Hi all!
I just moved back to a place where I can get back into Salmon fishing. Used to do it about 11 years ago but with a baitcaster and drift setup, now catching on the fly.
However, I very quickly realized that my trout net (https://www.cabelas.ca/product/138762/white-river-fly-shop-hobbs-creek-rubber-bag-trout-net) is absolutely not big enough for chinooks haha so I had to wrestle him up onto the shore while praying for my leader not to break; was using 1x fluoro.
Also realized just how much more gear is needed so I decided to keep my Orvis waist pack for trout fishing (https://www.orvis.com/product/orvis-chesthip-pack/25FT.html) (great pack btw would definitely buy again) and picked up a FishPond Stormshadow lumbar pack for salmon fishing (https://fishpondusa.com/en-ca/collections/lumbar/products/stormshadow-lumbar-pack).
I am trying to decide between the FishPond Nomad Mid-Length or Middle-Fork nets or the Orvis Wide Mouth Guide net. Also open to other options!
Any tips for what net would fit salmon best?
Posted by Few-Back3448
2 Comments
For steelhead walk and wade fishing I use a fishpond mid length nomad net. I put the extra deep basket from fishpond on it. It doesn’t line up perfectly but the stock basket doesn’t hold a squirmy steelhead over 24″. I don’t like how big the hoop is on the nets that come with that deeper basket. I use a fishpond small lumbar pack and the bigger hooped nets are uncomfortable.
There’s salmon and there’s salmon. I wouldn’t want to have to carry around a net big enough to scoop up a 50#+ chinook.
I have a salvaged net with a 17”x13” hoop with a fishpond bag on it (the $30 version of your nomad mid-length) and it gets real sketchy on fish in the 15-20# range (and those are catfish, which are bendy). You aren’t stuffing a 40” salmon in one.
If I was going to get a fishpond net for chinook it would be the boat net with a deep bag. And if I was going after big ones I’d skip the trendy fly-fishing branded stuff and get an actual salmon-sized net with a hoop in the 24”+ range. This is what we use for electro fishing big catfish (state surveys) here.
Kalin’s maybe, under $200. Or a Frabill.