A replacment fish net also works, is lighter weight & you don't have to tie off the bottom.

If you get a bag tall enough, and if you are smart enough to use 2 liter coke bottles for water bottles (see "personal drinking bottles") you can use the ancor bag to harvest cold drinking water. Siiimply go to the deep part of the lake (at least 40+ ft), place the topless drinking bottle upright in the mesh bag on top of the rocks, close the bag, and QUICKLY lower the bag to the limit of the anchor rope. Because of the relatively small size of the bottle top, it will be slow to fill, and will fill mostly with the cold, clear water down deep -- the lower the colder!

After boiling your water pour it into a sealable plastic pop bottle. Place it in mesh bag tied to rope. Paddle to deep water and let bottle sink to depths. Tie off end of rope to a stick (so you can find later on) and let it cool over night...