Handle and Hoop Choices

One of the hardest choices I have found for clients to make is which woods they’d like their nets to be created from.  Here I have put together a list in hopes that it will help with that decision.  This is in no way a complete list.  It is basically what I generally keep around in my shop or have easy access to it.  I am very selective of the woods I keep around. therefore each net I make is unique whether or  I am custom making it for you, or just generally have for sale.  If you have ideas other than what is on my list, by all means, let’s talk and figure out how to put them to use.

        Though it seems I have an exhaustive list, customizing your net should never be stressful or worrisome.  It should be fun!  I can always take your ideas and show samples of them to you before actually building your net.

Walnut

One of the most popular domestic woods is the American Black Walnut.  It is noted for its darker colors, its figure, and its strength.  Walnut is an excellent choice for handles in nets because it is strong, yet lightweight.  There is a wide variety of Walnut out there and I am very selective when it comes to using it on my nets.  I try to find something interesting in the grain and try to find curls as well as lighter to darker colors.  Anytime I am at the lumber yard I am always looking through the walnut boards and try to find something that says, “That should be a net!”  and then I snatch up what I can.  Though walnut itself isn’t hard to find, finding usable pieces to become a net is for me.  I have several pieces of it in my shop so if it’s what you’re interested in, I can take pictures of selected pieces for you to choose from.  Keep in mind that every piece is different (even if it came from the same board) and colors and grain patterns almost never are the same.

Click on image above to enlarge

Click on image above to enlarge

Figured Walnut

I put this in a different category as Black Walnut because, well, it deserves it.  Finding unique, extraordinary pieces that are useful in making a net handle takes time and sometimes money.  Figured Walnut is exactly the same as Black Walnut, with the same properties, however there is less available.  Not only can it be the same species as Eastern Black walnut, but it can also be Claro Walnut from out west.  It can consist of crotch pieces, curly pieces or any unique piece that is set apart from “regular” walnut.  Again, you will almost never find two pieces exactly the same.

Maple

Maple is also an excellent choice for net handles.  There is a wide variety and species of maple to choose from.  There is hard maple as well as soft maple.  Hard maple can be heavier in weight but is strong like an ox.  Soft maple, is as it implies, is softer and lighter in weight.  In some circumstances, depending on the length of handles, it may be best to “reinforce” it by laminating something with it.  Later, I will show some examples of what laminated handles could look like.  I have broken down some of the higher figured maples that I have in my shop into a few categories below.

Quilted Maple

The varieties I have of quilted maple in my shop are softer and lighter weight.  Depending on the size of net and the intended fish targeted, it may be best to laminate these woods to create a stronger handle.  Otherwise, it is very lightweight and would make a net light to carry if you’re wading all day. 

Click image above to enlarge

Click image above to enlarge

Curly Maple

Curly Maple is the most common of the figured maples in the upper Midwest.  Curly Maple has figure with more striping and itis a different species than the curly maple of the west.  It can come in hard or soft maple, but almost all my stock is soft quilted maple.  Don’t let it fool you that it isn’t strong.  I’ve made boat nets with 36” long handles with curly maple for some of the bigger fish out     west and they perform beautifully.  Maple patinas, over time, to a more yellowish tint and makes a breathtaking handle.

Tiger Maple

Tiger Maple is exactly the same as curly maple.  The difference is that it is treated with a solution called Iron Nitrate.  For lack of a better word, it is stained.  The solution leaves a rusty, reddish, brownish, maybe sometimes even orangish color to it while accentuating the curls with a darker color.  Some people do call Curly Maple a Tiger Maple because of its curly stripes, but I distinguish the difference by adding the iron nitrate giving the color it leaves more like a tiger.  The process takes longer but, in the end, the results are well worth it!

Click image above to enlarge

Click image above to enlarge

Cherry

Cherry seems to be a lost, forgotten wood which I just don’t understand. It makes a gorgeous net handle.  It is about the same weight as Walnut, strong, yet lightweight.  It starts off (after sanding) a reddish/orangish color but over time will patina to a darker red.  After being used outside it should patina to a classic antique look that could be passed down.  Like all my other woods, I try to find Cherry that has distinctive grains, patterns and characteristics.

