Non tangle catfish net ? Suggestions ?

[Aqua_Bankie]

Was discussing with a non fish keeper but avid fisherman about netting catfish.

Like most Catfish owners I'm sure most of us have had to cut free some fish etc in my case quite a few through the years.

I was explaining I am setting up my new 1100L Pim tank and my biggest pain in the... is catching the Pims with my trusty bottom drilled large plastic jug! anyway he suggested trying a small landing net with rubber mesh ?

any thoughts on this ? iv seen a few for sale that are an ideal size.

[bekateen]

I can't help because none of my fish are big, but I expect yours are pretty big. Perhaps @Viktor Jarikov or @ElTofi might be able to offer some insights to catching fish at risk of tangling in typical nets.

Also, check out these forum threads and posts:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=42071&p=286745
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=41140&p=279967
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=45277&p=306665

Good luck, Eric

[MarcW]

I've seen the rubber mesh landing nets you mention, and I've thought they'd be a good option.

The one concern I have though is with the typically larger mesh size, larger, but not huge, e.g. 6 to 12 inch fish, may get their whole head stuck in the mesh rather than just a fin. Similar to the way a gill net would catch fish?

I've not got any personal experience though, so hopefully someone Eric mentioned who do keep larger fish will be along to suggest something.

Good luck!

[Viktor Jarikov]

Not sure what the video is supposed to add to the OP question but I enjoyed watching it. The guy is my soulmate haha... Thanks, Eric!

Aqua-Bankie, if your drilled jug worked for you before satisfactorily, I'd stick with it... unless you are able to find a small size rubber net with small mesh. The only ones I have seen were big for big fish, I mean 2' and bigger. I am too cheap, never owned one yet.

I made my own nets before from an old net (hoop and handle only left) and linen or t-shirts, clipped to the hoop with black crocodile clips used for clipping stacks of paper together, for easy removal and replacement. It's hard for fish to get entangled in fabric but on the down side the fabric doesn't pass water nearly quickly enough for convenient catching. I too use pillow cases and blanket cases for large fish. For Pimelodus pictus and blochii I have been known to borrow wife's spaghetti strainers to her sheer delight, which is in principle the same as your jug shot through with a whole magazine or two of AK-47.

[bekateen]

Not sure what the video is supposed to add to the OP question but I enjoyed watching it. The guy is my soulmate haha... Thanks, Eric!

Viktor, I suspect the video has been edited or changed. TTA referenced that video a few years ago (HERE).

... moving big fish from an in wall tank in one home in a van to a huger tank in another home. At about the 3:30 mark the fish they catch is transported in a wet towel.You can see how the catch and handle them.

The tank from which they are removing the fish is actually twice that height, it was taken half apart to remove the fish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq_8tV3 ... ature=plcp

At the time, I recall watching the video and it did show the guys catching the fish and hauling to a truck for transport (I think... my memory is not what it used to be... for that matter, it was never very much! ) But now I watch the movie, and I do not see any of the fish capture or transport. I'm not sure what they did, but you're right - now it doesn't add much to the thread here.

Cheers, Eric

P.S., Glad you found a soulmate.

[ElTofi]

good question I had to solve a few months ago during moving my "big" fish because of the leaking story on my inner pond.

with the non dangerous fish (but big enough to get hurt), I used a simple angler's net, like you can see on the following picture :

the big one :


the small one :


I take the small one (for float tube angling) to fold the fish over to the other landing net. And a bigger one, to land it.

Both are non braided rubber mesh.

For the Stingrays, the problem is more related to manipulation, not catching. And I used a pretty cool solution, borrowed from the venomous snakes world :

For the Panaque, easily with hands...

[Viktor Jarikov]

Cool stuff, @ElTofi. Thank you.

I don't know if it is just me or there is a disconnect but neither net looks rubber to me.

The small net is better visible and it doesn't look like it's made of rubber to me, looks like a generic cloth. Do they make nets with rubber strands that thin and also make seams like those in the picture? I imagined / recalled that rubber mesh is made with no seams, they are cast, I imagine. And the rubber strands are usually much thicker for strength, as thin rubber is pretty weak.

[ElTofi]

my angler landing nets are in rubber indeed, as you may see on these pictures :

big one


small (float tube) one


But I guess considering your part of the world, you find more often this kind of rubber landing net with large mesh.



Problem with these "large mesh" is that you (too) often sting your hooks in the width of the mesh. And then, you destroy it.

Considering the resistance of "thin" rubber mesh, it never was a problem for me here in Switzerland, as I barely take "BIG" Esox Lucius... 2, maybe 3 a year are more than 100 cm (a mythical mark). Like this one : 4 feet (125 cm)

[Viktor Jarikov]

Thank you much, ElTofi! I see it better now. These are rubber-coated nets. If I had to guess, the usual nylon or some such net coated with rubber, which probably doesn't matter to the OP purposes because it would accomplish the same.

[Aqua_Bankie]

Cheers Guys

I went and had a look but the mesh is too large for what I need catching smaller cats Ornates and Lima's.

Used the old jug , will keep looking thou as it would make moving the cats easier.

[Martin S]

I did a quick search on Amazon, plenty to choose from, hopefully one of these are the right size for your needs.