I grew fishing with my dad and there was never a net in the boat except on tournament day. Now I'm older and I never think to grab one. I've been grabbing big fish My whole life and swinging anything smaller than 5lbs or so over the side. I can see the benefits to having one but I bet it takes some practice to net a 10lber alone...

I don't own a net and honestly don't like being In a bass boat with one. It's like the banana thing to me. A net equals failure.

Its there in the rod locker, May or may not get used depends on what's going on with the fish.

NO.....
It really does not matter to me if the fish gets in the boat or not.
I think lipping them is part of the fun. If they get off, oh well.
I would prefer to see them tail walk, shake their head and spit the bait at me.
Now tournament fishing is a different story.

Always!! Being a northern bass fisherman I often have to deal with toothy critters. Netting a northern or musky is much safer than landing by hand. Not only do they have teeth that can inflict harm, their gill plates can slice you open as well.

Nope

Never have.

Glad to see some of us have the same view. My dad will play with em and let em swim around til they get off. I've seen him do it numerous times with big fish cussing cuz he didn't catch em on tournament day. I still get excited over good fish and atleast wanna weigh em and take a few pics.

A few weeks ago my uncle caught a 12lb blue on a wacky worm and while I was trying to get him by the gill he reached down and tried to lip him. The end result was me laughing and him losing all the hide on his thumb

I hate nets. . .but if I was fishing for something with teeth. . .yea. . .I'd be using one too.

I keep one in the boat and I use it on big fish. It relieves the pressure on their jaw when you lip them.

It depends on what I'm throwing. Soft plastics? Probably not. On the other hand, if I am fishing a topwater, a crankbait, or anything with multiple treble hooks I'll probably have the net out in case I catch a big one. I'd rather net one than try to lip a powerful, thrashing fish with a mouth full of razor sharp hooks.

I fish alone 90% of the time. I used to keep one in the boat, but if I left it out I tripped over it or got my lures tangled in it, and if I put it in the rod box I couldn't get it out very easily one handed. So for years now I just lip or lift them. No tournaments so no pressure.

yes but I fish both fresh and salt water. Try lipping a decent sized speckled trout sometime if you're looking for a new thumb piercing!
I bought a Frabill foldable kayak net last year that is really easy to stow and to grab for a sizeable fish. I too swing most fish over the side of the boat, however I'd rather have it if necessary for a large fish.
http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/pr...hu=343033363831

yes, there are situations that can arise, where you may not be able to get a fish in without it. At my home lake, I fish around docks a lot in the spring time. In February I hooked up with a 8 1/2 way up in the middle of a large boat house. The fish swam out from under the dock and my line was around a piling and a metal rail on a boat lift. I ended up having to hold my pole up with my left hand, lifting it as high as I could so I could get the fish up to the surface to net it. I would have never caught that fish without a net, so yes definitely.