smelt nets, pole style, or soak style

[brianroy6]

Id make one, but Im just going to buy one. When we used to dip, all we used was a smelt net with a 12-15 foot pole. But I see most of you use the kind that sit on the bottom, Im going to buy a new one, and was wondering why everyone uses the ones that sit on the bottom vs, the pole style. Besides the work effort, do you tend to catch more in one compared to the other? Thanks Brian:coolgleam

[kbkrause]

Brian most of those do not sit on the bottom, they are suspended somewhere in the water column. I'll let others more knowledgeable answer on the benefits of both styles.

[Priority1]

The old dip nets were fine when we had decent smelt runs, and could get 20+ smelt with one pass of the net. The square ones that sit on the bottom, are hoisted when you see a few smelt swim over it. GRRR8 smelt runs have gone the way of the nickle beer. In the 50s and early 60s you could fill a 55 gal drum if you wanted to clean that many.:)