These days you will still find a cast net in most tinnies around the country's north, a staple for anyone in search of a catch of prawns or bait fish, but what has becoming harder to find is someone who still makes them.

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Arthur Gutteridge is one of just a handful of people left in the Tropical North with that expertise.

When Mr Gutteridge's father began teaching him how to make cast nets in the 1940s, the tools they used were minimal.

A meshing needle and board are some of the few tools needed to make an entire cast net up to three metres long. ( ABC Tropical North: Cristy-Lee Macqueen )

"Just a pair of scissors, a meshing needle and the twine, that was all," he said.

He said while there had been small additions to the tool kit over the decades, they're not too complicated.

"Now you've [also] got to have a meshing board and what we call a Bunsen burner — a cigarette lighter — because you've got to burn your nylon, otherwise it'll fray," Mr Gutteridge said.

The 81-year-old began meshing his first nets when he was eight, which he said was a way of making a living for his father and their family.

"His mother taught him how to make nets and then he taught me how to make nets; it got fish for the family and it got prawns for the family," he said.

Cotton and linen were used in those days for the mesh; however, he eventually made the move to nylon that is widely used today.

Rite of passage

Moulding and attaching the lead lines to a cast net requires nimble fingers. ( ABC Tropical North: Cristy-Lee Macqueen )

Learning how to throw a cast net is a skill usually passed down from generation to generation in fishing families.

It is a rite of passage, which is still alive and well, especially in the tropics.

Sadly though, Mr Gutteridge cannot say the same for learning how to make cast nets.

"My kids have missed out on it … I don't know whether there's any real young ones who are keen," he said.

It's a hobby, which takes a lot of patience, and in such a busy day and age it's one that is sadly disappearing.

Arthur Gutteridge learnt to make cast nets in Mackay as a young boy in the 1940s. ( ABC Tropical North: Cristy-Lee Macqueen )

Mental health benefits

Like many hobbies involving handiwork, such as gardening, making cast nets is described as therapeutic.

Mr Gutteridge said, through the years, it taught him how to be more patient and accept that mistakes inevitably happened.

"You make mistakes if you're not concentrating, but you can always fix it — you just pull the knots out and start again," he said.

He said, above all though, it had given him a real purpose in life.

"It's been a great help for me; I had depression really bad and this has helped no end," he said.

"It gives you pride in it, everything you make is your own work and you know that somebody will get a lot of pleasure out of using the cast net."

Picking a good net

From decades of making cast nets, Mr Gutteridge knew how to detect the signs of good craftmanship.

"If you know anything about cast nets you know straight away if it's a good one or a bad one," he said.

"If it's just right it'll spread every mesh in the net; if it's too tight it'll pull back like a concertina."

Mr Gutteridge said his favourite feeling was throwing a handmade net for the first time.

"It's heaven," he said.

"The best feeling is feeling the bump in the net, prawns ripping up the net to the top."