Ethan Igleheart, founder and master craftsman at Stonefly Nets, walks us into and behind the scenes of creating a custom fly fishing net. We find out how the custom build-out bonus came to be, which burl he selected and how to make it beautiful, and the step-by-step process from wood cut out to package ship out. Ethan talks about his collaboration with Tom Morgan Rodsmiths to come up with the Catch and Release package which is a pretty sweet combo. Ethan also tells us about that bamboo rod that was passed on to him from his great grandmother, the rod he first learned to fish with and still uses today.
Today, we announce the lucky winner of the Stonefly Nets giveaway. Plus, a quick shoutout to one of our listeners at the end of the podcast, so stay tuned!
Click below and listen to the Podcast about Fly Fishing Net with Ethan Igleheart:
Find the show: Apple | Spotify | Overcast
(Read the Full Transcript at the bottom of this Blog Post)
Sponsors and Podcast Updates
Fly Fishing Net Show Notes with Ethan Igleheart
03:00 – Ethan was on the podcast for the first time at WFS 198
03:20 – Stonefly Nets collaborates with Tom Morgan Rodsmiths
03:30 – Stonefly Nets was recently at a trade show in Charleston, South Carolina – hosted by Southeastern Wildlife Expo
05:50 – Matt Barber and Joel Doub from Tom Morgan Rodsmiths were on the podcast at WFS 161
12:40 – Ethan talks about bending the hoop which is the most time consuming
16:30 – Ethan breaks down the steps on building the net from scratch
- Cutting out the block for the handle
- Put into the oven and dry it if it’s a burl (if it’s not a burl, you can skip that part) – this part takes about 24 hours
- Then it goes into the acrylic solution where all the air is removed out of the wood – this part takes about 12 to 24 hours
- Once all the air is out, Ethan releases the pressure and it sucks up all the acrylic solution – then it stays there for a set period of time, comes out, then again goes into the oven
- Plain it flat and then sand it to thickness
- Put the template on it, mark it out, cut it on the bandsaw – then it goes to the spindle sander and start hand-shaping it to smooth out all the edges and make it ready to get glued up
17:32 – Ethan explains what a burl wood is – click here to read a detailed article about burl wood
25:00 – The holes on the wood are filled with crushed stones
26:50 – Ethan tells us about that bamboo rod that was passed on to him from his great grandmother – he learned to fish using that rod and he still uses it today
34:18 – We announce the winner of the Stonefly Nets Giveaway – congratulations Julie Kelner!
36:00 – Ethan credits Matt Barber for the calligraphy. Ethan also found a woman calligrapher in Little Rock
38:45 – Ethan uses brass for the eyelets to attach the net
40:44 – For the net, Ethan uses PVC plastic
48:30 – Martin Joergensen from Global Fly Fisher was on the podcast at WFS 099 – he’s got a blog about DIY fly fishing net
51:00 – Cameron Mortenson from Fiberglass Manifesto was on the podcast at WFS 088 – he did a “how to build a landing net” content
54:30 – Quick shoutout to Ronald Burnett – he really enjoyed the recent episode with Landon Mayer at WFS 295. Thanks for checking in Ronald!
You can find Stonefly Nets on Instagram @stoneflynets
Website at StoneflyNets.com
Videos Noted in the Show
Related Podcast Episodes
WFS 198 – Custom Wooden Trout Net with Stonefly Nets Ethan Igleheart
WFS 161 – Tom Morgan Rodsmiths with Joel Doub and Matt Barber
Read the Full Podcast Transcript Below
Fly Fishing Net Conclusion with Ethan Igleheart
In this episode, we learned the step-by-step process of building a custom wood landing net. Ethan’s goal is to produce quality wood landing nets that can be passed on to your children and your grandchildren.
We announced the winner of the Stonefly Nets giveaway – congratulations, Julie Kelner! If you’re reading this, I hope you land more fish with that net and spread the word about your Stonefly Net experience. I appreciate your support for the podcast and I hope to maybe see you on the water someday. A big virtual high five to you!
Thank you Ethan for putting this together. We are very grateful to have you as a sponsor. Looking forward to fish with you soon.
![](https://wetflyswing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/qtq_95.png")
