Fishing Net

In the time of Jesus, the most important method of fishing was with a net. This could be in three different ways: with a drag net, a casting net or a trap.

In Matthew 13:47-48 Jesus compares the Kingdom of heaven with a drag net. A drag net was a large net, around 300 metres in length. At the ends it was three to four metres in height, and in the middle about eight metres. In the water, the bottom of the net was pulled down with lead weights, while the top was held up with cork floats. On each side, the net tapered to a point, with ropes attached.
To spread out the drag net, half of the crew would sail out onto the lake or the sea, while the other half stayed on the beach and held the end of one of the ropes. The boat kept moving further out onto the lake until the net was taut. Then the boat would sail back to the shore in a wide arc. Next, the fishermen on the beach pulled the net full of fish ashore. The net could also be pulled up into the boat.

When Jesus calls his disciples in Mark 1:16-18, they are just casting their nets out onto the lake. A casting net was a round net, about five to seven metres in circumference, with a rope in the centre and lead weights around the outside. The fishermen on the beach or in the boat held on to the rope and threw the net into the water with a circular motion. The act of throwing caused the net to fan out and it fell like a kind of parachute onto the lake. The weights ensured it sank to the bottom. The fishermen would then pull the rope, closing the net like a bag, and draw the full net into the boat.

A trap consisted of two or three layers of nets, the outer nets having a larger mesh and the inner one a finer mesh (that the fish could not get through). Fish would swim in through the outer net, thereby pushing the inner net through the opposite side of the outer net, so they got caught in the trap.
Traps were placed vertically in the water and held in place by floats on the surface of the water and a rope with lead weights on the bottom. Fishermen put their traps out at night, with the idea that the fish might not see the trap. They tried to chase the fish into the nets by beating the water with their oars. In the morning, they picked up the traps again. We can tell that the traps were set at night from what Simon Peter says in Luke 5:4-5. When Jesus asks him to throw the nets out during the day, Simon Peter objects that they have not even succeeded in catching anything at night.

After fishing, the nets were cleaned, dried and repaired (see Matthew 4:21). Nets were made of linen or cotton, which was why it was important to let them dry very thoroughly. If a net was kept in good repair, it could last for one or two seasons.