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Posts: 44
| I have a Beckman (coated) net and twice now the jaw next to the cheek has got caught in the net and when the fish thrashed it tore his jaw. Will this heal and would I have this problem with the fin saver bag or should I get a cradle? Thanks for any help. |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | A fin saver bag may help. Are you killing them? Its possible but no real way of knowing.. |
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Posts: 3876
| My limited opinion is....forget about the cradle. I've never used one, but that's mostly because I usually fish alone (I'm a loner, Dottie. I would try to explain, but you wouldn't understand. - Pee Wee Herman).
Take the Zen attitude - do all you can to do what you think you should, and if it works, it works, and if it doesn't, it doesn't, and however it turns out is the way it was, is, and always will be.
(Phish Killer and Shep are muttering something like, "friggin' hippie!" as they read this. Well, Buddah loves you two guys. And I'm fondeling of you guys, too.)
A rule I learned from better folks than me is...if you have the fish out of the water longer than you can hold your own breath, pics and all, you have room for improvement. Achieve this (maybe you have) and then worry about the rest.
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| About the best net is a coated knotless one. The bigger the better. As far as jaws healing some fish will heal some may not. I once boated a nice fish that looked like it had half it's face ripped off at one time but it had healed up and the fish was still healthy and fat. Time of the year with water temps, bacteria, etc probably play a big role in healing too. Cradles are ok with two people. You have to be very careful with the fish that have a bait with hooks hanging out of the fish's mouth as they tend to get hung up in the netting. I know folks who have lost some nice fish due to this. |
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Posts: 1936
Location: Eau Claire, WI | As previously stated a cradle is best suited for two anglers and in my opinion doesn't replace a quality net, but serves as a second choice in the right situations. I have been using Frabill's Big Kahuna, Big Game, or Kwik Kradle ( a very nice hybrid net/cradle option) for the past 7-8 years and haven't experienced the cheek/jaw issue you speak of. Hard to beat Frabill's features, strength, warranty, value and most important...performance.
If you are not in the market for a complete new net, you may want to consider a new bag for the one you have. |
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Posts: 63
| I would strongly endorse a Fin Saver net bag from Beckman, great net. Cradles I think are a good idea, but same problem as alot of the rest of us, I fish alone alot!  |
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Posts: 184
| I think cradles are bad for muskies. One, you have to play the fish out until it can be slipped into the cradle. Then, it is much harder to keep the fish in the water while you unhook it, and measure it. You also can't do this by yourself. A large landing net with a rubber coated bag is the way to go for muskies. I highly recommend the Frabill line of nets that are very fish friendly. Go with the largest net you can afford or have room for in your boat. I love my Big Kahuna because large muskies have plenty of room in this net without getting all beat up!!
Hope this helps!!
Chad |
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Posts: 1769
Location: Algonquin, ILL | That can happen with "ANY" net, the best thing would be to unhook the fish without a net other than that as Chad said get the biggest net you can afford or have room for
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Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | My opinion......the trailing tip of the upper jaw or lip or whatever you want to call it gets caught less frequently in a finsaver net. The most important thing to remember here is not to lift any part of the fish out of the water by using the net to do your lifting. Doing this will almost certainly result in the fish hanging by the tip of that jaw causing almost certain but definitely avoidable damage. I usually try to get the hooks removed from the fish first, even theough the fish may still be tangled in the net. Then I grab the fish by the commnly used lower jaw hold. This then give me the best control of the fish, still in the water and net, while I begin untangling the fish/net/lure combo. Once the net(bag) is hanging clear of the fish I try to get the lure out of the net entirely before I do anything else. Once left with only the fish in the net I begin to revive the fish BEFORE any measurement or photos. Once th fish appears energized and stable, THEN, I go through my measurement, photo, release, high five, endzone celebration, adult beverage routine.
As far as the craddle.....I never even considered it as an option. I percieve it to be too cumbersome and problematic with 1 or two people in the boat.
Just my 2 cents.
Karl |
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| I like to hand land anything I can handle unless the fish is hooked awkwardly, big enough to take out of water photos of(44", or in a dangerous current situation. That said, I highly recomend the Fin Saver bag from Beckman. It has served me well for 3 years, and will be replaced by another of the same style/brand when needed in a couple seasons. |
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| Of course nets kill some fish. Best method (if you're experienced enough to do it) is to unhook them in the water and take a release shot. If the fish swims away before a pic, that's not the end of the world. If you haven't handled many muskies you should use a net to minimize the time taken to unhook and release the fish. Remember to leave the net in the water -- everyone does that, right? |
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Posts: 32902
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I use a Frabill coated net, the PowerCatch model, knotless and coated. I haven't had a fish get hooked up in the net ever, and the bag is so big I can let a 47 swin around in it while preparing my release tools and camera. I don't like the Fin Saver bags as much because they are harder for my wife to move in the weater because of the tight mesh. The trick is to NOT pick the net out of the water, net the fish and leave her wet and deep in the bag until you're ready to release her. |
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