Christmas Gifts

Okay, this is a bit of a different thread. There are quite a few things I need for upcoming fishing trips and plan to put them on my Christmas "wish" list. Here are a few things I could use some help on.

I need a landing net for crappie which has a long handle. I've seen some guys with them on their boats, but I haven't seen any close up. I'm concerned that I'll get one that is really cheap and flimsy will just fold up once I load that big slab I plan to put in it this spring. So, can anyone provide thier experience and recommendation on a quality, long handled net to purchase?


Next, I want to get a crappie.com sticker for my boat. I see a white option and a green option. I have a white boat. If I apply the white sticker, will it show up on my boat at all?

Finally, for you jig fishers out there. What 2 lb test line do you recommend? Also, do you have a color preference and why?

Thanks,
TW

We’ll start with the easy ones first get a contrasting color to your boat green, you’ll never notice white on white

I would never under any circumstance choose to crappie fish with 2lb line, it’s just to fragile, I do like pline premium though

Nets, my favorite one I’ve ever had was a homade one with an extendable paint roller handle I added to it, many many 2+lb fish were netted with it but my wife let it go in badin, i currently have a southern crappie net, it’s very sturdy but it requires to hands, I’d look hard at the new carbon handled nets but honestly for the money I’d just get a regular net from Walmart and slide a paint roller extendable handle on it add two screws and be done and save $65 for minnows and gas

Agree with Gobbler, my net is a swimming pool pole about 8 foot long with a dip net stuck down in the end of the pole with a screw holding them together. Also put a swim noddle at the end to keep it afloat if it got dropped. Works for me on the pontoon. Found both at the recycle center where I work. :highfive

Tip, after my wife let my original one sink a fella told me to fill the handle with spray foam so It would float, pool noodles work aswell but the spray foam inside the handle keeps the slim look, just make sure it’s collapsed when you spray it in so it will continue to collapse

On the net, I could not see spending $100 on a net. Found a nice aluminum net at the beach that they use to catch crabs. The handle is probably 8 foot long and the net is plenty big for any crappie you are going to catch. Think it was less than $15. I have been using it for years. It is just long enough to reach behind motor to scoop them up and short enough I can still throw it in the bottom of the boat.

What's the goal with using 2lb test? Reason I ask is you could probably catch just as many with 4lb test without loosing as many unless your water is super duper clear. I've used Stren 2lb in either clear-blue or just clear, but I don't use it much anymore too many break-offs that could have been avoided with 4lb or even 6lb.

I think in every situation where I ever compared the number of strikes/fish caught on different strength of line, the light line put more fish in the boat 100% of the time. So as I've gotten older, I continue to skew more and more to lighter line. If I'm fishing near brush or strightlining under the boat, I'll usually use 4 and 6 lb test. If I'm using minnows, I never use 2 lb test. I use 2 lb test on my favorite jig rod in areas of little to no brush and open water. The lighter line casts further, is less impacted by the wind/current, and gets me more strikes. Even though it is 2 pound test, it probably pulls free on 80-90% of the stuff that the 4 lb test would have pulled free on. Obviously, there are plenty of times neither one would pull free.

Also, it isn't uncommon for me to be fishing in water where I can see my jig up to 5-6 feet down. Not sure that counts as super duper clear, but for piedmont lakes, that's pretty clear.

Thank you,
TW

Color preference,,,For my long line fishing,I use as many different colors of 6lb. line that I can find Crappie don't care. I use Tangerine,clear,red,yeller,and green,oh and camouflage.It helps when lines get tangeled up.