wrote on Feb 10^th, 2006 at 5:22am:

When I've seen people with nets, usually they are much too small to safely contain a trophy fish.

I quit taking a collapsible Masters net after losing a partner's really nice monster pike a few years ago. We weren't fishing for northerns at the time, but hooked a volunteer. Since that day (which he keeps reminding me of) I have taken one of the inexpensive orange plastic clamp thingies with a curly-cue tether from BPS (probably the same as solotripper). I haven't lost a fish (while using the clamp to land) since. It doesn't seem to harm the fish, and helps keep the mouth open while disgorging the bait. Although it clamps and holds pretty tight, it hasn't been tested on a monster like the one I lost with the net. That day will come...

I also pack a yellow fishing pliers that is built along the same lines (lightweight plastic, floats). With the clamp, those are the only tools I have needed to get the fish in the canoe and the hook out of the fish.

-aj