When Hurricane Maria tore through the Caribbean in September 2017 as a category 5 storm, it destroyed livelihoods, infrastructure, and entire ecosystems. On the small island of Vieques, east of Puerto Rico, coastal mangrove forests were buffered from the initial onslaught of wind and seemed to survive. But after several months, huge numbers of trees died, leaving the coast more vulnerable to flooding and erosion from future storms.

Nets tend to be one of those things that many fly anglers opt to do without longer than they should. Most often, this is because it seems like something the average trout angler (and most fly anglers are trout anglers) can do without—like an optional accessory. And there's some truth to this. Certainly not all anglers need nets, and those that do need them don't necessarily need them on every outing, but rare is the angler—especially the catch and release angler—that can't benefit from having the option to tote along a net when headed to the water.