The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I have a fishing buddy on the Wye who never uses a keepnet. When you ask how he’s doing he refers to a fish counter that he keeps on a cord round his neck. So Ive tried a few trips without a keepnet and I can say that it doesn’t appear to make any difference to the sort of catches I make. This is even when trotting down the inside when you are effectively releasing each fish back into the swim.
Anyway I raise this because I was watching another of Mark’s (DaceAce) excellent video’s yesterday and he said that he stopped using a keepnet several years ago.....any other views please?

I seldom, use a keepnet, apart from competitions, and then I will have 3 nets - roach & small silvers, another for Bream, and another for Carp.

The only other time might be if roach fishing when I know that I will not be placing other bigger fish in my net. These occasions are perhaps only once in 40 times I perhaps go roach fishing - perhaps I should stop that.

Think long gone are the days when 100lbs of barbel and chub were placed in nets, which I have witnessed at times, when bailifing in years past. (And to some extent done it myself)

I consider that sort of overcrowding - pure vanity of part of the catcher, its not about fish welfare. Think most people nowadays catch and release the larger fish. Think the worst I saw was a person (now deceased) who was bragging of 192lb of barbel in 2 nets. [Was reported]

Tim - I never use a keepnet - I have seen folk putting lots of Perch into a net - it would be like swimming around a cauldron of spikes - it beggars belief and it does nothing for fish welfare, whatever the species. As for spooking fish when putting back I cannot answer because I have no comparisons to make - the only thing I can say is that when I am into a shoal of Roach I catch and not just one or two.

I stopped using one when I ceased Matchfishing about fifteen years ago. Nowadays I attach more importance to catching good looking fish with all fins and scales intact. Size or quantity matters little to me now, I'm happy with half a dozen modest sized pretty fish. Waters where keep nets are used routinely invariably illustrate the damage fish sustain when retained for any length of time. Perch particularly are prone to worn tails. When I first fished Stowe pool a few weeks ago I was surprised to find most of the better Perch had worn tails and this on a water that appeared to be hardly fished? Subsequently I discovered that a small number of match orientated anglers fish there regularly using keep nets. The nets in use are far more fish friendly than earlier examples but obviously are still not ideal. I would say that Roach fishing probably suffers most from fish being immediately released back into the swim. If I get a nice one and remain hopeful of catching more I will walk twenty or thirty yards up the bank to release it. I find the corresponding delay in the next cast often has a beneficial effect on the prospects of a decent catch.

I haven't used one in twenty years or more. I think the turning point for me was starting to catch more and better fish. I began to be concerned for the welfare of the fish. I can't say that I have noticed any drop off in catch rate, since I stopped.

There are a lot of theories and myths about returning fish into a going swim but, I haven't used a keepnet for twenty years and have returned perch, roach and chub (all supposedly will spook the shoal), and have found no drop in catch rates. To be honest, even if it meant catching less, I would still abstain from keepnets.

Causing or catching tatty fish is not what the sport is about, is it?

I've been fishing since I was little. So young I don't remember my first trip or first fish. I have never used a keep net.

I'd prefer to think that after I've caught a fish I release it to get on with its fishy day. Packing a load of fish into a net and then hoisting the net out so all the fish flap around on eachother... all that weight on the one at the bottom... all the fins pointing the wrong way, etc.

Those matches with 100lb bags of carp are especially bad.

Generally keep nets make me wince!

None of the waters I fish allow keepnets. They should be consigned to history like gaffs and tailers.

The last time I owned a keepnet was 25 years ago.

When returning to fishing a few years back a keep net was on the initial list of things I 'needed'. I had always used one in the past but because of the expense and the wanting to travel lighter I put the purchase on hold for a while.
After fishing a few times without one I honestly couldn't justify the need and 5 or 6 years down the road it remains the same, even after having been given a couple by a friend that had too many.
I would much rather a fish was returned to its habitat as soon after its capture as possible.