THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
 CASE 
 B 
 
LARGE PAPER 
 
 Only Two Hundred and Fifty Copies of tltis Edition 
 have been printed 
 
 THIS COPY IS NUMBER 
 
OF 
 
 SPORTS AND PASTIMES 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF BEAUFORT, K.G. 
 ASSISTED BY ALFRED E. T. WATSON 
 
 SEA FISHING 
 
'ON SOME ROCKY POINT A WELL-KNOWN HAUNT OF BASS (SC6 p. 19i) 
 
SEA FISHING 
 
 liY 
 
 JOHN 
 
 WITH CONTRIBUTIONS 
 
 ON 
 
 'ANTIPODEAN AND FOREIGN FISH' BY W. SENIOR 
 
 'TARPON' BY A. C. IIARMSWORTII 
 '\VHALING' BY SIR H. W. GORE-BOOTH, BART. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 C. NAPIER HEMY, R. T. PR1TCHETT, W. IV, MAY 
 AND OTHERS 
 
 LONDON 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
 
 1895 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
CASE 
 B 
 
 * 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 TO 
 
 H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES 
 
 BADMINTON : May 1885. 
 
 HAVING received permission to dedicate these volumes, 
 the BADMINTON LIBRARY of SPORTS and PASTIMES, 
 to His ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES, 
 I do so feeling that I am dedicating them to one of the 
 best and keenest sportsmen of our time. I can say, from 
 personal observation, that there is no man who can 
 extricate himself from a bustling and pushing crowd of 
 horsemen, when a fox breaks covert, more dexterously 
 and quickly than His Royal Highness ; and that when 
 hounds run hard over a big country, no man can take a 
 line of his own and live with them better. Also, when 
 the wind has been blowing hard, often have I seen 
 His Royal Highness knocking over driven grouse and 
 partridges and high-rocketing pheasants in first-rate 
 
 M373482 
 
viii MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 workmanlike style. He is held to be a good yachtsman, 
 and as Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron is 
 looked up to by those who love that pleasant and 
 exhilarating pastime. His encouragement of racing is 
 well known, and his attendance at the University, Public 
 School, and other important Matches testifies to his 
 being, like most English gentlemen, fond of all manly 
 sports. I consider it a great privilege to be allowed to 
 dedicate these volumes to so eminent a sportsman as 
 His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and I do 
 so with sincere feelings of respect and esteem and loyal 
 devotion. 
 
 BEAUFORT. 
 
BADMINTON 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 A FEW LINES only are necessary to explain the object 
 with which these volumes are put forth. There is no 
 modern encyclopaedia to which the inexperienced man, 
 who seeks guidance in the practice of the various British 
 Sports and Pastimes, can turn for information. Some 
 books there are on Hunting, some on Racing, some 
 on Lawn Tennis, some on Fishing, and so on ; but one 
 Library, or succession of volumes, which treats of the 
 Sports and Pastimes indulged in by Englishmen and 
 women is wanting. The Badminton Library is offered 
 to supply the want. Of the imperfections which must 
 be found in the execution of such a design we are 
 
 a 
 
x MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 conscious. Experts often differ. But this we may say, 
 that those who are seeking for knowledge on any of the 
 subjects dealt with will find the results of many years' 
 experience written by men who are in every case adepts 
 at the Sport or Pastime of which they write. It is to 
 point the way to success to those who are ignorant of 
 the sciences they aspire to master, and who have no 
 friend to help or coach them, that these volumes are 
 written. 
 
 To those who have worked hard to place simply and 
 clearly before the reader that which he will find within, 
 the best thanks of the Editor are due. That it has been 
 no slight labour to supervise all that has been written, he 
 must acknowledge ; but it has been a labour of love, and 
 very much lightened by the courtesy of the Publisher, 
 by the unflinching, indefatigable assistance of the Sub- 
 Editor, and by the intelligent and able arrangement 
 of each subject by the various writers, who are so 
 thoroughly masters of the subjects of which they treat. 
 The reward we all hope to reap is that our work may 
 prove useful to this and future generations. 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. INTRODUCTORY CHARTS, TIDES, ETC ... i 
 
 II. ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS . . 35 
 
 III. WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, HOOKS, AND 
 
 SUNDRY WRINKLES 66 
 
 IV. BAITS . . . . : . . ... 87 
 V. FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 147 
 
 VI. FROM LAND AND PIER .180 
 
 VII. SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS . ... 221 
 
 VIII. SEA FISHING FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING 
 
 BOATS 269 
 
 IX. THE OCEAN FISHING ROD 314 
 
 X. LOW-WATER SHELL FISH AND CONGER HUNTING, 
 
 PRAWNING, AND SHRIMPING .... 330 
 
 XI. SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH . . . . . 347 
 
 XII. FLAT-SIDED AND FLAT-BACKED FISHES . . 398 
 
 XIII. COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, CONGER, 
 
 SHARKS, ETC . 413 
 
 XIV. THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS . . . 461 
 
 By IVillia/n Senior (' Red Spinner'}. 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 XV. TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO . 
 
 By Alfred C. Harmsivorth. 
 
 XVI. WHALING 
 
 By Sir H. IV. Gore-Booth, Bart. 
 
 I'AGE 
 487 
 
 513 
 
 INDEX 
 
 - 545 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 ^ REPRODUCED BY THE SWAN ELECTRIC ENGRAVING Co., 
 WALKER & BOUTALL, AND G. II. FORD) 
 
 PLATES 
 
 ARTIST 
 
 ' ON SOME ROCKY POINT A WELL- ) 
 
 - C. Napier Ilciny . Frontispiece 
 KNOWN HAUNT OF BASS ' ) 
 
 HUNTING AMONG ROCKS AT Low) 
 
 ,, ,, To face p. 6 
 
 WATER j 
 
 ' JUST BEFORE DAYBREAK is A) 
 DEADLY TIME FOR BASS ' . [ 
 
 ' VERY LARGE COD ARE TAKEN ) 
 
 11 11 60 
 
 FROM GORLESTON PlER ' . ) 
 
 SCRAPING FOR SAND-EELS BY) 
 
 ,, ,, n8 
 MOONLIGHT . . . ) 
 
 'TAKING THE FLY AS QUICKLY AS) 
 
 I COULD CAST IT' . j 
 
 'ON A PRECIPITOUS ROCK' . . ,, ,, ,, 198 
 
 SMELT FISHING FROM THE CUSTOM- ' 
 
 HOUSE PIER AT COWES 
 'WE CAN ABJURE THE PROFES- ) 
 
 SIGNAL GEAR' [ ,,,,.,, 256 
 
 HARLING WITH DRIFT LINES . . ,, ,, ,, 264 
 
 MACKEREL WHIFFING ... ,, ,, . 278 
 
 HAULING THE TRAMMEL ... ,, ,, ,, 308 
 
 THE GROUND SEINE OR SCRINGE . ,, ,, . ,, 310 
 ' LET us COME TO OUR OWN GOOD,) 
 HONEST, DUSKY-RED FELLOWS ' j 
 
 AN AMATEUR SHRIMPER ... ,,,,.,, 340 
 
xiv MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 GREY MULLET' FOLLOWING n 
 
 ARTIST 
 
 C. Napier Heiny To face p. 
 
 THE TIDE' 
 MACKERELLINO ' R i PPI.I .\ :c,\ 
 
 WATERS FLECKED WITH I ,, ,, 
 
 WHITE' j 
 
 'AN HOUR OF THIS SPORT WILL] 
 
 SUFFICE TO FILL A GOOD-SIZED - ,, ,, . . 
 
 BASKET' j 
 
 AN ANGLER AND HER CATCH . . From a Photograph 
 A FlSH SUDDENLY RISES CLOSE TO 
 
 ONE OF THE BOATS . 
 ALMOST ON THE BACK OF THE FISH ,, 
 IN PURSUIT OF THE BOATS 
 
 W. W. May . 
 
 422 
 
 490 
 SM 
 
 526 
 532 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT 
 
 VIGNETTE ON TITLE . . . 
 
 TAKING MARKS 
 
 LOBSTER POTS 
 
 DUTCH Buis LAYING NETS 
 
 How TO WHIP ON A HOOK .... 
 
 TO FINISH CENTRAL WHIPPINGS 
 
 ' PENNELL-LlMERICK ' HOOK (EYED) . 
 
 CURVED LIMERICK HOOK (EYED) . 
 
 ROUND BEND HOOK (FLATTED) SHANK 
 
 METHODS OF ATTACHING SNOODS TO ) 
 
 FLATTED HOOKS j 
 
 FIGURE OF EIGHT KNOT FOR HOOK WITH 
 
 SMALL EYE ..... 
 A SAFE KNOT FOR HOOK WITH LARGE EYE 
 Two METHODS OF ATTACHING GUT CASTS ) 
 
 TO FLIES FITTED WITH GUT LOOPS j 
 PLAITED CONGER SNOOD .... 
 ORDINARY GUT KNOTS .... 
 
 R. T. Pritchett 
 
 K. T. Pritchett 
 
 II 
 
 34 
 65 
 67 
 69 
 70 
 70 
 70 
 
 72 
 
 73 
 73 
 74 
 
 74 
 75 
 
ILL US TRA TIONS 
 
 ARTIST I'ACIK 
 
 IMPROVED BUFFER KNOT . 
 
 A BUFFER KNOT WITHOUT WHIPPING . 
 
 DROPPER ON BUFFER KNOT 
 
 DROPPER ON CAST MADE UP WITH ORDI- 
 NARY KNOTS 
 
 RUNNING LINE KNOTTED TO LOOP OF ] 
 PATERNOSTER, ETC . . . . J 
 
 RUNNING LINE ATTACHED TO FLY CASTS \ 
 OR WHIFFING SNOODS KY FIGURE OF 
 EIGHT KNOT ' 
 
 How TO TIE A SEA FLY 
 
 YARMOUTH COBBLE ..... 
 
 BAIT BOARD 
 
 BACON-SKIN BAIT TO IMITATE A SMALL 1 
 SQUID OR CUTTLE . . . . I 
 
 LOBWORM USED AS A BAIT FOR RAILING ) 
 OR WHIFFING ) 
 
 SMALL EEL ON SINGLE HOOK . 
 
 FEL TAIL . 
 
 A'. T. Pritchett 
 
 EEL-TAIL TACKLE 
 
 HERRING PARTLY CUT UP FOR BAIT . 
 LUGWORM ....... 
 
 MACKEREL LAST 
 
 IMPROVED CHAPMAN SPINNER 
 ARCHER SPINNER .... 
 How TO OPEN A MUSSEL . . . 
 
 RAGWORM 
 
 TWO-HOOK TACKLE. . . . 
 
 SAND-EEL SEINE 
 
 COURGE IN TOW 
 
 COURGE . . . . ... 
 
 BAITING WITH THE LIVING SAND-EEL 
 CUTTLE (Septa officinalts) ; SQUID (Loligo vul- 
 garis] ; AND OCTOPUS (Octopus tntlgaris) 
 
 79 
 
 79 
 
 8 3 
 . 86 
 . 90 
 
 . 91 
 
 . 96 
 
 96 
 . . . . 98 
 
 . . 99 
 
 K. T. Pritchett . 101 
 
 ,, ,, . 104 
 
 . i(? 
 
 . 1 08 
 
 . 109 
 
 K. T. Pritchett . in 
 ,, ,, . 116 
 
 . . 117 
 118 
 119 
 119 
 
 120 
 I2 3 
 
 A'. T. Pritchett 
 
xvi MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 ARTIST PACK 
 
 THE VARM . . R. 7'. Prilchcll . 131 
 
 GROUND-BAIT NET IN USE ... ,, ,, 132 
 
 NORWEGIAN GROUND-BAIT CONE. . . ,, ,, .134 
 
 'SARCELLE' ,, ,, 136 
 
 BAND BAIT WITH EYED HOOKS . . . ,, ,, . 137 
 
 BABY SPINNER. ..... ,, ,, . 138 
 
 BABY SPINNER WITH SOLE-SKIN BAIT BELOW ,, . 138 
 
 ORDINARY TIN SPINNNER FOR SEA FISHING ,, ,, .139 
 
 BELGIAN GRUB ...... ,, ,, -139 
 
 RUBBER EEL WITH BABY SPINNER. . ,, ,, . 140 
 
 CARSWELL'S PHANTOM . . . . . ,, ,, .141 
 
 THE CLIPPER ...... ,, ,, . 141 
 
 CARTMAN SPINNER ,, ,, 142 
 
 GEEN'S SPIRAL SPINNER .... ,, ,, 142 
 
 CURB CHAIN BAIT ,, ,, 143 
 
 A FEATHER FISH ..... ,, ,, . 145 
 
 'WHITEBAIT' FLY. No. i. . . . ,, ,, . 148 
 
 'WHITEBAIT' FLY. No. 2 ... ,, ,, 148 
 
 LASHED GAFF ,, ,, .152 
 
 ' SALMO IRRITANS ' HOOK SCALE 155 
 
 SEA-TROUT FLY ON 'SALMOIRRITANS' HOOK . . . .156 
 
 MOUSETAIL R. T. Pritchett . 157 
 
 LION . . . . 4 158 
 
 DURHAM RANGER . . . . 158 
 
 JOCK SCOTT . . . 159 
 
 THUNDER AND LIGHTNING ........ 159 
 
 THREE POLLACK FLIES (ORKNEY) . . R. 7\ Pritfhett . 169 
 
 DOGFISH-TAIL FIBRE FLY ... ,, ,, . 171 
 GURNARD-SKIN FLY FOR SAND-EELS } 
 
 177 
 
 (FULL SIZE) ) 
 
 SNAKE RING ........... 185 
 
 BRIDGE RING 185 
 
 RIGID TOP RING WITH MOVABLE LINING . 186 
 
ILL US TRA TIONS 
 
 'BlCKERDYKE' END RlNG . 
 
 SUN REEL LINE GUARD 
 
 KNOBSTICK OR ' PRIEST' . 
 
 METHOD OF CASTING OUT LIGHT TACKLE 
 
 MALLOCH REEL ...... 
 
 FLOAT 
 
 EAST COAST THROW-OUT LINE . 
 
 LEGER FOR BASS, ETC .... 
 
 WILLIAMS'S LEGER LEAD .... 
 
 OUTHAUL BULTER ..... 
 
 YORKSHIRE COBBLES ..... 
 
 Two METHODS OF MAKING THE SHEET FAST 
 
 A HANDY FISHING BOAT . 
 
 SAILORS' KNOTS (VARIOUS) 
 
 ATTACHMENT OF ROPE TO ANCHOR ON 
 ROCKY GROUND .... 
 
 BUOYING AN ANCHOR .... 
 
 SENDING MESSENGERS DOWN TO THE ANCHOR 
 
 SHORT SEA ROD FOR BOAT-WORK . 
 
 BLOCK FOR END OF BOAT ROD (ACTUAL 
 SIZE) 
 
 JONES'S ROLLER RING . 
 
 SHEAVE IN LIEU OF LOWEST RING (ACTUAL 
 SIZE) 
 
 SNAKE RING 
 
 SLATER'S REEL AND LINE GUARD 
 
 FARLOW'S NEW SEA REEL 
 
 A SIMPLE PATERNOSTER WITH PEAR- 
 SHAPED LEAD, AND SHOWING HOW A 
 SWIVEL MAY BE INTRODUCED . 
 
 A NEW PATERNOSTER SWIVEL 
 
 DEAL SWIVEL BOOM FOR PATERNOSTER . 
 
 FLATTENED CONE LEAD 
 
 ARTIST PAGE 
 
 . 186 
 
 . , . . 187 
 
 . 190 
 
 R. T. Pritchett . 197 
 
 . 198 
 
 . 200 
 A. T. Pritchett .211 
 
 . 217 
 R. T. Pritchett 218-9 
 
 222 
 
 . . . . 224 
 
 R. T. Pritchett . 225 
 
 R. T. Pritchett 
 
 2 39 
 
 240 
 241 
 
 241 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 THE ' TRACY ' LEAD, WITH SWIVEL AT- 
 TACHMENT TO PATERNOSTER 
 PATERNOSTER ADAPTED FOR FLAT FISH, ETC 
 
 PATERNOSTER-TROT 
 
 METHOD OF ADDING TO OR DECREASING ) 
 WEIGHT AT END OF PATERNOSTER j 
 
 HEMENS' LEAD 
 
 ALLCOCK'S LEAD 
 
 ARCHER-JARDINE LEAD .... 
 
 THE SLIDER FLOAT 
 
 DIAGRAM SHOWING THE SLIDER FLOAT 
 
 IN USE 
 
 PATERNOSTERS USED AS DRIFT LINES. 
 PIPE LEAD WITH HOOK SWIVEL . 
 A MODERN TRACE LEAD 
 
 GEEN'S LEAD 
 
 NORFOLK LEAD 
 
 ' FISHING GAZETTE ' LEAD 
 ARCHER-JARDINE LEAD CURVED . 
 SWIVEL COMPELLER . . , 
 
 MACKEREL HOOKS . . . 
 HEARDER'S KENTISH RIG . 
 KENTISH RIG FROM DEAL 
 YACHT RAIL PROTECTOR 
 YACHT RAIL PROTECTOR 
 
 DRAWING) . . . . 
 
 NORTH SEA HAND LINE 
 NORTH SEA HAND-LINE HOOK 
 PLAITED LOOP (ACTUAL SIZE) . 
 FOUR USEFUL-SIZED HOOKS . 
 MACKEREL TACKLE (SOUTH WALES) 
 MODERN PLYMOUTH MACKEREL GEAR 
 HEARDER'S MACKEREL LEAD AND BOOM 
 
 (SECTIONAL \ 
 
 AND 
 
 ARTIST PAGE 
 
 R. T. Prilcheft . 242 
 
 243 
 . 243 
 
 . 245 
 
 . . 246 
 
 . 246 
 
 . - 253 
 
 253 
 
 A'. T. Pritchett . 254 
 
 255 
 
 256 
 
 258 
 259 
 259 
 259 
 260 
 260 
 261 
 265 
 266 
 270 
 
 A'. T. Pritchett 
 
 R. T. Pritchett 
 
 R. T. Pritchett 
 
 271 
 
 273 
 
 274 
 
 275 
 277 
 278 
 279 
 
ILL US TRA TIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PATENT VARIABLE LEAD WITH SENSITIVE \ 
 GEAR . . . . . . ) 
 
 NORWEGIAN LEAD AND GEAR . . R. T. Pritchett . 283 
 
 DRIFT-TROT SHOWN IN USE .... ,, ,, . 286 
 
 FISHING LINES COMPARED (ACTUAL SIZE) . ,, 288 
 
 KNOT FOR FASTENING AND QUICKLY UN- | 
 
 )> 2 9 
 FASTENING SNOODS FROM LINES . ) 
 
 LONG LINE SET ...... ,, ,, . 291 
 
 FLOATING TROT ...... ,, ,, . 292 
 
 THE BEAM TRAWL ..... ,, ,, . 300 
 
 THE OTTER TRAWL ...... . 302 
 
 THE OTTER BOARD (FITTED) . . . ,, ,, . 303 
 
 SHACKLE FOR OTTER TRAWI ..... ,, ,, . 304 
 
 TRAMMEL NET ...... ,, ,, . 309 
 
 PREPARING TO SHOOT A DEEP-WATER SEINE 
 
 (PENZANCE) 
 
 SHORE SEINE OR SCRINGE .... ,, ,, . 312 
 
 THE OCEAN FISHING ROD .... ,, ,, . 317 
 
 THE OCEAN BAIT (CAPT. HOWELL'S) .".."' ,, . 319 
 
 CRAB, LOBSTER, AND CONGER HOOKS . . ,, ,, . 335 
 PRAWN OR SHRIMP NET, AND PRAWN) 
 
 POTS [ " " ' 339 
 
 RIM OF PRAWN NET ,, ,, . 340 
 
 LOBSTER HOOP NET FROM WALTON-ON- ) 
 
 THE-NAZE [ 
 
 CROMER CRAB BOAT AND POTS ... , . 345 
 
 LOBSTER, CRAYFISH ;) . 345 
 
 BASS HOOKS 
 
 353 
 
 HOOK FOR MULLET WITH MACARONI BAIT . . . . 359 
 
 TACKLE FOR FISHING FOR MACKEREL ON ) 
 
 I A'. 7. Pritchett . 386 
 OR NEAR THE BOTTOM . . . ) 
 
 HALIBUT HOOK AND SNOOD. FAROE ) 
 
 [ . . . 401 
 
 FISHERY (ACTUAL SIZE) . . . j 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 ARTIST PAGE 
 
 HOOK FOR MEDIUM-SIZED PLAICE AND I 
 
 . 406 
 
 SAND DABS ) 
 
 HOOK FOR FLOUNDERS 409 
 
 PIN TACKLE FOR FLOUNDERS AND THORN 
 
 R. T. Pritcheit . 409 
 HOOK (ACTUAL SIZE) 
 
 LUGWORM AND LlMPET .... ,, ,, 420 
 
 COD AND CODLING HOOKS 421 
 
 NORTH SEA HOOKS AND SNOODS (ACTUAL 
 
 422 
 SIZE) USED ON LONG LINES 
 
 WHITING HOOKS .... 424 
 
 HOOK FOR SMALL POUT 425 
 
 HOOK FOR HADDOCK 426 
 
 BREAM AND CHAD HOOKS 450 
 
 THE VIPER WEEVER, THE GREATER ) ,, ~ .. , .. 
 
 L A. 7. Pntchett . 459 
 WEEVER ) 
 
 TARPON ROD 493 
 
 LEATHER BELT AND ROD ... ... 495 
 
 RAW HIDE TRACE AND HOOK 496 
 
 A WHALER W. W. May . 513 
 
 SECTION OF ARCTIC YACHT 'KARA' 519 
 
 COILING LINE . 523 
 
 THE BOATS ROW OFF 531 
 
 HARPOONS 540 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHARTS, TIDES, ETC. 
 
 THIS book being a contribution to the Badminton Library, 
 it is perhaps hardly needful to explain that it deals mainly 
 with the sportsman's side of sea fishing. People who are only 
 acquainted with the comparatively rough methods of pro- 
 fessional fishermen may be disposed to declare that there is 
 no sport to be obtained in the sea. But those who do me 
 the honour of perusing the following pages can hardly fail to 
 be convinced that salt water is as sport-yielding as fresh, and 
 that there are many kinds of sea fish so wary and such powerful 
 swimmers that in their capture the knowledge and skill of the 
 sportsman are all important. In the sea, as in rivers, there are 
 certain conditions -particularly thick water or darkness under 
 which fish can be caught with the roughest possible tackle 
 and the most primitive methods. But in the long run the 
 angler who uses moderately fine tackle, an average intelligence, 
 and strikes and plays the fish he hooks with the skill he 
 has acquired on lake or river, will most certainly score the 
 greatest successes in proof of which I will give illustration 
 later on. 
 
2 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 I cannot, of course, claim to be the originator of rod and 
 line fishing in the sea. That has been carried on wherever 
 coasts are steep and rocky, as in the West of England and 
 other places, for many years perhaps from time immemorial. 
 But it was not until a little book of mine, called ' Angling in 
 Salt Water,' was published in the year 1887, that the attention 
 of any considerable number of freshwater anglers was attracted 
 to the possibilities of sport afforded by the sea, and to the 
 advantages of using therein freshwater tackle with certain 
 modifications. As an instance of what skilful anglers now do 
 when they visit the seaside, I may be allowed to quote a short 
 extract from an anglers' paper. 1 It is merely one of the 
 weekly reports sent in by a regular correspondent, who in this 
 case is the second coxswain of the lifeboat at Deal and owner of 
 an unpretentious hostelry where London fishermen of the middle 
 class much resort. It should be understood that the takes 
 mentioned are not ordinary ones, and that fishing for whiting 
 and cod at the place in question is only really good during the 
 period of spring tides in autumn. All the gentlemen referred 
 to in the report would be fishing with rods, and, probably, gut 
 paternoster tackle, with leads varying from a quarter of a 
 pound to perhaps a pound or more ; and it is pleasing to find 
 it for once admitted that the amateur angler has succeeded 
 better thanks to his superior skill and improved gear than 
 the professional fisherman. 
 
 DEAL. Like Caesar, they came, they saw, and they conquered. 
 The members of the British Sea Anglers' Society may fairly lay 
 claim to this motto, for they have come and taken the wind out 
 of our local fishermen. The following particulars will be read with 
 interest. On the gth instant .... 282 Ib. weight offish were brought 
 in, and there were no cases of sea-sickness. Mr. Norman took a 
 whiting, 2 Ib. 3 oz. ; Mr. Vail, one of 2 Ib. 10 oz. Saturday, the 
 
 1 The Fishing Gazette of Nov. 17, 1894. 
 
INTRODUCTORY 3 
 
 loth, was a most lovely day, and the takes were even better than 
 the preceding one. Messrs. Gould, 47 lb., and a nice cod of 
 7 Ib. 10 oz., besides codling; Jaques, 45 lb. ; Alec Wright, 40 lb. ; 
 Vail, 38 lb. ; Wm. Marshall, 34^ lb. ; F. W. Norman, 31^ lb. ; 
 J. C. Bartlett, 27 lb. ; W. F. Dyer, 31 lb. ; Parker, 26 lb. ; J. P. 
 West, i8Hb. ; Raison, iS^lb. ; in all 357 lb. of whiting, besides 
 cod. Mr. Chatto, of the Haymarket, took 200 whiting and 
 6 codling, Tom Norris being in charge. Nov. u, Messrs. A. 
 Danger-field, T. Chatto, and Geo. Brook went out with Tom 
 Norris in a galley punt and caught 200 whiting and dabs and 14 
 large codling, Mr. Brook being credited also with a fine-looking 
 cod of Qlb. Mr. Capel Cure, with Dick Riley, had a nice catch 
 of whiting and a cod of 14 lb. goz. after being cleaned. Messrs. 
 Alfred Rolls, A. W. Taylor, and George Green were out with H. 
 Norris and myself, and we secured 420 whiting, 21 fine codling, 
 and a few dabs. Mr. Ball and his son went out at 8 A.M. intending 
 to fish near the Break Buoy, but after a short stay there, were 
 obliged to put back owing to increase of wind and tide ; they, 
 however, anchored near the Second Battery and took 119 whiting 
 and 3 cod of 8 lb., 5 lb., and 3^ lb. ; Messrs. Capel Cure and Collins 
 also had excellent sport with whiting and cod. Pier fishing has 
 been extraordinary, for the weather has been glorious, and large 
 takes of fish have been the rule. The above records may read 
 like a fairy tale, but, fortunately, they can be substantiated, and 
 with such weather Deal has become a perfect anglers' paradise. 
 Everyone knows the uncertainty of our climate, however ; and 
 readers will have already been made acquainted with the rough 
 weather we have recently experienced, but I anticipate some 
 grand sport as soon as the sea thins down. EDWARD HANGER. 
 
 The following week another remarkable catch was reported 
 from Great Yarmouth, made by Captain Clowes in the Roads 
 close to Wellington Pier. It consisted of twenty fish weighing 
 i5olbs., the largest 3olbs. The species is not mentioned, but 
 without much doubt the fish were cod. 
 
 The fishing described in the report from the Downs, good 
 as it is, can hardly be called the highest form of sea angling 
 regarded from a sportsman's point of view, but it gives evidence 
 
4 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 of the fact that within an easy ride of London, in water which 
 is fairly slumbrous, and at no great expense, a hamper of edible 
 fish may be caught with much the same tackle as we should 
 use for perch fishing. I could mention many other takes, made 
 by amateur sea fishermen, which go to prove that our modern 
 methods of sea fishing are attended with great success, and 
 that the rod is a valuable addition to one's gear if judiciously 
 used, though sea fishermen of the old school are inclined to 
 smile at it. The following captures are within the experience 
 of one clever and enthusiastic sea angler of my acquaintance : 
 To begin with, thirteen and a half dozen dabs and plaice, 
 from | Ib. to z\ Ibs., in half a day's fishing. Twelve dozen 
 whiting pouts, none under i Ib. and some over 2 Ibs., in half a 
 day. Twenty-seven and a half dozen dabs in Torbay in two 
 hours, taken by two rods, with a little assistance from a third, 
 breaking the local record. A mixed bag of six dozen heavy 
 fish conger, skate, bream and pollack taken in a rough sea 
 in five hours. About three dozen pollack and coalfish, vary- 
 ing from \ Ib. to 6 Ibs. ; three coalfish being caught at once 
 (on a light single gut cast), weighing together 10 Ibs. The 
 baits were soleskin flies. Twenty pollack, 4 Ibs. to 9 Ibs. each, 
 taken on flies, in a little over one and a half hour. Eighty- 
 seven coalfish, \ Ib. to 4 Ibs., caught by fair casting with a white 
 fly, in about three hours one evening. 
 
 Bass, pollack, coalfish, and, less often, the grey mullet, 
 are fish which, when in the humour, take the fly readily 
 enough ; and by fly I mean just that combination of fur 
 and feather, which is intended by the salmon fisher when 
 he uses the same expression, and represents a small marine 
 creature of some kind or other. Of course there is no rise 
 of pale watery duns, or jenny spinners, or mayflies on the 
 sea. An odd butterfly or two, migrating from the Continent, 
 may perhaps be drowned and eaten by a hungry billet or 
 
INTRODUCTORY 5 
 
 mackerel, but fly fishing in the strict sense of the word does 
 not exist. 
 
 Bass, particularly if large, are not easily caught, and in 
 the grey mullet the angler has a fish which will test his skill 
 and patience beyond measure. In addition to bottom fishing 
 as illustrated in the reports of the excellent takes of fish made 
 at Deal, and fly fishing, in respect of which I refer now only to 
 three fly-taking sea fish, there is ordinary float fishing in 
 shallow water (such as one finds in harbours) for flat-fish, 
 smelts, whiting pout, and other small fish. Spinning, or trolling 
 as the Scotch term it, can be carried on in the sea for just 
 the same fish as will take the fly, and live baiting, very much 
 after the methods of jack fishermen, can be practised with 
 much advantage in respect of a great variety of sea fish. 
 Leaving legendary fish out of consideration, no pike ever 
 afforded the angler such wonderful sport as do the tarpon 
 of the Gulf of Mexico. Was it not related of a certain tarpon- 
 slayer that, having been towed about for some hours by a 
 fish which he had hooked, he landed on an island, tied his 
 line to a tree, and rowed to the mainland for assistance ? 
 Further, that on his return the island had disappeared ? The 
 story is one for the accuracy of which I cannot personally vouch, 
 but it certainly serves to illustrate the immense strength of this 
 big herring, or ' silver king,' as it is often called. It is not sur- 
 prising that the tarpon fishing of the Gulf of Mexico grows in 
 popularity apace. There are now hotels mainly supported by 
 anglers and called 'tarpon hotels.' A great many English- 
 men are beginning to make annual visits to America, simply 
 to enjoy this novel form of sport. More than this on tarpon 
 I must not say, for later on will be found a special contribution 
 on the subject, written by Mr. A. E. Harmsworth. 
 
