Sometimes, a net's kinder on the fish says Eric

Eric Edwards has some thoughts on pike handling in his latest blog post. As usual for Eric, it's interesting stuff.

Pike anglers differ over whether nets are better than hand-landing or vice versa in different circumstances.

Where the fish is hooked and what with - ie bank or boat, bait or lure - and how big it is determines how many opt to land them.

"There are times when hand landing a pike is the right thing to do but by and large a net is kinder to the fish," writes Eric.

"If people have to land a fish by hand they should put down the rod as soon as the fish is secured and take both hands to it. This is to prevent the fish from thrashing around - that's when the damage is done."

Click here for the rest of an excellent post. And scroll down the right hand side for more advice and pike fishing tips.