Two piece net pole, to cut or not to cut ? That was the question.
Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2020 1:18 pm
Quite some time ago I had a bit of good fortune in obtaining not one, but two bamboo slim landing net poles with original fittings, both about 6 ft long, and in pretty tatty condition, over this year I stripped them down, cleaned them up gave each a bit of whipping and yacht varnish and they turned out not bad, one has since gone to a forum member, the second I decided to keep for myself. I intended using it with one of my small net heads.The pole must be probably 50 years old , and had a bit of a kink in its length, that would bother some people but I find it sort of quirky and tells of its past history and use, so I was quite happy with it in that state.
Last year, I also had another bit of good fortune in finding a knotless landing net head tangled in a rack of flood debris on one of the rivers I fish, there was no pole , the frame was shot but the net itself was fine, once I had removed all the bits of twigs, grass, mud etc I could see it was in very good condition, it was put in a drawer , then later fitted to one of the small net heads, it was a good combination with the above pole.
As I have quite a few net poles I decided it would be a nice addition to have a two piece pole, with the help of forum member Eddy Pools, I managed to find a suitable large banded ferrule , unused. I decided that the above pole would be a good donor as a two piece . It had already been rebuilt, and I must admit when I finally made the decision, it was with a bit of trepidation after some careful measuring that I took a saw to it and cut it in half.It seemed to me a bit barbaric cutting a net pole that had been around for so many years in half , but I consoled myself thinking that it would be quite useful in two sections, and along with a three piece rod , and a couple of rod rests quite easy to transport and carry to some of those swims that are more than a short stroll away.
I have recently had problems with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my hands, my right hand being by far the worst ( I am right handed) so any work I am doing must be done in small “doses” so as to not aggravate the problems, things that used to take me a couple of hours now take a couple of days , anyway, slowly I managed to fit the ferrule, do the whipping , and giving the whippings quite a few coats of Yacht Varnish. The result is below.
The knotless net was fine on the small net frame, but it occurred to me that it may with a bit of persuasion fit one of my medium net frames, as I have a spare medium size frame I managed to get it to fit with a bit of help from "Thora", who I must admit does put up with rather a lot from me sometimes , it is now what you could probably describe as a large pan net,and the only bit of vintage tackle that I have with a modern mesh,that is not diamond pattern .
After a few weeks of the occasional swear word, I am now happy with the results.
Thanks for looking ..
David ( OMR)
Last year, I also had another bit of good fortune in finding a knotless landing net head tangled in a rack of flood debris on one of the rivers I fish, there was no pole , the frame was shot but the net itself was fine, once I had removed all the bits of twigs, grass, mud etc I could see it was in very good condition, it was put in a drawer , then later fitted to one of the small net heads, it was a good combination with the above pole.
As I have quite a few net poles I decided it would be a nice addition to have a two piece pole, with the help of forum member Eddy Pools, I managed to find a suitable large banded ferrule , unused. I decided that the above pole would be a good donor as a two piece . It had already been rebuilt, and I must admit when I finally made the decision, it was with a bit of trepidation after some careful measuring that I took a saw to it and cut it in half.It seemed to me a bit barbaric cutting a net pole that had been around for so many years in half , but I consoled myself thinking that it would be quite useful in two sections, and along with a three piece rod , and a couple of rod rests quite easy to transport and carry to some of those swims that are more than a short stroll away.
I have recently had problems with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my hands, my right hand being by far the worst ( I am right handed) so any work I am doing must be done in small “doses” so as to not aggravate the problems, things that used to take me a couple of hours now take a couple of days , anyway, slowly I managed to fit the ferrule, do the whipping , and giving the whippings quite a few coats of Yacht Varnish. The result is below.
The knotless net was fine on the small net frame, but it occurred to me that it may with a bit of persuasion fit one of my medium net frames, as I have a spare medium size frame I managed to get it to fit with a bit of help from "Thora", who I must admit does put up with rather a lot from me sometimes , it is now what you could probably describe as a large pan net,and the only bit of vintage tackle that I have with a modern mesh,that is not diamond pattern .
After a few weeks of the occasional swear word, I am now happy with the results.
Thanks for looking ..
David ( OMR)