 Turning to still larger fish, we come of necessity to sharks 
 and whales. As regards foreign sharks, both Mr. Harmsworth 
 
6 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 and Mr. William Senior have something to say. With reference 
 to whales, I am constrained to admit that they do not find a 
 place in the angler's creel. They are not, strictly speaking, fish ; 
 yet they afford such excellent sport when harpooned sport 
 which involves so much courage, skill, and endurance, and 
 brings out so many of the highest qualities of man in those who 
 pursue them that the chapter on Whale Fishing by Sir H. 
 Gore-Booth which brings this volume to a conclusion will 
 surely be read with interest by even those who have no inclina- 
 tion to join the huntsmen of the sea in their pursuit of the 
 largest existing mammal of creation. 
 
 In addition to the branches of sea fishing or sea hunting 
 which I have already mentioned, I have borne in mind that 
 sea fish are frequently an important food item on board yachts, 
 and that yachtsmen sometimes desire to fish in places where, 
 owing to the depth and force of the tidal currents, very heavy 
 leads are required and long lines or the ordinary hand lines 
 must be brought into requisition. I propose, therefore, to 
 describe hand lining, so far as may be necessary, and to give 
 such general information about long lines, trots, and two or 
 three kinds of nets, as may be useful to yachtsmen. 
 
 Fish cookery is touched on here and there throughout the 
 following pages, but I would here remind the sea angler that 
 cod and most other large sea fish are not a little improved for 
 the table, if they are knocked on the head and gutted as soon as 
 caught, and towed after the boat for an hour or so. They can 
 be also sliced in the manner known as crimping. The opera- 
 tion, performed at the fishmonger's long after the fish is dead, 
 has no value whatever ; but it is commonly done, and a higher 
 price obtained for the fish in consequence. 
 
 Perhaps it may be thought that any form of fishing in which 
 hook and line do not come in is unsportsmanlike. But a very 
 great deal of amusement can be obtained on certain parts of our 
 
INTRODUCTORY 7 
 
 coasts during spring tides by hunting among rocks at low water 
 for large crabs, lobsters, and congers. The weapon is an iron 
 hook, the use of which really involves more skill than many 
 methods of line fishing. So I have made shell-fish hunting, 
 including prawning and shrimping, a part of my subject. 
 
 The amateur sea fisher would indeed have reason to be 
 thankful to anyone who would compile a guide, showing exactly 
 the sport to be expected at all seasons of the year at every 
 fishing town or village round the British and Irish coasts, with 
 the marks of the best fishing ground, and information as to local 
 baits obtainable. I am afraid such a book will never be written. 
 Mr. F. G. Aflalo's ' Sea Fishing on the English Coasts ' is a first 
 step in that direction, and it is to be hoped that the subject 
 will be carried much further. One chapter is here devoted to 
 an endeavour to give a good general idea of the fishing round 
 our coasts ; but for the rest the man who seeks sport in the 
 sea will have to find out much for himself. If a member of 
 the British Sea Anglers' Society he can, of course, obtain the 
 benefit of such advice as the executive of that body is in a 
 position to give. 
 
 A word here as to this Society, which was formed with the 
 object, amongst others, of popularising sea fishing as a sport, may 
 not be out of place. The Society came into existence in the 
 spring of 1893. Sir Edward Birkbeck, Bart., is its President, 
 and it includes among its supporters Lord Brassey, Lord St. 
 Levan, Sir Harald G. Hewett, Bart., Sir George R. Sitwell, 
 Bart., M.P., Sir Albert Rollit, M.P., Captain Lambton Young, 
 Mr. R. Biddulph-Martin, M.P., Mr. R. B. Marston, Mr. H. 
 Cholmondeley Pennell, Mr. W. Senior, Mr. T. A. Dorrien- 
 Smith, Mr. J. C. Wilcocks, and a number of other gentlemen 
 who are either enthusiastic sea fishers or have shown an interest 
 in the preservation of our sea fisheries and the welfare of sea 
 fishermen. The gentleman who was until 1895 honorary 
 
8 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 secretary, and may be termed the principal founder of the 
 Society, is Mr. F. G. Aflalo. He has been succeeded by Mr. 
 Henry Ball. I had the honour of presiding over the public 
 meeting at which the Society was formed. Provided the British 
 Sea Anglers' Society, which has offices at 66 Haymarket, is suf- 
 ficiently supported, it will be able to do a very great deal for 
 the benefit, not only of its members, but of many others who 
 are interested in sea fishing. It is in the first place a corporate 
 collector of information from corresponding members dwelling 
 at or visiting different parts of the coast. It aims at establish- 
 ing branches in all important sea-coast towns, with boats and 
 men of their own, and has in many places made arrangements 
 with the boatmen and hotel-keepers for special terms for its 
 members. It has already induced some of the railway com- 
 panies to issue tickets to its members at greatly reduced fares 
 to certain places on the east coast during the autumn months. 
 As the subscription is a nominal sum, the list of members 
 ought to grow apace. I believe at present there are about three 
 hundred, not including those belonging to the branch societies at 
 Scarborough and Yarmouth, of which Mr. J. W. Blakey, editor 
 of the ' Angler,' and Mr. Lovewell Blake are the honorary secre- 
 taries respectively. Some day the Society may become a power 
 in the land, and its advice may be sought on the many difficult 
 problems the Government have to face when legislating for 
 the better preservation of sea fish. The opinions given by the 
 professional sea fishermen are, as a rule, unconsciously biased 
 by personal considerations. The worthy fellows are very apt to 
 form rough and ready conclusions which a scientific observer 
 with a quarter of their experience could say with certainty were 
 inaccurate. The members of the British Sea Anglers' Society, 
 on the other hand, come of a class consisting mainly of intelli- 
 gent, educated men, and their observations on baits, the migra- 
 tion of fish, and kindred matters are likely to be of considerable 
 
INTRO I) UCTOR Y 9 
 
 value. Certainly in drawing general conclusions the educated, 
 practical, amateur sea fisherman is less likely to go astray than 
 the uneducated professional fisherman and the unpractical 
 scientist. Talking of conclusions, I have endeavoured to explain 
 in Chapter VIII. how trawling in territorial waters is not only 
 inimical to the sport of the sea angler, but also most injurious to 
 certain fisheries and to the local professional fishermen who 
 depend upon them for a subsistence. 
 
 Ought I to offer an apology to sportsmen for including in 
 this volume the chapter on the Ocean Fishing Rod? The 
 tackle used is anything but delicate twisted wire is a con- 
 stituentand the bait is attached to a hook large enough to 
 hang up a leg of mutton. Even into ocean fishing the rod has 
 been of late years introduced, for it is necessary to boom out 
 the line to keep the bait clear of the debris which is constantly 
 being thrown overboard. Moreover, when a vessel is going at 
 a high rate of speed, and a large fish seizes the bait attached to 
 an unyielding line which is firmly fixed to the rail, as often as 
 not there is a break. But the ocean fishing rod a little thing 
 of forty-five feet or so takes the first shock, the line is often 
 saved from disaster, and the giant mackerel of eastern seas are 
 successfully gaffed and hauled on board. Whether it be con- 
 sidered sport or not, this method of fishing yields considerable 
 amusement ; and serves not only to relieve the monotony of a 
 long sea voyage, but provides more or less excellent fresh fish 
 for the table. 
 
 The chapter on Baits is one of the most important in the 
 book, and I earnestly commend it to the attention of the tiro, 
 together with the remarks on 'Where to go.' Those who know 
 but little of sea fishing appear to have a general idea that the 
 whole thing begins and ends in hiring a boat, rowing out straight 
 to sea for a mile or so, coming to an anchor, and letting down 
 to the bottom hooks baited with pieces of any refuse fish which 
 
 c 
 
10 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 can be obtained from the fishmonger. But sea fish are as 
 local in their habits as those which dwell in fresh water, and 
 whether fishing near the bottom, drift line fishing, or whiffing, 
 it is of the first importance to go to places where the fish are 
 commonly found, to use suitable baits, and to be sure to place 
 them where they can be seen by the fish. 
 
 The man whose knowledge of nautical matters is limited to 
 that derived from a sojourn of twenty minutes or so in or near 
 a bathing machine at a South-coast watering-place may deem it 
 a hopeless task to pick out a certain definite spot on the wide 
 waste of waters which spreads out all round our shores. The 
 professional fisherman finds no difficulty in the matter, provided 
 there is light enough to see particular marks on the coast. By 
 marks are not meant chalk marks or anything of that kind, but 
 trees, barns, headlands, hills, churches, homesteads, in fact any- 
 thing sufficiently conspicuous for the purpose, and the more 
 durable the better. 
 
 For every position on the open sea two sets of marks are 
 necessary. In the diagram these are represented by two head- 
 lands to the eastward, and by a church tower and an old barn 
 to the northward. We are stopping, say, in a little fishing village 
 in Devonshire, in the bay at A, and we know that at the point 
 B there is a noted ledge of rocks in the cavities of which dwell 
 many enormous congers, large shoals of bream swimming 
 near, which can be caught any night during the summer if 
 the sea be not too rough. Of course we have a general idea 
 of the direction, and know, or have been told, the bearings. 
 That is to say, as soon as the second headland (c) opens out 
 to the eastward we know we are on one line of the marks, 
 and shall be in the desired position when, keeping the two 
 headlands in a line, we also find the church in a line with the 
 old barn on the hill-top. 
 
 The first thing, then, to do is to strike one pair of marks by 
 
INTRODUCTORY 
 
 ii 
 
 steering out to sea until we can see the second headland c 
 appearing or 'opening,' as sailors say. Immediately both 
 headlands are visible we steer towards B, being careful to keep 
 them in a line until we find the edge of the church tower in a 
 line with the barn, when we know we are exactly on the right 
 spot. If we lower our killick stone or anchor exactly at B 
 
 TAKING MARKS 
 
 and the tide is running strongly towards the westward, or there 
 is an east wind blowing, we shall be carried beyond B to, 
 let us say, E. To prevent being misplaced in this way it is 
 necessary to row the boat back a sufficient distance, say to F, 
 and then let go the anchor so that when the cable is paid out 
 the little craft will be on the spot B. 
 
 Generally speaking, the sea angler will be glad to avail 
 
12 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 himself of the marks known to the fishermen, if he can discover 
 them. I need not point out the extreme value of such know- 
 ledge. Whenever a good catch of fish is made, on a ground which 
 is new, it is an excellent plan to enter the marks by which the 
 place may be known again in a notebook or on a chart. In taking 
 these new bearings the imaginary lines which are drawn towards 
 each pair of marks should be at right angles or thereabouts, if 
 possible, and the marks themselves should not be too near 
 together. To take the part of the coast shown in the sketch 
 as an example, the barn should be some considerable distance 
 from the church. At night time it is extremely difficult, often 
 indeed impossible, to take new marks or place one's craft on 
 old ones, unless there are certain well-known lights which will 
 serve as a guide ; as, for instance, lighthouses, and lights coming 
 from the windows of houses or at the head of a pier. 
 
 I have on more than one occasion found the study of marks 
 extremely valuable, even when I have been out with men who 
 were professional fishermen, and might be expected to exercise 
 reasonable care in placing the boat correctly. A very few 
 yards one way or the other will often make all the difference 
 between catching fish or missing them. On three successive 
 days I had wretched sport in Broad Bay, off the Island of 
 Lewis, owing to the crofters who were with me being careless 
 in this matter. They knew the marks well enough and told 
 me them without hesitation. As soon as I found we were not 
 quite on the spot which was generally considered the best 
 fishing ground, I made them move the boat about twenty 
 yards, arid we at once began to catch fish ; and I do not think 
 that at any subsequent time we were unsuccessful at that 
 particular place. Those who set lobster or crab pots, trots, 
 and long lines, unless most careful in taking marks correctly, 
 will run very great risk of never seeing their property again. 
 Except when the sea is absolutely calm there is nothing more 
 
INTROD UCTOR Y \ 3 
 
 difficult than to find the pieces of cork which are used to mark 
 the pots or lines. Even so large an object as an upturned boat 
 is soon lost to sight in a rough sea. 
 
 Closely connected with this part of my subject are charts. 
 It will be seen later on that certain fish affect certain bottoms ; 
 some preferring rock, others sand, others again marl. An 
 Admiralty chart is supposed to show not only the depths or 
 soundings, but also to indicate the nature of the bottom, the 
 direction and speed of tidal currents, and generally to give 
 information of value to those who have anything to do with the 
 sea. At the same time special fishery charts are needed, and 
 it is to be hoped that the Admiralty or Board of Trade will see 
 the necessity of preparing something of the kind. At present 
 we must make the best of what we have, and whenever any new 
 place is visited the fisherman should buy a chart and note on it 
 the marks of the best fishing grounds. When entering marks on 
 the chart it is a simple matter to indicate with a few pencil lines 
 the tree, barn, church, or whatever they may consist of, not draw- 
 ing the .things elaborately, but sufficiently plain to recognise 
 what is intended. If the marks consist of one headland opening 
 behind another, draw a line between the two headlands and 
 continue it out to sea until it meets the line drawn from the other 
 pair of marks. A note should be made of the kind of fish to be 
 expected at the place, the best time of year, and any bait which 
 is particularly successful there ; for it is a curious fact that baits 
 which will kill at one place may not answer so well in others. 
 Sometimes, too, the fishing ground can only be worked at cer- 
 tain states of the tide, and this also should be carefully noted. 
 
 The Admiralty charts can be obtained at Stanford's, Charing 
 Cross, and other places. There are general charts, secondary 
 or coast series, and special charts of particular bays and inlets 
 where the navigation is difficult, and the chart has to be made 
 on a large scale to show the rocks, &c., and the fairway for 
 
'4 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 large vessels. If a special chart is published of any place 
 which the sea fisherman proposes to visit, it should certainly 
 be obtained ; for the larger the scale the more complete the 
 information given. To show the distinction between the differ- 
 ent sizes and kinds of charts, the Bristol Channel, the greater 
 portion of the English Channel, and the coast of South Wales 
 are covered by two large general charts. A secondary chart 
 includes the Bristol Channel ; while there is a special chart 
 of Carmarthen Bay, which is a part of the Bristol Channel. 
 There is also what I may term an extra special chart of Burry 
 Inlet, which is within Carmarthen Bay. It is well to get an 
 index of charts from Stanford's, Charing Cross, at the cost of 
 sixpence, which serves to show whether or not special charts are 
 published of the places one wishes to visit. 
 
 It may be useful to add that charts cost from sixpence to 
 five shillings, a half-crown being the most general price. The 
 outlay is not large, and a little study of the chart sometimes 
 puts a stranger almost on an equal footing with the local 
 fisherman. To show oneself the possessor of a little knowledge 
 places a considerable and useful check upon the inventive 
 faculties of the boatman. 
 
 The charts are covered with figures and various letters, each 
 of which has a particular meaning. The figures mostly refer 
 to the depths, but there is no fixed rule as to whether the 
 depths are given in feet or fathoms, a fathom being two yards. 
 At the same time, it may be said that on the large general 
 charts, where the depth to a foot or two is unimportant, they are 
 usually given in fathoms, but on the special charts the depths 
 appear in feet. This point is of course explained on each 
 particular chart. The depths stated are those of the sea at low 
 water during spring tides. In other words, it is the least depth 
 there ever is on that particular part of the coast ; but even this 
 statement requires some qualification, because, should there 
 
INTRODUCTORY 15 
 
 come a tremendous gale of wind, the water may be forced 
 back and brought to a slightly lower level at low tide than is 
 given on the chart. 
 
 The various letters, &c., on charts are so numerous that it 
 is almost necessary to have the little sixpenny book inter- 
 preting those signs and abbreviations. M. as a rule means 
 mud, St. stone, S. sand. Rocks above the surface are shown 
 by a cross, while R. indicates rocks below the surface. As an 
 instance of the abbreviations used, Sp. 3Kn., Np. 2Kn., means 
 that the tidal current runs at the speed of three knots an- hour 
 during spring tides, and two knots an hour during neap tides. 
 Of course all this will be in the nature of A B C to yachts- 
 men ; but a great many men who now go sea fishing know 
 nothing of these matters, and for them the information is in- 
 tended. 
 
 I am afraid that the ordinary man generally gives up any 
 attempt to understand the tides as hopeless, and ' ebb,' ' flow,' 
 'neap,' and 'springs ' are to him unmeaning terms. Yet on a 
 study of the tides the success of the man who fishes with hook 
 and line greatly depends. I do not propose to go into any 
 elaborate explanation of the causes of tides, or to use any 
 scientific terminology ; but it is so extremely important that the 
 sea fisherman should have some knowledge of the subject that 
 I will attempt to explain the matter in such a way that a school- 
 boy of ten years old could understand, and more than that 
 can hardly be expected of any writer. 
 
 The water in the sea flows for a certain number of hours 
 in one direction ; then comes almost to a standstill, and 
 begins to flow for a certain number of hours in the opposite 
 direction. If we are on the sea coast on an arm of the sea, 
 such as the Bristol Channel, as the tide comes flowing in the 
 Channel fills up, and the water gradually rises. Sailors say the 
 tide is floiuing, which is practically equivalent to saying the water 
 
i6 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 is rising. 1 When it has risen to its full height the term flood 
 tide, or high water, is used. When the tide turns and the water 
 begins to run in the opposite direction, it is said to be not flow- 
 ing, but ebbing, and the period during which the water ebbs is 
 termed the ebb tide. Just between the end of the flood and 
 the beginning of the ebb, or, in other words, at the turn of the 
 tide, the speed of the tidal current gradually falls off, or eases 
 (in nautical language), until there is no perceptible current 
 whatever. Then the water starts ebbing in the opposite di- 
 rection, slowly at first, and quickening until it reaches its full 
 speed, falling off or slackening again as we get to the end of the 
 ebb. In many places the tidal current is so strong that it is 
 impossible to let down a line and keep the lead on the bottom 
 except during the hour or so immediately before and immedi- 
 ately after the turn of the tide that is to say, when the tide 
 is slack. 
 
 The actual number of feet the water rises and falls varies 
 every day, and will be found stated in the tide tables, which 
 should always be bought. In the Bristol Channel the rise on 
 some days is as much as twenty-two feet, while on others it 
 will be as little as fifteen or sixteen feet. On some parts of the 
 coast the rise is comparatively insignificant five or six feet 
 perhaps. Every fortnight we have almost the greatest variation 
 in the rise of the water that is to say, the highest water at the 
 flood and the lowest water at the ebb : these are called spring 
 tides (the term has nothing whatever to do with the spring of 
 the year), and occur at the times of the new and full moon. 
 The spring tide of the full moon, when the best fishing is usu- 
 ally obtained, is somewhat greater than the spring tide which 
 occurs when the moon is new. Between the periods of full 
 
 1 In some places e.g. in the Downs owing to the configuration of the 
 bottom, trend of the coast, &c. , curious tidal currents are formed, with the 
 result that water continues to flow some time after it has begun to fall. 
 
IN TROD UCTOR Y 1 7 
 
 and new moon occur the neap tides. The tide in most places 
 rises or flows for seven hours, then ebbs or falls for five hours ; 
 and it is not difficult to understand that if a given quantity of 
 water has to rise twenty feet in seven hours, it will flow with 
 much greater speed than the same quantity of water when it 
 has only to rise fifteen feet in the same time. Therefore the 
 currents of the spring tides are very much more rapid than 
 those of the neap tides. 
 
 River fishermen are well aware that the incoming of fresh 
 water caused by rain, or the rising of springs, or the melting 
 of a glacier, as a rule brings the fish on the feed. Doubtless it 
 stirs up their food, and, perhaps, also sharpens their appetite, 
 as a good blow from a nor'-easter does ours. The increased 
 current in the sea during spring tides may, therefore, account 
 for the fact that the fish feed better then than at other times. 
 This I lay down simply as a general rule, having met with not 
 a few exceptions. At some places the tidal currents may be so 
 strong during spring tides that it is almost impossible to fish at 
 all except with drift lines near the surface. In the Solent, for 
 instance, are very strong currents, and the fishermen of the 
 Medina rarely attempt to catch whiting, which are plentiful off 
 Cowes in the autumn, during the spring tides. Even in the less 
 strong currents of the neaps, the only fishing carried on is during 
 the two hours immediately before and after the turn of the tide. 
 Not only are the tidal currents overwhelmingly powerful, but 
 they bring with them at times immense quantities of floating 
 seaweed which load the lines and offer such resistance to the 
 water that very heavy leads are lifted off the bottom. Leaving 
 out of consideration long lines which lie on the bottom and are 
 heavily weighted to prevent fish from going off with them, it is 
 mainly owing to the strong tidal currents that the sea fisherman 
 sometimes has to use most ponderous leads on his substantial 
 lines stout, not more for strength than for comfort in the 
 
 D 
 
18 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 handling. It is always desirable to use as light leads as pos- 
 sible, and as the tide is at one time not running at all and a 
 few hours later may be racing four or five knots, 1 the sea angler 
 should provide himself with leads of different weights which 
 he can change from time to time. The professional usually 
 neglects this refinement, and you may see him fishing with a 
 three-pound weight in perfectly still water, where an ounce 
 lead would suffice. The lighter the lead, within certain limits, 
 the easier it is to feel the bite of the fish and to strike him ; 
 and the amateur sea fisherman will often catch very many more 
 fish than the professional, simply and solely because he uses 
 the lightest lead possible under the circumstances. 
 
 When visiting a new place it is most desirable to learn the 
 local peculiarities, especially with regard to the tidal currents, 
 as soon as possible. One good fishing ground may be only 
 approachable during neap tides ; on another very few fish will 
 be caught except during the full run of the highest spring tides. 
 Again, certain places may be absolutely dangerous during 
 spring tides. For instance, the race off Caldy Island is by no 
 means a safe place for a small boat when the tide is ebbing 
 fast down the Bristol Channel. I was once caught there my- 
 self when fishing for mackerel. There was a very slight breeze 
 blowing, and we were half sailing, half drifting along with the 
 tide. I was paying little attention to the land, but, looking up, 
 saw that we were passing it at an amazing rate, and that in front 
 of me were moving hills of water. .Before I could alter the 
 course of our little craft we were among these said hills, and a 
 very lively time I and a little Welsh boy who was with me had 
 
 1 A nautical mile is about 260 yards longer than a land mile. The knots 
 on the log line are 50$ feet apart. That is to say, there would be 120 of them 
 in a mile of line. Thus, as there are 120 half-minutes in an hour, the distance 
 between two knots is in the same proportion to a mile as half a minute is to an 
 hour. Therefore, the number of knots which run off the reel in half a minute 
 is equivalent to the number of miles per hour the vessel is running. Patent 
 logs are superseding the old knotted log line. 
 
INTRO D UCTOR Y 1 9 
 
 of it. The wind had suddenly lulled, and the water, though 
 glassy and calm, was rising and falling very much after the 
 fashion of stage billows manufactured, I believe, by means of 
 a strip of sheeting, the ends of which are held at the flies by 
 two men and waved violently up and down. By great good 
 luck a breeze at last reached us, and by its assistance 
 we were able to get the boat close to the island, where 
 we lowered our sails and rowed along the shore, taking advan- 
 tage of every piece of slack water. About a month after this 
 little incident I was coming home from fishing one night in a 
 pilot's lugger. There was nothing on board in which to bring 
 the fish up to the house except the ship's only bucket, and the 
 pilot's nephew was about to use it for this purpose when the 
 old man stopped him sternly and exclaimed, ' No ! not for a 
 hundred pounds shall that bucket again go out of the boat ! ' 
 
 That a Welshman should decline a hundred pounds 
 assuming it had been offered him for the temporary use of 
 a bucket, was odd. The next day I ascertained the reason of 
 the old man's apparent eccentricity. One day, when beating 
 about in Caldy Roads, he sighted a ship which was flying a 
 signal for a pilot. There was a stiff breeze blowing, and nothing 
 more is required to create a big sea off the Point. But the 
 lugger was staunch, and her skipper had often been through 
 the race before and thought little of it. However, this time he 
 shipped a big sea which half filled the boat, and, to his horror, 
 found there was absolutely nothing on board with which to 
 empty her. The little vessel, though quite large enough, had 
 no pump, and the bucket had been left behind. She all but 
 foundered. Hence the extraordinary value placed upon the 
 ship's bucket. 
 
 A good deal of fishing is carried on from reefs of rocks 
 which are exposed at low water or otherwise ; and it frequently 
 happens that towards the end of the reef the rocks are rather 
 
20 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 higher than in the centre. Thus anyone fishing from the end 
 rock, which will, as likely as not, be the best spot, is liable 
 to be cut off from the land as the tide rises. Not a few lives 
 have been lost from this cause, so I venture to sound a note 
 of warning. 
 
 Occasionally we hear of people being swept from rocks by 
 waves of unusual height. There was a very sad case of this 
 kind at Filey, which, I believe, is recorded on a tablet fixed in 
 the cliff side. A pathway is cut in the rock, far above high- 
 water mark, but some persons who were walking along it 
 when, so I was told, the water was low, were swept from it by 
 an extraordinary wave. I heard of a similar case in Ireland, at 
 Kilkee, and therefore make the suggestion that anyone fishing 
 from rocky reefs during a heavy swell should keep his eyes open 
 for marine eccentricities of this kind. Of course, anglers do 
 not fish from rocks in very rough weather, but on the lee side 
 of headlands there are sometimes eddies which are fishable 
 even in half a gale. 
 
 But to return to our tides. Not only should the ways of 
 the tidal currents be learnt so far as they have bearing on the 
 catching of fish, but they will repay some slight study in connec- 
 tion with the journeyings to and from the fishing ground. It 
 is obviously an unwise thing, at a place where the tidal currents 
 run strongly, to arrange a fishing trip so that at the end of the 
 day one has to beat back against tide and wind. Always manage, 
 if possible, to have the tide with you on the homeward voyage, 
 even if there is a fair wind. There is nothing more uncertain 
 than the weather in this part of the world (that is why it is 
 such a common and useful topic of conversation), and it does 
 not follow that because there is a fine south-westerly breeze 
 in the morning, when we set sail, it will continue to blow in 
 the same direction, or at all, in the evening. If the wind drops 
 towards night, as it very often does, if the little vessel is too 
 
I NT ROD UCTOR Y 2 1 
 
 heavy to row, and the tide is against us, what is to be done ? 
 Obviously nothing but to wait for the turn of the tide or the 
 return of the breeze. As this wait may be of some duration, to 
 have a reasonable supply of food and water on board when 
 going more than a mile or two from land is always a wise thing. 
 I was once myself reduced to considering whether there was any 
 satisfaction to be obtained out of the end of a composite candle, 
 supposing my hunger increased, for that was all we had on 
 
 % 
 
 board. Water-barrels therefore, in my opinion, should always 
 be carried on expeditions made under sail, and if there are a 
 couple of loaves placed on board to meet any emergency, so 
 much the better. It is wonderful how good plain water and dry 
 bread taste after a long fast. 
 
 Those who are well acquainted with rivers and the peculiar 
 workings of running water will find in the sea I am not 
 speaking of the ocean, but of the channels between England 
 and France and the like all the characteristics of a river, on a 
 large scale. There will be slack water at the sides, particularly 
 in bays, strong streams, or races, off headlands, and enormous 
 eddies on one side of such headlands. Where the sea is shal- 
 low or narrow the currents will probably be stronger than where 
 it is deep or wide. As in rivers, also, the colour of the water 
 wall depend in a great measure on the nature of the bottom. 
 On rocky coasts, such as Cornwall and Wales and the north- 
 west coast of Scotland, the sea is brilliantly clear and takes the 
 most lovely reflected lights, according to the condition of the 
 sky and atmosphere. Where the water is so very bright, and 
 a greenish tinge is noticed, the bottom may be sandy ; a purple 
 colour indicating dark rocks, covered or not with seaweed. 
 This very clear water is by no means favourable to successful 
 sea fishing, except with fine tackle, or on moderately rough 
 days, or at night. After a storm, the water near the coast on 
 which the waves have been beating may be slightly thickened 
 
22 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 for some days for a mile or more out to sea ; and heavy rains 
 and floods inland will colour the sea for a good many miles on 
 either side of the mouths of great rivers. Of course, where the 
 angler is troubled with over-clear water he should not neglect 
 the additional advantage given him by discoloration caused by 
 flood or storm. 
 
 I was very much amused with an amateur sea fisherman 
 at a place I went to with the express object of catching big 
 bass which, that year, were a delusion and a snare ; in fact, 
 they almost seemed to have left the locality for several years 
 past. I had been drawn to the place by some most charming 
 in fact, almost poetical descriptions written by a literary 
 angling enthusiast who quite neglected to state that the 
 excellent fishing he described was of some antiquity, and 
 not known in the present day. I met with this brother 
 fisherman not the enthusiast, but the other and he told me 
 that if I would be successful with the bass of that particular 
 place, I must wait until I could obtain certain conditions : In 
 the first place, there must be a spring tide ; secondly, the north- 
 west wind must have been blowing for three days to colour the 
 water; and, thirdly, I could not hope for success unless the 
 trawlers had been catching skate, whose liver I was to use as 
 bait; and, fourthly, I was to get up exactly an hour before 
 daybreak and sit patiently on a rock, waiting for the bass to 
 come by. I do not doubt for a moment that the advice was very 
 good. It was excellent ; that is unquestionable. Just before 
 daybreak is a deadly time for bass. It is certainly desirable to 
 fish during spring tides ; and no one can dispute the statement 
 that skate's liver is a first-rate bait in many places. But I was 
 tempted to ask how many times in a century I was likely 
 to obtain all these conditions ? Certainly they were not forth- 
 coming during the six weeks or so that I spent at the little 
 fishing town. To show how uncertain is fishing, two years 
 
INTRO D UCTOR Y 23 
 
 after I had received this excellent advice, bass suddenly re- 
 appeared in great numbers, and afforded some of the best sport 
 ever known at that part of the coast. 
 
