let me see your koi net

[JasonS]

No lie -- the last net I used looks just like the one Tom posted. It was used to pull some 4" koi out of the aquarium into the main pond.

But I've got 2 sock nets and 3 shallow nets for the pond. Two of the shallow ones are the type that clip onto a swimming pool style aluminum handle, 26 inches, and the last is the japanese style wood handle with the nice netting just like you see the pros use. The nice net is an 80cm one. One sock net holds water, the other does not.

[aquitori]

Jason, you have a atleast the essentials to make things easier when catching or moving fish around. I just picked up a sock net that holds water and man is it easier to move fish from place to place...

[JasonS]

The sock that doesn't hold water is great for bath treatments. The other is great for just about everything else.

A sock net that holds water is also great for shows; to fill the transport bags with water as well as fish.

[Akinosan]

It's also great for watering the plants around the pond! Koi Net 40 inches with a 8ft. wooden handle, I need all the help I can get.

[bekko]

If I had any testosterone left I wouldn't need a net - just jump in and grab them suckers Tarzan-style.

I'm really into nets though and must have several dozen of various shapes and sizes. Almost all are hand made and several even have hand-tied mesh. The smallest is a 2-inch hoop net, largest is a 40 ft x 8 ft seine. For koi over 12 inches, its a 4-foot shallow hoop net with a 10-foot pole. Used to have a larger one, but could not handle it.

For those interested in making their own, Memphis Net and Twine
http://www.memphisnet.net
sells all sorts of mesh and, for an extra charge, will dip it in a black latex coating so it will not catch a fin ray. I buy stainless or galvanized steel rod for making hoops at a local hardware/marine supply (Kilgo's), along with hardwood poles and seine twine. Big hoops really need to be made with stainless or hardened aluminum tubing, but solid rod works fine up to about three feet diameter.

-ste vehopkins

[MikeM]

...and handling a 48" net is a piece of cake? LOL

[bekko]

Out at the end of the 10 ft reach, all I can do is sort of shuffle it along. Choke up to 8 foot and its OK. The drag on a hoop net is a function of both diameter and mesh size. Small mesh is generally more gentle on the fish, but a large mesh (one-inch square) is much more maneuverable and less tiring to use.

-steve

[luke frisbee]

well while this thread took a humorous direction, I did promise to post a pic of my net....the bits cost me less than fifty bucks.
the diameter of the hoop is 40 inches, the pole is 1.5 inches by 20ft, the hoop is hardened 5/8ths solid Aluminum, and the netting is the open 1.5 inch weave stuff that AES sells; to close the weave I put toluene and silicone caulk together in a bucket and mixed it till it is the consitency of heavy cream. Then I mashed the netting into the mixture. The weave is now closed, and koi fins don't become trapped in it.

[Tom C]

Luke, I didn't know you're a midget. LOL Boy that's one hell of a net. How deep is that pond? Any chance of a close up picture of it?

Tom

[woodyaht]

Man Luke I had to save up for 2 months just to buy this one, can't imagine buying one like yours. This one isn't even as big as the one Tom has.