A spool of twine, a needle, a mesh board, nimble fingers and time. These are the tools Mike Usina needs to create Minorcan Magic. 

Usina isn’t a magician in the traditional sense. But once you watch him tie knot after knot to transform bonded nylon into a 7-foot cast net - you will agree he is a magician in his own right.

Usina began hand making cast shrimp and mullet nets more than 65 years ago. While the English cast net made from bonded nylon is his favorite, he has made all types of fishing nets using an array of materials including linen, cotton, Nycott, braided spectra fiber and braided Dacron.