Vision Sili Trout Net and Magnet review

This looks lovely. What's it made from?

The Vision Sili Trout Net is made from wood. Quite what kind of wood I'm not sure, but it's a lovely reddish brown colour and the quality of workmanship is top notch. It looks and feels expensive.

The mesh is made from silicone rubber. This means it won't snag your hooks as traditional mesh nets can, which makes unhooking easier. Silicone rubber mesh is also meant to be kinder on the skin and protective mucus of the fish.

How big is the Vision Sili Trout Net?

The Vision Sili Trout Net is relatively small and compact. The net itself is about 61cm/24" long, including the handle.

The small size means it's best suited to the wading fly fisher and waters where the trout don't get too large.

The frame also includes a neat measure carved into the wood, so you can measure your catch if you like.

What size fish can it handle?

This is the weird bit. The frame of the net lends itself best to landing smaller trout, but some of the holes in the mesh of the net are rather large and small trout can almost wriggle through.

There are small browns in some of the waters I fish and I sometimes find they try to make a bid for freedom via these capacious holes.

While I've landed bigger fish in it, including rainbows up to a couple of pounds and a few chub weighing several pounds, it's not great for these as the net bag itself is not very deep.

It's also more rigid than a traditional mesh net, and for larger fish, that can give them a firmer surface from which to try and leap free.

As a result, I find myself cautiously placing my hand over the top of the fish when it's in the net to prevent it leaping clear and injuring itself.

Does it come with a magnet?

Yes, not only does it come with a magnet, it also comes with an elasticated carrying strap. The way it attaches to the net is also really smart.

The bottom of the net has the usual round connector, to which the strap is attached. The other end of the strap incorporates a magnet which is wood coloured to match the net.

It clips on nicely and the connection is fairly firm, though it does fall off from time to time, which can be annoying. The connection is far weaker than on the much cheaper Greys net I have.

There's also a connector on this so you can attach it to a D-ring, allowing you to clip it to the back of your jacket so you won't lose it if the magnet loses its grip.

Only, the trouble is, the clip is so small it won't actually fit on the D-ring on my Simms Guide Jacket, so I've had to attach it to a carabina clip instead...

What's it like to use?

It weighs next to nothing and it does the job OK, though it gets a bit annoying if it falls off as you're hiking between spots and it's a bit shallow for bigger trout which can try and leap free.

Would you buy one again?

To be honest, probably not. It's beautifully made but it's also got some serious flaws that make me wish I'd spent the not inconsiderable £79.99 it cost me (blimey, was I really that stupid?!) on a more practical net.

Maybe if I only fished streams I'd feel a bit differently about it, but this is definitely one purchase I wish I'd not made.