All this talk of nets got me thinking, and I realized that although my wee pan net is great on small streams or when deep wading etc, I have lost a few bigger fish because I could not reach them from higher banks.
So, I bought a new folding, extendable net, and I have to say, it seems very well built.
Its the new Greys GX rubber meshed folding trout net. Christened it last night on a 3 pound Brownie and the net was easy to use, flipped up perfectly and despite it being a "pan" style, swallowed the fish easily. The handle is super grippy and the whole thing feels solid. Being rubber mesh, the water seemed to flow through it rather than "grab" it like my older nylon meshed net did. also, one shake and it was dry before clipping onto my back.
It is being sold as a bank anglers net, but the small size version seems to be perfect for what I want.
http://fly.greysfishing.com/cache/files/11554-1341928813/TF_425_037GXtelescopicnet.pdf