The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

A keepnet was one thing I bought with my first ever months wages! It was 8ft with enormous width - about 24in rings. Having seen matches with small nets crammed with fish - 300lb of bream to 3 anglers nets, I decided I must have one where the fish were not stuffed in on top of each other.

Somewhere I have a picture of it with a 20+ pike in it - the fish could turn around in the net! However dragging this about only lasted a few years and apart from the odd competition not used one for many years.

Next came carp sacks and pike tubes - also used for cats and barbel. Most, if not all waters, now prohibit their use.

Floating weigh slings/retainers to rest the carp before the obligatory photo seem to be the latest item.

Nowadays I just use the landing net before weighing - if I bother to!

I stopped using keepnets 20 odd years ago. There was a concern about barbel being kept and suffering fin damage as a result so out it went.

Nowadays most anglers have a mobile phone with camera so there is a record of what was caught, which I think is much better than tipping the fish out on the bank at the end of the day.

I also make a point of releasing tiddlers gently back into the water. I don't understand why it's only big fish that get the TLC and the next generation are just thrown back in, possibly stunned or disoriented and easy prey for predators.

I've often wondered about the good old days when certain waters had a reputation for big roach, or perch or whatever. Anglers mourn the dearth of similar catches nowadays.

Maybe it's because the world and his wife descended upon said waters during it's heyday. They may not have caught many of the big 'uns but plenty of tiddlers that just get thrown back?

All the best
Will.

Interesting thread this. I haven’t used a keepnet since I gave up match fishing in the early 1980s. I never used them when pleasure fishing and, if I’m honest, even as a child angler I found those photographs of keepnets with loads of fish pretty unpleasant.

Helen and I sometimes use fish counters for a bit of fun but our favourite friendly contest is most species caught! That can make for an interesting day of changing baits and tackle.

I'm of the generation that saw the demise of the keepnet, but as a lad I do remember at the end of the day taking the net out and taking one last look or picture. We never caught enough for the net to be crammed. I have used one in last few years back on the canal , a net of tiddlers . But not no more I looked at them and thought this just isn't necessary or right

Havent used a keepnet for more years than i can remember. Why would you. They stink in the car anyway

I do have a keepnet which I bought about 12 years ago from money someone left me in a will, the 'Margaret Munro memorial net', it gets used once a year in our clubs 24hr charity match otherwise it stays in the shed

I stopped using them in 2013. I had only kept using them for magazine features but found them more trouble than they're worth, and it's less to carry (offset by the video/camera gear I'm currently taking some of the time!).

Well dear anglers ... I have a filthy secret ... I do use a keepnet and still enjoy seeing my catch at the end of the day ..
is it so wrong (or fishing woke)

BSC

No it is not BSC and far from it for me to tell any angler how to approach their sport. We all have our own choices to make. Let's hope we as anglers are able to make those choices the way life, to me at least, seems to be going. Opinion matters. Your's, mine, everyones. Myself, I think angling has to watch out for the increasing pitfalls of modern 'life' as it is and the use of keepnets comes into that for me. The term 'playing' fish is another case in point. Slight changes of perception have a big influence on the masses when used in the wrong context, if only because they do not play our game or understand our thinking. Hope that makes sense?

I have not used a keep net for over 40 years. Or a carp sack for that matter. I return my fish straight back to the water if a big fish comes along, a quick photo on the carp mat then straight back. No trophy shots for me.