After 20 years guiding in the Florida Keys, here's what I've landed on for saltwater landing nets: pick a hoop noticeably bigger than the fish you're chasing but small enough to fit your boat, a handle that telescopes and folds so the net doesn't get left at the dock, a knotless rubber or knotless mesh bag that won't strip slime or split fins, and a frame strong enough to lift the species you're targeting without bending. Get those four right, learn to net head-first from a coiled position instead of fully extended, and you'll shorten fights by minutes — sometimes twenty minutes on a big permit — and put fish back in the water in shape to swim away.
I've netted a lot of saltwater fish over the years — permit, bonefish, redfish, snook, cobia offshore, the occasional tarpon — and I've also missed a lot of fish with a net, which is probably where I've learned the most.
The two halves of the problem are the gear you choose and the technique you use. The best net in the world doesn't help if you scoop from the wrong position. The best technique doesn't help if your hoop is too small. I've covered both across two How 2 Tuesday episodes — Ep. 368 on choosing the net and Ep. 371 on using it.
A lot of saltwater anglers skip the net entirely. The logic comes from bass fishing — tournament guys swing a three-pound largemouth into the boat by the line. The same logic does not carry over to the flats, because the fish are different. A 20-pound redfish does not lift cleanly. A green 30-pound permit pulled by the tail can rip out of your hand and force another five-minute fight. A cobia hooked right on the legal-size line can't be gaffed without committing to keep a fish you might have to release.
On a big permit, a net can shorten the fight by fifteen minutes.
Three real reasons I carry a saltwater net:
One more thing I don't hear a lot of people talk about: a fish in a properly held net tends to relax. Hold the net so the bag is barely supporting the fish in the water and the fish stops thrashing. You reach down with pliers, back the hook out, and never touch the fish with your hands. That's the gold standard for catch and release.
Barracuda, sharks, and kingfish — sharp teeth go right through netting. I've netted those for a world record or a tournament score, but they're the exception. The everyday job for the net is soft-mouth, scale-and-skin fish: permit, bonefish, redfish, snook, and cobia.
Four things:
A big boat has room to carry a big net. On a flats skiff, a big net is completely in the way. You want it as big as you can fit comfortably — but big enough that you have hoop area to work with.
The net I keep coming back to is the Frabill Power Stow:
Some nets fold using a bungee-cord outer rim — those are for bass and bluegill, not serious saltwater fish. You want a folding hoop rated to hold real weight. The Power Stow's hoop folds in half, the handle telescopes out and folds forward into the net itself, so a 48- or 60-inch handle stows down to barely longer than the hoop. On my skiff, that's the difference between carrying a net and not carrying one.
Frabill offers a 42-to-60 inch and a 48-to-66 inch handle. If the longer one fits stowed, go with it. If not, get the shorter one.
Saltwater fish are heavier and stronger than the average freshwater fish. The Power Stow holds fish over 100 pounds in the larger sizes, and most sizes will hold over 50 pounds easily.
One technique note that sounds small but matters: when you lift the fish out of the water, choke up on the handle. Lift at the end of the telescoping handle and you can bend it on a big fish. Choke up almost to the net and you can lift the fish right into the boat without stressing the handle.
The second net I like — the Frabill Trophy Haul — has a feature that addresses this directly: a second handle right by the hoop. Grab that handle to lift, and all the bending load comes off the main handle. For places where you're catching a lot of big fish — Louisiana redfish is the example I keep coming back to — that design saves your gear.
This is where I'm most opinionated, because this is the part that decides whether your release survives. The best net is one of the rubber ones — easiest on the fish, easiest on slime, easiest on fins.
What you're avoiding is thin netting with knots. The knots scrape slime off, thin strands split fins, and you can see the damage on the fish when you go to release it.
My hierarchy:
For most of my fishing — flats, skiff, smaller boats where stowage matters — the Frabill Power Stow, around 18" x 50", with knotless mesh and a telescoping handle. Folded into the bow hatch. Out when a fish gives me a shot.
For high-volume fishing where folding the net every time would slow you down — the Frabill Trophy Haul. Heavy duty. Doesn't fold. Lives in a rod holder on a bay boat. The handle won't bend, the netting is strong, and the second hoop-side handle makes lifting heavy fish much easier.
Picking the right net is half the problem. The other half — the one that costs most anglers their fish — is technique.
