Hae (Isan Cast Net) — a Round Net Knitted with a Chun Needle, 6-12 Sok Long, an Iron-Ring Chain Weight and a Drawing Loop, Cast over Fish

"A hae is knitted from cord with a chun, a flat bamboo needle with a pointed tip and a tongue in the middle for winding the cord." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), CC BY 4.0)

Shave bamboo flat with a pointed tip and a tongue in the middle to make the chun, and wind cord on it. Knit the crown (chom hae) as a loop at the very top, at the centre of the net, used to draw the net closed.

Knit the netting outward in a widening circle, with mesh from half an inch to 2 inches and a length of 6-12 sok, chosen for the water and the fish.

Cut thin iron rod into short pieces, form them into rings and link them into a long chain like a necklace, tied round the mouth of the net. At about every hand-span along the weights, tie a cord up to the netting, making a pocket like a strainer bag round the mouth. The weights sink the net.

Photos of knitting and casting a real hae (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), CC BY 4.0).

Lift the crown with one hand and fold the net about one sok long, 3-4 folds; drape the edge over the elbow. With the other hand split the weights and the edge, holding half on each side; the first hand holds the net at the waist. When a fish rises to breathe, twist the body and cast at it: the weights spread out in a wide circle over the water and pull the netting down to the bottom. A large hae has a cord on the crown: wait a moment, then draw it in slowly, and the mouth closes round the fish.

A young Isan man had to be able to knit and cast a hae before marrying. Casters work alone or in groups, circling a pool and casting in turn so no fish slips out; sometimes a seine is set round first, called wan lom, 'casting round'. The 6-8 sok net is the hae khayan, 'the diligent net', with the motto 'if not for soup, then for paste'. Casting in deep water or from a boat takes strength and skill. Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Traditional Objects of Everyday Use database, "แห", author ทำนุ วรธงไชย (Thamnu Worathongchai), Nong Bua Khok Folk Museum, Buriram (CC BY 4.0 licence). **Limits** The source gives no method for increasing meshes in the circle and no cord type, and there is no listing for the iron rod, so it is named in the text.