Casting a Net

Fishermen on the Sea of Galilee used two types of casting nets; one was made of finely woven mesh to catch small fish and the other was made of larger mesh to catch bigger ones. Unlike a dragnet, which usually required the use of at least one boat and took a team of men to maneuver, a casting net could be handled by one person in a boat or standing on or near the shore. A casting net might have been 6 m (18 ft) or more in diameter and had stones or lead weights fastened to its perimeter. If thrown correctly, it hit the water as a flat disc. The weighted rim sank first, and fish were trapped as the net drifted to the sea floor. A fisherman might dive in and retrieve fish from the submerged net, or he might carefully draw the net to the shore. It took great skill and strenuous effort to use the net effectively.