The article studies different shell constructions of mid-water trawls and their properties. The problem settled is suggested to be solved taking into account real geometric interrelations between spacious and surface properties of cone shells. The author suggests to accept a so-called geometric quality coefficient as a criterion of the properties of a conical shell, which represents the ratio of the shell to the area of its side surface and by analogy to use it to the shell of the trawl. The relationship between the trawl dimensions and geometric quality coefficient have been studied. Comparing these figures with the actual characteristics of trawls showed good convergence. According to the results of theoretic analysis and parameters calculation, trawl large-size shells will always have advantages in geometric characteristics over mid-size and, especially, small-size shells. The results of the analysis can be used for approximate calculations of the parameters of the trawl and justification of ways to improve the performance of existing mid-water trawls.