DeWitt Deluxe Pond Netting Review

The DeWitt Deluxe is the net you buy after cheap leaf netting has already failed on you. It's a UV-treated polyethylene net with a fine quarter-inch mesh and strands that are bonded together, which is what makes it stronger and more tear-resistant than the thin extruded plastic sold for a single autumn. You're paying for bonded strands and sun life, and for a mesh fine enough to keep birds and debris off the fish when it's tented above the water. For a stocked koi pond you protect year-round, that's exactly the right thing to pay for.

The tradeoff is honest and worth saying up front: it's overkill if all you want is to catch falling leaves for one season. Thin leaf netting is cheaper, lighter, and easier to throw over a small water garden, and if the net's only job is to come off again in November it does that job. The DeWitt earns its price the moment the net has to survive seasons of sunlight or stop a predator, and it's dead weight if it never does either.

The short version

What works:

• Bonded strands and UV treatment that survive seasons of sun where cheap extruded leaf mesh goes brittle and tears.
• A fine quarter-inch bonded mesh that, tented taut on a frame, keeps herons and other predators off the fish, so it doubles as real predator protection, not just a leaf catcher.
• UV stabilization built for outdoor life, which is the single biggest reason cheap nets die and this one doesn't.
• Big enough at 20 by 20 feet to tent a real pond with room to stake the edges well clear of the water.

What to watch:

• It costs more than a throwaway seasonal leaf net, and that money is wasted if you only ever catch leaves.
• A full 20-by-20 net is bulkier to handle, store, and stretch than a small throwaway cover, simply because it's bigger.
• No stakes or ties in the box on the plain net, so budget for a frame or anchors to hold it off the surface.
• A net laid flat on the water isn't predator-proof at all. It has to be tented above the surface to do that job.

Who it's for, and who should skip it

Buy the DeWitt Deluxe if you keep fish you want to protect and you expect the net to live outdoors across seasons. A stocked koi or goldfish pond that a heron, raccoon, or cat has found, or will find, is the case this net is built for. The bonded strands and UV treatment are what let you leave it up through autumn leaf-fall and into winter without it turning brittle and shredding, and the fine quarter-inch mesh, tented above the water, is what keeps a stabbing bird off the fish.

Skip it if your pond is a small unstocked water garden and the only thing falling in is leaves for a few weeks each fall. In that case the price is money you don't need to spend, and a thin leaf net or a kit with stakes does the seasonal job for a quarter of the cost. The DeWitt is the wrong tool for a one-autumn leaf cover, and the right one for a net that has to survive years and keep a predator honest.

The spec that decides it: construction, not square footage

Every net lists its size, and size is the least interesting number here. Two nets can both read 20 by 20 feet and behave nothing alike, because what determines whether a net lasts is how the strands are made and treated, not the coverage. The DeWitt's case rests on strands that are bonded together and a fine quarter-inch mesh, and on UV treatment that keeps the plastic from going brittle in sunlight. Those are the specs the cheap listings hope you skip past on your way to the price.

Reason it through from the fish out. A heron reaches through a net that's drooping onto the water, so the mesh has to be held taut above the surface to stay a barrier. Down at the strand, an un-bonded net frays where the strands cross and works loose over time. Sunlight is the other killer: an un-treated plastic net left out for a season loses its strength and starts to crumble at exactly the moment you need it most. Pay for bonded strands and UV life and you have bought the two things that fail first on cheap nets.

Durability is what you pay for

This is where the money goes, and the owner experience on sturdier nets is blunt about why it's worth it. The pattern from people who have run both is consistent: cheap un-treated netting doesn't last and rips apart, while a bonded, UV-treated net lasts for years and gets patched rather than replaced. That gap isn't a small quality edge. It's the difference between buying a net once and buying a cheap one every year or two, and it's why the sturdier net pays for itself over time.

Put the arithmetic on it. A throwaway seasonal net is cheaper for one autumn, but if it shreds after a season or two you're back to the store, and replacing it repeatedly adds up to more than one sturdier net with more hassle and more failures in between. If the net has a job to do across seasons, buying the durable one once is the cheaper path. If it only ever catches leaves for a few weeks, the cheap one wins on price and the DeWitt's durability is a spec you paid for and never used.

Predator protection, and where a net stops working

A pond net is real heron defense, but only if you use it the way that defense requires. Laid flat on the water, any net lets a bird stand on the surface and reach through, and a net touching the water can foul a fish. Held up off the surface on a frame or on posts, it becomes a barrier a heron can't get past, and that's how the owners who beat their heron problem describe running it: netting held a few feet above the pond on pipe or posts, so everything stays out and the fish stay down where a bird can't reach.

So treat the frame as part of the purchase, not an afterthought. The net supplies the mesh; you supply the height. A simple structure of PVC or posts that lifts the net a few feet clear of the water turns a leaf cover into predator protection. Skip the frame and drape the net on the surface and you have a leaf catcher that a patient heron will eventually defeat, no matter how sturdy the net.

Living with it and setting it up

The main chore is size, not weight: a full 20-by-20 net stores bulkier than a small throwaway cover, takes some effort to stretch taut, and on a large pond you'll want a second pair of hands to tent it. That's the cost of covering a real pond, and it's a fair trade for a net that has to survive seasons rather than come off after a few weeks.

For setup, lift the net off the water on a light frame or posts, stake the edges out well clear of the surface, and keep it taut so nothing can press it down onto the fish. If a heron already has your address, a net alone is a good first move but not the only one worth making, and pairing it with a scare deterrent covers the gap while you build the frame. Our heron deterrent picks cover what to run alongside the netting.

How it compares

• Versus a thin seasonal leaf net: the leaf net wins on price and nothing else. It's the right buy for a small unstocked pond that needs a cover for a few weeks of leaf-fall, and the wrong buy for anything that has to survive a season of sun or stop a predator, where it goes brittle and tears.
• Versus a netting kit with stakes: the kits bundle the anchors the plain DeWitt doesn't, which is convenient on a smaller pond, but many kit nets use a lighter, less durable mesh than the Deluxe. Choose a kit when you want an easy staked cover for a modest pond; choose the DeWitt when you want the bonded, UV-treated mesh and are willing to build the frame yourself.

Our verdict

For a stocked pond you protect year-round, the DeWitt Deluxe is worth the money. The bonded strands and UV treatment buy you the two things cheap nets fail at, sun life and tear resistance, and over seasons the durable net is the cheaper one because you buy it once instead of replacing a throwaway net every autumn. Tent it on a frame so it does its predator job, and it earns its place.

Skip it if you only want a cheap seasonal leaf cover for a small unstocked pond. The DeWitt's strengths are all wasted on a net that never faces a heron and comes off before the sun can weaken it, and there the thin, cheap option is the sensible one. Match the net to the job: buy the durable one when the net has to last and protect, and the throwaway one when it only has to catch leaves.