 This leads me to a not unimportant portion of my subject, 
 namely, the migration of sea fish. All freshwater anglers know 
 that the larger the river or lake, the more difficult it is to 
 find the fish. In the sea, which is infinitely greater, we meet 
 with the additional difficulty of having to learn the seasons at 
 which the fish are likely to be present at any particular spot. 
 Some years, as may be gathered from the little anecdote I have 
 just related, they do not visit their usual haunts at all ; and 
 the tiro who has journeyed many miles to some noted spot, 
 only to find the bass or other fish a source of local wonderment 
 owing to their absence, may very likely declare that sea fishing 
 is a fraud, depart after a few wasted days, intensely disgusted 
 and with a very false impression of the sport. I may have 
 more to add on this subject later on. 
 
 Assuming that the angler has a reasonable or average 
 amount of skill, and enlists the assistance of a man who 
 thoroughly knows the fishing grounds of the locality, and fishes 
 during the right tides, there are fewer blank days, or even bad 
 days, on the sea than in fresh water. Much, of course, de- 
 pends on the variety of fish sought after ; but, so far as the 
 common species which fall to the lot of the paternosterer are 
 concerned, the result of a day's fishing is, more often than not, 
 satisfactory. That is my experience ; but then I take pains to 
 fish at the right times and in the right places, and I am in hopes 
 that the remarks in this chapter may prevent many people from 
 falling into the errors which were my own when I began to sea- 
 fish errors which usually lead to very indifferent sport. 
 
 There is one difficulty to be overcome at every new place 
 we visit, and that is, the dislike of professional fishermen to 
 give information. Certain marks, and fishing grounds, and facts, 
 
24 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 and baits are common knowledge among them all ; but the older 
 and more experienced men often have special and very valuable 
 knowledge, more particularly as to fishing grounds, and this 
 they very wisely like to keep to themselves. One year I did a 
 good deal of bass fishing from small luggers in a tideway on 
 the Welsh coast. The little port from which we started was a 
 watering-place ; but the sport came on after the visitors had 
 departed, and many local professional fishermen went after 
 these bass for the market. There was not much fishing ground ; 
 the place was well known ; and a little fleet of four or five 
 boats would be sailing over it as long as the tide served, for the 
 bass only seemed to feed there during the best of the flood. 
 We all used much the same tackle and baits ; but there were 
 two boats which always brought home more fish than any of 
 the others, and one of them most of all. I would have given 
 a very great deal to have discovered the secret of her crew's 
 success, and I watched them very closely ; but, so far as I could 
 perceive, there was no appreciable difference at all between our 
 methods, unless, indeed, their boat was handled rather better 
 than the rest. Lead, line, tackle, speed of the boat, and place 
 of fishing, all seemed exactly the same. 
 
 A taste for sea fishing often leads to a taste for yachting, 
 or, at least, small-boat sailing. Whilst I must confess that a 
 knowledge of nautical matters is not absolutely necessary for 
 success in sea fishing, nevertheless it is desirable that anyone 
 who places himself at the mercy of wind and wave should 
 know how to handle a tiller, hoist or lower a sail, and take a 
 turn to windward. Curious accidents sometimes happen. It 
 is a very unpleasant thing, should the boatman be disabled by 
 a sudden illness, or tumble overboard, or require to leave the 
 helm to clear some little hitch in the running rigging, if his 
 employer cannot take the tiller or otherwise render assistance. 
 The more deeply a man goes in for acquiring a knowledge of 
 
INTRODUCTORY 25 
 
 all the details connected with any particular sport, the more 
 gratification he will obtain. Pushing does not begin and end 
 with the mere hooking and playing of the fish. 
 
 At the outset the mere tiro cannot do better than place 
 himself in the hands of some friend or professional fisherman 
 who can be relied upon to provide him with the right tackle 
 and the right baits, take him to the right place, and, in fact, 
 treat him as if he were a mere rod-holding, winch-winding 
 machine. But the shorter this machine period, the better. 
 There is little satisfaction, and less credit, in fishing with other 
 men's brains, and the sooner the beginner masters a knowledge 
 of baits, tackle, suitable conditions of weather and water, the 
 elements of seamanship and small-boat sailing, and the thou- 
 sand and one minutiae of sea fishing generally, the greater will 
 be his enjoyment of this very delightful sport. 
 
 To find a really satisfactory boatman is frequently no easy 
 matter. Many of the fishermen are mere hands, and only work 
 well when there is a head to direct them. Others have a good 
 knowledge of rough hand-line fishing, but do not sympathise 
 with nor comprehend the sportsman's finer methods. Not a 
 few are jealous of strangers coming to the place, even though 
 they pay their men well. On many parts of the coast bass and 
 pollack, two of the most sport-giving fish, are not much sought 
 after by the professional fishermen, which means that the 
 amateur is forced to rely upon his own general knowledge of 
 the habits of the fish in searching for them. But, happily, 
 there now begin to be not a few places frequented by amateur 
 fishermen where the local personages have become reconciled 
 to seeing a fishing rod project from their boats, and cease to 
 declaim upon the folly of fishing with line so thin that, in 
 their opinion, a one-pound whiting might break it. Let us 
 hope that, in time, the British Sea Anglers' Society will have 
 the names of one or more really good boatmen at all stations of 
 
 E 
 
26 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 importance (from the amateur sea fisherman's point of view) on 
 the British coasts. 
 
 At several of the Yorkshire watering-places it is the 
 exception to see any amateur with a hand line ; and, as I 
 stated earlier in the chapter, rods have been used for many 
 years for fishing from rocky headlands and suchlike places 
 on the coast of Devonshire and Cornwall. In fact, from the 
 shore the rod may be an absolute necessity. In the Medi- 
 terranean the Italians and others have fished for years with 
 rods, as also have the Irish and Scotch for pollack and coal- 
 fish ; but not with such weapons as the modern sea angler 
 would care to handle. 
 
 What are the general advantages of a rod in sea fishing? 
 I will answer the question here, at the outset, because it 
 will be one of the first asked by the sea fisherman of the old 
 school. As a matter of fact, the rod plays much the same 
 part in the sea as it does in fresh water. In the first place, it 
 enables a reel to be used. Not only is it more pleasant 
 to wind up a long wet line on a reel than to handle it, but the 
 chance of bringing into the boat any large fish which is hooked 
 is very much greater when there is an abundance of spare line 
 on the reel with which he can be played. If we use a hand 
 line it must be of considerable substance or it will cut our 
 hands ; but the thicker the line, the greater the resistance of 
 the water on the line, and the heavier the leads which must 
 be used. Therefore hand-lining necessitates not only stouter 
 line, but a heavier lead than is required if rod and reel are 
 used. A fine line and comparatively light lead are, then, two im- 
 portant advantages arising out of the use of rod and reel. My 
 favourite line is much the same as the anglers of the Trent use 
 for pike undressed twisted silk. An old fisherman, to whom 
 I promised a hundred yards if he could break it, cut his hand 
 deeply in the attempt and failed ; and I take it that when new, 
 
IN TROD UCTOR Y 27 
 
 assuming there is enough of it, the largest cod that is to be 
 found round our coasts could be killed on it without great 
 difficulty. 
 
 Secondly, the spring of the rod and yielding of the line 
 prevent many a fish from breaking the tackle at the first or sub- 
 sequent rushes. Imagine a large, vigorous, fresh-run salmon on 
 a hand line ! Snap would go the stoutest gut in an instant. 
 Even if the line was not broken, the hook would be torn 
 from the jaws of the fish. What prevents a disaster is the 
 spring of the rod and the free yielding of the line which 
 rolls off the screeching reel. In the sea are fish not a wit less 
 fierce in their first rush than salmon. A big bass will some- 
 times make a glorious run when first hooked, and so will a large 
 grey mullet ; while the downward bolt for its home among 
 the rocks and weeds of the pollack, is a thing which would 
 startle even a salmon fisherman. If we are using a hand line we 
 have to pay it out in clumsy fashion between thumb and first 
 finger. We get our hands cut, and as likely as not the loose 
 coils of line catch in something and the fish breaks away. If 
 the tackle is so very stout that it will hold the fish, then the 
 hook may tear out ; and if the water is at all clear and the day 
 not very rough, we catch very few fish because of that same 
 stoutness and visibility of line. 
 
 Thirdly, on a rough day the hand-liner's lead responds to 
 every movement of the boat, and dances a wild jig just above 
 the bottom of the sea. With the rod, on the other hand, the 
 lead can, as a rule, be kept still on the bottom. Though the 
 butt end of the rod shifts with every movement of the boat and 
 the angler, the rod point can be maintained in one position 
 without much difficulty. When angling for some species of 
 fish the advantages of being able to keep lead and bait steady 
 are great. 
 
 The drawback to the method I am advocating for certain 
 
28 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 kinds of sea fishing, is that the rod acts as a lever and vastly 
 increases on our wrists and arms the actual weight which is 
 depending from its point. The ordinary freshwater rod varies 
 in length from about ten to eighteen feet, and in the early days 
 of modern rod fishing in the sea, freshwater anglers used an 
 eleven- or twelve-feet rod. Great indeed was the labour of 
 reeling up a tackle weighted with a lead of half a pound or 
 more. But the evolution in sea-fishing rods has gone on 
 steadily. The rod has been shortened inch by inch until now 
 for boat fishing a handy little instrument of six or seven feet 
 is made, doing away with all the disadvantages of the ordi- 
 nary pike or other rod which was formerly used. There is an 
 illustration and detailed description of it in Chapter VII. It 
 has special fittings at the top and on the ring next the butt, 
 which reduce friction to a minimum. Possibly some day ball 
 bearings may be introduced into the little block used at the 
 end of sea-fishing rods. They have already found their way into 
 the bearings of reels. With these short but trustworthy rods 
 a weight of a pound can be reeled up without any difficulty, 
 and fishing can be carried on, if needs be, with sinkers of two 
 pounds or even more. These are great weights for use on a 
 rod, and rarely needed, even in deep water, if the line is as 
 fine as the one I have described. With sinkers of eight ounces 
 or thereabout I prefer to use an eleven-foot rod. For fly fish- 
 ing from a boat nothing more than the ordinary grilse rod is 
 required ; but on shore, especially in steep rocky places, it 
 often happens that the longer the rod the better, within reason- 
 able limits. 
 
 Generally speaking, a rod and reel cannot and ought not to 
 be used for fish of any size from a yacht or any good-sized 
 sailing vessel when under weigh ; for then fish cannot be played, 
 and the dead weight of reeling them in while the vessel is 
 going along four, five, or six knots an hour is a greater strain 
 
INTRO D UCTOR Y 29 
 
 than can ever be safely or comfortably placed upon any rod or 
 winch of a si/e which a man could handle. I have no doubt 
 that in the future both these useful items of tackle will be 
 varied to suit this special purpose. At the same time be it 
 understood that even from large steamers a rod may have its 
 advantages, as will be found exemplified in the chapter on the 
 Ocean-Fishing Rod. A modified form of the gear there de- 
 scribed might certainly be used on yachts and large fishing 
 boats for saithe, bass, &c. 
 
 Improvements in gear introduced by amateurs are even 
 making headway among the professional fishermen, who in 
 some few places are beginning to recognise the advantages of 
 silkworm gut over their hempen snooding. At Tenby and 
 Plymouth, for instance, nearly all the men use at least half 
 a fathom of gut next the hook on their mackerel lines, and it 
 is a common thing to see gut hook links on the hand lines 
 used by whiting and pout fishermen on the south coast of 
 England. 
 
 Some twenty years ago Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell and the 
 late Frank Buckland were fishing off Plymouth. Mr. Pennell, 
 as might be expected, was using a pike rod and a gut pater- 
 noster. With this tackle he not only had better sport than 
 Frank Buckland and the boatman, who were using hand lines, 
 but exceeded the combined takes of his companion and 
 some persons who were in a boat not far distant. On my 
 first attempt at sea fishing in Scotch waters a very similar 
 incident occurred. The place was Loch Inchard. A friend 
 and I strolled down from Rhiconich Hotel, carrying pike 
 rods. Arriving at the water's edge we met our gillie, who 
 looked at us with astonishment and asked what the rods 
 were for. 
 
 ' To fish with,' I ventured to remark. 
 
 ' Ye'll no catch fish with rods in the sea loch,' said the 
 
30 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 gillie most positively ; 'no man effer has and no man effer will. 
 It's only the laddies who catch the cuddies from the rocks there 
 with small mussels that use the rods. Ye'll catch all the fish 
 ye need with these hand lines,' pointing to some rough gear 
 lying at the bottom of the boat. 
 
 My friend was so impressed that he went to the trouble of 
 taking his rod back to the hotel. I stuck to mine, but I saw 
 that I had fallen in our man's estimation, the worthy fellow 
 eyeing me with a look which plainly said, 'A wilful man maun 
 gae his ain gait.' A few minutes later we were rowing down 
 the long narrow inlet of the sea, which must have been 
 beautiful indeed before some great glacier slowly swept over 
 it and rounded all the mountain tops. 
 
 The anchor was cast a mile or so away from the hotel, on 
 the whiting ground. I used my pike rod and a paternoster 
 made out of single salmon gut ; in fact, fished much as I should 
 for perch, but with slightly stronger tackle. There were great 
 quantities of fish in the loch, and in a couple of hours a number 
 of large whiting, grey gurnets, codling, and some remarkably 
 fine plaice had found their way into the boat. The three hand 
 lines were worked by my friend and the gillie ; each hand line 
 had two hooks ; yet those six hooks in all caught fewer fish 
 than were taken on the two-hook paternoster, and before we 
 returned to the shore the gillie frankly admitted that the rod 
 was ' no so bad.' 
 
 But the mere fact of having a rod of some kind or other 
 does not necessarily conduce to a large basket of fish. I was 
 fishing in a sandy bay in the Bristol Channel one summer day, 
 using a light bamboo rod and very light paternoster tackle, the 
 lower hook being close to the ground, for the fish most nume- 
 rous were plaice and sand dabs. A hundred yards from me 
 was another boat in which was an amateur fisherman, his son 
 and a boatman. The father was using a very whippy, salmon, 
 
INT ROD UCTOR Y 3 1 
 
 fly rod which was considerably bent by a sinker weighing 
 about a quarter of a pound. The son and the boatman had 
 hand lines bearing leads which must have weighed at least a 
 pound and a half each, and below their sinkers were very long 
 snoodings, a combination which effectually prevented the bites 
 being felt. If a heavy weight is placed on a line used with a 
 fly rod, the fish cannot be struck immediately they bite, for 
 when the angler raises his hand the rod bends towards the 
 lead, and by the time the rebound comes, the fish, which have 
 felt the slight jar preliminary, may have quickly rejected the 
 bait. 
 
 Never did fish bite faster than on that August day. In a 
 very short time I had six dozen, varying from half a pound 
 to nearly two pounds. My neighbours were catching next to 
 nothing, and shifted many times without bettering themselves. 
 Seeing they were faring badly, I called them to bring their 
 boat as close alongside of mine as they pleased. This they 
 did, but were even then unsuccessful, and I do not think they 
 caught altogether half a dozen fish. It was not a matter of 
 position that day at all ; no doubt I was in a good spot, but 
 fish were plentiful for some distance around me. The failure 
 of these people was entirely owing to their using both rod and 
 hand lines unsuited for the purpose. 
 
 Yet another instance of the advantage of the rod over more 
 primitive methods : On the east coast of England there comes 
 a great run of codling close in shore during the autumn months. 
 One September I fished a good deal from the beach at Lowestoft, 
 using ordinary Nottingham tackle, and a paternoster with two 
 hooks. Along the shore was a perfect regiment of men who 
 were throwing out the lines peculiar to that part of the world 
 there is a drawing of them in Chapter VI. Suffice it here to 
 say, that each of their lines had thirteen hooks on it, and that, 
 with their heavy leads and heaving poles, they could get their 
 
32 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 line further seaward than was possible with my lighter tackle. 
 Yet, as a rule, I could catch two or three times as many fish on 
 my two hooks as any of these men did on their thirteen hooks. 
 There is mention in my diary of an evening when the pater- 
 noster killed twenty-four fish while the men on each side of me 
 with the twenty-six hooks between them landed only three. I 
 can claim no particular credit or skill for this. The explana- 
 tion is simple. The throw-out lines were heavily leaded, and 
 it was only the most vigorous bites which were felt. On my 
 tackle I could detect the slightest bite, strike at once, and so 
 catch fish while the hand-liners were having their hooks robbed 
 of bait. 
 
 On the whole, the sea seems to afford even greater possibili- 
 ties of sport than does fresh water, more particularly now that 
 so many rivers are polluted and over-fished. Artificial fish 
 culture has been the salvation of certain trout streams and 
 salmon rivers ; but in the sea this generation at least has a 
 natural store of splendid fish, many of them as sport-giving as 
 any found in river or lake. All men, rich and poor, are free to 
 catch what they can, and those who choose to travel northwards 
 will find themselves amid as grand scenery as that commonly 
 associated with the watersheds of the finest salmon or trout 
 streams. A popular fallacy exists in connection with the supr 
 posed ubiquity of fish in the sea. Not a few people consider 
 it the duty of Nature to provide fish for them wherever they 
 choose to drop in a baited line. Acting on this principle, 
 and failing to hook anything, they decry the sport. Now, sea 
 fish are not scattered about in this indiscriminate way. 
 Many of them are migratory in their habits and swim in shoals. 
 Occasionally they leave certain districts for a time, perhaps four 
 or five years, and then return again. Certain localities they 
 always seem to favour ; others they apparently dislike, and 
 they seek comparatively shallow water rather than the deeps 
 
INTRO D UCTOR Y 33 
 
 the fishing fleet goes to the Dogger Bank, not the Dogger Hole. 
 Where there is no food there will be no fish ; and where 
 torpedo boats practise, and big guns are fired, and large 
 steamers are constantly plying, it is hardly to be expected that 
 shy creatures will abound. But go to the right place at the 
 right time, and the sport may be simply magnificent. 
 
 Never on salmon river or trout stream have I enjoyed more 
 splendid fly fishing than has fallen to my lot from Filey Brigg. 
 Sometimes so eager were the fish, that if one missed the fly 
 another was hooked immediately afterwards. It was simply a 
 fight against time and a rising tide. 
 
 The enthusiastic sea fisher may claim for the sea the first 
 place in respect of the variety of sport afforded, but he must 
 admit that on its literary side it is a very bad second in its 
 rivalry with river and lake. From the time of Izaak Walton, 
 freshwater fishing has been the subject of a series of most 
 charming works, some of them in parts almost prose poems ; 
 and a fascination, I may say glamour, has been cast over trout, 
 salmon and some other fish, which will remain until English 
 angling literature is forgotten. Sea fish and sea fishing, notwith- 
 standing their national importance, have a very small niche in- 
 deed in our literature, probably because until the middle of this 
 century the coarseness of the tackle commonly used deterred 
 most anglers, so many of whom are men of refined literary 
 tastes, from seeking their favourite sport in salt water. But 
 the tackle was not the only drawback, for certain unpleasant 
 qualms, which Father Neptune only spares us in his kinder 
 moments, no doubt prevent many from sea fishing from boats. 
 For this reason I have laid emphasis, both here and later, on 
 the fact that there are in Scotland and Ireland, and more 
 rarely in England, wholly or partially land-locked places where 
 fish are at times abundant and the disturbing undulations 
 of the water almost unknown. There the good fisherman 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 but bad sailor may angle in peace, comfort, and content- 
 ment. 
 
 On the whole I incline to the opinion that sea fishing as a 
 sport has a great future before it. Certainly it has made great 
 strides in popularity of late years. 
 
35 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 
 
 THERE are two classes of sea fishing, the one incidental to 
 a yachting cruise or the annual migration to the sea coast ; 
 the other, the more serious undertaking of the keen sportsman 
 who, regardless of distance, simply seeks the place where he 
 can reap the greatest profit from his skill and endeavours. 
 Those who prosecute the sea fishing of the first description 
 necessarily have to put up with whatever sport chances to be 
 forthcoming, so the remarks in this chapter may be considered 
 as mainly intended for those whose chief object in visiting the 
 coast is sport. 
 
 It is a melancholy thing for me to say, because I happen 
 to live in a southern county, but the further one travels from 
 London the better the fishing seems to become. Indeed I 
 once saw a mathematical formula purporting to give the exact 
 increase in the weight of fish taken in a day, caused by every 
 additional mile placed between the sea fisher and the metro- 
 polis. Without being quite so precise, I certainly must say 
 that to get the best fishing it is necessary for those living in 
 the south-east of England to travel somewhat far afield. 
 
 In sea fishing, locality and season are of great importance. 
 A reader of my little book, 'Angling in Salt Water,' wrote a 
 reproachful letter informing me that he had trailed over many 
 miles of mud banks with all the baits and tackle recommended 
 for pollack, but had not caught a single fish. I ventured to 
 
36 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 suggest to him that his researches in my work had not 
 been very deep, or he might have learnt that the pollack was 
 not a mud fish. That was, of course, an extreme instance of 
 carelessness or stupidity ; but the popular idea certainly is that 
 fish are fairly distributed all over the sea. 
 
 The difficulty which meets me at the outset, in attempting 
 to give any advice as to locality, is that sea fish sometimes 
 suddenly desert places on the coast, which have long enjoyed 
 a great reputation for affording sport to the sea fisherman. 
 A rapid decrease in the number of fish may be owing to 
 inshore trawling, or the plying of steamboats, or torpedo or 
 gunnery practice ; but where any very sudden migration takes 
 place I think it must be due to the exhaustion of the food 
 supply. The fish perhaps have increased to such an extent 
 that they find the food insufficient in this otherwise favourite 
 locality, so, like wise creatures, they suddenly decide to migrate 
 to other parts of the coast. For a few years the food supply is 
 thus given an opportunity of increasing, and then back come 
 the fish. 
 
 Let us begin our survey on the shores of Scotland. In 
 the north and round the islands of Shetland and Orkney 
 the sea fishing from August onwards is remarkably fine. 
 Pollack and coalfish, called locally lythe and saithe, are very 
 numerous, and the cod fishing in October and during the 
 winter is sometimes splendid. A friend who had been making 
 a tour of Great Britain told me that he saw a man come from 
 fishing an inlet of the sea in Shetland whose boat was simply 
 paved with cod running from 5 Ibs. upwards. These had been 
 caught with rod, reel, running line, and gut paternoster. 
 
 On the north-west coast of Scotland are numerous inlets or 
 fjords, called up there sea lochs, in most of which the fishing 
 is first-rate. The great charm these waters have for many 
 people is that, being enclosed by high mountains, they are shut 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 37 
 
 off from all the winds that blow ; nor are there any upheavings 
 of their placid bosoms by reason of the Atlantic swell outside. 
 Squalls come down from these mountains in winter-time, of 
 course, but a sudden squall makes no movement of the water 
 which would trouble a bad sailor, and there is always the land 
 near at hand for those who wish to get ashore. Land-locked 
 on all sides, these lochs have the appearance, save for the sea- 
 weed round their margins, of freshwater lakes. In the intro- 
 ductory chapter I referred to one of them, which I fished some 
 years ago Loch Inchard. There is, or was, an Englishman 
 who regularly visited this loch every summer and autumn for 
 sea fishing, only occasionally taking a rod on the salmon river 
 when it was in good ply. 
 
 A difficulty which often crops up in remote places is to find 
 boatmen who have that particular local knowledge useful to 
 sportsmen. They understand your drift nets for herrings ; but 
 when it comes to whiffing or railing close round rocky points 
 and other haunts of pollack, they are apt to be very much at 
 sea, in every sense of the word. Nor do they appear to know 
 the best ground for whiting or flat fish. The angler, therefore, 
 has often to find out a good deal for himself, and, as I have 
 already advised, will do well to carefully note the marks of any 
 good fishing grounds he may discover. 
 
 The first thing to be thought of are the habits of the fish. 
 Whiting like one kind of bottom ; pollack another ; and you 
 must not go fishing for southern fish, such as bass, in northern 
 waters. Bass, by the way, are not absolutely unknown in 
 Scotland ; but they are so rare as not to be worth fishing for. 
 
 Loch Inver, on that coast, is a very civilised spot from which 
 a great deal of first-rate sea fishing is carried on, and the same 
 may be said of Kylesku, Little Loch Broom, Rhiconich, and 
 many more places in that part of the world. A pleasant way 
 of spending the summer would be to take one of MacBrayne's 
 
38 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 steamers up the north-west coast, joining it at Oban, Greenock, 
 or Glasgow (in order of merit), stop at any little place which 
 presents itself, fish for a few days, take a steamer to the next 
 likely spot, and so on. The scenery is simply magnificent, the 
 sport is likely to be good, and there is always, in addition 
 to the sea, the chance of some fly fishing in lochs and the 
 smaller streams near the coast. In those bays and sea-lochs 
 into which salmon and sea-trout rivers run, sea-trout, and more 
 rarely a grilse or two, may be occasionally caught in salt water 
 by means of spinning baits, or flies trailed behind the boat. 
 On the north coast of Scotland, in the kyles or sea-lochs of 
 Durness and Tongue, whiffing or railing for sea-trout is regu- 
 larly carried on with considerable success in April, May, and 
 June, and a good deal of sea-trout fishing in salt water is to 
 be obtained round the islands of Shetland and Orkney. 
 
 A very high authority has delivered his opinion that the 
 east coasts of Great Britain and Ireland are more highly 
 favoured by fish than the west coasts. But the east coast of 
 Scotland does not offer such great attractions to the sportsman 
 as the western shores, for the simple reason that it is more 
 exposed, and during weeks at a time the angler may not be 
 able to fish either from the rocks or put to sea in a boat. 
 Haddocks, cod, and herrings are most abundant ; but of what 
 use is this abundance to the angler when there is a double line of 
 surf breaking on the shore, or great billows foaming up against 
 the base of the cliff and sending the white spray high overhead ? 
 
 But the eastern coast of Scotland must be dealt with. 
 Aberdeen is notable as being the first place where a club of any 
 kind has been formed for the prosecution of sea fishing. It still 
 exists, and is called, I believe, the Rock Anglers' Association. 
 It consists mainly of working men, who, in the autumn, catch 
 large numbers of cod and other fish from the rocks. In the 
 little village of Findon, which lies between Stonehaven and 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 
 
 39 
 
 Aberdeen, are prepared a small proportion of the ' Finnan 
 baddies' which find place in every fishmonger's shop. Like 
 Yarmouth bloaters and champagne, the name is considered 
 everything by many people. The true Finnan haddie is smoked 
 over a peat fire in the cottages of the fishermen at Findon, but 
 most of the haddocks sold under this name are cured "in other 
 places by means of wood smoke. 
 
 Between Stonehaven and Aberdeen is a bold rocky coast 
 with numerous inlets, bays, and deep gullies, and a good deal 
 of fishing from the rocks for cod is carried on. Very long 
 bamboo rods are used. The railway touches the coast of 
 Portlethen, Cove, and Muchalls. Much sea fishing is also 
 done from the piers and breakwaters along this part of the 
 coast, and there is good mackerel fishing at times. 
 
 The fishing stations on the Moray Firth, and further north, 
 are of considerable importance, and in particular may be 
 mentioned Fraserburg, Banff, Buckie, Findhorn, Cromarty, 
 Helmsdale, and Lybster. Some of the most beautiful fishing 
 boats I have ever seen came from this part of the coast. I 
 saw one, a smart lugger, coming into Lowestoft Harbour (for 
 these Scotch fishermen are enterprising, and travel far afield) ; 
 it was sailing two feet for every one covered by an English boat 
 ahead of it. The Scotch craft gained so rapidly on the English- 
 man that the two entered the harbour together and there was 
 a trifling collision. 
 
 The fisheries of the Firth of Forth are considerable. 
 Herring fishing, by means of drift nets, is carried on ; while 
 large quantities of cod and haddocks are caught on long lines ; 
 and there is a good deal of beam trawling near Buckhaven and 
 other places on the north side of the Firth. Places of some 
 little importance, in which will be found fishermen, fishing 
 boats, and baits, are Eyemouth, North Berwick, Dunbar and 
 Newhaven. 
 
40 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 So much, then, for the mainland of Scotland. Round 
 the northern groups of islands Orkney and Shetland the 
 sea fishing is often superb, except for bass, and there are 
 numbers of those inlets of the sea which are the happy hunting 
 grounds of bad sailors. Stornoway, in the Island of Lewis, is an 
 important fishing station, from a commercial point of view ; and 
 during the northerly and westerly winds there is a good shelter 
 here for the small-boatmen, who will get fair fishing for pollack 
 round the rocky headlands in the neighbourhood. Broad Bay, 
 to the north-west of Stornoway, deserves special mention as 
 being probably the finest haddock ground of the United 
 Kingdom. There are, of course, fish of other kinds, but 
 haddocks seem to crowd out almost everything else. It is a 
 shallow sandy bay, more or less free from tidal currents, 
 and can be fished easily and pleasantly with light tackle. I 
 have seen the crofters selling haddocks eighteen a shilling, so 
 plentiful were these fish. The cod and ling line-fishing com- 
 mences in the autumn, and ends in the late spring. In the 
 summer the herrings are attacked. 
 
 Among the many inlets of the sea on both sides of Harris 
 and the islands to the south the fishing is fair to good. In 
 proper season the men catch pollack, haddock, and flat fish ; 
 but from my own experience, and what I could get to hear 
 about it, the general fishing is not quite so excellent as in the 
 sea-lochs of the north-west coast, to which I have previously 
 referred. 
 
 There are places on the Irish coast at which first-rate fishing 
 can be had. From a commercial point of view, the east coast 
 is most important ; but for our particular purpose I should 
 rather prefer the west coast, where fish of all kinds seem very 
 abundant. That coast is, of course, greatly exposed to the 
 Atlantic ; but there are many sheltered places, as in the mouths 
 of rivers, between the mainland and islands, and in inlets of the 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 41 
 
 sea, which are favourable to the prosecution of sea angling. At 
 times the mackerel fishing is superb, particularly on the south- 
 west coast ; but the visits of these fish are very uncertain. 
 Young coalfish, which are called locally ' glissauns,' are caught 
 in great numbers by means of bamboo poles and rough wool- 
 bodied flies. 
 
