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How to net a Salmon on the River
15K views
Feb 5, 2025
Hooking a salmon is often the hard part, which is why it’s so frustrating when one is lost at the net. Losing a salmon at the net should rarely (never?) happen! This video will provide a path to rarely if ever losing a fish at the net. PNWBestLife is here to save you from bad netting and maybe even provide you some ideas on how to be better at fighting a fish to make netting your fish even easier. After watching this video, you may even need to buy your buddy a beer whom you blamed for mis netting your last fish!
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0:00
[Music]
0:00
what's up everybody another p&w best
0:02
life video here on a very important
0:05
topic we are talking about how to net a
0:08
salmon how to land a salmon on the river
0:11
now some of these apply uh some of these
0:13
Concepts apply to a boat as well but
0:15
really important you know what you're
0:17
doing on the river I'm about to go
0:19
fishing uh with a bunch of friends on an
0:21
annual River fishing trip for King and
0:24
Co salmon so uh here we go as much as U
0:28
Nets have a a job to do and they got to
0:30
do the right thing Man it can really
0:33
help if the person on the rod who's
0:35
fighting the fish knows what they're
0:38
doing and really makes it easy on the
0:41
net right there's a lot that can go
0:42
wrong when you're trying to get that
0:44
fish on the bank and right in that
0:45
moment you've you've seen how big this
0:47
fish is maybe you've seen it doesn't
0:48
have a the extra fin you're like oh it's
0:50
a hatchery let's get this fish on the
0:52
bank let's go somebody screws it up and
0:54
you lose it right there Then everybody's
0:56
upset you're like ah why didn't you net
0:59
my fish fish or or you know oh man you
1:02
got to control the fish you know like
1:03
everybody gets oh they're just all all
1:05
upset then you go back and and and you
1:09
uh you're you're you're you're talking
1:10
about the day you're like oh so and so
1:12
screwed up my you know they lost my fish
1:14
blah blah blah it's it's fun right it's
1:16
fun as friends like we do it as friends
1:18
we give each other a hard time about
1:20
netting salmon and that's cool and
1:22
everything but you know what would be
1:23
really cool is if we didn't lose any
1:25
fish uh getting into the net didn't lose
1:28
any fish right there at the bank so this
1:29
video it's going to be all about what
1:31
you need to know as a net or as the
1:33
person fighting the fish to make sure we
1:36
put more fish on the banks let's talk
1:38
about three phases of fighting a salmon
1:43
all right it's phase number one by the
1:44
way this applies to steel head just as
1:46
much uh really any River fish phase
1:48
number one you hook that fish and it
1:50
goes on some you know if you it's king
1:52
salmon it's going to go on some
1:54
blistering runs line peeling out real
1:57
singing you know I mean like heart pound
2:00
stuff like pure adrenaline pure
2:01
electricity it's so awesome it's why we
2:04
it's why we get hooked on these on this
2:07
Pursuit right we love fighting these big
2:09
fish and it's going to run sometimes
2:13
sometimes some King Salmon they run
2:15
right at you they run right at your
2:17
position you're reeling you're trying to
2:18
catch up and if you're thinking that you
2:21
can net that fish in that first minute
2:24
you're crazy you're going to lose that
2:25
fish uh probably probably half at least
2:28
half the time probably more more um you
2:31
know that fish is not ready so best
2:33
thing that fish can do is it can run
2:34
back Downstream Tire itself out right
2:37
big big king salmon uh you know 20 lbs
2:41
plus it's going to have a few runs in it
2:43
right it's going to take you Downstream
2:45
potentially you're going to have to
2:46
follow that
2:47
fish uh and and this is called phase one
2:50
like the fish is super super feisty a
2:53
lot of energy a lot of power that's why
2:54
we love these fish phase two it's got
2:57
It's You can tell it's gotten a little
2:59
tired out uh uh it may even come to the
3:01
bank and you may think it's it's a
3:04
nettle fish right but it still has
3:06
enough energy to pull off maybe a 20
3:09
yard run maybe a 10 yard run maybe just
3:11
outside of net length kind of run right
3:14
it's got a little bit of energy left and
3:17
you can net a fish in phase two uh and
3:21
often times this is where things go
3:23
wrong uh lot of times in Phase One you
3:25
don't even have an opportunity to Net in
3:27
phase two you have an opportunity to net
3:29
but it fishes got energy and this is
3:31
where things go wrong we're going to
3:33
talk about that if you fight a fish to
3:35
phase three um just about any can
3:39
