I have a Beckman Fin Saver. Some kind of critter chewed holes in the bag while it was stored in my shop. I thought the bag was a bit heavy and was tough to use, especially for those with less experience netting. Can anyone recommend a good replacement? I'm looking for a fish-friendly replacement.

I have the same net and love it for the fish but hate how heavy the bag is. I only use it during feb,Mar for native steelhead. I'm curious to see the responses as I would like to see what others have done with there's. Good luck,

SZ

I'll be curious to see answers on this too. I haven't found the perfect one yet, but here's what I know:

You might want to check out a ranger bag. The one I just got, the mesh is more coarse than I really like for C&R, but it's ruberized, knotless, and a lot lighter. I'll look up the exact model when I get home. ( http://rangernets.com/specialty-and-replacement-nets/ )

Rubber net is going to be the most fish friendly, but they're HEAVY. It's nice thought because hooks don't tangle.

I've got a Promar bag on a Frabile handle, and I hate it. It's good mesh for a fish to be in, but it gets really tangled if a hook catches at all.

Definitely a fan of the ProMar C&R bag here. Soft fine mesh is EXTREMELY friendly to slime/scales/fins. But definitely a bit more snaggy when it comes to your chosen hardware.

If you fish single and barbless, this bag is no problem... hook just slides right out

If you like trebles and barbs and lotsa hooks in general... fuggetaboutit.

I picked up a rubberized version a few weeks back with a bigger hexagonal mesh. Still extremely soft and lightweight... but also appears to be a bit less "snaggy"

A blast from the past...

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/741916/1.html

Read the whole thread... happy ending

FYI saw this about Beckman on the Ifish board.

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=906625

I couldnt find a promar durasoft replacement net locally, ebay has them for $18 plus $5 shipping

Thanks for the eBay suggestion for ProMar, so I went there.

I see that the DuraSoft bags comes in 2 mesh sizes, a smaller finer square mesh that I currently have on 2 bags (501 and 500) and also a newer larger hexagonal mesh.

My guess is the hexagonal mesh is the new replacement for DuraSoft bags and both mesh sizes are floating around in retail stock.

Few weeks ago, I just happened across a bag with the larger hexagonal mesh that is rubber treated to a smooth soft consistency. I don't see that featured on the ProMar website nor the eBay page searching ProMar.

I'll add a pic to show folks.

Standard DuraSoft mesh... ( I now see where on closer inspection this "square" mesh is actually hexagonal as well)



Newer "coated" DuraSoft mesh looks like this....



For comparison here's the size difference between the two... FOUR meshes of the old are encompassed within ONE mesh of the new.



The larger mesh with less overall material should make a HUGE difference in drag as the bag cuts thru the water... esp for those with a "scoopy" or "chase 'em thru the water" netting technique.

Moreover, the coating should make a HUGE difference in the "snagginess" of the bag in terms of gear (hooks, spinner wire eyelets, duo locks, and gaped split rings)

Hmmm...I like the look of that one.

Is the rubber coated bag noticeably heavier?

My last few CnR nets have been Rangers, and that includes the one I have now. It's been just fine, but the material seems a bit rougher than I'd like.

It's not a very old one, the one I use now, and I've considered taking it off the hoop and washing it in the clothes washer a few times and see if I could soften it up.

Anyone tried that before?

Fish on...

Todd

I could never find what I wanted so a modified one.

You can take the soft, knotless, very snaggy bags and coat them with silicone.

Buy the high flex silicone and put on the rubber gloves, just pump it out into your hand and rub the mesh, I coated one net twice and one of them once, it didn't seem to make huge difference, but was a little firmer.

You need to hang the bag in the shape you want it to take when the silicone cures.

You end up with a lighter, softer, easier to use net. I did it three years ago and they are holding up fine.

A recommendation. Dont buy the 501b net for a 34" hoop. Not even close.

Id hang a pic but im android disabled.