Westin W3 C&R Foldable Landing Net – Review
I was sent one of the new Westin W3 C&R Boat nets back in the May last year, unfortunately due to the type of fishing I was doing I missed out in giving it a good try until September this year, and I have had some very big fish in it so far so it’s been thoroughly tested.
The fist thing you notice about this net is its massive at 85 cm W x 95 cm L x 100 cm, the second thing you notice is that it can fold in half!
Folding nets are nothing new, but most of them are a bit wibbly wobbly when set up, which can be problematic. The Westin one, opens up and locks in place with two spring clip buttons, which helps keep its rigidity. Flip it over and so the weight of the net is resting on the joint and its very stable.
The mesh is “hook resistant” rubber coated, and obviously fish friendly, it is nice and wide so you can move the net around easily in the water. The depth is very generous, maybe too generous, but it does mean you can safely keep the fish in the net and hang it over the side of a boat with high freeboard.
I’ve not had any serious issues with this net, though I found it to be a bit “heavy” for want of a better word when I first used it. This was simply because I had too much mesh in the water. Hold the mesh by with the handle and you are fine.
Regarding being hook proof, its ok, I’ve not had much trouble with lures and relatively big hooks anyway. When bait fishing you will always have issues if you have a flying treble with any net. Bait trebles being smaller are a pain if they get tangled, and I have had a few instances of them piercing the rubber material. I’m not precious over hooks so I have simply cut them out with bolt croppers.
Some rubber nets can have a mesh that is too wide which in turn can damage the fins of the fish, but the Westin one is an ideal size and I haven’t noticed any fin damage after using the net on a good few fish now.
The handle also has a measurement engraved on it, if you’re into that type of thing?
The only thing I would change is the diameter of the handle, it seems a bit small, but that could just be because I have massive hands!
The best thing about the net however is obviously as its foldable it fists in the car better!
The one point I would make is that if you are fishing on your own, set the net up before you start to fish as doing it while playing a big pike can be frustrating.
The picture below shows a 25lb fish in the net, so as you can see its suitable for even the largest fish in the UK.
