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How do I Tie Fishing Nets?

How do I Tie Fishing Nets?

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Anglers rely on fishing nets for ensnaring, catching or landing fish. Different uses of fishing nets require different levels of durability; a landing net doesn't experience much stress, so the nylon webbing can be thin and inexpensive, but a casting net is dragged along rocks and brush and is therefore much more easily torn. The following instructions create a wide-weave, large net that can be used to form barrier trap nets or casting nets; however, tying any net will follow the same steps while using slightly different materials and dimensions.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:
  • 2 screw-in eye hooks
  • 2 20-foot long, 6 mm thick nylon cords
  • 500-foot long, 2 mm thick nylon twine
  • 2 6-foot long wooden posts
  • 20-foot tape measure
  • Pencil
Step 1
Plant the wooden posts firmly upright into the ground, 20 feet apart.
Step 2
Measure exactly 19 feet 9 inches from one post to the other. Mark the end points on each post with the pencil and screw in the eye hooks at those locations.
Step 3
Tie each end of one of the nylon cords to the posts; there should be almost no slack along the cord.
Step 4
Cut the twine into 60 8-foot lengths and then fold them in half. Tie one of the 8-foot lengths at the very far left end of the 20-foot nylon cord; use a round turn and two half-hitches knot to secure it in place. Make sure that you tie the 8-foot length exactly in the middle; both ends of the twine need to be equal length.
Step 5
Tie each of the remaining 59 8-foot lengths in an identical fashion; space them evenly along the line so they are exactly 4 inches apart from each other. The result should be 60 pairs of 4-foot-long dangling lengths of twine.
Step 6
Measure 4 inches down from the top on the right length of the leftmost hanging pair of cords. Tie this cord to the left cord of the second pair using a square knot. Work your way right, repeating this step with each pair until only the furthest left and right lengths are free.
Step 7
Starting with the furthest left line, repeat by tying it to its partner 4 inches below the first series of knots. Continue doing this all the way down to the farthest right line, and then alternate until there are only 4 inches dangling freely on each line.
Step 8
Tie each of the pairs to the second 20-foot nylon cord using round turn and two half- hitches knots.
Step 9
Remove the top 20-foot cord from the wall and tie off the ends of the two cords to prevent the netting from sliding off.

Tips & Warnings

 
Shorten the distance between each of the hanging lines and between the square knots to create tighter weave netting that can be used as a landing net.
 
Trim the net into a circular shape, attach weights along the nylon cords and add a retrieval line in the center to create a casting net.

Article Written By Jacob Hendriks

Jacob Hendriks' work has appeared in "The Western Front," "The Planet Magazine" and Trails.com. He graduated from Western Washington University with a major in international business management and a minor in Community Health. Hendriks' passion for sports nutrition and fitness, combined with experience as a personal trainer, has led him to pursue health-oriented journalism.

Write for Trails.com

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