Sometimes the fishermen sailed to deep waters. At the fishing grounds, two boats worked as a team. The men stretched a net between the boats; then the crews rowed strenuously in opposite directions, letting out the net as they encircled the fish. The boats completed the circle, and the trap closed. The fishermen then heaved on the ropes attached to the corners of the net, hauling the catch into the boat. The net might have been more than 100 feet (30 m) long and about 8 feet (2.44 m) deep, large enough to trap an entire shoal of fish. The upper edge was buoyed by floats, and the lower fixed with weights. The fishermen set their net, and then hauled it in again and again, hour after hour.

In shallower waters, a team of fishermen would use a different technique. A boat took one end of the dragnet from the beach out to sea and circled back to shore, enclosing the fish. Men on shore then hauled in the net, dumped the catch onto the beach, and sorted the fish there.

A lone fisherman might use a line with baited bronze hooks. Or he could use a small casting net. To cast the net, he would wade into the water, position the net on his arm, and then toss it up and away from his body. The dome-shaped net would spread out, land on the water, and then sink. If the fisherman was fortunate, the net enclosed a few fish as he drew it back by its center rope.

Nets were expensive and required hard work to maintain, so the men used them with care. Much of a fisherman’s time was spent mending, washing, and drying nets​—chores he performed at the completion of every fishing trip. (Luke 5:2) The apostles James and his brother John were sitting in their boat mending their nets when Jesus invited them to follow him.​—Mark 1:19.