I asked Drennan International if they had a landing net pole thatwas long enough, light enough and strong enough to hold a landing netthat was big enough to net barbel to double figures.
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I explained that it had to extend to at least 10ft, for there wererivers like the lower Severn, the Dove and the Teme, and no doubtloads of other river locations, where it was impossible to get downto the water’s edge to net barbel with a standard 6ft landing netpole.
I said that I had tried several landing net poles before and theywere always lacking in one department or another; either too short ornot rigid enough when at full length.
For some time it seemed that such a beast wasn’t on the market,that to manufacture something that met all criterion; length,rigidity, strength AND lightness, was impossible.
So Drennan said they would send me their Rigid XL 3.9m,three-piece, take-apart landing net pole. They were confident thispole would do the job better than anything else on the market.
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There are two choices with extending landing net poles, these areeither telescopic or put-over. Telescopic poles are more simple touse and can be extended in an instant if necessary. The disadvantagewith them is that they can’t be made as rigid as put-overs and veryoften you’re stuck with the full length of them whether you want itor not, and a 10ft landing net pole where you need only 5ft can be areal pain.
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The big advantage with put-over landing net poles is that youusually have the choice of three lengths, very short, medium andlong, and they can be made very rigid (compared to telescopics). Thedisadvantage with them is that it isn’t so easy to go from one lengthto another (although you are not likely to want to do so mid-fishplaying so to speak, so that shouldn’t really be a problem). The maindisadvantage is that there is always a chance, however slight, thatone section will pull off another while you’re netting a fish,probably at that stage where you draw the fish to the bank, andparticularly if you have to lift the fish from the water, up thesteep bank, by the handle.
In reality, that isn’t likely to happen if you use a good qualityput-over landing net pole that has really good joints and you ensurethat they’re pushed right in very firmly. Better to struggle to getit apart at packing up time than lose the net and top section in theriver.
Taking everything into account, the put-over landing net pole isthe best bet.
This one from Drennan is the best I’ve seen yet. At 3.9 metres(12ft) it is long enough for any steep river bank, and such a lengthwill definitely be an advantage when stillwater fishing with a pole,etc. It comes in three sections and can be used at 5ft, 8ft or12ft.
Made from ultra high modulus carbon it is very rigid, but at 12ft, as you would expect, there is somebending, and trying to lift a fish more than 4lb or so just isn’t on.Lifting fish with the pole isn’t a good idea anyway, so drawing allfish to the bank, laying the rod down, and then leaning down to grabthe net frame makes much more sense.
At 8ft, and of course 5ft, the pole is great, very rigid, verylight, and very strong. All three sections offer good grip and thethread is spot-on, not too slack and not too tight. The pole comes ina cloth bag.
At £ 69.99 it isn’t cheap, but for this quality I wouldn’thave expected it to be anyway.
