"He luelue ka'upena e ku'u ai."
The fine meshed net is the one to let down in the sea---a Hawaiian proverb. Afine-meshed net misses nothing, big or small. In seeking wealth, the small things are just as important as the big ones.

Ancient Hawaiians used many kinds of small nets. They used these nets in shallow water by coral reefs and crab holes. A small scoop net was dipped in water by hand. The Hawaiians used this net to catch small shrimp and fish for bait!

Sometimes the fishermen used a small square net to catch fish or crabs big enough for dinner. He tied his crab to the net and lowered it into the water near a hole in the coral. When the fish came out to eat the crab,he caught the fish with his net. Simple as that
The Hawaiian scoop net was used by women and children to capture pao'o (rock fish) ,'opae (shrimp)and other small fish in shallow water. To make the scoop net a flexible wooden rod was bent into an oval shape.Then a very fine meshed net called nae was attached to the wooden loop. To make a two handed scoop net two rods were joined at the tip end, and then separated to form a triangle.

The general reference for the net was 'upena which was followed by the name of the fish to be caught. For example, ' upena pao'o was used to catch pao'othe for rock fish, or upena 'opae for shrimp. The rock fish was the biggest shallow water fish that was caught with this net. The nets were used by women who usually fished for the pao'o and the 'opae during the night.