86 MAKING A FISHERY. 



are made is unreliable, or if there are holes or 

 broken meshes in them, they are comparatively 

 useless. They should be long enough to stretch 

 across the widest part of the stream, and deep 

 enough to reach to the bottom when the water 

 has been drawn down to the low level required 

 for carrying out the work. In theory, the smaller 

 the mesh and the finer the twine of which they 

 are made, the less chance there is for fish, large 

 or small, to escape, and therefore the more 

 effectually the work is done. On the other 

 hand, the heavier the twine of which the nets 

 are made the better they will wear, and the less 

 liability will there be for them to get torn or 

 broken by the weeds, confervoid, leaves, mud, 

 sticks, stones, and other rubbish they collect when 

 being dragged down. 



It must also be remembered that the larger 

 the mesh the less will nets become clogged up 

 by the heterogeneous accumulations on the bed 

 of the river. It is therefore recommended that 

 they should be made of moderately stout twine 

 and of a moderately large mesh, be heavily 

 weighted so as to sink the lead line quickly, 

 and provided with plenty of bungs to float the 

 cork line. The much advertised machine-made 

 nets are not recommended. The twine of which 

 they are manufactured is far too thin for 

 rough usage. They are generally insufficiently 



