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Posts: 1
| I'm embarrassed to admit that I've been stupid enough to let two nets get away from me and sink to the lake bottom during my 4 years of muskie fishing.....and it's getting #*^@ expensive! I have heard that you can fill the handle with insulating foam, but haven't heard that from anyone who has actually done it. I've got a new Frabill Power Catch and if this really is doable I'd like to give it a try. Does anybody have experience with this? |
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Posts: 3480
Location: Elk River, Minnesota | I have done this...works really well. It seals in air as well.
I have also added a tether to the end of the net, which the tether can be attatched to a bolt I installed in the boat. I net a fish, hook the tether to the bolt, and I have 2 hands free to work with the fish.
I used a typical coaches whistle neck strap, drilled a hole all the way through the net handle, and threaded the strap through and back over the net handle. On the other end, I installed a heavier snap on the end. No net will ever get away from me now..
Steve |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | from what I've heard, you have to foam it in sections, drilling a few holes up the handle to insert the foam. Use short shots of spray foam. Otherwise, when the foam expands you risk mis-shaping the handle and it won't go thru the yoke.
I also tether my net to a cleat on the boat while 'operating' on a fish. I really like my Frabill, would hate to lose it overboard. m |
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Location: Des Moines IA | The frabill net handle fits nicley in a down east rod holder. Tha's how I do it, net the fish, put the net in the rod holder so I have 2 hands free to get the hooks out. Foaming the handle is a very good idea also, I think that just went on my list of things to do. |
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| I filled my old Big Game net and my Big Kahuna with foam filler and they both float. I didn't fill it in sections and the foam did expand too far on my Kahuna but I just took a screw driver and scraped the excess foam out so I could lock the handle in place. I used "Great Stuff" foam filler and bought a piece of tubing to fit on the nozzle of the can. Buy the tubing in a long enough piece to make it to the end of the handle and as you fill, slowly pull the tubing out. The stuff will expand so fill a couple inches below the hole for the handle lock. If it expands too far, just scrape the excess out. |
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Posts: 32
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio | Use the non expanding "Great stuff" and you will have no problems. |
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Posts: 147
Location: Milwaukee, WI | I considered using the Great Stuff, but didn't want to mess with digging it out from around the yoke-pin assembly.
Then, I decided to just seal the handle tube shut with 2 wood disks and some silicone sealer. My Beckman net handle is round, so it was a nice coincidence that a 1/2 inch thick plywood disk from an 1-1/4 or 1-1/2 inch hole saw cutout fit fairly snug into each end of the handle. Those 2 disks, plus some healthy shots of silicone sealer to hold them in place AND plug the pilot hole in the middle of each wood disk, finished the job.
The air trapped in the handle floats my net, too.
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Posts: 138
| Peanuts!!!! That's right peanuts, I put packing peanuts in my beckman handle and it works great.
Jeff |
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Posts: 103
Location: Land O' Lakes WI | Foaming the handle is pretty easy.
Pry the cap off the end of the handle in the yoke.
Depress the snap button and pull it out of the handle. You may need to build a hook out of a heavy wire coat hanger to pull it out.
Foam the handle with Great Stuff. No need to worry about overfilling, it should not be able to distort a PowerCatch handle. I use about a 3' section of surgical tubing to get it all the way to the end of handle.
When the foam dries carve out an area big enough to fit the snap button back in and insert snap button.
Put the cap back on the end of the handle and you are good to go.
If you want to pull the hoop out of the yoke and squirt a little bit in each end of the hoop it will also trap air in the hoop and add a little more bouyancy!
Good Luck,
Mark Gostisha
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Posts: 198
| I had a problem with the expanding Great Stuff. Filled a net handle on a spare net and let it hang in the garage for two years. Borrowed it to a friend and he had it in the boat when the air temp was around 90 degrees and the stuff oozed out and made one heck of a mess. Of course it hardened on the boat floor. If you do it make sure you put it in the sun to heat it up so it hardens up inside the handle and not elsewhere. |
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