Strong Fish, Fragile Finish
Category: News Release
Oct 29th, 2026 by sworrall
Modified Oct 29th, 2026 at 4:42 PM
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EGO Fishing’s Big Game Series landing nets give exhausted trophy trout, salmon, walleyes, catfish and muskies the support they need to recover and swim away |
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Caldwell, ID (October 29, 2026) – Here’s one of fishing’s great ironies. The bigger and stronger the fish, the more fragile it is by the time it reaches the boat. A 14-inch walleye gets flipped back over the side, shakes its head and is gone before you’ve rebaited. Little fish are resilient that way. They give up the fight early, save a little gas in the tank and bounce right back. Big fish don’t work like that. A heavy flathead or a long, broad-shouldered muskie throws everything it has into the battle, run after run, and quite frankly, isn’t always smart enough to quit while it’s ahead. By the time it slides into the net, that fish has often spent itself completely. All that muscle is running on empty, and how the next few minutes go can decide whether it swims another day. EGO® Fishing built its Big Game Series with those few minutes in mind. Offered in XL, 2XL and 3XL sizes, the Big Game nets give heavyweight salmon, trout, walleyes, catfish and muskies the room and support they need to recover and swim away healthy. “Catching a fish like that is the easy part, believe it or not,” said Grant Corbett, founder and President of EGO Fishing. “The landing and the release are where a lot of good fish get hurt. We built the Big Game nets so anglers have room to work and a net that supports the fish instead of fighting it.” |
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Photo courtesy of DAIWA |
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The Science of a Spent Fish There’s real science behind it. Fisheries researchers have found that fight time climbs steadily with a fish’s size, and the longer the fight, the deeper the fish digs into its anaerobic reserves. That’s the same burn a sprinter feels in the legs. Lactic acid builds up, quick-burst energy stores drain, and the fish ends up in what scientists call oxygen debt. Little fish shake that off fast. Big ones don’t. In one study, researchers expected large bass to bounce back quicker than small ones and found just the opposite. The big fish carried more lactate, burned through more of their energy stores, and still hadn’t fully recovered four hours later. Add a long stretch out of the water, especially in warm weather, and a bruiser that looked fine at release can be in a lot more trouble than it lets on. |
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Big Fish, Different Rules Handling a 15-inch eater is one thing. A fish of a lifetime plays by its own rules, and each species brings its own headaches. Big walleyes look tame next to a muskie, though they’re easy to mishandle. That spiny dorsal and those sharp gill plates make plenty of anglers squeeze too hard, and a big female carrying eggs doesn’t need a fist clamped around her belly. Never hold one by the eye sockets, either. Slide one hand under the belly, steady the head with the other, and keep the grip gentle and level. Spring and fall are prime time for outsized trout, too. That’s when shoreline water temperatures land in their comfort zone and baitfish crowd the shallows, and big browns and steelhead follow them in, right where anglers can reach them. Both fight like their lives depend on it, and by the time they’re landed, they’re often running on fumes. Trout are especially hard on themselves out of the water, and their slime coat is delicate. That’s where the XL’s rubber mesh earns its spot in the boat. Keep the fish submerged in the bag, wet your hands before touching it, and keep your grip light. |
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Big catfish bring sheer weight into play. A heavy flathead or blue hung vertically by the jaw puts that weight on internal organs that were never built for it. Support the body horizontally, keep it low over the water, and resist the urge to haul it onto the deck for a long photo session. Muskies are long, toothy and built like torpedoes. Leave the fish in the net, in the water, while you work with long-nose pliers and jaw spreaders. If a hook is buried deep, cutting it with bolt cutters is faster and kinder than digging. For a photo, one hand goes under the belly and the other gently near the gill plate, never under the gills, and the fish comes up for only a few seconds. The common thread is time and support. Leaving the fish in the bag at boatside, breathing water while you get your tools and camera ready, is the simplest thing you can do for it. “A walleye, a catfish and a muskie all need something a little different when they come to the boat, but they all need the same two things: support and speed,” Corbett added. “Net it, unhook it in the bag, and line up your photo before that fish ever leaves the water. That’s how you catch the same fish again next year, a little bigger.” |
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Photo courtesy of DAIWA |
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Built for Heavy Lifting Every Big Game net starts with a 48-inch anodized aluminum handle with an octagonal shape. Those eight sides give your hands a solid, no-spin grip. The geometry also adds strength, and EGO reinforces the handle internally on top of that. When a heavy fish is thrashing in the bag, the handle doesn’t flex or twist. Control comes from both ends. Up by the yoke, EGO’s signature molded foregrip is deeply ribbed, so your fingers lock in even when everything is wet and slimy. A dense, textured foam grip covers the rear for leverage, and an endcap keeps the butt from scratching up your deck. |
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At the business end are reinforced aluminum hoops with a teardrop shape that scoops fish in rather than bumping them away. For all that muscle, the nets glide through the water with surprisingly little drag. And if one goes over the side in the excitement, it floats. Lay any of them next to a standard large landing net and the difference is obvious. The hoops dwarf the competition, and the bags are big enough to take a fish’s whole body, not just its head and shoulders. |
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Match the Net to the Fish The Big Game Series comes in three sizes, and choosing the right one is the first step toward a good release. The XL, with its 24 x 27-inch hoop, is the go-to for hefty walleyes, big pike, salmon and stripers. The 2XL steps up to a 27 x 33-inch hoop, with room for large catfish and pike. Then there’s the 3XL, a massive 30 x 36-inch hoop with a 41-inch bag, built for muskies, giant flatheads and blues, and the bigger saltwater brutes. “A fish that’s folded in half in a small net is a fish that’s getting hurt,” Corbett said. “The XL covers a huge range of big fish. When you’re targeting a 50-inch muskie or a 40-pound flathead, though, the 3XL is the right tool.” |
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Pick Your Bag Mesh matters, too, especially for anglers who release their fish. The XL is offered in full rubber mesh, the most fish-friendly bag in the lineup. Lightweight, non-tangle rubber is gentle on the slime coat fish rely on to ward off infection, and hooks rarely bury in it. The bag runs 16 inches deep and stretches up to one and a half times that under load, cradling the fish as it settles. The XL also comes in rubber-coated nylon and nylon, both 38 inches deep. The 2XL carries a 38-inch nylon bag and the 3XL a 41-inch nylon bag, giving long-bodied fish room to lie out instead of jackknifing in the mesh. The Last Few Minutes Nobody burns vacation days, launches in sleet or stays out past dark hoping to tangle with a 15-inch fish. The big ones are the reason we go. They’re also the fish with the least left in the tank when the fight ends, and the hardest to replace if one doesn’t make it. That’s the case for carrying a net sized to the fish you’re after. The Big Game Series won’t land a fish for you, but it gives you room, support and a few extra minutes to do it right. For a fish that took the better part of two decades to get that big, those few minutes are a fair trade. |
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Photo courtesy of DAIWA |
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EGO Big Game Series FEATURES:
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XL Big Game (Rubber Mesh)
$172.99 XL Big Game (Rubber-Coated Nylon)
$96.99 XL Big Game (Nylon)
$144.99 2XL Big Game (Nylon)
$159.99 3XL Big Game (Nylon)
$179.99 |