Sometimes I tell this story about the first time I landed a king salmon from a river from shore.

“Okay, net it!” I yelled loudly to my friend, who almost couldn’t hear me.

He had jogged downstream with the net, because the fish had peeled that much line off my reel.

Wow.

Neither of us had done this before,
and I felt thankful when my friend seemed to understand.

I meant that the fish was tired enough -- and that I'd angle the catch toward shore for him to net.

He netted the fish, looked up at me afterward, and laughed.

I couldn’t hear him laugh, over the sound of the gurgling, riffling water, but saw him guffaw and hoot at me, and I laughed back.

No wonder the tackle shop said to bring a net.

That net was aluminum and long-handled with plastic green netting, a saltwater net from my boat.

But it got the job done.

Thank goodness, because I fished an entire day before I learned to get those salmon to bite, and lost a couple beforehand that broke off.

But having the right net would've been good.

Fishpond’s Nomad Wading Nets are some of the best for catches like salmon, steelhead and sizable trout in large water like a river.

They’re not inexpensive, but the handles are made from a carbon-fiberglass composite that’s light, strong, buoyant and waterproof.

The handle is coated with rubberized paint for grip when wet.

The netting is rubber that’s easier on fish than netting like the green plastic.

The netting is also a shallower bowl-like shape than many nets that are deeper and come to a point.

The shape of a Nomad Net can keep a fish from bending in an unnatural angle that could harm the catch.

The wading nets come in almost a dozen different sizes and lengths from shorter, smaller hand nets, like for a trout stream, to larger, longer ones, like for the king salmon I caught on that substantial river.

Fishpond also makes a line of Nomad Boat Nets for catches like salmon, steelhead and trout on vessels like drift boats and canoes.

Fishpond is environmentally conscious, meeting rigorous standards for that, voluntarily, the company says.

For more info about the nets and the company, visit Fishpond’s website.