DIY Fishing Cradle

[millsboy79]

I went fishing yesterday with a friend I met on here and during a landing of one of my biggest of the day, I thought it was played out enough to bring into the boat. But then he started thrashing around in the boat potentially injuring itself.

The fish was released successfully so no worries there, but afterwards we were discussing how to be avoid that problem in the future. For the rest of the day we simply released the fish while keeping them in the water. Which actually wasn't that simple, I know I got bit once and felt the points of hooks more than once.

We were discussing the idea of a landing cradle, folding the cradle over and holding the fish secure until you were able to release it.

Looking online they seem to be quite pricey, I was thinking of trying to build my own. Got me wondering if someone out here has done it for themselves and can give me some tips.

I have a net but one "gator death roll" while in the net and you are spending more time getting it untangled than actually unhooked.

[RavYak]

If you really wanted could buy a replacement net and then just find two poles and piece one together but a lot of hassle to save a few bucks imo.

You need to buy the net to get the good rubber coated material. Crappy nets suck but the right material and they work pretty good.

Trying to handle fish in the water is definitely most dangerous and how most people get hooked/biten. It is nice though and with experience you learn how to grab different species depending on how they are hooked. With pike I always go for a gill plate or you can pinch them with hands just behind the gills if hooks get in the way of a gill plate grab. Reaching for a hook with pliers works but only in certain situations.

[Pikecrazed]

I made one using some pvc and some rubber netting that I had laying around it works great but I would have made it longer cause I've had a few pike that were a few inches to long

[cube]

I find cradles are a pain. They tend to be slow an awkward and require you to have to over exhaust the fish before landing. My preference for large pike are the large flat bottomed deep nets that have a fairly fine mesh made of rubber/plastic coated material.

The all rubber nets are very heavy and far to shallow. They are great for walleye that don't fight much but not large pike. The flat bottom helps hold the fish more naturally and hence they spin less and therefore tangle up less. This deep box net then makes a good place to remove the hooks while leaving the fish in the water.

The reason or wanting a fairly fine mesh is that course nets split the tail fins on the pike which never heals. This can have a significant effect of their swimming efficiencies.


For very badly hooked fish I have a commercial fishing tub that I place the fish into while I get the hooks out quickly. This keeps them under control so they can't hurt themselves or me and leaves the slim layer in tacked as much as possible (also keeps the boat clean).

[WayneChristie]

I built one using big dowels and made it from a double layer of old fibreglass window shades all hand stitched. Had an anchor bag from my pontoon so I put that on one end so they cant swim through. Doesnt snag on hooks or scutes.

[jungleboy]

I was thinking about this and wonder if that orange plastic snowfence material would work for this project.

http://www.snow-fence.com/img/orange-plastic-snow-fence.jpg

[millsboy79]

Am starting out with a camping chair bag. Used a hot wire to melt some holes in the bottom for drainage (that way the threads are cauterized)

Measured out some marks on the bottom to get an idea of length. The only real drawback is that it's only 36" long.

Starting to think that a rubber net and a 50lb lip gripper scale is the way to go.

[RavYak]

Am starting out with a camping chair bag. Used a hot wire to melt some holes in the bottom for drainage (that way the threads are cauterized)

Measured out some marks on the bottom to get an idea of length. The only real drawback is that it's only 36" long.

Starting to think that a rubber net and a 50lb lip gripper scale is the way to go.

This is an awesome net and even more awesome price. It will handle everything up to nearly 36 inch pike and it rarely gets tangled badly.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/lucky-strike-basket-net-0784070p.html#srp

I would avoid lip grips. They can do serious damage if a fish thrashes and I haven't seen a model that doesn't do this. If you want to weigh something weight it in whatever net you have hooking the scale to the net and not to the fishes gill plate.

[cube]

This is an awesome net and even more awesome price. It will handle everything up to nearly 36 inch pike and it rarely gets tangled badly.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/lucky-strike-basket-net-0784070p.html#srp

I would avoid lip grips. They can do serious damage if a fish thrashes and I haven't seen a model that doesn't do this. If you want to weigh something weight it in whatever net you have hooking the scale to the net and not to the fishes gill plate.

X2 or like the British get a landing/weighing sling. Of Course your Cradle if designed correctly would do great for this.

[WayneChristie]

http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy156/rollinghillbilly/DSCF0687_zps00rdllbh.jpg 6 feet long

[SamSteele]

I have one of these:

http://www.cabelas.ca/product/14091/lucky-strike-fish-cradle-net

To be honest, I rarely use it and I catch primarily pike. Most of the time I pop them free in the water when I plan on releasing them (if they aren't deeply hooked). If they are hooked deep and are too big to just grab across the back I will net them with my HiberNet. They come in and are placed on the flat vinyl floor immediately. I find that supporting them with the floor helps keep them more settled than holding them in the air in the net.

The nice part about a net is it's easier for my 12 year old to use than the cradle would be.

SS