To Net Or Not To Net?

One of the discussions I often see on the Kayak Bass Fishing Facebook page is regarding the use of landing nets.  Some anglers swear by them 100% of the time, some anglers think they're a waste of space, and others are somewhere in between.  Elite Series anglers are not allowed to use nets in competition, and some of us enjoy that extra challenge of trying to emulate their fish landing methods from time to time.  However, I bet if you asked a few of those guys, they'd like to have the opportunity to use one.

My Net Setup - Simplistic and Functional

While I consider my net standard equipment on every trip, I don't always use it.  It rests in a Ram tube to the rear-left of my seat, easily within arms reach.  I have a leash on it so I don't lose it, but one end of the leash is a magnetic net attachment used by fly fishermen, so I can grab it quickly and move freely with it once it's out of the tube.

There are two parts to the net equation - what net to use, and when to use it.

The Guntersville Incident of 2017

I write a big, comprehensive post on this blog at the end of the year about my tournaments and the lessons learned during each one. However, after my day at the 2017 KBF Trail event at Lake Guntersville, I decided this tournament deserved its own special post.  Because it was, well...special. And not in the good way.

The Reel Krazy event at Terrapin Creek on August 25-26 had been the last tournament I fished before I bought my Jeep.  I traded in my Toyota Tacoma pickup on September 2, so of course I had to box up all the junk in the truck and get it out before I took it to the dealership to make the trade. That was a busy Labor Day Weekend.  Then my wife and I had our anniversary on September 6, followed by what was supposed to be a family vacation to Florida on the 7th. That got squashed by Hurricane Irma, and we ended up going down there the 16th-21st instead, and had a great time.  But we got back, and I had only one day to prep and load for Guntersville.  It was Friday the 22nd, after a busy day of playing catch-up at work, and I was going to load up and camp that night near my launch point on the north end of the lake near the Nickajack Dam.  It had been nearly a month since I had been on the kayak, but I was ready, and confident in my spot. It was over an hour away from the check-in at Guntersville State Park, but I had caught a really nice 5 lb class fish from that area before, and I was pretty sure I'd have it to myself.  Most people rightfully associate Guntersville Lake with the state of Alabama, but it actually extends all the way up into Tennessee, and that's where I'd be fishing.  The lake is over 65 miles long from southwest (Guntersville, AL) to northeast (South Pittsburg, TN) ends.

Guntersville is a LONG lake!