 Among the places which have obtained a reputation for 
 amateur sea fishing, Waterville in Kerry should be specially 
 mentioned. Waterville Bay is sheltered from all except south- 
 west winds ; and there is some very fair freshwater fishing in 
 the neighbourhood, which is a consideration, and will be appre- 
 ciated by those who .visit the place during a south-westerly gale. 
 A few miles from it is the sheltered sound between Valentia 
 Island and the mainland. This part of the coast is well worth 
 a visit. 
 
 Notwithstanding the traffic, and a good deal of trawling, fish, 
 including cod, ling, bream, haddock and conger, are plentiful 
 in Dublin Bay. Haddocks, at times, are very numerous, 
 though they have a way of leaving the bay for years together, 
 and amateur fishermen frequently secure large takes of sea- 
 bream. There are a number of pleasant watering-places 
 between Dublin and Wicklow, and from some of these, I 
 apprehend, very fair sea fishing might be enjoyed. I was 
 riding through Dublin in a public conveyance, when two men 
 entered, who had with them a large basket of fish. 
 
 ' Where did you get those bream ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Those what, sir ? ' said the man. 
 
 'Bream,' said I. 
 
 ' Divil a bream,' was the reply ; ' they're carrp.' 
 
 ' I beg your pardon, they are bream ; the carp is a fresh- 
 water fish.' 
 
 ' Arrah, no, they're carrp.' 
 
 ' I assure you they are nothing of the kind,' I said. 
 
 G 
 
42 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 ' Maybe it's brame that the gintilman manes,' suggested the 
 man's companion. 
 
 It was a ray of light striking Cimmerian darkness ; the 
 man's face brightened up, and he exclaimed : 
 
 ' Some of us call them carrp, and some of us call them 
 brame ; but bream's a new word intoirley.' 
 
 Those, therefore, who go to Ireland will do well, to prevent 
 mistakes, to forget their English accent if they wish to go out 
 bream fishing. I found out afterwards that carp was a very 
 common name for sea-bream in that locality. 
 
 Speaking generally, amateur sea fishing is not much 
 pursued on the Irish coast, so that the information available is 
 somewhat limited. It may perhaps be useful to give a list of 
 the principal fishing-boat stations, where men and boats can 
 be had ; but it does not follow that just that fishing which the 
 amateur seeks after is close at hand. Most of these stations, 
 it will be noticed, are on the east coast. The list includes 
 Dublin, Skerries, Howth, Arklow,. Wexford, Dunmore, Dun- 
 garvan, Ring, Ballycottin Bay, Queenstown, and Kinsale, once 
 celebrated for its weatherly hookers. Between Baltimore and 
 Kinsale are capital fishing grounds and plenty of fine natural 
 harbours. In Bantry Bay is Glengarriff, which rejoices in three 
 hotels, good sea fishing, and not a very long journey to the 
 Lakes of Killarney. Kenmare Bay and Dingle have prolific fish- 
 ing grounds. In Dingle Bay the very light canvas boats called 
 ' curraghs ' are much used. They are also found on the coast of 
 Clare, and as far north as Galway Bay. On the other side of 
 Dunmore Head is Smerwick Harbour, and Brandon and Tralee. 
 Beyond the mouth of the Shannon and the exposed coast of 
 Clare comes the fine coast of Galway, where the many inlets of 
 the sea and the sounds between the numerous islands and the 
 mainland should afford the sea angler good fishing grounds in 
 almost any weather. The Galway hookers are noted sea-boats. 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 43 
 
 Mackerel fishing is periodically excellent on this part of the 
 coast, and cod, whiting, and other hook fish are only waiting to 
 be caught. Haddock, too, are very plentiful in winter, remain- 
 ing till about the end of May ; cod and ling disappearing a 
 month earlier. In Blacksod Bay there is good shelter for the 
 small-boat fisherman, and cod and ling are there in due season. 
 Bel mullet, at the northern end of the bay, was once a noted 
 fishing station. Following the coast northward we come to 
 Sligo and Bundoran, the latter in Donegal Bay. A good deal 
 of herring fishing is carried on here, and where herrings come 
 other fish follow. The more northern parts of the bay afford 
 a good deal of fishing with both long lines and hand lines. 
 Whiting are sometimes extraordinarily abundant in this bay. 
 
 Further north there is still less trawling and more line 
 fishing, which is all in the amateur fisherman's favour. On 
 this part of the coast coalfish, 'glassons' or 'glissauns,' are 
 very plentiful. Both in Loch Swilly and Loch Foyle there 
 is often very fair fishing. In former years Belfast Lough 
 afforded grand sport, but friends who live in the neighbourhood 
 tell me that since the increase of steam traffic the fish have 
 become very much less numerous. 
 
 Other stations down this coast are Strangford, Carlingford, 
 Ardglass, Greencastle, Rush, and Balbriggan. 
 
 Coming back again across the Irish Sea to the north-west 
 coast of Wales, we pass the Isle of Man, which may be referred 
 to here. The fishing round the island is good, and the place is 
 much visited by amateur sea fishermen, particularly in the 
 months of July, August, and September. There is some inshore 
 pollack fishing in June when the season is early. Good sport 
 may generally be had in October and November, providing the 
 weather is favourable. Douglas is perhaps, on the whole, a 
 better place to make one's headquarters than Ramsey. At Peel 
 there is often very good fishing for bream in the early summer ; 
 
44 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 and at Port Erin is a breakwater from which amateur sea fish- 
 ing is carried on in fair weather. At Douglas there is a break- 
 water at the mouth of the harbour, which can be tried when 
 the weather is too bad for boat work ; and fish are sometimes 
 taken from the Victoria Pier. There is also a little fishing 
 from the breakwater at Port St. Mary, and last, but not least, 
 the mackerel fishing is excellent. 
 
 The Manx names of fish and bait are somewhat puzzling 
 to people who come to the island for the first time. Like the 
 Irishmen of Dublin, they call bream carp ; the pollack is 
 callig ; coalfish, blockin or blocken ; herring, scadder ; dog-fish, 
 gobbock ; wrasse, bollen ; cuttle-fish, sea-cat. That invaluable 
 little bait, the ragworm, is termed by the Manx fishermen 
 pellic. There are plenty of big fish round the island, and very 
 strong tackle is required for use in the deep water. 
 
 Let us now cross over to the north-west coast of England 
 and work southward. In shallow, sandy Morecambe Bay flat 
 fish afford some sport, and shrimps are very abundant ; but, so 
 far as I know, the seaside resorts in the neighbourhood of 
 Liverpool do not offer first-rate fishing. Towards and on the 
 coast of Wales we begin to get among the haunts of bass. I 
 should look upon this coast as most useful for summer fishing 
 mackerel, bass, and flat fish, with whiting in places. Bass are 
 plentiful in the Menai Straits. In the small shallow lagoons 
 of the Crigyll River mullet are found ; but they are most diffi- 
 cult to fish with a rod, the water being shallow and clear. 
 There is no shelter on the bank. Bass enter most of the tidal 
 rivers and creeks of Anglesea in August and September, parti- 
 cularly in the estuary in Malldraeth Bay, where there are many 
 mullet, these fish also frequenting the river Cefni. Large 
 plaice are caught in the mouth of the river Ffraw. Boats can 
 be obtained in Aberffraw Bay, which is also a good place for 
 bass. Soft crab is considered the best local bait. Aberffraw is 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 45 
 
 about three miles from Ty Croes station. From the same 
 station Rhosneigr can be reached, where there is excellent sea 
 fishing from boats. There is also some bass fishing at Towyn, 
 in the mouth of the Dysynni River, and at Aberdovey. 
 
 There is a good deal of sea fishing done at Carnarvon and 
 Beaumaris, and fair pollack fishing can be had round the head- 
 lands near Holyhead. I had a very good account given me of 
 the fishing at the mouth of the Teify, particularly for bass. At 
 Fishguard, where the French invaded us (in proof of which did 
 I not see the sword of a Frenchman, taken by the grandfather 
 of the good woman with whom I was stopping at a little fishing 
 village on the Welsh coast ?), the local men carry on a good deal 
 of lobster and crab fishing, and the summer mackerel fishing is 
 often first-rate. But I have no information on the strength of 
 which I could advise any amateur fisherman to go to the place. 
 
 Rounding St. David's Head and coming into the Bristol 
 Channel, we reach one of the finest mackerel grounds on the 
 English coast between Milford and Bristol. I should say that 
 the best station for the amateur fisherman is Tenby. Close to 
 the harbour of this fishing town and watering-place the angling 
 for sand dabs and plaice is excellent. The position of these 
 fish seems to vary ; sometimes they are off Waterwinch, and 
 sometimes again a little distance off St. Katherine's. Another 
 good fishing ground is on the east side of Caldy Island. In 
 fact, there is no lack of flat fish anywhere between Caldy and 
 Saundersfoot. The summer mackerel fishing is first-rate ; 
 the fish are not large, but are most delicate eating ; and fast, 
 weatherly, lugger-rigged sailing boats, and clever fishermen who 
 know their business, can be engaged. In some years a few very 
 fine bass are caught from the rocks close to the harbour, usually 
 in the twilight of early morning. In the maelstrom, or race, 
 off Giltar Point, late in August or early in September, there is 
 often excellent fishing for school bass which run from about 
 
46 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 two to five pounds. Unfortunately this can only be carried on 
 conveniently from a sailing boat when the wind suits. The 
 blue phantom is a favourite artificial bait at this place, doubt- 
 less because it imitates a very small run of mackerel which 
 appear in early autumn, called locally 'joeys.' 
 
 For years together the bass desert Tenby, as they do other 
 places, so that I would warn the intending bass fisherman to 
 be prepared for a possible disappointment. But looking at the 
 excellence of the angling for flat fish, mackerel and conger, 
 Tenby, taken as a whole, is a good place for the sea fisherman. 
 
 If the bass are not in the bay it is evidently desirable not 
 to waste time seeking after them. Even if all else fails, there 
 is most exciting conger fishing to be had at night close along 
 the coast towards Waterwinch, or near Giltar Point. The best 
 congers, however, are taken over a ledge of rocks marked by a 
 beacon about a mile from the town. This is also a capital 
 place for bream. 
 
 About a hundred yards off the point of St. Katherine's is a 
 group of rocks. Between these and the point a good deal of 
 fishing is carried on, the position of the boat being changed 
 according to the set of the tide. Very large grey mullet come 
 swimming round these rocks and towards the harbour, but it is 
 rare indeed that any of these are hooked. A few codling are 
 caught at this spot, but, so far as I know, are not plentiful, nor 
 are large cod nor whiting at all abundant. One of the amuse- 
 ments of the place is searching for crabs, congers, and lobsters 
 at low water during the lowest spring tides among the rocks 
 on St. Margaret's Island and along the shore towards Water- 
 winch ; there is also a good deal of prawning done. 
 
 The sport here would be infinitely better if trawling were 
 prohibited in the shallow water of the little bays on either 
 side of St. Katherine's. I once counted about two hundred 
 Brixham trawlers in the harbour, and in bad weather a great 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 47 
 
 many of these fish in the shallow bays ; but the local men are 
 the greatest sinners in this respect. 
 
 Close to Tenby is Saundersfoot village and bay ; a very 
 charming little place, much pleasanter to stop at than the 
 larger town, but having the disadvantage of not being so near 
 the fishing grounds about Caldy Island. It has a small 
 harbour which is dry at low water. Boats are much cheaper 
 here than at Tenby. A friend writes to me that there are 
 plenty of good bream, whiting, &c., off Saundersfoot, especially 
 if the water is thick. I did not come across these fish myself. 
 The season may have been unfavourable, or my men may not 
 have known the best fishing grounds. 
 
 I doubt if there is any other fishing station of import- 
 ance on the north side of the Bristol Channel ; nor on the 
 south side until we come to Ilfracombe, where there is indifferent 
 fishing from the pier, except in winter, when a few large cod are 
 usually caught. But there is very fair fishing from boats, whiting 
 in particular being abundant. A few fish are taken at times 
 from the rocks. The principal fishing grounds of the trawlers 
 in this district lie between Lundy Island and Caermarthen Bay. 
 
 Off most of the picturesque villages of the northern 
 shores of Cornwall and Devonshire is very fair fishing. The 
 likeliest period for the amateur fisherman to visit the Cornish 
 coast is between midsummer and Michaelmas. The best of 
 the whiting fishing may come a little later, if not interfered 
 with, as it probably will be, by wild wintry weather. St. Ives 
 (or Hayle) is an important station for boats. Large cod, gurnet, 
 whiting, turbot, &c., are in the bay during the autumn, and boat 
 hire is moderate. Coming down to Land's End, we reach a 
 noted place for large pollack and bass. A great deal of amateur 
 fishing is practised both here from Sennen and St. Just and 
 off the Lizard. Not only is the whiffing good for the more 
 sport-giving fish, but all the more common bottom-feeding fish, 
 
48 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 such as bream, conger, hake, gurnet, and flat fish, are very 
 plentiful. It was near here, off the Seven Stones, that Lord 
 St. Levan caught a record pollack, 3 ft. long and weighing 
 24^ Ibs. The fish was presented to Mr. T. Cornish, town 
 clerk of Penzance, who fortunately had it set up. From 
 Marazion and Porthleven in this district there is much fishing. 
 
 At Falmouth sport is reputed somewhat uncertain, and 
 boat hire does not usually err on the side of moderation. 
 Both here and all along the Cornwall coast, from almost the 
 end of July to the end of December, pilchards can be obtained 
 for bait. Round the rocky headlands, outside the harbour, 
 there is very fair pollack fishing, and, occasionally, whiting 
 fishing in Carrick Roads and in the deep water about two miles 
 out. At the back of the Castle there is often excellent chad 
 fishing in August. For fishing in the Falmouth district some 
 people prefer to stop at the smaller and quieter St. Mawes, on 
 the opposite side of the harbour. Bass in season are commonly 
 plentiful near the Manacle Rocks, some ten miles distant. 
 
 A place I have not visited, but which is very highly spoken 
 of by my friends of the British Sea Anglers' Society, is Meva- 
 gissey. A great deal of pilchard fishing is to be had here. Over 
 the lobster grounds there is good fishing for pollack with drift 
 lines, railing or whiffing being impossible on account of the 
 lines of lobster pots. A great variety of fish is caught here, and 
 on the whole it seems as good a place as the angler could wish 
 to visit. 
 
 Fowey, close to Mevagissey, is another noted sea-fishing 
 station, and has the advantage of an excellent natural harbour. 
 Fishing is good here for mackerel, whiting, pollack, gurnard, 
 bream, and other fish. Hard by is Polperro, a charming little 
 place with a small harbour. The nearest railway station is 
 Liskeard, eleven miles. Both here and in many other Cornish 
 villages, boats and men can be hired for moderate sums. The 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 49 
 
 men used to be satisfied with 2$s. a week, but at places fre- 
 quented by many amateur sea fishermen the ideas of professional 
 fishermen on these matters have become enlarged. There is 
 capital fishing at Looe, where is a good natural harbour. The 
 place has a reputation for pollack, for which many people visit it. 
 
 Next comes Plymouth, where a great deal of amateur sea 
 fishing is carried on by local people. The rival tackle- makers, 
 Messrs. Hearder of Plymouth and Messrs. Brooks of Stone- 
 house, both issue very admirable little guides to the harbour 
 and neighbouring coasts, with small charts and other direc- 
 tions for finding the fishing grounds. The best pollack fishing 
 near Plymouth is off Penlee Point, which is also a noted place 
 for fly fishing for bass. It fishes best on the ebb tide. July, 
 August, and September are the months for visiting this part 
 of the coast, except in respect of the spring fishing for small 
 pollack. 
 
 At Plymouth is the laboratory of the Marine Biological 
 Association, from which greater things were anticipated than 
 have at present resulted. Although a large amount of most 
 interesting biological work has been accomplished, it cannot be 
 said that the sea fisheries of England have appreciably benefited 
 by the researches of the gentlemen who have been working in 
 the laboratory. Possibly the practical side of the subject has 
 not received quite so much attention as it deserves. 
 
 Plymouth is a trawling station of some importance, the 
 trawling grounds lying to the west of and inside the Eddy- 
 stone. When the weather will allow it, this famous rock should 
 certainly be visited, for in its neighbourhood some splendid 
 fishing can be obtained. Enormous pollack have been killed 
 here, and the whiting grounds are famous. The best way to 
 work the pollack fishing is to sail in a yacht or other seaworthy 
 vessel from Plymouth, anchor, and rail round the rock in a 
 small boat when the weather will permit. 
 
 H 
 
50 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 One great advantage of Plymouth is the shelter obtained in 
 the harbour within the breakwater, but there is a corresponding 
 disadvantage in the large amount of traffic, which does not im- 
 prove sport in shallow waters. It has been said that the break- 
 water has caused mud to collect in the Sound, and that this has 
 had a bad effect on the fishing. 
 
 There are many places at Plymouth from which fishing from 
 the shore can be carried on, and having regard to the fishing in 
 the harbour, whiting, cod, gurnard, hake, &c. boat work outside, 
 and the shore fishing, there are few places which offer so great 
 a variety of sport to the sea angler. At the same time, it is often 
 asserted that the sport is not so good as it used to be. Not 
 long since a letter appeared in one of the weekly papers from 
 a gentleman who had fished for a month at Plymouth for bass 
 and had only caught one fish ; he complained of the steamers 
 and the big gun and torpedo practice. Certainly the bass fish- 
 ing is not nearly so good as it used to be. 
 
 Some prawning and shrimping is done between Mount 
 Batten and Bovisand, and among the rocks round Drake's 
 Island. During the summer months a steamer plies between 
 Plymouth and Looe. There being, as I have said, such excel- 
 lent local guides published, I have not thought it necessary to 
 deal with this fishing station in great detail. 
 
 The next place of any importance after Plymouth is Sal- 
 combe, which offers very good pollack fishing. Most of the 
 pollacking is carried on round Bolt Head and Prawle Point. 
 Sand eels for bait are obtainable. The climate is very mild in 
 winter, the average temperature for many years having been 
 little less than that of Montpellier. Oranges, lemons and cit- 
 rons grow in the open air. The bass fishing was once very 
 good, but of late years has fallen off, and in respect thereof 
 certain amateur netsmen have been blamed. It is still, how- 
 ever, a noted place for pollack, and let us hope the bass will 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 51 
 
 return to it when they feel so disposed. There is a beautiful 
 little natural harbour, and very good accommodation for visi- 
 tors and sea fishermen. 
 
 Between Salcombe and Dartmouth is the little village of 
 Torcross. Sand eels can be bought from the fishermen. There 
 is an hotel and every accommodation, and hard by are Torcross 
 Ley and Slapton Ley, the pike and rudd fishing of which is 
 noted. Boats with one or two men cost $s, and JS. a day. The 
 bass and pollack fishing is off the Start, about three miles dis- 
 tant. Flat fish are caught half a mile from the beach. The 
 whiting grounds, where sport is often excellent, lie about seven 
 miles out. The inhabitants of the Torcross, Slapton, Busands, 
 and Hallsands villages, on the bay, mostly get their living by 
 fishing. . 
 
 A few miles onward is Dartmouth, a town on the west side 
 of the estuary of the Dart. The extensive harbour is deep and 
 frequently contains large numbers of sea fish, including mac- 
 kerel. There is fishing for pollack outside the harbour round 
 headlands and rocks well known to the local men ; and occasion- 
 ally bass are taken round the Mewstone and eastern Black 
 stone. There are extensive whiting grounds off Dartmouth. 
 
 Brixham, on the south side of Tor Bay, is of more import- 
 ance to the professional fisherman than to the amateur, being 
 one of the oldest ports of the deep-sea trawlers. From Brixham 
 across Tor Bay to Torquay there is a good deal of excellent 
 fishing for mackerel, flat fish, pollack, and, in good seasons, 
 bass. Whiting are sometimes very abundant in the bay, but 
 are more often found further out. Bass in immense quantities 
 frequent the rocks west of Berry Head. There is excellent 
 bream fishing off this part of the coast. 
 
 At Torquay there is a little fishing to be had from the 
 pierhead, but it is bad during an east wind. A few pollack 
 can be caught from any projecting rocky point, and particularly 
 
52 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 from the reefs of rocks below Daddy Hole Plain. Pollacking 
 from boats is practised round the Shag Rock and the Thatcher, 
 and occasionally a few bass are caught. Lying between Brixham 
 and Torquay is Paignton, a pleasant little watering-place. 
 
 Next comes Teignmouth, on the harbour bar of which bass 
 are sometimes very plentiful during the summer months. The 
 principal sport with these fish is obtained inside the bar of the 
 harbour. A bridge here, from which fishing is occasionally 
 obtained, crosses the river to the pretty village of Shaldon. 
 Sand smelts and flat fish are fairly abundant, as also are 
 mackerel and pollack. There is usually no difficulty in obtain- 
 ing mussels, sand eels, and other bait. The boat hire is 
 usually moderate, and many of the boatmen are clever at bass 
 fishing. 
 
 Passing Dawlish we come to Exmouth, another sea-fishing 
 station on a large river estuary. In the harbour flat fish are 
 plentiful, and, at times, bass. Outside, off Strait Point and 
 other headlands, there is very fair fishing for pollack. The 
 mackerel fishing is good. 
 
 A few miles onward is Budleigh Salterton, a pretty little 
 village where there is fair sea fishing ; whiting pout are plentiful 
 close to the village. The mackerel fishing is good, and occa- 
 sionally there is fair sport with bass near the mouth of the 
 Otter River, up which shoals of mullet sometimes are found. 
 
 Sidmouth may be passed by. Beer is a village of fishermen ; 
 there is some pollacking round Beer Head, and the usual sea 
 fishing found on this part of the coast a few miles out. At 
 Seaton, not far from Beer, is very fair sea fishing, and a little 
 trout and salmon fishing in the river Axe. Seaton used to be 
 a good place for bass, but in common with all parts of our 
 coast these fish are far scarcer than formerly. 
 
 I rather linger over the west country. The scenery is 
 beautiful ; the climate, if somewhat relaxing, is pleasant ; the 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS- 53 
 
 manners of the people are charming ; and the sea fishing is 
 generally excellent. 
 
 As we travel eastward along the south coast the sport cer- 
 tainly does not improve. Off Lyme Regis there is much the 
 same sea fishing as at Seaton. At Bridport is a harbour where 
 a little bass fishing can be done from the pierhead. There is 
 some pollacking to be had, and flat fish, for the bottom is 
 sandy. Further out is very fair whiting fishing. It is worth 
 knowing that whiting pout on this part of the coast are called 
 blinns or blains, 
 
 The watering-place of Weymouth possesses an excellent 
 harbour, and the bay is extended by the magnificent Portland 
 breakwater, from which a good deal of fishing is done. 
 Congers and whiting pout are the principal fish taken from the 
 breakwater, and there is always a chance of a bass from the 
 pierhead, at the mouth of the harbour. Large mullet and 
 bass are caught from the bridge over the Fleet, the tidal 
 backwater which connects Abbotsbury and Portland Bay. In 
 the harbour itself there are plenty of smelts and small flat fish ; 
 and a few bass, small pollack and grey mullet are caught at 
 times from the little weir. The shallow lagoons at the back of 
 the weir are unmercifully netted. 
 
 Some miles out the usual sea fish are caught. Mackerel 
 fishing begins in May. The best of the line fishing is during 
 the summer months and early autumn ; boats sometimes catch 
 twelve or eighteen dozen fish. Pollack are medium-sized and 
 plentiful between Ratcliffe Head and Meup Rock, east of 
 Lulworth. This place has often been strongly recommended ; 
 but, so far as my experience goes, it is uncertain, and, as I 
 have said, if anybody wants really good fishing he should go 
 further west. 
 
 To the eastward of Weymouth, between Swanage and St. 
 Albans Head, is very fair pollack fishing. Poole Harbour is 
 
54 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 of no particular account except for eels and smelts, and, it 
 need hardly be said, flat fish ; but occasionally there are plenty 
 of whiting in the deep water between Branksea Island and the 
 harbour mouth. 
 
 Bournemouth was once a noted place for bad fishing ; but 
 since the population of the town has increased, the sewage 
 appears to have attracted the fish, and very large takes are 
 now being made every autumn not far from the pierhead, 
 where the drains discharge themselves into the sea. Besides the 
 fishing over the sewer, there are a good many wrasse, pouts, 
 dabs, and other fish to be taken about a mile or a mile and 
 a half from the pierhead. Owing to the steam traffic there is 
 hardly any fishing from the pier ; but things are a little better 
 at Boscombe Pier, one and a half mile distant. Bass, pollack, 
 and mackerel are at times fairly plentiful off Christchurch at 
 the common mouth of the Stour and the Avon. 
 
 With regard to the Solent and Southampton Water little 
 need be said. Huge steamers, torpedo practice, men-of-war, 
 gunnery practice, and all the other incidents of our present 
 high state of civilisation have driven away most of the fish, 
 sand dabs and plaice (good takes of which are sometimes made 
 in winter close to the Brambles shoal) perhaps excepted. 
 There is also whiting fishing on the north edge of the 
 Brambles, and on the Peel and Middle banks. In the early 
 autumn a good many whiting and not a few flat fish are caught 
 off Cowes, but the tidal currents are so strong that fishing can 
 only be carried on for about two and a half hours between the 
 tides. Bass and mullet are sometimes seen, but rarely caught 
 in the Medina. The Solent is mercilessly trawled. 
 
 About Portsmouth are traditions of bass, though very few 
 are caught ; but to the eastward, where the sewage of this im- 
 portant naval town empties itself into the sea at Langstone 
 Harbour, there are plenty of flat fish. There is a little in- 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 55 
 
 different mackerel fishing in the Solent. Occasionally some 
 bass are taken off Spithead. 
 
 In Chichester Harbour are found bass, mullet and smelts, 
 and round Selsea Bill is some fair fishing for pollack and bass 
 from boats the sea is often lively here. Near the Bill is a 
 little accommodation for fishermen ; the place is eight miles 
 from the railway station. 
 
 Bognor is hardly worth considering ; but at Littlehampton, 
 where the river Arun runs into the sea, there is fishing for 
 mullet and bass. Occasionally some really good sport is 
 obtained here. Wrasse, which are locally called rock tench, 
 are very plentiful. The best of the mullet fishing is from the 
 pier. 
 
 The sea fishing at Worthing is not notable, but Shoreham 
 Harbour, which has of late years been thoroughly explored by 
 Mr. J. C. Wilcocks, the author of the 'Sea Fisherman,' has 
 yielded that gentleman a fair number of bass, though it is a 
 place where a good many blank days must be expected. A 
 few miles out some very large plaice and whiting are caught. 
 Sand eels, which on the Sussex coast are called ' wriggles,' are 
 to be obtained from the fishermen at Brighton, who catch them 
 in whitebait nets. There are plenty of lug and rag worms to 
 be obtained in the harbour. 
 
 I have a sentimental regard for Brighton, as being the place 
 where I caught my first sea fish something more than a 
 quarter of a century ago. I remember how proud I was on 
 being told by the fishermen that I had caught the first silver 
 whiting of the season, but I further recollect that our bag 
 mainly consisted of dogfish. 
 
 At most of these South-coast watering-places the local 
 fishermen cater for the cockney, who knows nothing whatever 
 of sea fishing, and is well satisfied to be taken out half a mile or 
 so to catch a couple of dozen whiting pout and small dogfish. 
 
56 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 This used to be such a general rule that I had begun to regard 
 Brighton and other places on that coast as most undesirable 
 fishing resorts. But during the last few years the fishing 
 grounds have been more thoroughly ascertained, and friends of 
 my own have had some really fine fishing there in the autumn 
 and early winter months for whiting, large plaice, congers, cod 
 and bream ; but these fish are not to be taken close to the 
 beach. Now and again, after rough weather, when the water is 
 thick, large bass are caught from the groynes and piers ; the 
 east side of the chain pier is the best. The general fishing 
 from the piers is of no great account. 
 
 Among the fish which are caught off Brighton are bream, 
 whiting pout, silver whiting, plaice, wrasse, conger, gurnards, 
 and mackerel. Occasionally sharks are found. During 
 September 1891 five were brought in varying from five to 
 seven feet in length. In 1893 a large shoal of common 
 dolphins of considerable size passed within sight of the town. 
 Now and again I hear of bass being taken from the break- 
 waters, particularly the one at Rottingdean. Among the rocks 
 at Rottingdean is a little prawning and shrimping, and 
 occasionally a lobster is caught. 
 
 Of Eastbourne little need be said except with regard to bass, 
 which are sometimes abundant off Beachy Head in September ; 
 fishing from the pier is bad. At Bexhill there is some very fair 
 cod and whiting fishing during the autumn and early winter. 
 
 At Hastings the fishing is certainly indifferent, except by 
 going some distance seaward ; but here, again, small whiting 
 pout may be caught from the pier. Thence, also, an occasional 
 conger or bass may be landed. Near the stone groin at the 
 easternmost end of the fishermen's settlement are some rocks 
 sometimes frequented by bass. 
 
 In years gone by Dover Admiralty Pier used to afford first- 
 rate sea fishing (codling, mullet, bass, whiting, &c.), but the 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 57 
 
 steamer traffic has worked evil things for the sea angler here, 
 as in other places ; and though there are still fish to be caught, 
 they are certainly not numerous. A very long rod is required 
 for fishing from this pier, and the best sport is obtained by the 
 favoured few who obtain orders to fish at the extreme end. In 
 the autumn there is fair whiting fishing in the offing. There are 
 various people in the town who sell baits. Ragworms, called 
 locally lugs, are plentiful, and the enlarged ragworm which is 
 found among rocks is also obtainable. 
 
 At Folkestone the fishing in the offing is very much the 
 same as at Dover. There is some railing to be done over the 
 rocky ledge near Cock Point, where, too, a few conger and 
 pout are to be found. In Eastware Bay there is a sandy 
 bottom on which flat fish may be caught, and between that 
 bay and Shakespeare's Cliff is a rocky bottom over which the 
 local men rail persistently, but do not, so far as I know, often 
 meet with very great success. 
 
 Deal is the happy hunting ground of the London sea fisher. 
 I have counted eighteen of them, all fishing with rods from the 
 steamboat stage at the end of the pier. The fishing from the 
 pier in summer would be doubtless better if there were not so 
 many steamers touching at the landing-stage. The fishing in 
 the right season is distinctly good, more particularly for whiting ; 
 but the best sport is usually obtained during spring tides, and 
 when the water is neither too thick from gales, nor too clear 
 from absence of storms. A south-westerly gale, while it does 
 not much affect the Deal coast, stirs up the Goodwin Sands 
 and thickens the water to such an extent that fishing becomes 
 almost impossible. 
 
