American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 32 Weaving Barbed Nets
Today is the thirty-eighth day of wilderness survival.

As Lin Yu'an stepped out of the warm stone shelter, the chill on the shores of Lake Chirko grew even stronger.

"Time flies, I've already spent more than a month here."

"Speaking of which, there are really a lot of restrictions this season. Grizzly bears, mink, doe, and all animal cubs are not allowed to be hunted."

"On average, you can't catch more than two fish a day. Fortunately, according to the program's rules, you're allowed to use fishing nets after the 40th day. So I need to start preparing in advance."

He carried the camera into the shelter and pointed it at the smoked meat and remaining Jerusalem artichokes stored in wicker baskets.

"Although we currently have some food reserves, they are far from enough to cope with the long winter that is coming."

"Aside from the previous bountiful catches when fish migrated back to spawn, I've been going home empty-handed for a long time. So, I must take advantage of the lifting of the fishing ban to explore more possibilities for obtaining food resources."

"Therefore, I have decided to start making a small barbed net today and set it up on the inside of a bend in the water where the current is relatively slow."

Lin Yu'an took out a roll of nylon fishing line from his supplies, which had not been used on a large scale before.

“I have a spool of nylon fishing line here, about 0.35 mm thick. It’s strong and has good concealment, enough to weave a small gillnet.”

Among a pile of wood scraps, select a dry wooden stick about the thickness of a thumb and about four centimeters long.

Lin Yu-an showed the stick to the camera and said, "I plan to weave a barbed wire with diamond mesh size of about four centimeters. Using this small stick as a reference will ensure that the mesh size is basically consistent."

He found a flat area where the sun could shine through, but it was also slightly sheltered from the wind. This became his temporary net-weaving workshop.

He first erected several spruce tree trunks, keeping them about two meters apart, and used paracord to tightly pull up a "starting line" as the starting reference for weaving the barbed wire.

"I will start by weaving the first row of meshes from the top of this net."

Lin Yu'an untied a section of about seven or eight meters from the precious nylon fishing line and tied it tightly to the left end of the starting line with a sturdy double knot.

“Use a four-centimeter wooden stick as a ruler, wrap the fishing line around the ruler to the right from the bottom of the fishing line, and then thread it back to form a standard loop.”

"This action requires consistent force when wrapping the ruler, otherwise the mesh size will be uneven."

Then he flipped his fingers, threading the free end of the fishing line through the loop he had just formed, and pulled hard to tie the first standard "flat knot" on the line.

"There are many types of knots in gillnets, but the core requirement is that they must be strong and not come loose on their own when the fish struggle, otherwise the size of the mesh will change and affect the fishing results."

Lin Yu-an demonstrated to the action camera on his chest, slowing down his movements as much as possible in order to capture every detail of the knot and ensure that the audience could understand it.

He skillfully weaved, pulled, and tightened the nylon thread between his fingers, and a standard semi-diamond mesh clearly appeared on the thread.

"When tying the first knot, make sure it's firmly attached to the starting line and that the length of the loop is exactly equal to the length of the stick."

"This way, the size of our first mesh is precisely determined, and this benchmark is very important."

Then he repeated the same actions—looping the fishing line around the stick, weaving it through, tying a knot, tightening it, and tying a second knot on the line. He kept repeating this seemingly simple process, which was extremely demanding on patience.

Soon, along the starting line, a row of neat, roughly the same size, half-diamond-shaped meshes gradually extended out.

Lin Yu-an plans that the width of this gillnet will be about two meters, which means that the first row will need to be tied with about forty such knots.

"Remember, the first row of mesh is the foundation of the entire fishing net. If the first row is crooked or loose, the net will definitely be much less effective."

Once the first row of half-mesh is finished, he begins weaving the second row. From this row onward, he no longer needs the starting line as a direct reference; instead, he uses the lower half of the previous row of mesh as the new "starting line" for weaving.

“Starting from the second row, we are weaving a complete diamond mesh.”

“Each new knot is connected to the center line between the adjacent knots in the previous row, thus forming a stable and uniform rhomboid structure.”

Lin Yu'an would occasionally lift up a section of the woven netting and show it to the camera; the clear diamond-shaped mesh looked particularly distinct in the sunlight.

"The worst thing you can do when weaving barbed wire is to be impatient and try to speed up the process."

"If a knot in the net is tied incorrectly or not fully tightened, all the previous efforts will be wasted."

"Moreover, if the mesh size is not uniform, small fish may pass through directly, while large fish will not be able to effectively hold their gill covers and thus easily escape."

Lin Yu-an plans for the gillnet to be about four meters long and two meters wide. This size should be sufficient to effectively block most waterways and also make it easy for one person to set up and retrieve it.

After a day of focused and diligent work, when Lin Yu'an tied the last knot of the last row of meshes, the "net finishing knot" secured the end of the line.

A nylon barbed wire net with even mesh and tight knots was finally completed in his hands!

The gillnet is untied from the line between the two trees, gently shaken open, and held in both hands, displayed in its entirety in front of the camera.

"Hey, look at this! The main body of the small barbed wire net, woven entirely by hand, is finally finished!"

"But for a gillnet to be deployed vertically in the water, the weight and distribution of the floats and sinkers are crucial, directly affecting the shape of the net in the water and the effectiveness of catching fish."

Lin Yu'an began making floats and sinkers for the barbed wire.

For the float, he chose very light and dry poplar branches; for the sinker, he selected some stones.

“These poplar branches are very light, and after being thoroughly dried, they have excellent buoyancy. By tying them evenly to the top line of the gillnet, the top edge of the net can float very well.”

Then, he tied the small wooden floats he had made to the top line of the gillnet at intervals of about twenty centimeters, making sure each knot was secure to prevent the floats from easily falling off.

Similarly, he tied the bundled stones to the lower line of the barbed wire with the same spacing and secure knots.

The position of each float and sinker and the length of the rope are carefully adjusted to ensure that they are evenly distributed so that the entire net is balanced in the water and can be deployed vertically and to the maximum extent.

"Alright, the floats and sinkers are all installed. Our handcrafted barbed wire is now truly complete!"

"I just need to wait until the ban is lifted, then I can use it!"

After putting away the completed gillnet, the sun was already setting in the west. Lin Yu'an went to check on the place where the traps and snares had been set up.

Strangely, every trap was in a triggered state; the bait was gone, but no prey was caught.

He carefully investigated the cause and finally found a tuft of animal fur near a trap, which looked like that of a fox.
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Results report!
Urban New Book Chart: 6th place.

Overall New Book Ranking: 35th.

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(End of this chapter)