Hardy Superlite Wading Net

[MHC]

I admit the Crabtree style net and other wooden/cane/brass landing nets look nice, I prefer a lighter weight net to use, and one which folds away to carry and when not in use.

One to look out for is the Hardy Supalite, I used to swoon over them in Hardys Pall Mall shop in the 70's - but they were expensive. They felt almost weightless in the hand and the arms pulled out to collapase away. Not long ago I found one second hand from a dealer friend of mine.

The Hardy catalogue of 1978 describes the Superlite.

'Featuring a 4' 8" hollow glass fibre shaft with moulded nylon spike. 24" arms, also in Fibalite. Moulded nylon head with comfortable shaped grip. No metal parts to corrode. And it floats. Easy take apart design. 38" deep green nylon net. Weighs only 14 1/2 oz.
Recommended by Richard Walker as the finest net on the market for reservoir and loch fishing'

The catalogue also seems to show one with telescopic handle, though I have not seen one.

[Chris Bettis]

I think that this was the best landing net that I have ever had - a fantastic piece of equipment. Yes, it was expensive but worth every penny!

[Shaun Harrison]

I sold a few new ones of those but don't ever remember a telescopic handled version. I would be interested how that one worked with the steep taper of the fishing rod blank handle. I had always presumed it was a salmon fly rod middle section. Lovely frames though.

[Beresford]

If Walker thought that a 4' 8" handled net was the best thing going for boat fishing I suspect he never tried fishing with a 24' leader with three flies. I think you really need about a 7' handle. The same goes with carp fishing.

My nice cane net has a 5' 6" handle and a 36" net – it's OK but I much prefer the extra reach and security that my modern net with a 7' handle gives. The extra reach enables me to protect the tips of my cane rods especially when fishing alone.

[Shaun Harrison]

If Walker thought that a 4' 8" handled net was the best thing going for boat fishing I suspect he never tried fishing with a 24' leader with three flies. I think you really need about a 7' handle. The same goes with carp fishing.

My nice cane net has a 5' 6" handle and a 36" net – it's OK but I much prefer the extra reach and security that my modern net with a 7' handle gives. The extra reach enables me to protect the tips of my cane rods especially when fishing alone.

Totally agree, I used to use a 5 ft handle with my Mk IV's because it was the same length when the rods were folded for ease of transport. I struggled a couple of times netting fish from a platform, worrying about the angle I was forcing the cane into.

In my other life where I earn my living with modern gear I use a minimum of 8ft. So many fish lost at the net that wouldn't be with a longer handle and once at 8ft it allows you to leave the handle propped on your shoulder whilst playing a big fish right until the netting moment so both hands can remain on the important job of playing the fish right until the last minute of lifting it out. No need to hold the net in place and reach at silly angles just because another few inches of line were taken whilst the reel hand is engaged holding the net in place.

[MHC]

I forgot of the afinity between British coarse anglers and their very long handled nets. The Superlite was (I suppose) intended to be used by the wading and boat anglers at the time when mostly shorter rods were in use and single or at most 2 flies were the norm. I have fly fished enthusiastically since the late 70's and cannot understand how a 20' plus leader/tippet/cast could be fished or cast, let alone with multiple flies, yet I do not fish 'lough style'.

This season for the first time I will be using a 12' 7 wt bamboo spey/switch style rod. An English pond fish being one thing, a large steelhead in a river something else, which made me wonder if I would stress the tip if I brought the fish towards me (either boat or bank) . I could use a long handled net which would not work as often the fish needs to be followed like a salmon. I carry an extendable net on my belt which serves me well when fishing plastic long rods.

Such fish are often beached (like salmon in the UK) and I don't mind if the beach is fish friendly, as I catch and release. I will start carrying my folding belt net, which enables me also to cradle the fish in the very cold flow to gain it's strength back prior to release.

Here is a video of the rod maker Bob Clay fishing one of his Riverwatch rods in British Columbia. Note how he takes care to keep a low angle when playing his fish prior to it's release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqJ4Aa-eep8

[Beresford]

The trout in the UK lowland reservoirs are anything but 'pond fish'. These lakes are amongst the richest waters in the UK and the fish thrive in terms of growth and just how fit they are in the summer. My Canadian uncle marvels at the the sheer quality of fish these lakes produce. Of course there are shoals of stocked fish but you can easily choose to move off them should you drift over them. I would think it takes a matter of weeks for a stocked fish to become a wild full tailed maniac. Sometimes these fish will hit files and keep on going for 50, 75 yards… on occasion further before something breaks.

