Construction and specifications 



The Cobb fished both nylon and linen gill nets of three sizes: 7i 

 inches, 8^ inches, and 9^ inches, stretched mesh measure. The nets were of 8- 

 thread twine, 100 meshes deep, and were made up in 50- fathom shackles. The nylon 

 nets were clear and untreated; the linen nets were a brownish-green color from 

 the preservative used. In assembling, the nets were hung-in approximately 45 per 

 cent. The cork line was 24-thread soft laid manila (approximately 3/4-inch di- 

 ameter) , and the lead line was of 18-thread soft-laid manila. Manila buoy line, 

 6-thread, formed the breast line, which was hung-in about 1/2 fathcm; that is, 

 the hanging loops were spaced 1/8 inch further apart on the lead line than on the 

 cork line, thus providing approximately 3 feet more net on the lead line to ccan- 

 pensate for the tendency of the leads to weigh down and shorten the stretch of 

 the line. Hanging line was 44-thread, 4-ply soft-laid cotton twine. Glass floats, 

 6 inches in diameter, were spaced on the cork line at 2-fathom intervals and 16- 

 inch inflated irubber floats were attached at the end of each 50-fathom shackle. 

 Leads, 4-ounce with a 5/8-inch hole, were strung on the lead line between every 

 ninth hanging loop, or approximately one every fathom. All lines were tarred and 

 run previous to making up the nets. 



Because double-knot nylon webbing was not available at the time, single- 

 knot was used. Considerable slipping of the single knots was noted, which became 

 worse when the nets were wet. It is, therefore, advised that double-knot nylon 

 be used as a correction for this fault. 



Six 50-fathom shackles, one of each mesh size of the nylon and linen 

 nets were tied together by the cork lines and lead lines and fished in a string. 

 The nets were set over the stem from a plywood bin behind the bait tanks. Most 

 sets were made at night; two made in the daytime produced negative results. Be- 

 cause of difficulty in handling and resulting damage to the fish, the nets were 

 not set in rough seas, but a moderately choppy sea did not seriously hamper oper- 

 ations. 



FIGURE 7 - THE GILL NETS WERE ALWAYS SET WITH THE CORK- 

 LINE TO WINDWARD SO THAT THE WEB WOULD BLOW OVER THE 

 LEAD LINE AND NOT FOUL ON THE FLOATS. 



Setting and hauling the nets 



The nets were generally 

 set just before dari< after the 

 day' s trolling was over, weather 

 conditions permitting. A lighted 

 bamboo flagpole and buoy, simi- 

 lar to those used in the halibut 

 fishery, was attached to each 

 end of the string of nets, and 

 they were allowed to drift free 

 from the vessel all night. On 

 setting, one flagpole buoy was 

 first thrown overboard and the 

 net was allowed to pay out over 

 the stem as the Cobb maintained 

 a very little headway. The nets 

 were always set with the cork 

 line to windward so that the web 

 would blow over the lead line 

 and not foul on the floats. A 

 watch was kept during the night, 

 and the lighted buoys were kept 



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