Repairing Your Rubber Fishing Net

Learn how to repair your rubber fly fishing net in this 2 1/2 minute video.

I’ve lost my fly fishing net to an overhanging branch or shrub on backcountry hikes more times than a 9-inch trout being the largest of the day. And I’ve caught a lot of 9-inch trout.

When I backtrack to retrieve my net hanging on a limb, I often find a small rip (or two) in the net’s rubber bag. Companies like Fishpond will try to sell you a new bag every time this happens. But I’ve found the cheat code to save money and get more life out of my fishing nets.

The Solution: Repair the rubber in your fly-fishing net by welding the rubber back together.

Ripping the rubber bag of your net is obnoxious and, quite frankly, makes the net virtually unusable. Sometimes the rip in the bag is so small that I believe only a 9-inch trout will slip through it. Wrong. I’ve had many a healthy 14” trout scoot their way through apparently tiny holes in my net.

So let’s go over how to do this repair.

This fix is simple, quick, and can be repeated indefinitely when your rubber bag gets torn.

What you need: A old butter knife, a lighter or torch, a vice (or two sets of hands), and about two minutes.

Step 1: Clamp your knife into a vice or have a friend carefully hold it.

Step 2: Heat the knife for 60 seconds with the lighter or for approximately 30 seconds with a torch. Make sure it is REALLY hot.

Step 3: Quickly sandwich the broken ends of the rubber webbing on opposite sides of the hot knife. The rubber will begin to melt. Hold it here for two or three seconds at most.

Step 4: Slide the melted rubber off the knife and press the two broken ends together. Hold this together for 30 seconds while the rubber cools and bonds to itself.

Step 5: After the rubber has completely cooled, inspect your repair for integrity by lightly pulling on it in all directions. This weld should be strong enough to stay intact when netting large and small fish.

Repairing your rubber fly fishing net ensures small and large trout don’t slip through the holes.

Conclusion: Don’t always assume you need to buy new gear when your old equipment gets damaged. Fixing a rubber fishing net takes about two minutes and provides life to your expensive gear that otherwise may be lost.

Besides, repairing our gear feels good and makes us proud!