Crossword Genius

It may not catch fish by the gross (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

net

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'the gross' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'it may not catch fish' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ne' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'by' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for net that I've seen before include "Mesh for the bottom line?" , "Lattice" , "Open-meshed fabric" , "Open mesh; catch" , "Fine open-weave fabric" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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