Ash

Ash is whitish in color similar to Maple.  Though it does patina, it just doesn’t patina to extent that Maple does.  It has similar grain characteristics as oak, however, it’s surprisingly heavier and stronger.  I mean, they make baseball bats out of Ash!  It can take a beating!  I seem to keep finding ash with some pretty neat grain patterns and have a bit of a collection as it makes for some great furniture as well. 

Click image above to enlarge

Click image above to enlarge

White Oak

Besides Hickory, White oak is the heaviest of domestic hardwoods.  It is similar to red oak but with a different grayish tone to it.  Though it is a heavy wood, in smaller nets, the weight seems negligible.  It makes a very fine durable net handle.

Turkish Walnut

As the name implies, this wood is grown in Turkey and surrounding middle eastern countries.  It is the same genre as our north American Walnut but is a different species.  When you cut into Turkish Walnut, you will definitely tell the difference by its smell;  it definitely doesn’t smell the same.  It is normally used for gun stocks and bird calls, however, when I saw it, I HAD to make it into a net!  I am so glad I did!  No two pieces are alike. It is just as strong as our Black Walnut and weighs close to the same.  It makes beautiful and unique handles for a net!

Click image above to enlarge

Click image above to enlarge

Lacewood

Considered an exotic, Lacewood comes from South America and is sometimes called Leopard wood.  It has “leopard” like or “lace” like figure to it when it’s quarter sawn.  It is dense and heavy but not any different than, say, White Oak.  I have personally used this handled net almost all last season                 and I love it!  I’ve banged it around in my vehicle as well as chucked it up the bank while trying to climb out, and there is not one scratch on it!  It’s tough!  Another benefit is that even when it is sanded and finished, you can still feel the texture of the figured lacing.  I think this aids in not losing your grip. (not that you usually lose your grip on a net, but could and probably happens) It has a darker red color when finished and makes a fine unique handle.  In general, most of the lacewood I’ve seen, when quarter sawn, doesn’t vary too much in grain pattern.

Canary Wood

Canary wood is another “exotic” from South America.  It is a yellow-colored wood (thus the term canary) with unique reddish grain.  Each piece I’ve ever seen is never the same.  I’ve only made one net out of this material so far and made a mistake on it that I didn’t feel was fixable or sellable, so I just finished it out and have been using it for myself.  Like Oak and Lacewood, it is a denser wood with some weight to it.  I felt the weight was negligible.  It does, however, float!

Click image above to enlarge

Click image above to enlarge

Sapele

Sapele is in the Mahogany family, again, grown in South America.  It is lightweight, water resistant, and fairly strong for its weight.  It’s red in color when finished and is close in color to Lacewood.  (Cherry is a lighter red) It is, in my opinion, an underused wood for nets.  There are different varieties of Sapele and I use what’s called Ribbon Sapele.  It appears to have a “ribbon” effect throughout its length.  That “ribbon” effect has a shimmering appearance and sort of a 3D effect when out it is in the sun. 

Quilted Sapele

Quilted Sapele is pretty much the same as Ribbon Sapele but has a “quilting” effect similar to Maple.  Extremely strong, durable, lightweight, and water resistant.  I like to call this a sleeper type wood.  Inside the wood looks sort of like ribbon Sapele but a little more “blah” but in the sunlight it literally shines!  It has this 3D quilting effect that shimmers in the sun.  It’s one of my favorite woods.  Hard to get, however, I do have several pieces left that will make some fine handles.

Click image above to enlarge

Zebra Wood

Worth mentioning is the Zebra Wood.  An exotic wood grown in Africa which is fairly heavy in weight with “Zebra” stripes running down it with the grain.  I have yet to use a solid piece of it in a net handle, it does also make a good secondary wood as shown in the example below.  It’s as tough as it is dense, I think the grain patterns would make it a great handle as well.  Though the patterns I’ve seen are similar between boards, it would be tough to find 2 grain patterns the same, making it something unique and special.