Fly Fishing Net Retrofit

I decided after some research and blog reading that it was time for me to either get a new fishing net with a rubber mesh or somehow retrofit my current net with the rubber mesh.

The problem was finding someone who sold the rubber netting for a price that wasn't sky high. Most of the online sources I checked had just the netting for $50 plus and that just seemed silly considering a new net would be anywhere from $60 - $120 and most of the work in building a net comes from the wood bending and gluing of the frame. I finally heard that a fly shop in Salt Lake had the nets for $25 and I went to check it out. Fish Tech Outfitters is a really nice shop too and while I don't frequent there (45 min from home) I do appreciate a good shop. Sure enough they had the Brodin nets for $25.

Before I really knew what I was doing I cut the old mesh off my net and was fiddling with how to connect the new rubber mesh. One of the websites I had read talked about using the white cord from an old set of blinds. It just so happened that I had a trashed set of blinds out in my shed. I cut the cord out and I was in business. I grabbed my bobbin threader from my tying kit and I was ready.

Being a computer guy I had a bunch of velcro straps that we use for cable management and I used those to hold the net in the approximate location for the stringing. I made one adjustment to the net and cut off the very top ring of mesh to give me a little bit better fit. I started stringing it up using the bobbin threader to pull the cord through the holes in the net. About 1/2 through the bobbin threader busted and while that sucked it forced me to think of something else to use and I found some old monofilament in a tackle box and that worked well enough to finish the stringing.

The net has been out on the river many times since and I have loved it. Not having my hooks get caught up in the nylon mesh is fantastic and being a better net for the fish is a bonus too. If you fly fish or trout fish, you should consider making the move to a rubber net. As a bonus - the clear mesh is supposed to be harder for the fish to see in the water.