issue into the mud again.
Paul |
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| Paul,
When I was at the 2001 Chicago Musky Show,I was given the FinSaver Net by Beckman w/new yoke and rim,Frabill had nothing with a square bag at their booth at the Show.That was 14 months ago! Capt. Larry |
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| Larry,
I have never really met you but respect your wide spread and prolific posts on numerous message boards. I would not know your face if you walked into my office and gave me a wet kiss on the lips.
But to clear the air, Frabill built our first knotless bag net with a flat bottom in 1996. We were successful in introducing the Kwik Kradle that appealed to some of the finest musky anglers in the country, that were very serious about catch and release of musky's. Regrettably the radical design did not appeal instantly to a wide cross section of anglers until they actually put a fish into the net.
Our attendence at many musky fishing tournaments and consumer shows indicated that many avid musky anglers would be interested in a more traditional design landing net with the knotless and tanglefree mesh featuring a flat bottom utilized on the Kwik Kradle. We were in fact showing this new and more traditional product (our Big Game Catch and Release Net)at musky tournaments and consumer musky shows as early as May 1999.
I will defer to my earlier post that we were a virtual unknown in the musky market and I am sure an angler with your celebrity status may have overlooked a new maker with a limited product selection.
Our initial concept (Big Game Catch and Release)did well, but we limited our market by only making the product available on our PowerCatch Frame. This is the frame outlined earlier with a lifetime warranty on the hoop and yoke... but I digress.
We did in fact turn the heads of many musky fishing dignataries. Earlier I mentioned Pete Maina, others include (and in no particular order)Joe Bucher, Doug Johnson, Tom Dietz, Rob Manthei, Paul Klein, I think Dick Pearson, Bill Deitrich, Scott Jenkins, Gale Radtke, Terry Hagstrom, Ty Sennet, Laura Morrison, Roger Sabota, John Stelflue, and I know at this point I will "dis" many others as I am back to ramblin'.
A couple others were Steve Heiting and Jim Saric. They loved the concept, but wanted something bigger and thus the Big Kahuna was born. They ran these for a year and a half prior to making the product available to the general public.
(This item was in fact first shown at several musky shows this year and may be the cause of your confusion.)
Eventually we added a Knotless/tanglefree net on a more traditional net frame. 5/8" diameter round hoops, with 1- 1/4" diameter round handles that appealed to anglers wanting the knotless/tanglefree mesh with a flat bottom panel at a lower retail price. These have been available since 2000.
The general consensus was that the knotless/tanglefree mesh, with a flat bottom offers the fisherman a large livewell that keeps the fishes head (the part that does the breathing)in the water during hook removal, camera preparation, etc. It also limits split fins/tails, and the removal of large patches of hide associated with a more traditional knotted net with metal weights. If you are serious about catch and release, proper handling of the fish is important. Nearly all of the anglers mentioned above can view their photo albums and tell exactly when they switched to a Frabill net because the fish looked so much better.
Are we big in the musky market? No not really. I do not even think that the folks at Beckman know we are here. Are we going away? No, not any time soon. I think that Frabill will be working on new products long after I am worm food. I would, however, like Frabill to receive the proper credit for our innovative products.
As I indicated earlier that I am impressed to be mentioned in the same post as Beckman. They dominate the musky market the same way the Tuffy commands a huge portion of the musky boat market, St Croix on rods, Shimano Calcutta on reels, and the list goes on. I am also ecstatic thatthey too are offerring a knotless/tanglefree bag with a flat bottom. IT IS GREAT FOR THE RESOURCE. There are apples and oranges that will give nourishment to the recipient. Take your pick and you will be happy with your choice.
I do attend many shows through the course of the year and would be happy to personally present the Frabill line to you. I hope to attend the Minnesota musky show, for sure the international tackle show held in Vegas this July and then numerous distributor shows held around the country and that brings us back to the January-March musky shows next year. Come to our booth and I will be happy to shake your hand and show you the line. But please, no wet kisses...
Mark Gostisha |
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| Mark,
I guess there is no need to continue in the direction this is going we had ,they had,and so on.But,I wasn't talking about the Quick Catch Net with the flat bottom,I was talking about the square net big bottom holding pen,that I did not see in your booth at the Chicago Musky Show in 2001,when they were in the Beckman Booth.I'm sure that the Frabill product is a good product as well,or you wouldn't have some of the named people you have mentioned using them.Likewise the Beckman product is of quality as well and many named people are using their product as well.Lets just say that I'm very happy with the product that I'm now using,have caught and released many big fish using it and plan to stay with this proven product and promote it also as much as I can.I wish you and Frabill all the luck with your product as well.No one ever said competion wasn't good!Good Luck in the coming year.
Capt. Larry D. Jones |
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| No one answered my question. How much deeper is the deep version of the fin saver? Is it worth my time to trade mine in? I have the magnum standard bag, and have never seen the deep. |
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| Larry,
I don't want to get into this to far and let me remind you I have chosen to no longer be a part of any more prostaff programs, this year I just want to fish and give good old fishing information without having to worry about what I say or don't say. But since I was one of the first prostaff members of Frabill back in late 2000 Bruce Beckman asked me a question and it was do you know were frabill gets there nets made & my reply was that information is not available to the public. I know since the 1999 season Pete already had & was using the Kwik Kradle with the smaller squared bottom. I enjoy any net that is going to play a big part in a fishes health & release but to tell you the truth I haven't seen anything better then the old Kwik Kradle that is no longer made. By the way who cares who made it first the both work.
For a choice of net is only up to the angler who's buying it, Frabill is a great company & the Beckman Family are outstandingly nice people. which ever net you choose may you catch a ton of big fish. Larry see ya in Cave Run.....
Good Luck & Great Fishing
Jeff Miller [:sun:] |
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| Both nets serve a purpose and the purpose is for safely handling muskies.
The best thing is to check them out and deside for yourself. Rollies and Helens muskie shop has both in stock.
They are extremly knowledgeable on nets. Give them a call or check them out at www.muskyshop.com
[;)] |
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| Mark, thanks for your input.Your pro opinion (as well as those of others) settled my dispute over net vs cradle. My bass net is a frabill and it has given me years of service,but too small for skies so I have to upgrade.Again thanks!
P.S. Got any samples?
Tmay[8)] [8)] |
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| Muddobber,
Like the old tuna commercial said "Sorry Charlie" [;)] no free samples laying around.
You can contact Frabill a couple different ways
Email at [email protected]
website at www.frabill.com
or toll free from the US or Canada at 1 800 558 1005 Extensions 123 or 137 for a dealer close to you that stocks the Big Game or Big Kahuna Catch and Release nets.
Sincere thanks for your interest in our products,
regards
Mark Gostisha |
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Frabill vs. Beckman