anybody can net that fish like the fish
3:40
is belly up it's tired it's done like
3:43
it's cooked uh just about anybody can
3:45
net that fish right or you you might
3:47
even have a chance to drag it up on the
3:49
bank or you might be able to tail it
3:51
those are those are that's a technique
3:53
too uh I'm going to talk about in this
3:55
video all right so those are the three
3:58
phases now let's talk about the job of
4:01
the Netter and of the person on the rod
4:05
with the fish here we go here's here's
4:07
some some techniques starting with the
4:08
Netter okay if you're trying to net your
4:11
friends fish there's really just two
4:13
things uh you need to keep in mind
4:15
besides what we talked about earlier
4:16
with like which phase is it don't try to
4:19
Net in Phase One when the fish is real
4:21
feisty uh at least wait for phase two uh
4:25
potentially even phase three although
4:26
sometimes those two things can be hard
4:28
to tell so
4:30
these two principles though will uh have
4:32
you in good shape if you follow them as
4:34
the Netter number one stay Downstream of
4:38
the fish if you stay Downstream of the
4:40
fish uh when it decides it wants to run
4:43
it wakes up decid it's got another run
4:44
in it it may run right into your net
4:48
okay number two uh you won't always net
4:52
uh from the head don't don't try to net
4:54
it from the back like you want to net it
4:57
from the head right so as kind of
5:00
turning uh towards the angler fighting
5:03
the fish as it's turning uh you know
5:06
towards the bank uh as they're
5:08
controlling it which we'll talk about
5:09
here in a minute um you can net that
5:12
fish directly from uh from the head and
5:15
from the downstream position all right
5:18
netting can be incredibly easy
5:20
incredibly simple if you follow those
5:22
two rules and uh you get a Little Help
5:24
from the person on the fish all right we
5:26
got to talk about the person fighting
5:28
the fish cuz I think a lot lot of times
5:30
uh you more experienced danglers you
5:33
find yourself in the position of maybe
5:34
you you hook a fish maybe you hand it
5:36
off to your friend or maybe your friend
5:38
hooks a fish and you want to net their
5:39
first fish and help them get on it right
5:42
and it can be a little frustrating
5:43
because there's some things that you can
5:46
do as the person with the fish that will
5:49
really help uh that netting job go well
5:53
all right no and really the probably the
5:56
most important thing um well there's a
5:58
couple things a couple things number one
6:00
uh you want to keep the head underwater
6:04
until that fish is ready if you were
6:06
yanking on it right pulling that fish up
6:10
um that fish's head comes out of the
6:11
water before you're ready to net it um
6:14
that's and it really starts thrashing
6:16
around maybe it even jumps goes aiel
6:19
cool to see but often times that's where
6:21
you lose the fish you keep the head in
6:23
the water keep you know keep side
6:25
pressure side bend on it uh which you
6:27
could see here and uh and then and then
6:29
this is really important this is super
6:32
super crucial uh as the fish as you're
6:35
getting ready to net that fish you're
6:37
you're you're um if you're the person
6:40
holding the rod is is control the fish
6:44
in deep enough water to net it and what
6:46
I mean by that is is apply a little bit
6:49
of thumb pressure not too much but a
6:51
little bit of thumb pressure right that
6:54
if that fish decides it wants to kind of
6:56
turn again it has a much harder time
6:59
doing if it wants to run and it's a big
7:01
fish you got to you got to lay off the
7:03
thumb pressure because otherwise you
7:05
might break that fish off but you can
7:07
help get that fish in the net big time
7:10
if you put a little bit of thumb
7:12
pressure and you keep it from turning
7:14
and you just guide that fish right to
7:16
the net right to that Downstream
7:18
position uh head first where where your
7:20
net is at um you can be part a big part
7:25
of a successful net job so many times um
7:28
the person fighting fish doesn't do this
7:31
and then they get really upset at the
7:32
person who wasn't able to net the fish
7:34
even though they made it really really
7:35
hard on them so uh so so do your part do
7:38
a good job uh and and you you'll find
7:42
your your trophy salmon uh in your your
7:45
friends net much more often you have a
7:48
job to do have rolled play let's look at
7:50
let's look at some footage here of a few
7:53
examples of both all right so
7:55
approaching it from the downstream
7:57
position fish is in phase two oh all
8:00
right what happened all right that fish
8:02
was that fish was could have been netted
8:04
right there yeah the Netter could have
8:06
done a better net stab could have been