 A few pollack are caught from the pier in July, sometimes 
 later ; but the best of the fishing from that point of vantage is 
 certainly in October and the early part of November. Herrings 
 come to the place in great numbers in early autumn ; they are 
 
 i 
 
58 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 followed by the sprats, and they in their turn are pursued by 
 the cod, which devour them. Later on, when the cold weather 
 begins, the fish seek deeper water. While whiting fishing from 
 boats in the Downs, it is customary to lay out a drift trot for 
 cod or codling. A feature of the pier fishing is a sort of bait 
 depot, at which one can buy lugworms, herrings, sprats, &c. 
 The best bait to use from the pier for pollack are large rag- 
 worms. Codling, flat fish, and whiting prefer lugs, whiting 
 also not being averse to pieces of herring. In addition to the 
 codling and whiting, there are flat fish, conger, and whiting 
 pout, and I have more than once heard of good-sized lobsters 
 being caught on rod and line from the pier. But I must temper 
 this charming picture with just a sprinkling of cold water : 
 there are many blank days both from pier and boats at Deal, 
 but they should be few indeed if the angler chooses his time 
 well and places himself in the hands of an experienced pro- 
 fessional fisherman. During the autumn and winter there is 
 no difficulty in finding the fishing grounds, for there are usually 
 a score or more of boats to be seen out. 
 
 The tide runs very strongly in the Downs, and off Deal the 
 sea takes the form of a huge eddy. The tide flows northward 
 towards Ramsgate, and ebbs southward towards Dover. When 
 running fiercely, it is next to impossible to keep a lead on the 
 bottom, and the tide has the peculiarity of continuing to flow 
 towards Ramsgate for about three and a half hours after high 
 water. During the period of spring tides fishing usually begins 
 about ten or eleven o'clock, and if the tide is then running 
 strongly, the first anchorage will be about a quarter of a mile 
 from the shore. As the tide eases, the boat will be shifted 
 further out, and the fishing can be continued until about four 
 o'clock. Four or five hours is about the longest period for 
 fishing during spring tides. If you ask a local man when 
 he fishes, he will tell you that he does so on ' the ease of the 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 59 
 
 flood and the draw of the ebb.' When the ebb draws too 
 strongly men up anchor, make sail, and head for the beach. 
 When the water is clear, the best fishing is at night. From the 
 pier there is fishing all day during neap tides, but for not more 
 than six hours at a stretch during spring tides, unless a very 
 heavy lead is used. The autumn and winter tariff at the Deal 
 hotels is very moderate. For a sailing-boat and man a fair 
 charge is about 6s. a tide, or 8s. a day. 
 
 Ramsgate offers much the same fishing as Deal that is 
 to say, for whiting and codling inside the Goodwins during 
 autumn and winter. A good many silver eels are caught in the 
 harbour, and a very occasional bass. In the spring months 
 there is some fair fishing for whiting pout, dabs, and 
 codling. 
 
 In the Thames estuary professional sea fishing is carried on 
 for shrimps, whiting, flat fish, and lampern up to St. Clement's 
 Reach, but there is not much done above the Lower Hope 
 at Gravesend. From most of the jetties where the water is 
 brackish a few flat fish and eels can be caught. It would 
 seem, indeed, that the good old times when fish abounded 
 were about to return, for the professional fishermen who are 
 not a class ready to admit any improvement in the fisheries 
 one and all declare that there is a marked improvement in the 
 quantity and size of the fish caught in the mouth of the Thames, 
 and that not only are fish more numerous, but that they are 
 found higher up the river than has been the case for many 
 years. This welcome improvement is, of course, owing to the 
 increased purity of the water brought about by the action of 
 the London County Council. Mud, marl, and sandy flats are 
 the general characteristics of the river ; here and there, par- 
 ticularly near Southend and Leigh, flat fish are very abundant, 
 and are much sought after by anglers. 
 
 Working up the east coast, we now come into the land of 
 
60 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 cod and codling. The estuary of the Blackwater sometimes 
 swarms with them in the autumn, and between Walton-on-the 
 Naze and Cromer thousands are caught every year both from 
 boats and from the shore. A small run of these fish makes its 
 appearance about September mere infants, weighing from 
 one to two pounds ; but as time goes on these either grow 
 or are succeeded by shoals of larger and older fish, and in 
 November and later a fair number of very large cod are 
 taken. 
 
 In a chapter devoted to the methods of fishing from the 
 shore, I have described both the old-fashioned way of using 
 'throw-out' lines and the more artistic, and certainly more 
 killing, method of casting out a paternoster, so I need not advert 
 to these here ; suffice it to say that the fishing is found within 
 a few yards of the beach, where, I suppose, the cod come to 
 feed on the shrimps, &c., which are stirred up by the action of 
 the waves. 
 
 I have never heard that there was much fishing at Harwich ; 
 but towards Aldeburgh and Lowestoft not only large numbers 
 of cod and codling but also a few large bass are caught every 
 autumn. Lowestoft deserves a special mention. Both the new 
 and the old harbours abound with large flounders, which may be 
 taken with live shrimps as bait all through the summer months. 
 Dozens of anglers, rod in hand, may be seen seated along 
 the quay side of the new fish market, many of them fishing in 
 midwater for the flat fish on the bottom ! It is far more pleasant 
 to obtain permission to sit in one of the fishing boats moored 
 out in the harbour, choosing for preference some spot where 
 the shrimpers have been sifting their catches through sieves 
 held over the water, for the small discarded shrimps are a very 
 attractive ground bait. There flounders, called locally 'butts,' 
 will probably abound. Smelts are plentiful in the harbour, and 
 there are legends of grey mullet in the tidal broad at the back 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 61 
 
 of the town. Long ago, those shy fish used to be found in the 
 fresh waters of Mutford, now Oulton, Broad. Smelts are very 
 plentiful in the harbour. 
 
 There are important herring and mackerel fisheries off this 
 part of the coast ; but both fish are caught in nets, the profes- 
 sional fishermen asserting that the water is too thick for mackerel 
 fishing with lines. In September and later there is first-rate 
 codling fishing from the shore on the north side of the harbour. 
 There is a shell-fish shop in Lowestoft from which large estuary 
 mussels can be obtained for bait, and where, sometimes, lugs 
 are kept in stock for the especial benefit of amateur sea 
 fishermen. 
 
 At Yarmouth there is little sea fishing until the autumn, 
 when codling, cod, and conger are caught from the piers and 
 the shore, much as at Lowestoft. Codling, indeed, push up the 
 Yare right into Breydon Water, where, also, are flat fish and 
 smelts. Very large cod are taken from the Yarmouth and 
 Gorleston piers ; occasionally fish of twenty pounds or more. 
 I have heard it said that the cod visit Yarmouth in great 
 quantities every alternate year. I give this statement for what 
 it is worth. 
 
 At Cromer there is codling fishing in autumn, and quantities 
 of flat fish are caught in small beam trawls, on stretches of 
 sand known to the fishermen, lying between reefs of rocks. 
 Crab and lobster fishing is carried on extensively, but amateur 
 sea fishing is very much neglected. 
 
 I know of no good sea fishing in the neighbourhood of the 
 Wash, or for some distance northward. Grimsby is, I need 
 hardly say, a sea-fishing station of great importance, but not 
 from our point of view ; the trawlers which sail from it working 
 the North Sea and the Iceland and Faroe fisheries. Close to 
 Grimsby, at Cleethorpes, is a small marine laboratory. 
 
 Off the Yorkshire coast the fishing improves, and we meet 
 
62 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 with large quantities of coalfish, the saithe of Scotland. In 
 their immature state they are known locally as billet, and 
 sometimes afford excellent sport to the fly fisher. They are 
 found round Flamborough Head, which may be fished from the 
 watering-place of Bridlington Quay. But the fishing quarters 
 which I should prefer most in that neighbourhood are at 
 Filey. 
 
 In the summer months the chief fishing at this quiet little 
 Yorkshire town is for gurnards and flat fish in the sandy bay. 
 To the northward of the town the great reef of rocks, known 
 as Filey Brigg, stretches out to a considerable distance into 
 the German Ocean, and on the north side of it shoals of billet 
 approach during spring tides. During fair weather they take 
 the fly greedily. This is a very uncertain place, however, and 
 many a blank day must be expected from it. About September 
 there is a run of good-sized codling, which are caught princi- 
 pally at what the local fishermen call the Backside o' Brigg the 
 back being the south side. 
 
 Since I was at Filey, I believe a pier has been built, from 
 which flat fish and gurnard should afford very fair sport. It is 
 difficult to get baits at Filey, especially for the codling, which 
 like nothing so well as large mussels brought from Hull, but 
 just fancy it ! made in Germany. Off the end of the Brigg 
 there are supposed to be certain large pollack. I never suc- 
 ceeded in catching any myself, nor have I seen anyone more 
 successful, though doubtless an occasional capture is made. 
 Certainly these fish are as scarce as billet are plentiful. 
 
 Scarborough, like Filey, is a first-rate place for sea fishing, 
 particularly for cod, in the autumn. Some capital flat fish are 
 caught from the piers and quays, and grey gurnard swarm into 
 the bay in summer. Quantities of billet or coalfish are caught 
 from the shore or pierheads, and there is fairly good mackerel 
 fishing, the usual method being to anchor the boat and fish 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 63 
 
 with drift lines. Codling fishing is somewhat uncertain here, as, 
 indeed, it is in most places, but at times during the autumn is 
 decidedly good, the fish coming close inshore. Lugs, or mussels 
 ' made in Germany,' are certainly the best baits. A good many 
 small coalfish are caught from the piers by drawing a white fly or 
 a gurnard skin fly through the water. Sea fishing is at its best 
 when the tourist season is over, which many amateur sea fisher- 
 men will doubtless consider a decided advantage. Those who 
 visit the place should seek the advice of Mr. J. W. Blakey, the 
 Editor of the 'Angler,' and the energetic honorary secretary 
 and founder of the Scarborough branch of the British Sea 
 Anglers' Society. 
 
 Northward of Scarborough are several picturesque fishing 
 villages, at almost any one of which fair to good fishing may be 
 expected. 
 
 At Whitby is a splendid harbour, always a great convenience, 
 as it obviates beach boats and allows really seaworthy craft to 
 be used ; but the fishing in the harbour itself is not first-rate. A 
 favourite ground for amateur whiting and haddock fishing lies 
 about two miles from the shore. The marks are well known 
 to the local people. Cod, whiting, coalfish, gurnard, &c., are 
 plentiful enough in their season. 
 
 Northward of Whitby the herring fishery, with which we 
 have nothing to do, is important. Near Staithes, a picturesque 
 fishing village, quantities of cod, coalfish and haddock are 
 caught on lines. I read of a curious practice here. When the 
 herrings are about, cod and coalfish follow and eat them most 
 ravenously, and, when caught by the fishermen, are found 
 to be full up to their throats. As soon as they are brought 
 ashore the fishwives slit open the marauders, take out so 
 many herrings as are not partially digested and send them to 
 market. In theory these entombed herrings are only used for 
 bait. Cullercoats is another little fishing village near the 
 
6 4 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Tyne, and here a good deal of line work is done. The place 
 possesses a small harbour. All along the Northumbrian 
 coast are dotted little fishing villages, the inhabitants of which 
 use the curious craft known as cobbles. 
 
 This concludes my brief survey of the English, Welsh, 
 Scotch (including the outlying islands) and Irish coasts ; but 
 nothing has been said about the Channel Islands. There is a 
 good deal of fishing both from pier and boat at St. Peter's 
 Port, Guernsey, which should be visited between April and 
 July, and the fishermen of the island are particularly expert 
 in the use of the living sand eel as bait. It was from them, I 
 believe, that Mr. Wilcocks learnt the importance and value of 
 the method which he has introduced among fishermen on the 
 English coasts. There is a great deal of sea fishing also round 
 Jersey, but Mr. Wilcocks says it is not so good as in the 
 neighbourhood of the sister islands. Alderney affords first- 
 rate pollack fishing, and bream, pout, and occasionally bass are 
 plentiful. It is not altogether safe to go beyond the break- 
 water without a local boatman, as the currents which twist and 
 twirl among the rocks are dangerous near the island of Burhou, 
 beyond the Singe Passage. Capital fishing and many varieties 
 of sea fish are caught from the breakwater and other suitable 
 places along the shore. The Channel Island fishermen are 
 expert in the use of a shrimp ground bait called cheruin, which 
 reminds me that they term smelts, gradots ; pollack, whiting ; 
 octopus, pieuvre ; squid, conee ; and cuttlefish, seche. 
 
 Of course I make no pretence of writing a complete guide 
 to the British and Irish coasts. I have simply aimed at giving, 
 in these few notes, a general idea of those parts of the coasts 
 at which good sport may be expected, and also of certain 
 places which should be shunned by the enthusiastic sea fisher. 
 
 A word here as to the importance of the British fisheries. 
 At the fishing stations I have referred to were landed during 
 
ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 65 
 
 1894, 14,046,000 cwt. offish other than shell fish. At the port 
 of landing these were worth nearly 7,ooo,ooo/. Many tons of 
 them, however, came from foreign waters. With shell fish the 
 total takes are valued at 7,2oo,ooo/. 
 
 DUTCH BtJIS LAYING NETS 
 
66 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, HOOKS, AND SUNDRY 
 WRINKLES 
 
 WHILE it is not necessary for a fresh- or saltwater angler to he 
 intimately acquainted with the details of tackle-making, it is 
 certainly most desirable that he should learn how to tie or whip 
 a snooding on to a hook, join lengths of gut together, renew a 
 ring on his rod, and do sundry other little incidental matters 
 any one of which may crop up in the course of a day's fishing. 
 These things are easy, provided we know the right way of doing 
 them ; and everyone who fishes either in fresh water or salt 
 except, of course, anglers of some experience should carefully 
 read the instructions given in this short chapter, made easily 
 understandable by means of diagrams. 
 
 Most necessary materials for repairs and simple tackle- 
 making are wax, some strong silk, linen thread, and lightly 
 twisted, tarred, hemp twine. These are for whippings and 
 servings. I am not sure whether there is any great difference 
 between these two terms. Perhaps when we bind two things 
 together, as, for instance, gut to hook, we should call it a ' whip- 
 ping ; ' while for the simpler binding, intended merely to act as 
 a protection (for instance, a binding of silk laid round a length 
 of gut to prevent a lead which is on the gut from fraying it), 
 we say we 'serve' the line rather than 'whip' it. But the 
 process in each case is the same. 
 
 For wax we should have either that used by cobblers, or 
 
WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, ETC 67 
 
 harness- makers, or simply a piece of beeswax. The first is 
 the most sticky ; the last is the cleanest to use ; the harness- 
 maker's standing midway between the two. I generally use 
 beeswax myself. If cobbler's wax is used it should be kept in a 
 piece of leather so that it need not be touched with the fingers. 
 
 HOW TO WHIP ON A HOOK 
 
 The strongest silk, easily 
 obtainable, is the ' twist ' 
 sold for edging buttonholes 
 in cloth. If it is too coarse 
 for any particular purpose, 
 untwist it and use a strand 
 of it. The sewing silks on 
 reels are usually weak, un- 
 less intended for sewing- 
 machine work, and probably 
 are seldom pure silk. For 
 
 the coarser servings there is nothing better than a piece 
 of fine Nottingham silk line, either twisted or plaited. But 
 the regular thing is soft hemp twine dressed with Stockholm 
 tar It is useful for a variety of purposes, particularly for 
 whipping the ends of ropes and the stouter fishing lines to 
 
68 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 prevent them from becoming unravelled. If we have not the 
 best thing possible for any of these purposes, common twine 
 will suffice, or even sewing cotton, though that is poor stuff. 
 In fact, whatever is available must be used, always bearing in 
 mind that if it is too fine several pieces can be twisted up 
 together, and if too coarse it can be unravelled into several 
 strands. Of all men the angler should be, and usually is, 
 the most resourceful. 
 
 To begin a piece of binding it is usual to lay the silk, which 
 should be thoroughly well waxed, in the position shown in the 
 diagram (i), but some people start it with a clove hitch (see 
 Chapter VII.) The waxed silk is then carried neatly and tightly 
 round and round the thing to be whipped or served. The finish- 
 off always embarrasses beginners. There are several ways of 
 doing this, and I will give two ; the first being suitable for a 
 hook or the point of anything. A hook is shown in the dia- 
 gram on the previous page, and for the sake of clearness it is 
 a large .one and the binding somewhat thick. 
 
 Having wound on nearly as much silk as is required, the 
 end B should be laid straight along the shank (2), leaving a loop 
 A large enough for the point and bend of the hook to pass 
 through (3). Hold the hook and the end tightly in the right 
 hand close to D, and with the thumb and first finger of the 
 left hand take hold of the silk at c and wind it three times 
 round the hook (3). At each wind the point and bend of 
 the hook will pass through the loop ; then (4) pull the end B 
 until the loop disappears ; cut off the end, and the thing is 
 finished in much quicker time than it has taken me to de- 
 scribe it. 
 
 But suppose we have to whip on a ring in the middle of the 
 rod. It would be very inconvenient to make the loop A (2) large 
 enough for the rod to pass through. That would require a 
 piece of silk ten feet long or more ; so we effect exactly the 
 
WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, ETC 
 
 69 
 
 same finish in the manner illustrated. Place the thumb and 
 ringer of the right hand over the bound portions to keep them 
 in position, and deal with the end of the silk exactly in the way 
 shown in the diagram (fig. i). Then take hold of the silk at 
 B, wind it three times round the rod, as is commenced in 
 
 TO FINISH CENTRAL WHIPPINGS 
 
 fig. 2, and completed in fig. 3. Next pull the end A tight and 
 the slack piece will disappear. It is very much like a con- 
 juring trick, and quite as simple when you know how it is 
 done. 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 I. ' PENNELL- 
 
 LIMERICK ' 
 HOOK (EYED). 
 
 2. CURVED 
 
 LIMERICK 
 
 HOOK (EYED). 
 
 J 
 
 3. ROUND 
 
 BEND HOOK 
 (FLATTED) 
 
 SHANK 
 
 There are several varnishes made ex- 
 pressly to cover whippings of this kind, 
 and they are suitable for nothing else. The 
 following is a good receipt : powdered 
 shellac 6 parts, spirits of wine 8 parts, gum 
 benzoin 2 parts. The binding after being 
 varnished should not be exposed to the wet 
 for at least twenty-four hours, and it is im- 
 portant that it should be kept in a dry 
 place. This varnish is suitable for whip- 
 pings on rods and hooks, but not for those 
 at the ends of ropes or lines. For them 
 the tar or wax on the whipping material 
 suffices. 
 
 If one is binding on hooks intended to 
 catch fish with sharp teeth, it is a capi- 
 tal in fact, almost necessary plan to 
 take some fine soft copper wire, wax it 
 well, and serve over the silk binding. It 
 can be finished off in the way I have de- 
 scribed. 
 
 Two kinds of hooks are used in sea 
 fishing : those with eyes and those with flat 
 ends ; the second being most favoured by 
 professional fishermen, probably on account 
 of their cheapness. I much prefer eyed 
 hooks. Sea hooks are usually tinned ; but 
 tinning, while only partially preventing rust, 
 blunts the point of the hook. Black japan 
 is better ; but unfortunately, for some 
 reason or other, makers seem as a rule to 
 japan common, badly tempered hooks. In 
 practice I find that the rusting of the 
 
WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, ETC 71 
 
 ordinary browned freshwater hook is inconsiderable, parti- 
 cularly if the hooks are smeared with vaseline or other 
 grease. Hooks are so cheap that a rusty one can be thrown 
 away without a very serious pang. The Pennell-Limerick 
 hooks (fig. i) are good for sea fishing, but I rather prefer for 
 the purpose a rounder and wider bend with a twist in it, 
 shown in fig. 2, and usually called a curved Limerick. It 
 is a fine hook for holding mussel bait. Sea fish have large 
 mouths, and hooks with a twist are more likely to catch hold 
 than those which are flat, while the loss of penetration is not 
 sufficient to be of any importance with fish which have soft 
 mouths. A sharp point will make up for it. Always carry 
 a watchmaker's file and a fragment of a hone to renew the 
 points of large and small hooks respectively. Note if there is 
 any rust where the gut or snood is tied on, and when this is 
 apparent, at once retie. 
 
 Another most excellent hook is the common round bend. 
 The one shown in fig. 3 has the flatted head I have re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 If the ordinary sea fishermen's snooding is tied on a flatted 
 hook, it should be fastened on by one of the methods shown 
 in the illustration (p. 72), though it is far neater whipped on. 
 If gut is used, it may be knotted on as illustrated, but whipping 
 is neater, and as lasting if effectively done. In the latter 
 case, the end of the gut should be first placed between the 
 teeth and lightly bitten, so as to roughen it a little this 
 to prevent it slipping. Both the shank of the hook and the 
 end of the gut should be waxed before being laid together, 
 and any grease on the hook shank carefully removed. There 
 is nothing more annoying than to lose a good fish by the 
 hook slipping away from the gut. 
 
 For tying gut on to eyed hooks there are a great variety 
 of knots ; several of them are equally good, and I confess 
 
72 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 I hardly know which to recommend. One of the simplest 
 and best for sea fishing, shown on the right hand (p. 73), is a 
 slight variation of the Turle knot. It is very secure, very easily 
 tied, and the end sticking up through the eye serves to prevent 
 certain baits from slipping down the shank of the hook. If large 
 fish are expected, especially those with teeth, it is a good plan 
 
 SINGLE SNOOD 
 
 SINGLE CUT 
 
 METHODS OF ATTACHING SNOODS TO FLATTED HOOKS 
 
 to let the end be an inch in length, and put a few turns of silk 
 round the two strands of gut immediately above the eye of the 
 hook. This not only lessens the likelihood of a fish cutting 
 the gut, but also strengthens a weak point where there is much 
 wear and tear. If it should happen that the eye of the 
 hook is too small for the gut to pass through it twice, the 
 end need not be passed through, or the knot shown in the 
 
WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, ETC 
 
 73 
 
 left-hand illustration, which, 
 it will be noticed, is a figure 
 of eight, may be used. It 
 is neat and absolutely safe, 
 which is more than can be 
 said of some knots which 
 have been recommended for 
 this purpose. 
 In the case 
 of bass or 
 other flies 
 tied on ordin- 
 ary hooks and 
 fitted with 
 gut loops, two 
 plans of at- 
 taching them 
 to the gut 
 cast may be 
 followed. The 
 strongest, but 
 not the neat- 
 est, is to make a loop at the 
 end of the snood or 
 cast, put it through 
 the loop of the fly, 
 and then the fly 
 through the loop of 
 the snood or cast. 
 This may seem com- 
 plicated, but is really 
 most simple. The 
 result is shown in the 
 
 FIGURE OF 
 EIGHT KNOT 
 
 FOR HOOK 
 
 WITH SMALL 
 
 EYE 
 
 A SAFE KNOT FOR HOOK WITH LARGE EYE 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 left-hand illustration. The second 
 method is to tie the cast to the 
 loop of the fly, one of the best 
 knots for which 
 best because it is 
 most easily un- 
 done is also 
 illustrated. 
 
 For conger I 
 tried the experi- 
 ment of making 
 up snooding as 
 illustrated, and 
 found it to an- 
 swer extremely 
 well. Gimp is 
 I largely used by 
 
 I J amateur fisher- 
 
 men for this pur- 
 pose ; but on the 
 whole I prefer soft 
 hemp, and believe 
 that it is more 
 successful with 
 conger. A good- 
 sized conger hook 
 with a big eye is 
 1 required, and a 
 
 \^ ^S >' ar d and a half of 
 
 TWO METHODS eight-plait tanned 
 
 OF ATTACHING , a ,. 
 
 GUT CASTS TO hemp or flax line 
 is ^ranged on the 
 LOOPS eye and shank 
 
 PLAITED CONGER SNOOD 
 
 A, shank of hook ; B, third 
 strand ; r, eye of hook 
 
WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, ETC 
 
 75 
 
 of the hook in the manner illustrated. The end (B) is next 
 whipped to the hook shank (A), and the three lengths of line 
 which now start from the eye are loosely plaited together. 
 This snood, which closely resembles one of those used for 
 tarpon, should be about two to three feet in length. It will be 
 noted that only one of the three lengths of line passes through 
 the eye in the illustration. If the eye is large enough, two 
 and, if possible, all three lengths should pass through the eye. 
 So much for hooks, whippings and servings. 
 
 ORDINARY GUT KNOTS 
 
 A necessary knot to be learnt is one suitable for tying two 
 lengths of gut together. A strong trustworthy knot is quickly 
 made by laying the two ends together (A) and tying them 
 in a simple knot, placing the ends through a second time (c), 
 
7 6 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 and then pulling the knot tight (D). I trust this will be un- 
 derstood by means of the illustration on the preceding page. 
 The portion of the diagram marked B is inserted to show how 
 the knot looks in a single length of gut. The knot is made 
 in exactly the same way when the two ends are laid together. 
 
 Another safe gut knot in common use is illustrated above, and 
 sufficiently explains itself. 
 
 The buffer knot is another good one ; a little more elaborate, 
 but nevertheless neater, and very much stronger. I learnt 
 
 Short waste end from hank of 
 
 gu t {ivell soaked) 
 
 Knot finished 
 IMPROVED BUFFER KNOT 
 
 the way of tying it, shown in the illustration, from an Irish 
 friend, who has greatly improved on the old original buffer. 
 The little piece of serving in the centre of the knot was formerly 
 made of silk, but my friend's plan is to use for this purpose 
 
WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, ETC 77 
 
 the waste ends of gut that fine crinkly stuff which we find at 
 the end of every hank, carefully swaddled in red worsted. It 
 should, of course, be well soaked. When the knot is pulled 
 tight the ends of the fine gut, which are tucked in, in the 
 manner illustrated, hold securely. My friend Mr. Tracey has 
 shown me a method of making what is practically a buffer knot 
 without whipping. He has found that it answers its purpose very 
 well, but it is not quite so neat as the improved buffer above 
 described. Certainly it is a handy knot when one is hurried 
 and the wherewithal to whip is wanting. Here again the illus- 
 tration obviates the necessity for verbal description. 
 
 A BUFFER KNOT WITHOUT WHIPPING 
 
 It is a great mistake to soak gut in hot water ; heat and 
 moisture soften it, but on drying it becomes more brittle than 
 ever. Good new gut hardly requires soaking at all ; but new 
 gut seems to be very scarce, and a long soaking in cold water 
 (from two hours to all night, in rain water for preference) is really 
 necessary if we wish to make up thoroughly sound tackle. 
 Messrs. Allcock have introduced gut for which perpetual softness, 
 brought about by chemical treatment, is claimed. I have not 
 tried it for sea fishing, but may say that a three-hours' soaking 
 in glycerine solution (glycerine, \ oz. ; boiling water, \ pint 
 gut placed in it when cold) has been strongly recommended 
 recently. I have for some time been endeavouring to persuade 
 men living in tropical countries, more particularly India, to 
 
78 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 take up the silkworm gut question. So far, strands of gut from 
 five to seven feet in length have been produced from the Tussur 
 silkworm, but owing to inexperienced manipulation they have 
 not had the necessary strength. The length, however, is re- 
 markable. Good long gut has also come over from Japan ; so 
 before very long we may look for snoods and casts without 
 any knots whatever. But so long as knots are essential, the 
 improved buffer must be regarded as the best. On it may be 
 hung a dropper for a second fly, if needed, in the manner 
 illustrated. If the cast is made up with ordinary knots, the 
 ends of the knot at the spot where the dropper is to be attached 
 
 DROPPER ON BUFFER 
 KNOT 
 
 DROPPER ON CAST MADE UP 
 WITH ORDINARY KNOTS 
 
 should be prolonged and whipped down to increase the strength 
 at that point. 
 
 The cost of gut varies in a great measure, according to its 
 length. Nowadays we are often able to buy hanks of very 
 stout, short, cheap gut, which do for sea fishing, particularly 
 for the hook links of paternosters, at a very reasonable rate. 
 Sunlight and a dry atmosphere are particularly injurious to 
 gut. It is a good plan to keep any casts or hanks of gut 
 wrapped up in washleather and placed in a tin case. Odd 
 pieces of gut, or casts or snoods which are intended for use 
 during the day, will keep pliable, knotable, and free from curls 
 
WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, ETC 
 
 79 
 
 if carried in an old tobacco pouch, the interior of which has 
 been previously moistened. 
 
 To fasten the reel line to the loop at the end of the gut, 
 gimp, or other snood, there is nothing better than the common 
 
 ( 
 
 RUNNING LINE KNOTTED 
 TO LOOP OF PATER- 
 NOSTER, ETC 
 
 RUNNING LINE ATTACHED TO FLY CASTS 
 OR WHIFFING SNOODS BY FIGURE OF EIGHT 
 KNOT 
 
 bend ; but as a precaution I should put a little knot at the 
 end of it as shown in the illustration. When fishing with 
 the fly the line is drawn back through the water a good deal, 
 and this projecting end is undesirable. A capital knot which 
 I can also recommend to salmon fishers for attaching the 
 
8o MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 running line to casts for fly fishing, and to traces or to snoods 
 for whiffing &c., is the figure of eight, which is sufficiently 
 explained in the illustration. Its advantage lies in the end of 
 the reel line lying snugly alongside the cast and pointing 
 downwards, so that it cannot catch in floating weeds nor 
 cause any stir in the water when drawn through it. It is 
 practically the same kind as that used on the eyed hook. 
 It is absolutely safe. In A it is loose, in B pulled nearly 
 tight. 
 
 Twisting gut or hemp yarn is a simple matter. The little 
 secret for there is one is to take two ends (the other ends 
 being fixed on a nail or otherwise), twist each separately in one 
 direction, then lay the ends together and twist both together 
 in the opposite direction. This process is very simple. Little 
 twisting machines are sold for anglers' use, but everything that 
 is necessary can be done with the fingers. To make a double 
 twisted gut snood, take two gut casts of the requisite length, 
 and after soaking twist together in the manner directed. The 
 second twist, when the two are laid together, will work of itself 
 if a weight of a pound or more is attached to one end of the 
 casts and allowed to revolve. This gives a more regular twist 
 than if the second twist is done with the fingers. Gut is easily 
 plaited. In that case begin with three strands, and when about 
 an inch and a half from the end, plait in the ends of three other 
 strands, repeating this operation until the snood is sufficiently 
 long. 
 
