Cutom-made Landing Nets

[duckkilla]

After taking a bit of time off over the summer from decoy carving and duck call turning, I decided to try my hand at making some fly-fishing gear. I've got about 8 nets completed, and am in the process of finishing up a new rod. I've got a South Platte / Colorado trip coming up and wanted some fun stuff.

The nets were a lot of fun. Bending the wood was pretty cool, and I had a blast playing around with scraps and trying to do some neat stuff on the handles. I even branded them all.

Here are 4 of my favorites on the nets....

First one is spalted elm, padauk and maple handle....walnut and maple basket:

Second is canary wood and maple handle...cherry and maple basket:

Third is curly maple and padauk handle...cherry and maple basket:

Fourth (and the pics DON'T do it justice) is walnut and purpleheart handle....with walnut and purpleheart basket. (I HATE turning purpleheart but it is AWESOME in this net...):

Here's a pic of the rod I'm building. Turned the insert and the cork handle myself, coming along well so far.....

Now I just need to finish it up so I'm ready for the South Platte, the Roaring Fork and the Frying Pan.....woooo hoooo!

Steve

[jdmidwest]

How about some pics of the duck decoys?

Nice looking nets.

[Trout Stalker]

Are you selling those nets or just teasing us? How much? Please PM me if you are selling them.

[duckkilla]

Decoys and duck calls can be seen at http://www.parisiweb.com

I guess I need to figure out if I'm selling them. I've got these 4 and 4 more that still need baskets, plus about another 8 in the works.

To answer another question, the dots on the handles are a design element that I also use as a measuring device. You always know the approximate length of the fish just by laying it out on the net for a photograph.

If anyone's interested send me a PM and I'll try and come up with a price. If it's not this batch I'll probably have another batch done in a couple months.

Thanks.

Steve

[duckkilla]

Oh yeah. If I do decide to do a second round of nets, I would be able to do specific wood combinations if you have something specific that you'd like. In other words, if you really wanted a walnut / cherry net with a certain wood in the handle I'd be able to take "orders".

Steve

[Danoinark]

Wow, Duck, those are some of the best I have ever seen. They should go fast. Is the netting nylon or rubber? Also the rod handle is amazing. How much weight does it add over cork?

You do great work.

Dano

[duckkilla]

THANKS! The netting is nylon.

The handle on the rod IS cork! It's a cork burl. It is heavier than a regular cork handle, but not so much that I didn't want to give it a try. I also turned the wood insert on the rod out of a leftover piece of burl wood that I had from a duck call I had made. I thought it turned out pretty cool.

Thanks again.

Steve

[Danoinark]

THANKS! The netting is nylon.

The handle on the rod IS cork! It's a cork burl. It is heavier than a regular cork handle, but not so much that I didn't want to give it a try. I also turned the wood insert on the rod out of a leftover piece of burl wood that I had from a duck call I had made. I thought it turned out pretty cool.

Thanks again.

Steve

Well Duck you should also consider turning burl cork to sell along with the wood reel seats to rod builders too. Amazing stuff.

Dano

[Quillback]

Those are some great looking nets!

[Sherwood Flycaster]

Man, awesome work all around and very nice website I might add. Can I ask what all tools you have that you are using? Also, on the acrylic call(s), did you turn those as well? Very impressive! Makes me want to get out of the working on a computer every day and get back to working with my hands!