FISHING GEAR AND FISHING METHODS 



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cotton. Although cotton is actually a seed-hair fiber, it is grouped with the soft 

 (bast) fibers, which are normally derived from the main stalks of plants. 



Cotton-twine sizes are designated by two numbers, (1) indicating the weight 

 of the yarn and (2) the number of strands of yarn in the twine. The weight is 

 the number of 840-yard hanks in a pound. For example, i%2 twine is composed 



Fig. 13-3. The same netting shown in Fig. 13-1 

 with tension reversed illustrates method of fishing. 

 Note how straight twines allow meshes to close 

 uniformly. 



of yam of which 10 hanks, or 8,400 yards, weigh 1 pound, indicated by the 10. 

 Three strands of 4-ply thread twisted together is indicated by the number 12; 

 thus, there are 12 threads of number 10 yarn in ^%2 twine. Ten-yarn twines are the 

 most commonly used. They are cable, or right twist, and are usually referred to 

 only by the number of strands or threads (e.g., ^% cable is called 6 thread, ^%4 

 is 24 thread, etc.). 



Due to the need of various degrees of twist for cotton-netting requirements, 

 cotton twine is made up in difiFerent lays. The most common ones are soft, medium, 

 and hard; others are known as hawser, a left lay, and plain. 



Linen. It is believed that primitive man first utilized the flax plant for various 

 fishing and hunting requirements many centuries before the inner filament was 

 discovered to be a textile fiber. It was learned that by weathering flax straw, 

 long, tough, but pliable fibers, which did not decompose could be extracted. It 

 was also discovered that these fibers could be twdsted together to form a thread, 

 which in turn could be further twisted together, or woven. 



Despite the fact that linen is perhaps the oldest fiber known and has excellent 

 qualities for marine uses, its use in the commercial fisheries is limited because of 

 the high differential in cost as compared with cotton. About 90 per cent of all 

 the linen in use in the United States today is imported. 



Linen thread sizes are fisted by leas and the number of cords; one lea equalling 

 300 yards of single ply yarn per pound. Therefore, a ^%-linen size shows the 

 thread to be made from 12-lea yarn twisted into 3 cords. To obtain the number 