 Reel lines frequently require joining together, and there is 
 no possible knot with which this can be done, as any projection 
 of that kind on the line may catch in the rings during the run 
 of a big fish and bring about a smash. Splicing, as sailors 
 use the word, while not quite out of question, would be a very 
 long, tedious process with a fine line such as is used on reels. 
 But with a little care the two ends can be satisfactorily joined 
 
WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, ETC 81 
 
 together in the following manner. If it be a plaited line, slant 
 off each end which is to be bound, with the aid of a sharp knife 
 or a pair of scissors ; then thoroughly wax the two ends ; press 
 or roll them together with finger and thumb, and proceed to 
 bind them over most carefully and securely with well-waxed 
 silk, finishing off in the manner already described (p. 69). The 
 two ends are overlaid for about an inch and a half. Next 
 warm your beeswax at the fire until it is very soft, and rub it 
 on to the binding. Then place the line between the palms of 
 the hands and rub the palms together briskly as one does 
 sometimes on a cold day, rolling the line backwards and for- 
 wards. This works the wax right into the binding and gives it 
 a nice smooth finish. Fine twisted lines can also be spliced in 
 this way, the ends being unravelled, waxed, rolled together and 
 bound over. 
 
 With regard to waterproofing lines, the best dressing con- 
 sists of boiled oil in fact, the same as sou'-wester and oilskin 
 coat and trousers would be dressed with ; but the process is 
 long and troublesome, and hardly one fitted for the amateur to 
 undertake. The line should be soaked in the boiled oil all 
 night ; then stretched, and the superfluous oil rubbed off with 
 a piece of leather or rag. It should be left until quite dry in a 
 place of shelter where the rain cannot get at it ; and then a . 
 second dressing should be given. Some of the best lines now- 
 adays have the oil dressing driven into them by placing them 
 in an air pump. I much prefer tanning lines intended for sea 
 fishing, and even the tanning is unnecessary because the lines 
 are so cheap. A recipe for tanning silk and hemp lines is 
 given in Chapter VII. 
 
 There is a little dodge for winding a new line on a reel, for 
 which I am indebted to Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell. It is not 
 the least of the many useful practical hints he has communi- 
 cated to fishermen. Take the coil of line and place a roll of 
 
 M 
 
82 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 newspaper through it large enough to almost fill up the centre 
 of the coil. Next place two chairs about 2 ft. 6 ins. apart ; 
 insert a walking-stick through the centre of the roll of news- 
 papers, and lay the two ends of the walking-stick on the chairs. 
 The line will then be on a sort of winder, and all we have to 
 do is to get the end free, fasten it to the reel, and wind away. 
 Rod-making is, of course, beyond the scope of this book j 
 but I would earnestly impress upon sea anglers the desirability 
 of keeping their rods thoroughly well varnished or oiled, and 
 of renewing whippings whenever necessary. Any good coach- 
 maker's varnish is excellent for rods. The longer it takes in 
 the drying, the more elastic and durable it is likely to be. The 
 ferrules should be lightly smeared with vaseline from time to 
 time, and the little sheaths of the short boat rods, which will 
 be mentioned later on, should be kept well oiled. Never place 
 a rod in a damp corner or hang it up against a damp wall. 
 Beware, too, of damp cases for your rods. I severely injured a 
 split cane rod once by carelessness in this respect. On getting 
 to the river I took the rod out of its case, put the case in my 
 creel and fished away all day. There were a few showers which, 
 I suppose, penetrated through the wickerwork and wetted the 
 rod case ; at any rate, it was moist. Without observing that 
 the material was damp, I took the rod to pieces, placed it in 
 the case and left it there some days. The result was that one 
 of the tops which required varnishing came unglued. This 
 happened five hundred miles from a tackle-maker. I do not 
 suppose split cane rods will be much used in sea fishing. Cer- 
 tainly there is no necessity for them ; but any rod may be 
 injured in this way. Stops are sometimes the ruin of rods. 
 Wet enters a female ferrule during a day's fishing ; at night 
 the careful angler, when he takes his rod to pieces, inserts a 
 stop in the ferrule, carefully corking up the moisture, and the 
 wood inside swells and in time rots. 
 
WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, ETC 83 
 
 Sea flies are so easily tied, and there is such a large field for 
 
 HOW TO TIE A SEA FLY 
 
 experimental work 
 in testing different 
 patterns on sea fish, 
 that I will venture a 
 few directions as 
 illustrated. If you 
 are not using eyed 
 hooks, it is neces- 
 sary to whip on a 
 little loop of gut 
 about an eighth of 
 an inch long to the 
 end of the shank, or, 
 better still, a loop of 
 twisted gut. When 
 doing this carry the 
 binding silk on to 
 the beginning of the 
 bend of the hook, 
 there bind, with 
 about three turns of 
 the silk, half a dozen 
 strands of peacock 
 harl (i) to form a 
 tail (2), and place 
 under the end of 
 the binding the end 
 
84 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 of a piece of flat silver tinsel about two inches long. Next 
 lay a piece of white worsted or floss silk down the shank 
 to make the body plump, wind the flat tinsel round the 
 body of the fly (3) up nearly to the loop, and take a couple 
 of turns round the tinsel with the silk, and hold it in posi- 
 tion (4). There only remains to tie on the wings and legs, 
 and here you will have a little difficulty. Not that there 
 are any special directions to be given, but the manipulation 
 is not very easy. Take some short strands of peacock harl, 
 hold them underneath the end of the shank and twist the 
 silk round them (5) ; then take some longer strands of peacock 
 harl (i), judging their length from the illustration, keeping it, of 
 course, in proportion to the size of the hook, and lay over it a 
 couple of strips of white swan's feather, introducing, if you 
 like, a strip of red on each side. Hold this between the 
 finger and thumb of one hand, place it on the end of the 
 shank, and with the other hand twist the binding silk round 
 firmly several times (6) ; then finish off in the manner shown 
 for whipping gut to hook (p. 67). Touch this binding with 
 the shellac varnish, and your fly is ready as soon as the 
 varnish is dry, which will be the following day. If you are 
 in a hurry to use it, melt a little bees' or cobbler's wax on 
 the binding and it can be wetted at once. 
 
 The first fly may be somewhat of a duffer, but it will pro- 
 bably catch fish as well as any more highly finished production. 
 Beginners are very apt to make the mistake of not leaving 
 room enough on the end of the shank to tie on the wings. 
 They make the body too long, not only at this end, but also at 
 the other. 
 
 Every man ought to know how to dress for rough, windy 
 cold work such as sea fishing often is. ' All wool ' should be 
 the motto of the sea fisherman. There is nothing better than 
 a loose-fitting sweater or jersey made not of the wool of the 
 
WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, ETC 85 
 
 shops, but of the homespun material produced in the crofters' 
 cottages of the west of Scotland. It contains the natural oil 
 and has wonderful wet-resisting properties. 
 
 Thanks to years of experience, sailors and fishermen have 
 found out what is best to wear on the sea, and in copying their 
 oilskin, sou'-westers, and double-breasted pilot jackets you 
 will be doing a wise thing. Indiarubber boots, felt lined, are 
 very comfortable on a wet, cold, autumn day in an open boat ; 
 though not very nice things to swim in should you be upset. 
 They want propping open with short pieces of stick on going 
 ashore, and carefully drying inside. Perhaps a better arrange- 
 ment is two pairs of stockings and an unlined indiarubber 
 knee-boot ; the felt is certainly the warmer and more comfort- 
 able, but the stockings, which get moist from perspiration, can 
 more easily be dried than the felt, and can moreover be washed. 
 In winter, sea fishermen often wear over their socks and trousers 
 a pair of large oily stockings, and over these again their long 
 sea boots. Thick gloves without fingers are almost a necessity 
 during the bitter winter weather which is experienced in the 
 North Sea. 
 
 On some parts of the coast the oilskin coats are fitted with 
 strings instead of buttons, the men finding that in winter a reef- 
 knot is much more easily undone than are button and button- 
 hole. P'or saltwater work I much prefer oilskins to any form 
 of mackintosh. 
 
 Never judge of the temperature at sea by the mildness of the 
 air on shore. It is nearly always more or less chilly when we 
 get a mile or two from the land if any breeze is blowing. One 
 learns by experience, and I am quite ready to run the risk of 
 being called an 'old woman ' for advising all would-be sea fishers, 
 if they will not heed my warning as to dressing warmly, at 
 least to take plenty of wraps with them when they go down to 
 the sea in boats. 
 
88 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 hooks ; some of the large and high-flavoured members of this 
 family which come from foreign parts are fit for little else. It 
 should be also remembered that sea fish are fond of the beards 
 of oysters. 
 
 For lugworms and ragworms we must go to the sands and 
 muddy estuaries. Where much line fishing takes place, the 
 lads are practised in the art of catching these objectionable- 
 looking baits, and will keep up a daily supply for a small con- 
 sideration ; but if there be neither sands, nor mud, nor shell- 
 fish shops, then, unless we import worms from more favoured 
 localities, we must, if mussels also fail us, seek mackerel, sprat, 
 herring, or pilchard at the fishmonger's. He may perhaps have 
 some grey gurnard, and will most surely be able to supply us 
 with sole-skin with which to make small baits for bass and 
 other fish. Almost any bright, shining skin which is sufficiently 
 tough may be used for this purpose. Smelts, too, are to be had 
 at the fishmonger's, and these are serviceable on the bottom for 
 whiting and cod, besides making very good spinning baits for 
 bass or pollack. If there are any trawlers about they will gene- 
 rally bring home in the early morning some squid or cuttlefish ; 
 but these curious creatures are so plentiful on some parts of 
 our coast that they can be easily caught by means of a bait, as 
 to which more anon. 
 
 Thanks to the liberality of gentlemen living at Plymouth, 
 experiments, which were continued for some time, were made 
 under the auspices of the Marine Biological Association with 
 the object of discovering some chemically prepared bait for sea 
 fish. Those who know the difficulty there often is in obtaining 
 a few baits for a day's fishing with the paternoster, can well 
 understand that professional fishermen, who deal with thousands 
 of hooks and miles of line, must be from time to time seriously 
 hampered by want of bait. For while there is often a great 
 abundance of sprats, pilchard, herring and mackerel, in some 
 
BAITS 89 
 
 seasons next to nothing is to be obtained suitable for the 
 purpose. It was thought possible an oily extract of pilchard 
 could be produced, with which some substance in common use 
 and easily procurable could be flavoured. It can hardly be said 
 that any success attended the experiments. The extract was 
 certainly made, but no substance has yet been discovered 
 which, when flavoured with it, will keep on the hooks and be 
 acceptable to fish. Possibly some sea angler of the future will 
 make the discovery ; for sea anglers are not less ingenious 
 than other members of the craft. One medium which I sug- 
 gested to the then director of the M.B.A. was macaroni. If 
 the hollow centre could be filled with the extract of squid or 
 pilchard and the ends sealed, the whole would be permeated 
 with the strong-smelling liquid. From the mullet-fishing ex- 
 perience related in Chapter XI. it seems that at least one sea 
 fish favours this bait even without the essence. If a quasi- 
 artificial bait of this nature can be discovered, the fisher- 
 men will benefit to the extent of many thousand pounds 
 annually. 
 
 In connection with baits there are one or two little items 
 to be considered namely, a bait knife, a hone on which to 
 sharpen it, a bajt box, and a bait board. Any flat wooden box 
 with a cover if hinged so much the better dressed with pitch 
 inside, and with a few small holes at the sides for ventilation, 
 answers very well to hold sea worms. It should be kept 
 scrupulously clean, and the size must, of course, depend on the 
 size of the bait and the quantity required. Dead baits must 
 be removed daily. For just a few ragworms the ordinary 
 japanned tin bait boxes used for worms and gentles answer 
 well enough, but they must be japanned inside as well as out 
 to prevent rust. More often any old mustard or other tin 
 which may be forthcoming is used and thrown away after- 
 wards, 
 
 N 
 
88 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 hooks ; some of the large and high-flavoured members of this 
 family which come from foreign parts are fit for little else. It 
 should be also remembered that sea fish are fond of the beards 
 of oysters. 
 
 For lugworms and ragworms we must go to the sands and 
 muddy estuaries. Where much line fishing takes place, the 
 lads are practised in the art of catching these objectionable- 
 looking baits, and will keep up a daily supply for a small con- 
 sideration ; but if there be neither sands, nor mud, nor shell- 
 fish shops, then, unless we import worms from more favoured 
 localities, we must, if mussels also fail us, seek mackerel, sprat, 
 herring, or pilchard at the fishmonger's. He may perhaps have 
 some grey gurnard, and will most surely be able to supply us 
 with sole-skin with which to make small baits for bass and 
 other fish. Almost any bright, shining skin which is sufficiently 
 tough may be used for this purpose. Smelts, too, are to be had 
 at the fishmonger's, and these are serviceable on the bottom for 
 whiting and cod, besides making very good spinning baits for 
 bass or pollack. If there are any trawlers about they will gene- 
 rally bring home in the early morning some squid or cuttlefish ; 
 but these curious creatures are so plentiful on some parts of 
 our coast that they can be easily caught by means of a bait, as 
 to which more anon. 
 
 Thanks to the liberality of gentlemen living at Plymouth, 
 experiments, which were continued for some time, were made 
 under the auspices of the Marine Biological Association with 
 the object of discovering some chemically prepared bait for sea 
 fish. Those who know the difficulty there often is in obtaining 
 a few baits for a day's fishing with the paternoster, can well 
 understand that professional fishermen, who deal with thousands 
 of hooks and miles of line, must be from time to time seriously 
 hampered by want of bait. For while there is often a great 
 abundance of sprats, pilchard, herring and mackerel, in some 
 
BAITS 89 
 
 seasons next to nothing is to be obtained suitable for the 
 purpose. It was thought possible an oily extract of pilchard 
 could be produced, with which some substance in common use 
 and easily procurable could be flavoured. It can hardly be said 
 that any success attended the experiments. The extract was 
 certainly made, but no substance has yet been discovered 
 which, when flavoured with it, will keep on the hooks and be 
 acceptable to fish. Possibly some sea angler of the future will 
 make the discovery ; for sea anglers are not less ingenious 
 than other members of the craft. One medium which I sug- 
 gested to the then director of the M.B.A. was macaroni. If 
 the hollow centre could be filled with the extract of squid or 
 pilchard and the ends sealed, the whole would be permeated 
 with the strong-smelling liquid. From the mullet-fishing ex- 
 perience related in Chapter XI. it seems that at least one sea 
 fish favours this bait even without the essence. If a quasi- 
 artificial bait of this nature can be discovered, the fisher- 
 men will benefit to the extent of many thousand pounds 
 annually. 
 
 In connection with baits there are one or two little items 
 to be considered namely, a bait knife, a hone on which to 
 sharpen it, a bait box, and a bait board. Any flat wooden box 
 with a cover if hinged so much the better dressed with pitch 
 inside, and with a few small holes at the sides for ventilation, 
 answers very well to hold sea worms. It should be kept 
 scrupulously clean, and the size must, of course, depend on the 
 size of the bait and the quantity required. Dead baits must 
 be removed daily. For just a few ragworms the ordinary 
 japanned tin bait boxes used for worms and gentles answer 
 well enough, but they must be japanned inside as well as out 
 to prevent rust. More often any old mustard or other tin 
 which may be forthcoming is used and thrown away after- 
 wards, 
 
 N 
 
90 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 The bait board is a very important portion of the sea- 
 fisherman's impedimenta ; for when fishing from the shore it is 
 impossible to prepare fish baits properly without having a piece 
 of wood on which to lay and slice them. In a boat, too, 
 if a bait board is not provided, the thwarts get into a filthy 
 condition, and sooner or later someone sits down in the 
 odious mess. Perhaps some who read this will laugh and say 
 I must be a fair-weather sailor indeed if I object to a little 
 mussel juice or a piece of mackerel being squashed over my 
 clothes. Most of us can put up with these things if neces- 
 sary ; but in a boat, of all places, any dirt or general untidi- 
 ness should as far as possible be avoided. If a quantity of 
 
 bait gets knocked off a 
 seat on to the floor of 
 the boat, it is as likely 
 as not to cause one of 
 those on board to slip 
 and fall, and perhaps 
 bring about a serious 
 
 BAIT BOARD -j 
 
 accident. 
 
 A convenient size 
 
 for a bait board is eighteen inches in length and eight inches 
 in width, with a small combing round the back and two sides. 
 The floor of it should be made of oak or any hard wood, 
 about an inch thick. The combing, which should be fixed on 
 with brass screws or copper nails, may be of deal for lightness. 
 The knife should have a long, flat, thin blade of the very 
 best quality. A very good edge indeed is required to cut fish- 
 skin and other baits. This knife should not be used for 
 opening mussels, for which something stouter with a strong 
 edge is necessary. When mackerel fishing the knife may want 
 sharpening three or four times during the day, and therefore a 
 hone is necessary. 
 
BAITS 
 
 And now to take the baits seriatim. The list is long, and 
 it is to be hoped some will always be available. 
 
 Bacon Skin. This is by no means 
 a bad bait for bass and pollack, either 
 for whiffing or casting, and may be 
 cut out of either a thin-skinned piece 
 of bacon or salt pork. It should be 
 soaked and scraped. No fat should 
 adhere to it. Either a triangular 
 piece three or four inches long and 
 an inch wide at the base should be 
 used, or else a narrow strip half an 
 inch wide and three or four inches 
 long, slightly rounded at the end next 
 the hook and brought to a tapering 
 point, where it should be scraped 
 thin and split. If the triangular 
 piece is used, insert the hook at the 
 apex of the triangle. I prefer when 
 using simply a strip of skin to insert 
 the hook at the thick end, to bring the 
 bait up to the top of the shank, and 
 then bind round above the eye, or 
 flatted end of the hook. 
 
 A capital imitation of a small 
 squid or cuttle can be made out of a 
 piece of semi-transparent pork-skin. 
 The illustration renders an explanation 
 almost unnecessary, but I may say 
 that the piece of skin provided for the 
 artist was somewhat over-adorned with 
 bristles. It should be well scraped before being cut to shape, 
 and more than two feelers or tentacles can be hung on the hook 
 
 BACON-SKIN BAIT TO 
 IMITATE A SMALL 
 SQUID OR CUTTLE 
 
92 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 if the angler so pleases. A strip of skin of any kind is easily 
 fixed on the two-hook tackle used for worms, &c. (see p. 117). 
 A number of these baits can be prepared and placed in a bottle 
 of salt. If you wish to be particularly artistic, you can cut out 
 from a piece of pork or bacon skin an imitation fish and 
 attach that to the shank of the hook in a similar manner. A 
 strip of pig's bladder has also been used with good effect as a 
 whiffing bait. Bass are fond of bacon or pork skin, which, 
 owing to their partiality for a semi-putrid bait, is sometimes 
 soaked for a day or two in weak soda water to render it a little 
 gamey. 
 
 Bass Skin. Bass skin makes a capital bait for whiffing or 
 railing. A long strip half an inch wide should be cut off what 
 I may term the edge of the belly of the fish. This should be 
 opened and split down the middle, which will give two long 
 strips, each half an inch wide. These can be cut into triangular 
 pieces, the point of the hook being placed at the apex of the 
 triangle ; the bait then has a much more lively motion than if 
 the hook is inserted at the broad end or base of the triangle, as 
 is the custom on some parts of our coasts. 
 
 Bloater. There are two fish which will take a strip of 
 moderately salted bloater, viz. bass and eels ; but this bait is 
 not so killing as others which may be used. In some places, 
 however Poole Harbour to wit bass will take a very corrupt 
 bloater with gusto. 
 
 Cockles. I have found these little shell fish excellent bait 
 for sand dabs, plaice and flounders. Whiting pout are very 
 fond of them, and, indeed, few fish will not take them at 
 times. They are, however, not so killing a bait as the mussel. 
 On some sandy shores they are extremely abundant, and may 
 be picked up without difficulty, professional cockle-gatherers 
 using a rake, as they lie a little below the surface. They should 
 be scalded before being used : this opens the shells and solidi- 
 
BAITS 93 
 
 fies the fish. Being small bait, it is often necessary to place two 
 or three on a hook. 
 
 Chad Bait. This is the young of the sea bream, and 
 much used on the coasts of the West Countrie. I shall have 
 more to say concerning these little fish later on in Chapter XIII. 
 under the head of ' Bream.' 
 
 Crabs. The ubiquitous green crab when in full marching 
 order that is to say, with all its armour on is not much used 
 as a hook bait, but is extremely valuable when pounded up as 
 a ground bait. Crushed and commingled with raw potatoes, 
 it is thrown in over the smelt net. I have so often found 
 infantile crabs inside fish I have taken, that there is little 
 doubt one of these minute creatures about the size of a six- 
 pence, or a little larger, would be a very good hook bait ; but I 
 have never used them, owing to the difficulty of obtaining a 
 sufficient quantity. When the shelly armour has been cast 
 away, and pending the growth of another, the crab is excellent 
 as a hook bait. During this period it hides in any safe, and 
 sometimes unsafe, nook or cranny. I have heard of people 
 taking a mean advantage of these poor creatures by placing in 
 estuaries and harbours a number of artificial resting places, 
 into which the unsuspecting crabs enter for the purpose of 
 changing their shells, there to be collected from time to time 
 by the heartless bait-catcher. 
 
 There are few fish which will not take soft crab ; flounders 
 and bass are particularly fond of this. Crabs are also a good 
 bait in brackish water for silver eels. They, of course, have to 
 be cut up into pieces of suitable size, according to what we are 
 fishing for. Another use for them is to bait prawn nets. On 
 the whole, they should be borne in mind and in bait box, and 
 used whenever occasion offers. 
 
 Almost, if not quite, as good a bait is that extremely curious 
 little creature known as the hermit, soldier, or farmer crab. I 
 
94 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 have something to say about him in the chapter on Shell 
 Fish. Suffice it now that he is usually found contained as to 
 his body in a whelk shell. This soft, corkscrew-like body and 
 tail of his form an excellent bait, and to obtain them his shell 
 must be gently broken. It very often happens that curled 
 up by the tip of his tail in the innermost recesses of the shell 
 will be found a somewhat large worm, akin to the ragworm of 
 the harbour. This peculiarly situated creature is also a good 
 bait for most kinds of fish. The tail of the hermit crab is much 
 appreciated by flat fish, codling, haddock, &c. Hermit crabs are 
 obtainable from trawlers and the owners of lobster pots. A few 
 may be found among the rocks at low tide, and occasionally 
 one will take a hook bait and be lifted into the boat. 
 
 Crass. Several kinds of anemones are used as baits for 
 sea fish, but the difficulty generally is to obtain a sufficient 
 number of them. There is in particular one called by the 
 fishermen ' crass ' a thick, firm, fleshy creature of a dull red or 
 salmon tint, which often grows to a large size. It is so firm 
 that when large enough it can be cut up into several baits. 
 Cod and many bottom-feeding fish take it readily enough. 
 
 Cuttle fish and Octopus I have generally described in the 
 remarks on Squid (p. 122). 
 
 Earthworms. Earthworms are not particularly good baits 
 for sea fish, but they should certainly be used when nothing 
 better is obtainable, particularly in brackish water, where eels 
 and flat fish will take them well enough. I gave them a pro- 
 longed trial in salt water one summer, and caught a large 
 number of sand dabs and plaice, but found that they very 
 quickly died. In fact, salt water is fatal to worms of many 
 kinds ; and one way of capturing these baits is to sprinkle 
 the garden path with a strong mixture of hot salt and water, 
 with or without the addition of mustard, which will bring 
 the worms out of their holes in double-quick time. In the 
 
BAITS 95 
 
 matter of weeds the process also furthers gardening interests, 
 for that year at least. 
 
 To obtain a large quantity of lob or dew worms it is 
 necessary to go out at night with a lantern, wearing a pair of 
 tennis shoes. If it be not frosty or very windy, the worms 
 will be found on lawns and at the edges of paths, lying half 
 out of their holes, taking a dew bath. If there has been a 
 shower just about sundown, they will be very far out indeed ; 
 but if the weather be dry, only a fraction of their bodies will 
 be visible. There is some skill required even to catch a worm. 
 The beginner will make a dab at the creature, which will at 
 once retreat into its hole before being laid hold of. The 
 old hand, on the contrary, treading lightly and holding the 
 lantern in his left hand, will smartly place the second finger 
 of his right hand on the hole in the ground in which the worm 
 is lying, and so prevent the creature's retreat ; then with his first 
 finger and thumb he will take hold of the worm, and, pulling 
 gently, will force it to leave its stronghold. Both with half- 
 retreated worms and eels it is always advisable to apply gentle 
 continued pressure ; sooner or later the muscles relax, and out 
 the creature comes. For freshwater fishing many gallons of 
 worms are gathered in this manner during warm summer nights. 
 
 A large lobworm makes a fairly good bait for railing or 
 whiffing for pollack, coalfish and bass. For this purpose it 
 should be placed on the hook in the manner shown in the 
 illustration (p. 96). Red worms and brandlings, which breed in 
 old manure, can be used as baits in brackish water for flat fish. 
 Earthworms of all kinds are the better for being kept in damp 
 moss for a few days ; but they require looking over occasionally, 
 and any dead ones should be removed. I have heard it said 
 that brandlings, and, doubtless, other worms, toughen if the 
 rubbings from a soft brick are mixed with the moss. The best 
 method of removing dead worms is to have two receptacles ; 
 
9 6 
 
 MODERN SEA FfSHfNG 
 
 let one of these be filled with fresh moss, and on the top of 
 it place the stale moss containing the 
 worms, live and dead. The live worms 
 will burrow down into the fresh moss, 
 
 while the dead ones will 
 be left at the top and will 
 be removed with the old 
 moss. 
 
 Eels. The white belly- 
 skin of a conger is suit- 
 able for fish-skin flies and 
 similar whiffing baits. For 
 pollack there are few more 
 killing baits than a small 
 eel about four or five 
 inches in length. It may 
 be either the freshwater eel 
 or a little conger. Where 
 a streamlet flows down 
 through a valley out on to 
 the seashore and loses it- 
 self in rocky pools, there 
 small eels are almost cer- 
 tain to be found. I re- 
 member sending on an old 
 Scotch fisherman to just 
 such a place to search for 
 bait. An hour later we joined him, 
 and, seeing no can, pot, or pan of any 
 kind in which the bait could be put, 
 
 LOBWORM 
 
 USED AS 
 
 A BAIT 
 
 FOR RAIL 
 
 ING OR 
 
 WHIFFING 
 
 0/V 
 
 SINGLE HOOK 
 
BAITS 97 
 
 jumped to the conclusion that we should have to depend 
 upon the creations of the tackle-maker, for that day at 
 least. 
 
 ' What, no bait, Sandy ? ' we said. 
 
 ' Oh ! aye,' was the reply, ' I have ferry many baits.' 
 
 ' But where are they ? ' 
 
 ' Oh, joost here,' and he slapped his trousers pockets with 
 his hand ! And sure enough, in company with some butter- 
 fish, a piece or two of seaweed, and a plug of tobacco which 
 the old man had forgotten, were about a dozen little wriggling 
 eels with which we did great execution that afternoon. 
 
 Large pollack have such capacious mouths that it is not, 
 as a rule, necessary to arm the tail of the eel, which, if placed 
 on a good-sized hook in the manner illustrated on the previous 
 page, will be found killing. If the end of the hook shank is not 
 eyed nor flattened, a large shot must be squeezed on the gut or 
 gimp just above the hook. The eel, which is partly threaded 
 on the hook, is then brought up the shank until the shot enters 
 its mouth. A turn or two of waxed thread round its nose 
 above the shot will keep it in position. This is a most lasting 
 bait, often catching many fish. 
 
 I have not the least doubt that the fish take the so-called 
 red rubber sand eels for small congers, and have noticed that 
 the natural bait invariably secures the largest fish. If no baits 
 of the right size are obtainable, the tail of a larger eel can be 
 used about six or seven inches of it is sufficient. The flesh 
 just at the cut should be removed for half an inch, the hook 
 point inserted, and the tail brought up to the top of the shank, 
 just as if a whole eel were being adjusted, where it may be 
 caught on to a small hook placed half an inch above the large 
 one. This is the method illustrated (p. 98). But the plan 
 recommended for the small eel can be followed ; that is to say, 
 if a flatted or eyed hook is being used, a piece of thread or 
 
 o 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 yarn (waxed if possible) should be tied tightly round the eel 
 skin above the eye or flat end of the hook, to keep the bait 
 from slipping down ; and to complete it neatly, turn over the 
 sides of the skin, and sew them down to 
 I the eel with needle and cotton. This forms 
 
 a very good bait attractive, tough, and 
 lasting which will kill many fish. If the 
 hook which is used is of the ordinary kind 
 and is whipped on to the line, it is necessary 
 to bite the shot on the gut or gimp just above 
 the end of the shank, the eel skin being 
 tied just above the shot. This is a much 
 better plan with these baits than using the 
 two-hook tackle recommended for lobworms. 
 If the small upper hook is used, the eel is 
 pulled off it at each run from a fish and 
 is soon rendered useless. At the same 
 time I have thought it almost necessary to 
 illustrate this form of tackle, as it is one a 
 good deal used. It is just possible that the 
 eel tail is more attractive to the fish than 
 the small eel, owing to its remarkable head. 
 If the fish are small or are biting shyly, 
 then it is very easy to vary the tackle by 
 adding a triangular or a second single hook. 
 In any case there should be a swivel on the 
 line just below the lead, for a very slight 
 twist will cause the eel to spin, although, as 
 I have said, the spinning is not necessary. I 
 EEL TAIL have seen it stated that the eel bait is all the 
 
 more deadly if the tail end and about two- 
 thirds of its body are skinned. I have never tried this experi- 
 ment, having always been perfectly satisfied with the killing 
 
BAITS 
 
 powers of the eel in its natural con- 
 dition, in "which state it is extremely 
 durable. 
 
 Those who doubt the efficacy of 
 the single hook for sea fishing may 
 try the flight used by pike fishers, 
 an illustration of which is repro- 
 duced here from the Badminton 
 volume on Freshwater Fishing. In 
 this case, if a portion of an eel is 
 used, two inches or more of the 
 skin must be turned back and the 
 bone and flesh beneath removed. 
 Then the skin is pushed up again, to 
 enable a piece of thread to be tied 
 round it just above the end of the 
 severed bone. That done, the piece 
 of skin is again turned over and 
 taken down towards the tail, its edge 
 being neatly sewn to the sides of 
 the bait. A capital artificial head 
 is thus made. These baits can be 
 kept in salt for a long time, and are 
 a great convenience. 
 
