What is "hand net"

n. A small net that is equipped with a handle and attached to a rim so that the net forms a pouch. This kind of net is used, eg, for trapping butterflies or individual fish.

A hand net, also called a scoop net or dip net, is a net or mesh basket held open by a hoop. It may or may not be on the end of a handle. Hand nets have been used since antiquity and can be used for scooping fish near the surface of the water, such as muskellunge or northern pike.

A hand net with a long handle is often called a dip net. There are popular contemporary dip net Sockeye Salmon fisheries in Chitina, Kenai River, and Kasilof River Alaska, typically lasting two to three weeks, and is regarded as a subsistence fishery for Alaska residents only. Dip nets can also be used to scoop crabs in shallow water. The basket is made of wire or nylon mesh, rather than cloth mesh, since crabs fight, bite, twist and turn when they are caught.

When a hand net is used by an angler to help land a fish it is called a landing net.

Because hand netting is not destructive to fish, hand nets are often used for tag and release, or to capture aquarium fish.