If you plan to spend time in an area with waterways, net making will prove to be one of the most valuable skills you will ever learn. You can make nets of any shape, size, or dimension to fit your needs. A good gill net (or stop net, as they are sometimes called) is a reliable source of food. Nets are wonderful to have on hand because they can also be multipurposed to cover and haul cargo or incorporated in land traps when capturing live food.
Building a gill net takes a little effort but is an invaluable skill for long-term sustainability in the wilderness. These nets can be placed in a creek to catch fish or small mammals. For net building you will need the following:
First tie a clove hitch into your thin cordage and slip it over the point in your net needle. Flip the net needle to the back, bring the cordage down to the end of the net needle, wrap it around the base, bring it back up and wrap it around the point again, flip the net needle to the front, wrap the cordage around the base, back up around the center point, flip the needle to the back, and so forth until your cordage is loaded about three-quarters of the way up the point in your net needle.
Tie your head line to two stationary objects so that it stretches out at a height that is comfortable for you to begin working. This thicker cordage will act as your head line, and you will build your mesh by attaching the cordage from the net needle directly to this line.
Pull line from the point of the net needle and attach it to the head line with a clove hitch. You are now ready to secure your thin cordage to your head line with a series of knots. Using a mesh gauge ensures that every space in your mesh is the same width. Remember, the size of the spaces in your mesh determine what you will catch. If your spaces are 2" wide, anything that is smaller than 2" will be able to escape.
Bring your net needle line up at an angle and wrap it behind and over the head line and mesh gauge. Now bring the net needle line up again, but this time wrap it behind and over only the head line and make a knot around the loop you just made. Move like this, over the mesh gauge and head line, and then over just the head line and around your loop, until you have 15 knots in your head line.
Now that the cord from your net needle is secured to the bankline you will start forming the mesh. Begin where your needle is positioned at the right-hand side of your knots and work your way back to the first clove hitch. Hold your mesh gauge below the 15 loops you created with your first set of knots. Bring your net needle cord behind the mesh gauge and through the first loop. Pull the line the whole way through and tighten it against that mesh gauge. Then bring your line back up and around the back of your loop to make a knot. Work this way through all the loops until you get back to your first clove hitch. Hold the mesh gauge against your second set of loops and work your way to the end of the line, continuing to add to the loops until you reach your desired length.
Funnel nets are designed to be placed with the opening on the upstream side of the stream. They can then be pegged in place, and you can create a further funnel with natural debris or bait them for larger animals like turtles. A funnel net is constructed like a gill net, except for the head rope. Here, circle and lash a natural material like a green branch as a hoop at the head of your funnel. You can add additional hoops to the inside after the net is completed if you are working with a very long product. In this trap the fish will swim in but cannot turn around in the back of the funnel.