 Flounders. Flounders rank 
 among the best baits for crab and 
 lobster pots, and for such purposes 
 are sometimes dried and stored 
 away, being, of course, previously 
 gutted. For lobsters in particular 
 they should not be mildewed nor 
 musty, so that a dry storage place 
 is important. Very small flounders 
 
ioo MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 or other flat fish, somewhere about the size of a five-shilling 
 piece, are first-rate baits, used alive, for large bass. They are 
 obtainable in unlimited quantities from the shrimpers. 
 
 Garfish. The garfish, which, as will be seen by reference 
 to Chapter XI., is known by a large variety of names, is 
 occasionally cut up when nothing better offers. A strip of its 
 skin makes a very fair whiffing bait for pollack, mackerel and 
 bass, and in small pieces it can be used near the bottom for 
 whiting, cod, &c. It should be quite fresh for these purposes. 
 
 Gentles are the larvae of the bluebottle and other flies, 
 and are very easily bred in summer, when they are only too 
 numerous at butchers' and tallow chandlers'. They are 
 little used as sea-fish baits except for grey mullet, which 
 occasionally take them in the brackish water of harbours. I 
 have no doubt, however, that if any place was carefully baited 
 with a quantity of these little creatures, several other varieties 
 of sea fish could be educated up to eating them. In hot weather 
 gentles turn into the chrysalis state very quickly unless kept in 
 a dark, cool place in bran or damp sand, the latter being the 
 best. It is not difficult to keep a supply of these creatures all 
 through the winter. They should be placed in a wide-mouthed 
 pickle bottle with common mould, corked up, and buried so far 
 below the ground that the frost will not reach them. In hot 
 summer weather, when gentles are turning quickly, they can be 
 steamed and kept a few days ; but the live creature is probably 
 the more killing. 
 
 Gurnard. Pieces of grey gurnard are good bait for many 
 kinds of fish, and the skin, either dried or fresh, is most useful. 
 For whiffing or casting a bait can be sliced out of the belly of 
 the gurnard. It should be well scraped and shaped to resemble 
 the sole-skin fly shown on p. 138, but the tail end may with 
 advantage be prolonged for half an inch and weighted with a 
 shot, which helps to make it waggish and lifelike. The strip 
 
BAITS 
 
 101 
 
 is of course bent over the shank of the hook and sewn round 
 the edges, a piece of lead foil being inserted to make it swim 
 upright. 
 
 Herring. This is a very valuable bait for most kinds of 
 sea fish, and is often obtainable either from the fishmongers or 
 the fishermen. In America it is pounded up and used as 
 ground bait. It is particularly valuable for this purpose owing 
 to its being an oily fish, the highly flavoured oil globules 
 spreading about and doubtless attracting the fish, though one 
 would certainly expect them to rise quickly to the surface. 
 
 HKKKING PARTLY CUT UP FOR BAIT 
 
 The soft roe of the herring has been recommended as a bait 
 for grey mullet, but is very difficult to keep on the hook. 
 
 I have so often seen amateurs mangling herrings which 
 they were cutting up for bait, that a short account of the 
 process seems necessary. First chop off the head and tail of 
 the fish ; next split it carefully down the back with a sharp ' 
 knife, and lay it open on the bait board. The head, tail, and 
 inside, together with the backbone, all mixed up, are a 
 valuable addition to the ground bait if any is being used. 
 After carefully removing the bone, ribs, and guts, which will 
 all come away together, divide the two halves down the stomach, 
 
 1 Let me again say a pocket hone is simply invaluable when sea fishing, 
 both for knife and hooks. 
 
102 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 and from each half cut off diagonal pieces as they are required 
 about a quarter of an inch wide. The illustration will assist 
 the understanding of this method. The dotted lines show 
 where the knife should cut the uncut portions. Of course, if 
 large conger or cod are being angled for, the baits must be cut 
 larger. I generally put the hook in at the thin or belly end of 
 the bait from the scales' side, then twist it round and put it again 
 through the scales at the thick portion, the point coming out 
 through the soft flesh. I have already referred to the use of 
 bloaters as a bait for bass and eels. 
 
 Horse Mackerel. This is a coarse kind of mackerel which 
 is little used as bait, though, when flounders are wanting, it 
 sometimes does service in lobster, crab pot, or in some prawn 
 net. (See Chapter XL) 
 
 Lampreys and Lamperns, Lampreys are first-rate whiffing 
 baits, equally as good as small eels, and should be used in 
 exactly the same manner. They have much the appearance of 
 eels, but a very curious sucking apparatus takes the place of a 
 mouth. There are several varieties of these creatures, some 
 of which are found in the sea, while others appear to live 
 permanently in fresh water. They are, or used to be, used 
 alive on the long lines as baits for turbot, that fish being 
 particularly partial to them. I have caught large numbers of 
 the lesser lamprey in early spring, when they have been spawn- 
 ing on the shallows of a trout stream. 
 
 Limpets. These humble little shell fish, which appear to 
 pass aimless existences adhering to rocks, are a good deal used 
 for baits in places where mussels are scarce or wanting. They 
 are highly esteemed in the Orkneys, and are deemed most 
 serviceable if scalded out of the shell, but not boiled. I 
 confess I never had much respect for these shell fish until I 
 learnt from a scientific work that they were cyclobranchiate 
 gasteropodous molluscs of the genus Patella. The limpet is 
 
BAITS 103 
 
 cyclobranchiate because his gills or branchiae form a fringe 
 round his body between the edge of the body and the foot ; 
 and he belongs to the order of gasteropods because his dis- 
 tinguishing characteristic is the broad, muscular, and disc- 
 like foot which is attached to the surface of his stomach. In 
 fact, he walks on his stomach, a proceeding which is rarely 
 seen. 
 
 If the rock be soft, the limpet digs himself a little pit in 
 which he rests, making his way therefrom for a few inches to 
 feed on various kinds of seaweed. As a rule, these curious 
 creatures do not move except when covered by water ; but I 
 once saw one taking an airing, and a very curious performance 
 it was. The shell was raised about an eighth of an inch ; a 
 tiny feeler peeped out, waved to and fro and felt about as 
 if to ascertain if the next twenty-fifth of an inch of rock was 
 suitable for progression. After the limpet was satisfied on this 
 important point, the edges of its body began to work slowly all 
 round the shell, and a step forward was made. And that was 
 the locomotion of a gasteropod, with whom time was apparently 
 no object. When the limpet has made up its mind to stick 
 in one place, it shows great determination to that end. It 
 has been recently calculated that it requires a force of about 
 60 Ibs., or upwards of 2,000 times its own weight without 
 its shell, to pull it away from the rock. It is, however, easy 
 enough to dislodge these strong men among shell fish if you 
 know the right way. Take them unawares and give them a 
 sharp tap, and they tumble down as if shot ; or gently insinuate 
 a knife under the shell before they have time to crouch down 
 on to the rock. 
 
 Limpets are a good deal eaten by the poorer classes in 
 some parts of Ireland and Scotland, and, as baits, are used on 
 the haddock lines when, as I have said, mussels or better baits 
 are not obtainable. The soft part of a limpet is considered a 
 
104 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 LUGWORM 
 
 very fair bait for sea bream ; by reason 
 of its softness it should be cut out and 
 placed in the air to dry for an hour or 
 two before being used. A whole limpet 
 threaded up the shank of a hook, fol- 
 lowed by a lugworm, makes a very 
 killing bait for codfish. It is illus- 
 trated in Chapter XIII. 
 
 Lugworms, which are sometimes, 
 but rarely, called lobworms, take the 
 highest rank among baits for sea fish. 
 Theyaredark reddish-brown in colour. 
 Their form may be identified from 
 Mr. Pritchett's careful drawing. They 
 exude a nasty yellow fluid which stains 
 the fingers, and the narrow end of 
 them, which should be nipped off, con- 
 tains little else than sand. A lugworm 
 lives in sand, through which it eats its 
 way, extracting any available nutri- 
 ment, and throwing up above the 
 surface the sand which has passed 
 through its alimentary canal. It often 
 grows three or four times as large as 
 the dew or lobworm of our gardens. 
 
 Lugs are obtained without much 
 difficulty by digging wherever the casts 
 are noticed ; but be very smart in 
 pouncing upon them when they are 
 thrown up, for they bury themselves 
 in the sand with great rapidity. Mr. 
 Wilcocks has stated that these baits 
 must never be cut, because the liquid 
 
BAITS 105 
 
 interior itself runs out, leaving nothing but the empty skin ; but, 
 as I have said, the sandy end is nearly always pinched off by the 
 fishermen in the manner I have directed. Lugworms can be kept 
 for some time in a cool place in a box of wet sand or seaweed, 
 but it is very necessary to look them over daily, for a dead one 
 left among them for a few hours turns putrid and quickly kills 
 the rest. These baits are so killing for bottom-feeding fish 
 that it is quite worth while going to some expense to obtain 
 them ; and if they are not found in the district where one may 
 happen to be fishing, it is good policy to send a telegram 
 or letter to the nearest part of the coast whence they may be 
 obtained by parcels post or otherwise. 
 
 While this book was in the press I received the follow- 
 ing interesting notes concerning lugworms from Mr. Edward 
 Hanger, of Deal. ' There are two kinds of lug here, one the 
 large yellow-tail lug, so-called by our fishermen, and the other 
 the ordinary or common black lug. The yellow-tail will keep 
 alive much longer than the common lug, and is the best for 
 bait for whiting and cod. The common lug is best for all 
 kinds of flat fish, because the large lug will choke small hooks 
 up. The yellow-tailed lugs are very difficult to dig up, as they 
 generally lie well down into the sand. When rough and cold 
 weather sets in the fishermen sometimes squeeze the inside 
 out from the tail up through its mouth and then hang them 
 over a line, and by this means a man has bait when the weather 
 breaks up.' 
 
 The Mackerel, which is more particularly described in a 
 subsequent chapter, is very valuable for purposes of bait, and 
 can be used in a variety of ways. In the first place, a strip of 
 mackerel skin is the best of all baits for mackerel. Any thin, 
 triangular piece of skin will answer the purpose, but the regu- 
 lation last or laske, which is best of all, is cut in the following 
 manner. With a sharp knife make a semicircular incision 
 
 p 
 
106 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 1 1 or 2 inches below the root of the tail, and a slice downwards 
 towards the tail, cutting out the piece shown by the dotted 
 line in the illustration. Half this piece will be silver, the other 
 half of the darker colour found on the back of the mackerel. 
 It is the toughest and best piece of skin for the purpose that 
 can be found in the mackerel. But it must be cut thin that 
 is essential. Next, lay it scales downwards on a piece of cork 
 and push the point of the hook through the narrow end as 
 illustrated. This little strip of skin will quiver and play in 
 the water and look exactly like a small herring or sprat. 
 No attempt should be made to cover the shank of the 
 hook. 
 
 When shoals of very large mackerel are about, the laske may 
 be 2\ inches or even more in length. But generally speaking 
 i.j inch is a good length. In clear water and calm weather 
 both bait and hook should be smaller than on dark rough 
 days. 
 
 No. 16 (2/0 Redditch scale) is a good general size for a 
 mackerel hook, but No. 13 (2 Redditch) will be best when the 
 fish are biting shyly. Professional fishermen use still larger 
 hooks, simply because they are easily and quickly removed 
 from the mackerel's mouth. But in light breezes these large 
 hooks fail, without much doubt scaring the fish. 
 
 Young mackerel about five or six inches long, called in some 
 places 'joeys,' make excellent baits for bass and pollack. I have 
 tried them with much success on the Chapman spinner, an 
 excellent form of which is illustrated on p. 108. It should be 
 noted that the pull of the line comes direct on to the hooks, so 
 that there is no tendency to drag the fans out of the mouth of 
 the bait as there is in other mountings in which the swivel and 
 gimp bearing the hooks are attached to the fans. In the Archer 
 spinner, the spikes on the movable fans help to keep the joey 
 in position. Perhaps triangles are a mistake. Sea fish as a rule 
 
BAITS 
 
 107 
 
 MAC.KEREL 
 
 MACKKREL LAST. (How cut and placed on hook) 
 
io8 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 take so ravenously that a single hook, or two, usually suffices. 
 
 IMPROVED CHAPMAN 
 SPINNER 
 
 There is certainly a loss of 
 time in unhooking fish from 
 triangles. 
 
 Several other improved 
 forms of spinner built on 
 the Chapman principle have 
 been brought out of late 
 years. The latest is Hardy's 
 'Crocodile,' in which the 
 central spike is omitted. 
 One of the best is the ' Bed- 
 ford,' made by Bambridge, in which 
 a kind of safety pin holds the bait 
 very firmly in position. It is certainly 
 a bait economiser. 
 
 When small baits have run short, 
 I have made a quasi-joey by cutting 
 off six inches of the tail end of a 
 mackerel diagonally, scooping out some 
 of the flesh with a sharp penknife, in- 
 serting the spike of one of these spin- 
 ners, and sewing up the edges of the 
 skins together ; or, if a needle and silk 
 have not been handy, binding round the 
 
RAITS 
 
 109 
 
 upper part of the bait with white silk or thread. This operation 
 should be neatly performed, and takes some time in the doing ; 
 so it is well to be prepared with half a dozen baits before fishing 
 begins. I have sometimes made a very successful spinning bait 
 by cutting a long strip of mackerel-skin a quarter of an inch or 
 a little more in thickness, binding one end of it on to the head 
 of the Chapman spinner, and 
 winding the rest of it round 
 the spike, fixing it firmly 
 at the lower end with thread 
 or silk. This bait spins bril- 
 liantly, but is not to be made 
 by those who have not the 
 complete use of their fingers. 
 
 On or near the bottom, 
 pieces of mackerel are ex- 
 cellent baits. The mackerel 
 should be split down the 
 back, in the manner de- 
 scribed for herring, but the 
 diagonal slices cut from each 
 side are as a rule too large 
 for any except fish of consid- 
 erable size. There are very 
 few fish which will not take 
 mackerel bait ; congers, in 
 particular, are very fond of it. 
 
 Mudworm is the same thing as ragworm, which has a 
 paragraph to itself later on. 
 
 Mussels. The welfare of some thousands of people depends 
 on these shell fish. There is no fish in the sea which will not 
 take them, and they are particularly valuable for haddock and 
 cod fishing. There are mussels and mussels. The smaller 
 
 ARCHER SPINNER 
 
no MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 species, which are found in salt water, are by no means the 
 best for baits. Far better are the large mussels which grow in 
 the brackish water of estuaries or among the rocks in inlets 
 of the sea where the water is tempered by the inflow of many 
 rivers. The finest, as I said at the beginning of the chapter, 
 are sold for edible and angling purposes at the shell-fish shops. 
 On parts of the Yorkshire coast, as I have before noted, the 
 fishermen actually use mussels ' made in Germany ' ! Such is 
 their ignorance^ of the law that no legend to that effect is 
 marked on the shells. Thousands of sacks full of these invalu- 
 able fish are sent over to Hull, and distributed along the coast. 
 The fishermen keep small quantities in baskets weighted and 
 placed among the rocks, but the sea water of the east coast 
 is too strong for them, and they do not live very long. When 
 fishing some years ago in Broad Bay, near Stornoway, we could 
 only get mussels by sending right across the Island of Lewis 
 to the sea-lochs of its western side. Those we obtained were 
 large, and lived a long time in pools among the rocks. The 
 sea in that part of the world is less salt than on our east 
 coast. 
 
 Sometimes mussels are scalded or boiled, or put in the oven 
 for a few minutes, or placed in the sun for an hour, either of 
 which processes opens the shell and turns the contents into 
 a more or less solid mass easily adjusted on the hook. But 
 it is far better to use these baits untreated by heat. Some- 
 times they are opened and salted, but I cannot commend the 
 practice. 
 
 For opening mussels there is nothing better than an ordi- 
 nary oyster knife. If a clasp knife is used, it should have the 
 spring catch at the back, which keeps the blade from closing 
 on to the hand. A small mussel is a difficult thing to open ; 
 large ones should be treated in the manner following the 
 Scotch method. The end by which the mussel adheres to 
 
BAITS 
 
 i n 
 
 rocks, &c., is pointed and thick. The upper end broadens 
 out, flattens, and is semicircular. One side has an almost 
 
 HOW TO OPEN A MUSSEL 
 
H2 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 straight edge, the other being curved. Hold the mussel in the 
 left hand so that the narrow end rests in the palm of the hand, 
 the beard and straight edge pointing away from you. Rest 
 the flat end on the joint of the first finger, and place the thumb 
 on the upper shell above it. With the thumb, gently push the 
 upper shell to the left, holding the lower shell firmly on the 
 first finger. The shells will slightly slide apart and disclose an 
 opening for the knife. Then insert the point of the knife and 
 pass the blade between the body of the fish and the broad, 
 flat portion of the lower half of the shell ; this will sever the 
 one side of the powerful muscle which holds the two shells 
 together, and the rest is easy. Run the knife round the edges 
 to divide the various filaments. Then, and not before, prise the 
 shells. Cut the remaining muscle which adheres to the upper 
 shell, fully open both shells, and the bait will be seen lying un- 
 mangled in the lower one. The two important points to be 
 observed are that the shells must be first slid apart, and that no 
 attempt to prise them open should be made until the muscle 
 which is clearly shown in the illustration, and marked A A, has 
 been severed. Sport often depends in a great measure on the 
 careful opening of the mussel. If badly opened, these baits 
 cannot be made to stick on the hook. 
 
 But now comes, to the novice, a tremendous difficulty 
 to put this soft mass, which appears of the consistence of liver, 
 on the hook so that it will remain there. Lying almost hidden 
 between the two halves of the mussel will be seen a little, dark 
 brown, tough, leathery tongue (B), and through this the hook 
 should be first placed. It should next be passed through the 
 bait from side to side, and finally through any of the tough 
 filaments, the round, hard, white piece of muscle which was 
 cut when the knife first went into the shell being put on the 
 point of the hook last to keep the rest in place. The knack 
 of it all is not acquired in a day. But the difficulties are 
 
BAITS 113 
 
 not great if the mussel has not been mangled in the opening. 
 On hand and throw-out lines mussels are often tied with 
 pieces of wool or thread. On long lines the Scotch fisher- 
 men cover each mussel with a fleck-like piece of wool spread 
 out and brought over the bait like a fine veil. I never do 
 this, for I find that if the mussel is carefully opened and 
 properly placed on a suitable hook, it will stand being cast 
 out, and with the fine tackle I use I can nearly always feel 
 a bite and strike the fish before the hook is robbed. Profes- 
 sional fishermen, no doubt, so tear the mussel in placing it on 
 their coarse large hooks that tieing on seems almost necessary, 
 particularly for long lines on which fish hook themselves. But 
 there is no general rule on the subject even among professional 
 fishermen. 
 
 A very interesting report on mussels was made by a com- 
 mittee appointed by the Secretary for Scotland, in 1889. Nearly 
 all the 50,000 fishermen of Scotland use these baits during 
 some part of the year, and it was a very curious fact that 
 during three years' haddock fishing at Eyemouth the weight of 
 fish caught hardly exceeded the weight of mussels used. The 
 fish weighed 4,665 Ibs., the mussels 4,022 Ibs. The cost of 
 the mussels was one-eighth of the value of the fish taken with 
 them. There was no question as to there being a growing 
 scarcity of these valuable baits, the fishermen often having to 
 send many miles for them, their cost, including carriage, being 
 as much as 50^. a ton. There seems no reason why the Scotch 
 mussel beds should not be generally available for bait at 
 moderate prices if properly managed, stringent regulations being 
 required to prevent them from being overworked. So prolific 
 is the mussel that it is only necessary to give the beds on which 
 it has been found a fair chance, under efficient protection 
 and regulation, to insure these fish reproducing themselves 
 in almost unlimited quantities. Under favourable conditions 
 
 Q 
 
1 14 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 the mussel attains a size of 2 to 2\ inches in about three 
 years. 
 
 There are two methods of cultivating mussels. One on the 
 bed system, which is common in Scotch and English waters ; 
 and the bouchot system, as practised in PYance, the mussels 
 being grown on open wattle fences placed in the water. This 
 method has been attempted without much success in Scotland. 
 It has been asserted that mussels grown on bouchots are not a 
 good colour for bait, being more suitable for table purposes. 
 So far as my own experience goes, one colour is about as good 
 as another only the exceedingly pale mussels not being relished 
 by the fish. 
 
 Two or three years ago some Nairn fishermen placed a few 
 tons of minute mussels in a sheltered tidal bay with a sandy 
 bottom. The seed took hold and rapidly grew to a large size. 
 A new lot of seed was brought from the Bay of Findhorn, a 
 noted mussel bed. It took root and, at the end of about two 
 years, spawned. The experiment was regarded as a great 
 success. Fishermen who use the home-cultivated baits are 
 believed to catch many more fish than do the men who use 
 imported mussels. This is a patriotic belief, so let it stand. 
 
 Among other uses of mussels is that of making oyster sauce 
 in London restaurants and sundry hotels, both rural and urban. 
 I have known several people made ill by eating these shell fish, 
 and regard them more favourably as baits for fish than as food 
 for human beings. Being anxious to look into the harmfulness 
 or harmlessness of mussels as food, I once put this question 
 to a little fisherboy at Hastings : ' Did you ever know anyone 
 ill after eating mussels ? ' 
 
 He said ' No ' at first, but seeming to hesitate, I repeated 
 the question. ' Only grandmother,' he added. 
 
 ' And what happened to her ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Oh, she swelled up a bit.' 
 
BAITS 115 
 
 There is something very delightful about that ' only.' 
 
 Oysters of the commoner kinds make very good baits for 
 most kinds of fish. Not that I suppose a cod or haddock 
 would strongly object to a well-flavoured native, particularly if 
 he had not to pay for it, and the bacteria of typhoid could be 
 guaranteed absent. If oysters are deemed too expensive, their 
 beards can be used. 
 
 Pilchards are among the oiliest of fishes, and much valued 
 on that account either as bait or ground bait. So far as Britain 
 is concerned, they are not generally found very far beyond the 
 coasts of Cornwall and Devon. The inside of a pilchard, though 
 somewhat difficult to keep on the hook, will attract almost any 
 fish that is to be found in the sea. It is a particularly good 
 bait when mackerel fishing at anchor, in midwater or near the 
 bottom, and there is nothing better in the ground-bait net. If 
 the flesh is used, the pilchard may be cut up in exactly the same 
 manner as the herring, but the scales should be very carefully 
 scraped off while it is still fresh. If it has dried at all, it should 
 be soaked before this is done. But it is not a good thing to 
 cut the bait into pieces until just before it is going to be used, 
 for the oil which bleeds from the severed portion is, as I have 
 said, very attractive. In Cornish waters a long strip from the 
 side of a pilchard is a favourite bait for large pollack. Begin 
 the cut by taking the whole width of the tail, together with 
 some of the cartilage, and cut away gradually, tapering to a 
 point near the shoulder. Some men start the cut at the 
 shoulder. The hook should be stuck through the piece of 
 cartilage at the tail end, the remainder of the bait streaming 
 out and waving about in the current. Pilchards are sometimes 
 salted down for use as baits, but when this is done they should 
 be soaked in fresh water for some hours before being used. 
 
 Prawns, though excellent baits for almost all sea fish, are 
 too scarce to be commonly used. They are most deadly if 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 placed on the hook alive, when pollack and bass will take 
 them readily. Peeled (unboiled) they are, like shrimps, a 
 capital bait for mullet, flat fish, eels and smelts. Sometimes 
 they are used boiled, but this I consider a mistake. If a live 
 prawn is used the hook should be simply put through its tail. 
 
 Ragworm, Pollack Worm, or Mudworm. 
 The drawing of this curious and not too pre- 
 sentable creature will serve to identify a very 
 valuable worm. Its favourite haunts are the 
 odorous banks of mud in estuaries and harbours. 
 In such places ragworms frequently swarm in 
 thousands, and a quantity will be dug for a few 
 pence by any fisherboy. There is a larger kind 
 of ragworm which is found among the rocks far 
 away from the harbour mud. These are com- 
 paratively scarce, and are the same as, or akin 
 to, the worm which I have described as making 
 its abiding place at the extreme end of the 
 whelk shell inhabited by the hermit crab. There 
 are not a few places on the South coast where 
 these baits are unobtainable, and in many a 
 likely looking spot I have searched for them 
 in vain. 
 
 The best way of keeping ragworms is to 
 RAGWORM put them in a shallow wooden box with a cover. 
 They must on no account be heaped up to- 
 gether, and if placed in a small tin should be mixed up with 
 seaweed. For keeping any quantity a large box is required, well 
 pitched inside. A little fresh sea water should be flowed over 
 the worms every day. A convenient-sized box for taking out 
 fishing is one about two or three inches deep, ten inches long, 
 and six inches wide. The worms should be kept at all times 
 in as cool a place as possible and out of the sun, the large 
 
BAITS 117 
 
 ragworms perhaps keeping best in sand or seaweed. The 
 placing of these worms for a night in powdered saltpetre or 
 salt has been advised. I have not experimented with this 
 process, which kills the worms and is supposed to toughen 
 them. 
 
 There are two ways of using ragworms. Two or three may 
 be hooked through the head and used as a 
 whiffing bait ; or they may be placed on mo- 
 derate-sized hooks and fished with a pater- 
 noster near the bottom. There they will take 
 flat fish, eels, smelts, mullet, and, in fact, all 
 kinds of fish. Large ragworms are said to eat 
 smaller ones. Two or three small hooks one 
 above the other form a good tackle on which to 
 use these worms. Catch each hook once in the 
 worm, the head being on the upper hook. 
 
 Ray's Liver is a noted bass bait in certain 
 places : to wit, the mouths of harbours or the 
 adjoining shore, where a good deal of offal from 
 fishing boats, &c., finds its way into the sea. 
 It is extremely unpleasant stuff to fish with, the 
 more so as it is considered none the worse for 
 
 ,. T, i,i-i) A r i / TWO-HOOK 
 
 being a little ' high.' A few pounds of it placed TACKLE 
 in a sack and lowered into the water from 
 the rocks is believed to attract bass, and I have no doubt 
 that is the case. It can be obtained from the trawlers. 
 
 Ray's Skin in strips is used in the same way as mackerel- 
 skin, bass-skin, gurnard-skin, &c. 
 
 The Sand-Eel or Launce is not only a valuable bait, but 
 also a very important source of food to most species of sea 
 fish. There are two varieties, the lesser and the greater. 
 It is known by numerous local names, which are occasionally 
 used in a loose and very perplexing manner. In Scotland the 
 
n8 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 greater sand-eel is termed horner or horn 
 eel, in Cornwall the great lant; the St. Ives 
 fishermen calling adult eels snake bait, 
 and the young ones naked bait ; in Ireland 
 (co. Down) they are termed snedden. The 
 lesser sand-eel is called the lizard bait at 
 Land's End, and the ivriggle in Sussex. 
 
 Sand-eels, which, by the way, are 
 capital eating, except in the winter soon 
 after they have spawned, are generally 
 caught either by digging or raking them 
 out of the sand at low water, or by enclos- 
 ing them in seines which are specially 
 made for the purpose. The sand-eel 
 seine a Channel Island institution con- 
 5 sists of a strip of netting (sometimes 
 as much as seventy yards in length) of 
 i various sizes of mesh, the mesh decreas- 
 : ing from the sides towards the bunt 
 or middle, which is of calico. In it are 
 some gores of exceedingly fine netting, 
 placed there to allow the water to pass 
 through it. This calico, some thirty feet 
 in length, cut fuller than the rest of the 
 net, forms a sort of bag which takes 
 the little fish when the net is drawn on 
 shore. The netting immediately next 
 the calico, which, like the calico, should 
 be gathered to make it bag, is of one-inch 
 mesh, the wings on the outside being 
 of three-inch mesh. The seine may be 
 about eighteen feet deep in the centre, 
 tapering off to five feet at the sides. 
 
BAITS 
 
 119 
 
 COURGE IN TOW. 29" X 9 INS. 
 
 THE LID This net; the measurements given are 
 
 those used by professional fishermen 
 is unnecessarily large for the amateur. 
 When caught, the sand-eels should be kept alive as long as 
 possible in wickerwork baskets of the form shown in the illus- 
 tration, called courges, and much used for towing after boats. 
 These great conveniences, in which shrimps and small flat fish 
 can also be kept alive, can now be obtained from the Plymouth 
 tackle-makers. Used alive the sand-eel is one of the most 
 
120 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 
 BAITING WITH 
 
 THE LIVING 
 
 SAND-EEL 
 
 deadly baits known for pollack and bass. It 
 should be placed on the hook in the manner 
 shown in the illustration (fig. A) if the tidal 
 current is at all strong ; but in slack water 
 it is perhaps best hooked through the nape 
 of the neck, as shown in fig. B. Dead sand- 
 eels are good whiffing baits, and it is not as 
 a rule necessary to spin them. The whiffing 
 or trailing tackle used for small congers or 
 silver eels, shown on pp. 96-99, carries the 
 sand-eel exceedingly well. But, should the 
 fish be very shy and a lively spin be deemed 
 desirable, a Chapman spinner, small in the 
 fans and long in the spike, is as good as any 
 that can be used, but it must be fitted with 
 hooks strong enough to hold the fish we are 
 seeking. 
 
 Small pieces of sand-eel are also good 
 baits for most bottom-feeding fish. For 
 whiffing purposes they can be kept for an 
 almost indefinite period in the compound 
 known as King's Preservative, or a mixture 
 of methylated spirits, glycerine, and water in 
 equal parts. It is as well after the first 
 fortnight to change the liquid, which gets 
 charged with oil. 
 
BAITS 12 1 
 
 The Sea Loach, or Cockling, is a useful little fish of the 
 cod family, found among the rocks on some parts of our 
 coasts, and is a good whiffing bait for pollack, &c. 
 
 Shrimps. Shrimps are admirable baits for flat fish and 
 pollack, particularly if used alive, when the hook should be 
 passed once through the tail. They can be obtained from the 
 shrimpers, who will of course save a few from the boiling pot 
 for a small consideration. They are easily kept alive in a 
 sand-eel courge, or in any other finely woven basket. Boiled 
 shrimps, peeled, are sometimes used as baits. It is far better, 
 even if they are not alive, to use them unboiled. 
 
