With most Stickey fish the white fine mesh Brine shrimp nets do much better. With pictus in particular (I imagine others as well but don't know first hand) the white nets are still a little risky. For these fish I Keep PVC tubes with caps pressed on. Remove one Cap, place the tube into the tank and coax the fish into it. Most fish will gladly swim in to get away from you then all you need to do is cap the open end and you have the fish captured, in the dark, and in the water. For really skittish fish, the afre mentioned wooden spoon will keep them in the tube long enough to get the cap on. for less skittish fish placing the cap is usually not a problem. There are also some fish traps available here and there, and a good DIY trap is not too difficult to make with pop bottles.
Cheap Easy fish trap
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