Fishing the net

There is video of bagnets being fished on this page The film “Armadale Salmon Fishers” is probably the best video record of bagnet fishing. Although on different coasts the activities in that film are virtually the same as happened in Ardnamurchan. Mike Barrett, in his Fascadale book “The Leaper” describes the process of fishing the net on page 87.

1. The diagrams below show, in plan and in elevation the bagnet head set up to fish . Hopefully the fish are being led by the “leader” into the head of the net. When the fishing boat, the coble, arrives the fishermen are hoping to find a number of salmon swimming in the “fish court”

The fishing boat, the coble, has arrived at the net and comes alongside the headpole on the up tide side. The crew are going to undo the lashing on the top of the pole that keeps the pole in place and thus the net in shape

Springing the head pole before fishing the net. 1983 at the “Croft” (or “Twins) net at the end of Ormsaigbeg, Kilchoan. To fish the net the boat is always laid alongside the up tide side of the net, the side the tide is flowing from. In this photo the boat is on the west side of the net so the tide is flowing west to east, which on that coast means it is a flood tide. The photo also shows a good example of a wooden toggle. These were used, along with spliced eyes in rope ends to join up the the various components of the net. Also visible beside the fisherman’s hat is the top of a cleek pole sticking up out of the water.

2 The headpole lashing has been undone and the pole “sprung” The pole is now lying in the water, still attached to the bottom bridle . By taking the tension out of the net the bottom of the net is able to float and be pulled upwards.

Hauling up the “pull rope” tp get to the bottom of the net

Hauling the boat over the net, holding the bottom of the net through the top so as to push the fish in front of you into the bag formed by the side wall of the net