I don't think the notion of landing net handles for trout fishing has anything to do with the UK coarse fishing scene more it's a matter of practicality. Boat fishing on these lakes can be hard going when it's rough, tackle gets bashed about and sometimes you just have to fish with a very pragmatic approach both to catching and keeping dry and safe in such conditions. I kid you not I've been out in a 5' wave on Rutland in a hail storm in May and caught some cracking fish on delicate nymphs when the weather moved on. Such conditions are not really the preserve of dainty 8' 4 weight cane fly rods. Of course there will be times when such gear will put you in touch with a fish but in the summer they are so fit you might be playing it all afternoon – not great (probably fatal) for the fish if you are fishing catch and release…

A 10' carbon fly rod will punch out a long leader well enough and contemporary techniques allow accurate depth control over the flies and how they fish. There are times when it's appropriate to scale down and use dries and more delicate presentation. Generally speaking long leaders work exceptionally well. Shaun's knowledge will be far greater than mine but techniques such as the 'washing line' can be deadly in the right conditions and hands. In many ways I'd say trout fishing on these lakes bears quite a close relationship, in terms of approach, to roach fishing. More so than many trout anglers may care to acknowledge. In essence it's the same: find the fish, not always easy, find what they are feeding on and at what depth.

[MHC]

By pond fish I was referring to carp/ tench/bream etc. as the previous post to mine had referred to carp fishing from a platform.

Having said that pond trout are usually stocked fish and of not much of a size, apart from those portly monsters stocked in Avingdon during the 80's, even then they did not fight much from what I read, or indeed had the room to fight..

I started fishing in the UK reservoirs so know of what you mention. Queen Reservoir in Datchet produced some double figure fish both browns and rainbows. Yes they can fight, but they would fight deep. I had smaller brethren on dries, nymphs and deeper stripped lures , popular at the time. I fished there and Farmoor etc for some years in some very rough weather. The lakes/reservoirs did not 'produce' those fish (they grew on) as they are originally stocked from usually 'watered down' gene pool fish in farms. These days in the right circumstances I would break out a 4 wt bamboo rod to fish dry from a slowly drifting boat on a summer evening, surprising how they can be subdued if the rod is lowered.

Take it from me however, nothing compares to a pure strain, wild, lake or sea run rainbow, they run ,twist and jump. No room or reason to lug about a cumbersome net.

Yes I do think those long handled net are the preserve of UK anglers , mostly coarse, though also boat from what I have since read. I have yet to see their like out of the UK apart for some of those 'continentals' and their equally long poles. Mind you ,some Great Lakes salmon charter boats have long handled nets, to reach the water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG66BbTR6rk

[Beresford]

Grafham and Rutland 'produce' their own fish, they certainly are not stocked at anything like the sizes they grow to and quite rapidly. The water, particularly at Grafham is very rich, coming off limestone.

I've taken wild sea trout to 10lbs and I've loved all the sea trout and salmon fishing I've done. The fishing in the UK and America is very different – all due to geography and nothing more.

What I don't really understand is all these hi-tech rods coming out of America from Sage and Loomis what's the domestic market for them – is that lake fishing or are they for the English market? I always get the feeling Americans care far more about the nitty gritty technical aspects of fishing tackle than we do in the UK, very dangerous to make generalisations I know but I remain interested.

[MHC]

I fish the same where ever I fish, to be honest. My methods have different 'flavours' now thats all. I do not bracket myself belonging to any fishing 'tribe' , not even Traditional,but my own and will as gladly use vintage gear and new bamboo rods with silk line as I would using modern equipment at times. A high tech Loomis or Sage rod is not very different than a Hardy, though Hardys now import their blanks from the Far East and Sage roll their own in the US (last time I looked). To be honest even a bamboo rod taper is pretty complicated in it's own way. The differences are more than merely geography, it is also the species involved and the traditions involved catching them. For instance carp are often considered vermin in many places as they are a non native species which can damage spawning habitat for the native species, very few people seem to catch them for sporting purposes. Muskie are never angled for with live or dead bait in this part of the world, artificials being more sporting, more exciting and 'kinder' on the fish. Apart from ice fishing I do not see pike fished for with live or dead baits either, for the same reasons. So it goes on.

Some UK reservoirs do produce their own trout from brood stock, however their genes can be traced back to the original planting from a fish farm no doubt (thinking rainbows here). That is very different from wild strains which have developed over thousands of years to a specific watershed or river. Survival of the fittest no doubt. As with Atlantic salmon rivers that have suffered escapees from rivermouth cages which run up and breed with the native fish thus weakening and sometimes wiping out the native fish, they then fade away themselves as they could not genetically cope with the conditions.

Trout cannot completely escape their genes by over wintering, though I do remember some wonderful tussles with some very fit silver Datchet rainbows, Its a compromise as rainbows are not native to the UK. My tenuous point remains that it is a very special thing to catch a wild salmon or trout.