8:07
done a better job but if the angler had
8:10
put the thumb on the spool fish would be
8:12
in the net right there right control the
8:14
fish what of the fish do had enough
8:16
strength to make another about 10t run
8:19
and now it's tired again now now we're
8:21
trying to walk it Downstream right we're
8:23
Downstream again and we're trying to get
8:25
this fish in the net but now as a Netter
8:27
I'm thinking man I got to be super
8:29
cautious with this because this fish is
8:31
going to run this angler who's who's
8:33
fighting this fish isn't going to
8:34
control it so I got to be perfect or I'm
8:36
going to I'm going to end up losing this
8:37
fish I'm going to knock this fish off so
8:40
this can be a real real challenge now
8:43
good news with this uh this story here
8:45
is is it is it ends well but uh it it
8:49
could have been a lot lot easier lot
8:51
simpler uh and now the fish is a little
8:54
bit closer maybe to phase three getting
8:56
a little tired but even right there even
8:57
right there it's like man you just you
8:59
just you thumb the spool for a second
9:01
right there that fish is in the net
9:03
right just a split second to control
9:05
that fish now here here we go we're
9:07
going to give another try here we go now
9:09
we got it right fish is in the net
9:12
that's a nice fish it's not a super big
9:14
fish though it's not it's not like a uh
9:16
you know you have even more problems
9:17
with a fish twice that size and there's
9:19
plenty of fish in here twice that size
9:21
all right we're fighting this fish we're
9:23
getting ready to we're getting ready to
9:24
bring it in watch what I'm doing I'm
9:25
fighting it I'm fighting it watch what
9:27
I'm doing watch what I'm doing with my
9:29
thumb keep an eye on the Reel keep an
9:30
eye on what I'm doing with my thumb as
9:31
we get closer we're in phase two right
9:33
we have a chance to net this fish it's
9:35
even much bigger fish than the the one
9:37
on the previous clip and watch watch
9:40
what I'm doing with my thumb see my
9:41
thumb's going on the spool I'm now
9:43
leading the fish to the shore this fish
9:47
is strong enough to pull drag anytime it
9:49
wants it's a it's a it's a nice upper
9:51
teens king salmon look at how easy that
9:55
is how easy that is it's head first
9:57
netting job uh from an n stream position
10:01
um but but it's super easy when you just
10:03
hold the fish there with your thumb
10:05
right now if the fish was going to make
10:06
another run I'd have to back off the the
10:08
thumb pressure but uh this is just an
10:10
example of how you as the person
10:12
fighting the fish can make it super easy
10:15
uh to get it done here's a here's a
10:18
casting reel right what I'm talking
10:20
about is as that fish as that fish is
10:23
getting close uh right and it's still
10:25
got a little bit of energy left I'm
10:27
going to put my thumb right on the spool
10:29
and gently thumb it right what this
10:32
means is uh the fish can't pull line
10:34
even if it could pull line out of a
10:35
normal drag setting even you know uh
10:38
with a little bit of energy left you
10:39
can't really do that here all right now
10:42
there's a risk there's a risk if that
10:43
fish has got more energy than I think it
10:45
has uh it could run and if I got my
10:48
thumb on this pool and it's a big fish
10:50
it could break it could break me off um
10:53
so there is some risk involved here
10:55
right but it's about you reading the
10:57
fish knowing it's time knowing you can
11:00
you can control a little bit if you
11:01
don't thumb the spool right and your net
11:03
goes in thinking oh I got this fish
11:05
we're in phase three I got this fish K
11:07
is right
11:10
there whoa Kyle you're T Tangled in the
11:13
net
11:16
there and it makes a run maybe it runs
11:18
at the Angler's feet right or may maybe
11:21
it runs at the netter's feet maybe it
11:23
runs like like it can it can jack you up
11:27
and and get that line Tangled you can
11:29
get the net Tangled it it can go things
11:32
can go bad really fast right if you as
11:35
the angler just thumb the spool you're
11:37
you're on on a let's look at it on a
11:38
spinning reel okay on a spinning reel
11:41
you do the same thing you put your you
11:43
put your thumb see right here put your
11:45
thumb right here right there okay the
11:49
spool can still spin you could still
11:50
take your thumb pressure off if you put
11:52
it right there you can control that fish
11:54
in that last second and when it tries to
11:57
turn around and run back back into the
11:59
current it it can't do it you got your
12:01
thumb there and and as long as it's not
12:04
still strong enough to to to break you
12:06
off you can do it and I would say uh
12:09
that more often than not you're going to
12:11