If you remember nothing else, remember this. The one situation to avoid completely, no matter how long the handle is, is the one where you're completely extended — arm straight out, net as far as you can possibly get it. In that position you have almost no strength. You're holding the very end of the handle, the net is far away, and you have almost no ability to move it back and forth, left and right, up or down. The fish takes a turn, goes under the net, the line wraps around the net, and the fish is gone.
The right netting position is the opposite of fully extended. Picture a snake coiled up — ready to strike, with reserve to spare.
The position I use (right-handed):
From that position you can move the net in any direction. The fish takes a left turn, you follow. It cuts right, you follow. It comes back toward the boat, you drop the net under it. From fully extended, none of that is possible.
A fish that sees the net is going to kick its tail and swim forward. That's all it knows how to do. Use that. Put the net in front of the fish — head-first — and when it sees the net and kicks, it kicks itself into the net. Try to net from behind and the same kick drives the fish away from the net and out.
This applies to every species I net — permit, bonefish, redfish, snook, cobia — and to freshwater trout too.
The natural instinct is to bury the net deep and scoop the fish up like you'd scoop water with a bucket. Don't. Water resistance against a deep net is huge — you can't move the hoop fast enough to track a fish. Keep the hoop just under the surface, wait for the head-first shot, and bring the net up into the fish from there.
If the net bag dangles loose in the water it catches line, cleats, anything. With your forward hand — left, for a right-hander — pull the bag up and hold it bunched. When the shot comes, let go of the bag, put the net under the fish's head, and the fish drops in.
Netting is a team sport. The angler keeps the fish coming, not jerking it sideways. The netter calls out which side the net is coming from. Without communication, you work at cross-purposes and the fish gets a free pass.
Netting is like gaffing — about waiting for an opportunity, not creating one. The shot comes when the fish makes a lap by the boat and presents its head within range of your coiled net. Until then, stay coiled. Wait.
Corrosion. The hardware on a telescoping handle, the rivets on the hoop, and the connection points are all vulnerable. Rinse the net with fresh water after every trip, and pick nets built for saltwater. Cheaper freshwater nets seize up fast on a saltwater boat.
Fish handling for conservation. Saltwater flats species — bonefish in particular — are extremely fragile. Even a few seconds of air exposure for a photograph affects survival rates. Rubber or knotless bag, fish kept in the water in the net, hook removed with pliers while the fish is still in the bag, quick photo if you take one, release. Combine that with cutting the fight by minutes via head-first netting from a coiled position, and you're delivering fish back to the water in dramatically better shape.
The Frabill Power Stow with a knotless mesh bag and a telescoping handle. Around 18" x 50" handles permit, bonefish, redfish, snook, and cobia. For high-volume fishing where I don't want to fold the net every time, the Frabill Trophy Haul is the heavy-duty option with a second handle near the hoop.
Four criteria: hoop size big enough for your target species but small enough to fit your boat; a folding hoop and telescoping handle so it actually stows; hoop and handle strength rated for the weight of fish you catch; a knotless or rubber bag that won't damage fish you plan to release.
An 18" x 50" Frabill Power Stow. Big enough that the fish drops in cleanly, small enough to fit a skiff bow hatch when folded. A 20" x 55" is more than most flats anglers need. For very large tarpon, most are released boatside.
Rubber is best for the fish — easiest on slime, no abrasion, doesn't split fins. Knotless mesh is the next-best option. Avoid thin knotted nylon mesh. For catch-and-release saltwater fishing, choose rubber or knotless.
Never get fully extended. Right hand back on the handle behind the body with elbow bent, left hand forward holding the bag bunched up near the hoop, telescoping handle out to its full length. Wait for the fish to give you a head-first shot, then reach out and net it without going fully extended. Keep the hoop near the surface.
A fish that sees the net kicks its tail and swims forward. Head-first netting drives the fish into the net. Netting from behind sends the fish away.
Two ways. It shortens the fight — sometimes by 15 to 20 minutes on a big permit — and shorter fights mean higher survival. And a properly held net keeps the fish in the water while you remove the hook with pliers, so you can release without ever touching the fish.
Anything with sharp teeth — barracuda, sharks, kingfish. They bite through netting. Big tarpon are typically released boatside without a net. Nets are best for soft-mouthed, scale-and-skin fish: permit, bonefish, redfish, snook, and cobia.
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