be way more proficient at getting these
12:14
fish on the bank if you with the rod in
12:16
your hand will thumb the spool and Lead
12:20
that fish right to the net right make it
12:22
easy on the Netter put that fish in the
12:25
net you got two examples I just showed
12:27
you uh one where uh it looks super risky
12:30
and sketchy to try to net it in one
12:32
where it went really smoothly so
12:34
differen is thumbing the spool
12:36
controlling controlling controlling the
12:38
fish at right at that crucial moment so
12:41
okay one other topic I got to talk about
12:44
uh we got to talk about Banking and
12:46
tailing a fish all right last thing to
12:48
talk about is uh is is really not
12:51
netting it at all like you just want to
12:52
tail it or drag it up on the bank uh
12:56
that's another technique you can do and
12:57
a matter of fact when I'm fishing solo I
12:59
don't want to take a big net hike a net
13:02
into into my fishing spot and a lot of
13:04
times I don't want to trust uh random
13:07
Joe Bob angler down at the creek uh they
13:09
know how to net my fish properly I'm
13:11
going to prefer when I have an
13:13
appropriate Bank uh to to try to land my
13:15
fish either by dragging it on the beach
13:17
if it's a small enough fish or if it's a
13:20
larger fish uh you know I'm going to try
13:22
to tail it and help it get up there if
13:24
you try to drag a large fish uh onto the
13:27
beach or through some rocks or some
13:29
areas uh you're going to break that fish
13:31
off and you're going to be really
13:32
unhappy been there done it a rods length
13:35
worth of line out where you can bend
13:37
down and with your other hand you can
13:39
grab the wrist of the tail and together
13:42
you can put the fish on the bank right
13:45
so and there's a there's a a trick to it
13:47
there's some some a helpful prop helpful
13:50
Tool uh that will help you be more
13:52
successful with it we'll talk about all
13:53
right if you're going to tail a fish
13:56
first of all a lot of times weather's
13:59
cold out my hands get kind of numb when
14:00
they're cold I got these Buffalo gold
14:03
gloves wool gloves work the same keeps
14:06
your keeps your fingertips available
14:08
right feel line do things with keeps
14:10
your hands warm well these have an
14:13
incredible Advantage when you're tailing
14:15
a fish uh if you don't have these on
14:17
right and it's just your hands or some
14:19
Nitro gloves cuz you're using eggs that
14:22
that rist of the tail on a big fish it's
14:23
going to be so slippery it's going to be
14:24
so hard uh to to control it that way if
14:28
you're fishing
14:30
the gloves on you grab that tail it's
14:33
it's going to stick you're going to have
14:34
grip on that fish and you're going to be
14:36
able to scoop it up when it comes to
14:38
tailing or banking your fish in places
14:41
where they're Mark selective where you
14:43
can only retain a hatchery fish you
14:45
better be really sure that fish doesn't
14:48
have an extra fin before you tail it
14:51
throw it up on the be yep it's a Hattery
14:54
I see people do that sometimes they they
14:56
drag that sucker onto the beach and then
14:59
and then they're like oh it's got an
15:00
extra F I guess it's going back that
15:02
fish might not make it to spawn like
15:04
you've just killed that fish right and
15:06
You' legally kill it you poached it
15:08
because it was a wild fish in a hatchery
15:10
only retention area so uh if you're
15:13
going to do that make sure you've
15:15
controlled the fish shallow enough water
15:18
verify there's no fin you could tail it
15:20
in shallow water I have tailed King
15:23
Salmon in 3 ft of Water by tiring it out
15:27
right was on a steep bank I had to get
15:28
in the water and I was able to grab the
15:31
rest of the tail control it look at the
15:33
out of post oh no out ofst bam throw it
15:36
on the bank it's possible you can do it
15:38
um so here's some tips hopefully help
15:40
you uh have less fights around uh the
15:43
campfire dinner table at night U for you
15:46
know blaming people for netting you know
15:48
for missing netting your fish or losing
15:50
your fish or breaking it off and so on
15:53
and so forth those those are a lot of
15:54
fun uh good make for good stories uh but
15:58
uh you know what what else is fun is
16:00
landing that trophy King Salmon and
16:02
putting on the bank getting a nice photo
16:04
with it turning it into sashimi and
16:07
eating that sucker up so um yeah let's
16:10
let's do more of that uh good luck out
16:13
there and here's two more fish on the
16:15
banks and less uh less angry um less
16:19
angry Anglers out there due to Lost fish
16:23
uh due to poor netting so all right take
16:26
care tight lines
16:28
[Music]
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