 Smelts. These delicate little fish make admirable baits, 
 and may be used in exactly the same way as sand-eels. In 
 the Solent a piece of smelt is a very favourite bait for whiting, 
 but is not, I believe, much used for the purpose in other 
 places. I have devoted a little space to these fish in a subse- 
 quent chapter, and there is also a reference to them in con- 
 nection with fly fishing in the sea. 
 
 Snails. The common or garden snail is a fairly good bait 
 for whiting, pout and bream, and I have heard of it being used 
 on long lines when nothing better was to be obtained. 
 
 The Spotted Gunnel, or butterfish a term which is equally 
 applied to the blennies is a capital whiffing bait for pollack, 
 and can be either simply trailed on the eel tackle (p. 96), or 
 mounted on spinning tackle such as I have recommended for 
 small mackerel on p. 108. It is found in small pools under 
 seaweed or stones, between high and low water mark. It is 
 slippery, and difficult to catch with the hand. Being long-lived 
 it is a capital live bait. It is common in the Orkneys (where 
 it is called swordick) and on the west coast of Scotland. It is 
 found on the Devonshire and Cornish coasts, and is plentiful 
 all round Ireland. It is a long, eel-like little fish, with nine or 
 more black spots encircled with white rings on the upper 
 
 R 
 
124 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 extraordinary creatures have one common peculiarity : their 
 limbs grow from the place where their necks ought to be, and 
 thus they may almost be said to walk on their heads. For this 
 reason they are termed cephalopoda. 
 
 The octopus, squid and cuttle have no outer shells, and 
 protect themselves from their enemies by expelling from a 
 little bag an inky fluid which discolours the water and hides 
 them. Most of the head-footed ones and the octopus in par- 
 ticularhave the power of changing colour at will, making 
 themselves almost invisible when clinging to rocks. 
 
 Of the octopus (poulpe or devil fish), there are many species. 
 As the name indicates, it has eight feet, arms, or feelers, which 
 are united near the body by a web, just as the toes of a duck 
 are joined together. On each feeler are two rows of suckers, a 
 hundred and twenty of them to each arm, so that the fish not 
 only has the power of seizing its unfortunate prey by enclosing 
 it in its hideous arms, but, by merely touching it and bringing 
 its suckers to bear, can hold it fast. It is a night feeder, hiding 
 during the day. Mr. S. Hanley, the conchologist, when winter- 
 ing in Italy, observed some octopods in Leghorn Harbour, the 
 tentacles of which were about four feet in length. They were 
 greatly feared by the divers and bathers of the place. In 1879 
 a Government diver named Small was caught by an octopus at 
 the bottom of the sea, in the tidal portions of the river Mogne, 
 Melbourne. Fortunately, he had one arm free, and drawing an 
 iron bar towards him with his foot, he successfully fought the 
 monster which measured nearly eight feet across and was 
 pulled up to the surface in a state of great exhaustion and terror 
 at the end of about twenty minutes. 
 
 With their powerful beaks these creatures can break the 
 shells of crabs and lobsters, but are themselves fed on by many 
 kinds of sea fish, particularly congers. Quite a horrible tragedy 
 once took place in Havre Aquarium. It was graphically de- 
 
BAITS 125 
 
 scribed by Mr. Henry Lee, F.L.S., in his work on ' The Octopus, 
 or the Devil Fish of Fiction and Fact.' The curator of the 
 aquarium threw the octopus into a tank of congers. It at once 
 perceived its danger, and endeavoured to conceal its presence 
 by stretching itself along a rock the colour of which it immedi- 
 ately assumed. Apparently seeing it was discovered, it changed 
 its tactics, and shot backward in quick retreat, leaving behind 
 it a long black trail of turbid water, formed by the discharge of 
 its ink. Then it fixed itself to a rock with all its arms surround- 
 ing and protecting its body, presenting on all exposed sides a 
 surface furnished with suckers, and awaited the attack of its 
 enemy. A conger approached, and, having found a vulnerable 
 place, seized a mouthful of the living flesh. Then, straightening 
 itself up in the water, it turned round and round with giddy 
 rapidity until the arm was with a violent wrench torn away 
 from the body of the victim. Each bite of the conger cost the 
 octopus a limb ; finally nothing remained but a dismembered 
 body, which was devoured by some dogfishes. 
 
 In aquariums octopods have been seen to build themselves 
 little grottos of oysters, where they dwell in peace and happi- 
 ness during the daytime, wandering at night, sometimes leaving 
 their tanks and travelling into others on voyages of discovery, 
 adventure, and depredation. In some parts of the world they 
 are attracted by white shells or stones spread on the bottom of 
 the sea, and rows of jars which act as traps are laid in which 
 they hide and are captured. 
 
 The chameleon-like habit of changing colour when irritated 
 is one of the most remarkable features of several members of 
 the cephalopoda. I once happened upon a very fine specimen 
 of octopus in a rocky pool on the Welsh coast, where it had been 
 left by the receding tide. It was a bright red colour, and, on 
 my touching it with my crab hook, purple spots began to show 
 on the red. Interfering with it still further, the red ground 
 
126 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 gradually died away, and it became a piebald yellow and purple 
 creature. Then I thought I would put it in a prawn net and 
 take it home, whereupon it straightway turned the most ghastly 
 livid colour imaginable, assuming the pallor of death. I had 
 hopes of keeping this strange thing alive, and presented it with 
 a tenement in the shape of a bucket of salt water ; but it received 
 so many pokes and touches from various people to bring out 
 those chameleon-like changes, that during the night it gave up 
 the ghost. 
 
 Of much greater importance from an angler's point of view 
 is the common squid or calamary (Loligo vulgaris}. It is some- 
 times called the pen-and-ink fish, on account of its ink bag, 
 and the delicate elongated shell which is found within it. The 
 octopus has a similar shell, these two being in this respect very 
 different from the cuttle, which possesses inside it the stout 
 shield-shaped, calcareous mass so often found on the seashore. 
 In aged squid are sometimes found more than one shell. These 
 fish, of which there are about nineteen species altogether, 
 abound off Cornwall. One of the most remarkable is the 
 Sagittated Calamary which the sailors call the flying squid, or 
 sea arrow. By filling itself with water and rapidly expelling it, 
 the flying squid projects itself with great force above the surface 
 of the sea, sometimes falling on the decks of ships. It is the 
 Ommastrephes sagittatus that is so largely used as a bait for 
 cod by the Newfoundland fishermen, who catch these curious 
 creatures in great numbers by means of a jigger a cone-shaped 
 piece of lead from which about half a dozen hooks project. The 
 squid catchers go out in small craft about sundown, each boat 
 often coming in with a hundred or more of these valuable baits. 
 
 Calamaries of enormous size are caught from time to time 
 in foreign seas, and there is a record of one monster seen in 
 British waters. It was given in the 'Zoologist' for June 1875. 
 A dark mass was observed in the sea by the crew of a curragh 
 
BAITS 177 
 
 or large coracle, north-west of Boffin Island, Connemara. At 
 first they thought it was a wreck, and rowed up to it, when they 
 discovered it to be a huge calamary. Certainly with much 
 daring, they cut off one of its arms. The thing, which was prob- 
 ably dying or injured, fled, but they followed it, and succeeded 
 in cutting off another arm and also the head. One accepts 
 these stories of marine marvels with reservation, but in this case 
 the pieces, labelled Architeuthis dux, are in the Dublin Museum. 
 The shorter arms were about eight feet in length. A creature 
 of this size would have no difficulty in destroying a man, and I 
 have suggested that it may have been dead when seen by the 
 fishermen. That gulls were hovering over it points to this. 
 
 Another record of a giant calamary, which appears to be well 
 authenticated, occurs in the ' Annals and Magazine of Natural 
 History,' fourth series, vol. 13. There the Rev. M. Harvey 
 described how three fishermen of St. John's, Newfoundland, 
 found the horrible monster entangled in their herring net. 
 They succeeded in killing it, and had to cut off its head before 
 they could drag it into their boat. Mr. Harvey purchased the 
 remains and photographed- them. The body was eight feet in 
 length and five in circumference. The mouth of the creature 
 was shaped like that of a bird and about the size of a man's 
 fist. The two longest arms measured twenty-four feet in length, 
 but only three inches in circumference. Each of the short arms 
 was six feet in length. Mr. Harvey drew a powerful picture of 
 an unfortunate being seized by this great creature. ' No fate,' 
 said he, ' could be more horrible than to be entwined in the 
 embrace of those eight clammy, corpse-like arms, and to feel 
 their folds creeping and gliding around you, and the eight 
 hundred discs, with their cold adhesive touch, glueing them- 
 selves to you with a grasp which nothing could relax, and feeling 
 like so many mouths devouring you at the same time. Slowly 
 the horrible arms, supple as leather, strong as steel, and cold as 
 
T28 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 death, draw their prey under the horrible beak, and press it 
 against the glutinous mass which forms the body. The cold, 
 slimy grasp paralyses the victim with terror, and the powerful 
 mandibles rend and devour.' 
 
 The common cuttle of British waters (Sepia officinalis] 
 is, apart from its shape, a beautiful creature with zebra-like 
 markings, and of many colours rich brown, white, green, and 
 rose. It is found all round our coasts, but it is more common 
 in the south than in the north. It does not shun the light of 
 day like the octopus in fact, both it and the squid can be 
 attracted at night by lanterns. Mr. Henry Lee thus charmingly 
 describes it in his ' Aquarium Notes ' : ' Poised near the surface 
 of the water, like a hawk in the air, the sepia moves gently to 
 and fro in its tank by graceful undulations of its lateral fins, an 
 exquisite play of colour taking place over its beautifully barred 
 and mottled back. When thus tranquil, its eight pedal arms 
 are usually brought close together, and droop in front of its 
 head, like the trunk of an elephant shortened, its two longer 
 tentacular arms being coiled up within the others unseen. Only 
 when some small fish is given to it as food is its facility of rapid 
 motion displayed. Then, quickly as a kingfisher darts upon a 
 minnow, it pounces on its prey, enfolds it in its fatal embrace, 
 and retires to a recess of its abode to tear it piecemeal with its 
 horny beak, and rend it into minutest shreds with its jagged 
 tongue. In shallow water, however, it will often rest for hours 
 on the bottom, after a heavy meal, looking much like a sleepy 
 tortoise. The cuttle-fishes are so voracious that fishermen 
 regard them as unwelcome visitors. Some localities on our own 
 coast are occasionally so infested by them that the drift netting 
 has to be abandoned, in consequence of their devouring the 
 fish, or rendering them unsaleable by tearing them with their 
 beaks as they hang in the meshes.' 
 
 On the whole, the cuttle is rather a nuisance in the aquarium, 
 
BAITS 129 
 
 for, giving out a deluge of black ink, it frequently spoils the 
 water of the tank. This ink, which was formerly used for writing 
 purposes, is the sepia of artists. It is a curious fact that a very 
 good pigment can be made from the ink bags of fossil decapods. 
 As the sepia discharges its protective colouring fluid on the 
 slightest provocation, it is difficult to understand how it came 
 to acquiesce in the indignity of being fossilised without emptying 
 its ink bag during the process. 
 
 There are about thirty species of these creatures altogether, 
 but the cuttle of British waters is the one already described 
 (Sepia officinalis). 
 
 In many places on the Continent and in Japan cuttles are 
 used as food, either dried, salted, or cooked fresh, but, like the 
 octopus, have to be beaten to render them tender. It is gene- 
 rally believed that conger are particular on this point, disdaining 
 a piece of cuttle unless it has been treated in this way. The 
 brilliant lenses of the eyes, which are hard and almost calcareous, 
 are worn as ornaments in Italy, and the thick, chalky, internal 
 shell was, after treatment, used as face powder by the ancients, 
 and has been deemed of value for cleaning teeth. Finally it 
 has reached its level, perhaps, between the bars of the canary's 
 cage, where it is frequently seen. 
 
 Of the three characteristic head-footed fish I have men- 
 tioned, the little squid is certainly the most useful for bait. It 
 is most readily obtained from the trawlers, who capture numbers 
 in their nets. But where plentiful, both squid and the sepias 
 are easily caught by means of a bait. It is desirable, however, 
 to bear in mind that when gaffed (the gaff being a triangle of 
 hooks at the end of a not too large stick) the cephalopod will, 
 as likely as not, discharge his ink bag full in the face of his 
 captor. The way to avoid this catastrophe for it is little less 
 is by holding the creature beneath the water until the ink bag 
 is emptied. Stale squid, except, perhaps, for bass, is of little use 
 
1 30 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 as bait, and I know no bait lugs excepted which gets 'high' 
 quicker. At the same time, if cleaned, opened, wiped, and hung 
 up in a very dry, airy place, these baits will sometimes dry hard, 
 and can be kept for an indefinite period. They require to be 
 soaked before being used. Slices can also be placed between 
 layers of salt, and there is a belief whether well founded or 
 not, I do not know that salted squid is all the better for being 
 kept in the dark. It is often a good plan to place a small piece 
 of squid on the shank of the hook, covering the bend and point 
 with a mussel, so that, should the mussel get sucked or washed 
 off, as is so often the case, the squid remains, and may lead to 
 the capture of a fish. The tentacles and strips of squid or cuttle 
 are excellent whiffing baits. The largest bass I ever hooked was 
 on a piece of squid. The fish so astonished the little Welsh 
 lad who was with me that he stood gaping at it with his mouth 
 open instead of using the gaff, and the bass took advantage of 
 the opportunity to kick off the hook. 
 
 Tripe. More than once I have heard of this stuff being 
 strongly recommended as a whiffing bait, long narrow strips of 
 it being cut about the size of a large ragworm. It comes in 
 the same category as pork-skin, pig's bladder, and the like. 
 
 Whelks are not greatly used as bait by the amateur sea 
 fisher, but are simply invaluable to the long-liner owing to their 
 toughness, a hook baited with a whelk being very seldom robbed. 
 They are taken in large quantities by dredging, in lobster pots 
 baited with soft crab or offal, and also on lines laid along the 
 bottom, on which are fastened rows of small crabs threaded on 
 twine. I need hardly say that with both snails and whelks 
 the shell must be broken off before the bait can be used. A 
 large whelk can be cut up into several baits. 
 
 Whitebait. This young of sprats, herrings, and, occasion- 
 ally, other fish, is most excellent bait. In fact, it is a large 
 item in the daily menu of whiting, codling, mackerel, bass, &c. 
 
BAITS 
 
 TEETH 
 
 Whitebait are caught in either very fine seines or round 
 hoop-nets, such as are used for smelts, and shown in one of 
 Mr. Hemy's illustrations. When 
 I have had the opportunity, I have 
 used, them alive with very satis- 
 factory results, fishing with them 
 just as I would for perch, with a 
 paternoster baited with minnows. 
 
 The Varm. This is sometimes, 
 and I expect wrongly, called the 
 sea tapeworm. It is a Channel 
 Island bait, and is also used by the 
 fishermen of the Isle of Man. I 
 have not met with it myself, but 
 a friend tells me that of all natural 
 baits it is the most deadly. It is 
 found among rocks and under 
 stones and gravel, and sometimes 
 grows to a length of two feet. It 
 puts on iridescent hues, and is 
 reputed very deadly if used on 
 whiffing tackle for pollack or coal- 
 fish, a small portion often serving 
 to attract fish. 
 
 The advantage of ground bait 
 in many kinds of sea fishing is un- 
 questionable. The usual difficulty 
 is to distribute it so that it keeps 
 near the bait on the hook. In dead 
 water it is, of course, only necessary 
 to throw it on the surface just 
 above the hook bait, when it sinks 
 straight to the bottom in the right place ; but in many of 
 
 F 
 
 THE VARM 
 
I 3 2 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 '*>&* 
 
 **f**v~r-s -rj. 
 
 v SS^ft.L - - 
 
 ^Slfe^^%^ 
 
 -^ *f35K- 
 
 ,/^.-w ; : ( : 
 
 feV* j ^*fyw ; %v 
 
 GROUND BAIT 
 
 those spots which the experienced sea fisherman would select 
 as best suited for obtaining sport, there is more or less of a 
 stream which quickly carries away any fragments of ground bait 
 before they can be brought under the notice and into the 
 mouths of the fish. In 
 fresh- water rivers ground 
 bait is generally either 
 weighted by an admix- 
 ture of stones or clay, or 
 else thrown in loose just 
 so far above the spot 
 where the fishing is car- 
 ried on that it sinks to 
 the bottom before being 
 carried out of the swim. 
 
 GROUND-BAIT NET IN USE 
 
 But, owing to the depth 
 
BAITS 133 
 
 of the sea, it is not, as a rule, possible to judge with sufficient 
 accuracy the distance to which the current will carry the 
 ground bait, at least not where bottom-feeding fish are the 
 quarry. 
 
 A more common plan with sea fishermen is to sink a 
 ground-bait mixture in a net or bag weighted with stones and 
 sustained by as light a cord as can possibly be used. I have 
 seen professional fishermen, when this idea was first mooted 
 to them, make an experiment with a piece of thick rope, 
 with the result that, owing to the pressure of the water on 
 the rope, the ground-bait net was carried far astern, several 
 fathoms beyond our tackle. A piece of stout cod line, unless 
 it is very old, is, as a rule, quite strong enough to bear the 
 weight of a ground-bait net when it is in the water, though 
 it may not always be strong enough to lift it into the boat. 
 Therefore, if the cod line is used, when hauling the net up, 
 its neck should be laid hold of as soon as it comes to the 
 surface. 
 
 The contents of the net will probably depend upon whatever 
 suitable substances are available. The two most productive 
 ground baits with which I am acquainted are crabs of any kind 
 smashed up, and the guts of oily fish such as pilchards, herrings, 
 or mackerel. Mussel shells, seed mussels, oyster beards, the 
 liver of any fish, in fact any offal, may all go into the bag ; but 
 it is well to chop everything up small, and intermix pounded 
 shells, raw potatoes and the like, so that when the line bearing 
 the net is sharply pulled, fragments escape from the net, and 
 the fish work up the tide until they come to the source of 
 this unusual food supply. One of the great advantages of the 
 ground-bait net is that it attracts the crabs, and to a certain 
 extent keeps them away from the baits on the hooks. A plan 
 somewhat similar to this was described by Captain Young, 
 the author of ' Sea Fishing as a Sport,' in the ' Field ' some 
 
134 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 s 
 
 NORWEGIAN GROUND-BAIT CONE 
 
 years ago. He said that 
 the professional fishermen 
 west of the Start very fre- 
 quently placed a stone in 
 the foot of an old stock- 
 ing and half filled the leg 
 with the guts of pilchard 
 or other oily fish, lowering 
 the arrangement to six feet 
 from the ground. The 
 globules of oil which oozed 
 through the stocking were 
 believed to be exceedingly 
 attractive. 
 
 A reader of a previous 
 book of mine on sea 
 fishing, Mr. Arthur 
 Mountain, of Grims- 
 by, very kindly sent 
 me a description of 
 an apparatus used by 
 the Norwegian fisher- 
 
BAITS 
 
 135 
 
 men for lowering ground bait to the bottom, placing it with 
 certainty close to the hook bait. A small, leather, cone-shaped 
 receptacle, about three inches deep, is attached above the lead 
 on the fishing line by two inches of line. The cone is placed 
 about six feet above the lead, beyond which is a piece of 
 snooding of about eight feet, bearing at the end one hook. 
 This cone is filled with pounded crab and carefully placed 
 in the water ; then the lead is lowered, and the upward 
 pressure of the water keeps the cone in a perpendicular 
 position during its descent. As soon as the downward course 
 of the lead is stopped, the cone turns face downwards 
 and discharges its contents over the bait on the hook. The 
 fish principally caught were codling, the bait being soft crab ; 
 the water was very clear. Mr. Mountain wrote that he did 
 not think this plan would answer well in a strong tideway, 
 but even if the ground bait did not fall over the bait, it 
 would probably collect fish and cause them to feed. The 
 measurements may be varied according to circumstances. 
 
 For surface-feeding fish it is obviously of little use to lower 
 a net to the bottom. I have heard of a basket or hamper filled 
 with refuse being hung just over the rocks to attract bass, and 
 that has certainly had the effect of collecting quantities of 
 crabs which could be shaken off and pounded up for additional 
 ground bait. One of the most successful bass fishers at Tenby, 
 whose favourite hook bait is skate's liver, makes it a practice to 
 place a quantity of the liver in a sack and lower it for a foot or 
 so in the water where he is fishing. What must also be termed 
 a surface ground bait is a mixture of salted infant shrimps, 
 known as chervin, which is used at Jersey to attract grey mullet. 
 A few spoonfuls mixed with water are thrown in as may be 
 necessary. 
 
 Ground baiting is not unknown in Australia, America, 
 France, particularly in the Mediterranean. At San Sebastian a 
 
36 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 mixture of clay, the heads of 
 sardines, and potatoes is made 
 into balls, and thrown in for the benefit 
 of the grey mullet. Many places on 
 our coast will be found ready ground- 
 baited, by the sewers of towns, the 
 small injured fish thrown over by 
 trawlers, the guts of fish thrown in 
 harbours, and all and sundry animal 
 and vegetable refuse which finds its 
 way into the ocean from sea-fronts of 
 not too well-regulated watering-places. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL BAITS 
 
 The principal, I may say only, 
 artificial baits of any use to the sea 
 fisherman are those used for whiffing, 
 spinning, or casting as a fly. Of flies, 
 so called, there is little or nothing to 
 be added to the remarks in Chap- 
 ter V. ; so I will now devote a few 
 pages to a short description of the 
 best whiffing baits. Ranking almost, if 
 not quite, first comes the ' Sarcelle.' 
 It was designed by Mr. C. A. Pay ton, 
 
 ' SARCELLE ' 
 
BAITS 
 
 137 
 
 BAND BAIT WITH 
 EYED HOOKS 
 
 ' Sarcelle ' of the ' Field,' and is a 
 very successful combination of the 
 baby spinner and the band bait. Its 
 chief use is for shoal bass which are 
 feeding close to the surface. The 
 illustration, by the way, is not a true 
 and original Sarcelle, but an improved 
 edition, made by a friend whose kind 
 suggestions I have already gratefully 
 acknowledged. 
 
 Anybody can make a band bait 
 for themselves in five minutes with 
 two hooks (if eyed so much the bet- 
 ter), a piece of gut, and a couple of 
 indiarubber bands ; the illustration 
 shows so clearly how the thing is 
 done that it requires no written de- 
 scription. 
 
 The baby spinner, of which 
 Messrs. C. & R. Brooks, of Plymouth, 
 claim to be the inventors, is a very 
 valuable little addition to the natural 
 bait, placed above a single hook ; it 
 spins on the gut and rests on a single 
 glass bead. It does not wear the 
 round gut as might be supposed, but 
 for fish of any size it is certainly de- 
 sirable to use gimp in connection 
 
 T 
 
138 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 BABY SPINNER 
 
 
 with this particular form of bait. Another capital bait is a 
 piece of sole or other fish skin cut fish shape and hung be- 
 low one of 
 these spin- 
 ners, with 
 or without 
 another piece of 
 
 i. I \ / sole-skin hung be- 
 
 V/ ,,iuW' low the hook as 
 
 illustrated. 
 
 A very excel- 
 lent artificial bait 
 is a sort of elongated baby 
 spinner working on the 
 shank of the hook, which 
 gives a very fair imitation 
 of a launce or sand-eel 
 flitting through the water. 
 But the best sand-eel is one 
 cut carefully out of sole or gurnard skin 
 and sewn over the shank of the hook, 
 below the baby spinner. The back should 
 be coloured with green varnish, and the 
 mouth should be left unsewn, so that the 
 water may flow in as it does in a phantom 
 minnow and plump up the bait. 
 
 A very favourite bait for small pollack 
 which are caught in spring on the Cornish 
 and Devon coasts, is an arrangement curious 
 both in form and name to wit, the Belgian 
 Grub. One is shown in the illustration. 
 It consists of a hook on which is moulded 
 a dumpy body of plaster of Paris or other 
 
 \ 
 
 KAHY SP1NNKR 
 
 WITH SOLE-SKIN 
 
 BAIT BELOW 
 
BAITS 
 
 139 
 
 cement, painted various colours sometimes yellow, sometimes 
 yellow and red, or yellow and white. Mr. Farlow showed me 
 a quantity which he had specially prepared for a very suc- 
 cessful fisherman, in which the plaster was coloured black and 
 the rubber tail had been apparently stained with ink. 
 
 ORDINARY TIN SPINNER 
 FOR SEA FISHING 
 
 BELGIAN GRUB 
 
 One of the most deadly of all the sea baits which have 
 ever been invented is known as the rubber sand-eel, though 
 I am quite convinced that the fish take it for either a small 
 conger or a large worm of some kind, for it in no way re- 
 sembles a sand-eel. It is cut out of a piece of indiarubber 
 tubing and placed on a hook with a twisted shank, which 
 
140 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 RUBBER EEL WITH BABY SPINNER 
 
 causes it to wobble through the water, 
 and is now usually fitted with a baby 
 spinner at the head. I have known those 
 made of red rubber prove excellent arti- 
 ficial baits for large pollack ; but better 
 still is one of black rubber tubing, double 
 as large as that shown in the engraving. 
 These baits are made in various colours 
 black, white, red, or green ; sometimes one 
 colour is best, sometimes another. Cod, 
 which will take them when fished near the 
 bottom, appear to prefer the white rubber ; 
 while coalfish and bass are perhaps more 
 often taken on the grey, green, and black. 
 The red of the vulcanised and the black 
 of the natural rubber are, so far as my ex- 
 perience goes, a long way the best for 
 pollack. 
 
 Coming to baits which are more fami- 
 liar to freshwater fishermen, 
 among the best is undoubtedly 
 the phantom minnow. I have 
 caught a quantity of large 
 pollack on a phantom deep 
 red in colour and about from 
 three to four inches in length. 
 A blue-backed phantom with 
 a silver belly is a good bait 
 for bass, but not so good as 
 the natural bait. . Messrs. 
 Carswell, of Glasgow, have 
 recently brought out a patent 
 improved phantom made of 
 
BAITS 
 
 141 
 
 silk lined with rubber. Like the Devon 
 bait, it slips up the line out of the 
 way when a fish is being played, and 
 
 CARSWKLL'S PHANTOM 
 
 has a better spin than those in which 
 the shoulder triangle flies out on a 
 length of twisted gut. It is, in my 
 
 THE CLIPPER 
 
 (tassel can be omitted) 
 
142 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 opinion, quite the best phantom made. As a rule, these 
 freshwater baits are not properly mounted for sea fishing, the 
 triangles are not strong enough in the wire, and steel swivels 
 are commonly used which are quite unsuitable for salt water. 
 
 There is an ex- 
 cellent bait which 
 has caught me many 
 a fish both in fresh 
 and salt water 
 bass, pollack, pike, 
 trout, perch and sal- 
 monand that is 
 Gregory's Clipper. 
 One great advan- 
 tage it has is that 
 it revolves on the 
 gimp, while the tri- 
 angles do not re- 
 volve. In many 
 baits the triangles 
 spin round with 
 great speed, and one 
 is very apt to prick 
 fish without hook- 
 ing them. Speaking 
 generally, sea fish 
 take a bait so raven- 
 ously if they come 
 at it at all, that a 
 single hook is usually quite as effective as a triangle. The 
 best clippers have golden backs and silver bellies. 
 
 A comparatively new bait, in which, also, the triangle 
 does not spin, is the Cartman spinner. It spins easily and 
 
 GEEN'S SPIRAL 
 SPINNKR 
 
 CARTMAN SIMNNER 
 
BAITS 
 
 143 
 
 rapidly, and has the advantage, 
 for pollack fishing, of contain- 
 ing its own lead. It is usually 
 adorned with a bunch of red 
 wool round the triangle. I have 
 had some made specially for me 
 with the omission of this wool and 
 the internal part of the bait gold- 
 plated, which greatly adds to its 
 attraction. Made in this way, I 
 am quite sure it would be an 
 excellent bait for sea trout, both 
 in the sea and fresh water. Mac- 
 kerel, of course, take small sizes, 
 and it certainly should be good 
 for bass. Its particular value is 
 in dead water or when whiffing 
 has to be carried on with the 
 tide, for it spins with the least 
 provocation. This good quality 
 it shares with the well-known and 
 really excellent spiral bait in- 
 vented by Mr. Geen. 
 
 A very novel bait was sent 
 me recently by a friend, a great 
 bass fisherman, who assures me 
 that it has been most successful 
 in his hands, and that he never 
 intends to use any other arti- 
 ficial bait for whiffing. It is not 
 so suitable for casting. It simply 
 consists of a piece of curbed 
 chain headed with fans similar to, 
 
 CURB CHAIN BAIT 
 
144 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 but rather stouter than, those on a Chapman spinner. It is 
 shown life-size in the illustration on p. 143. Doubtless its 
 flexibility and the sparkle of the links make it so exceedingly 
 attractive. Anyone could construct a bait of this kind for him- 
 self, but I understand that Mr. Walbran, of Leeds, is about to 
 patent it. 
 
 The large feather baits perhaps come within this part of 
 the subject, but by reason of their material let us honour them 
 with the name of flies, and give them place in the next chapter. 
 They are most successfully used for pollack and coalfish, and at 
 times bass take them greedily. The artificial fly made of fibres 
 obtained from the tail of the dogfish, also described in the 
 following chapter, should be specially noted. It has a great 
 reputation among the fishermen in the Orkneys. 
 
 Another very remarkable bait, sent by one of my many 
 kind correspondents in sea-fishing matters, and my long list 
 is finished. It is a capital imitation of a small fish made out 
 of the wing feather of a bird. It is shaped with scissors and 
 afterwards painted, and is capable of much variation according 
 to the fancy of the maker. The illustration is another of Mr. 
 Pritchett's drawings of the actual thing a bait which has, 
 maybe, taken not a few lythe and saithe off the wild coasts of 
 the Orkney Islands. No doubt it could be fitted more neatly 
 with hook, swivel, &c., but it could hardly be made more 
 effective. One of my long-shanked Salmo-irritans hooks might 
 be useful for this bait. 
 
 Those who possess the least ingenuity need never be at a 
 loss for a bait for sea fishing, or, at least, for so many of the 
 sea fish as will take an artificial bait. A piece of white rag on a 
 hook, the stem of a tobacco pipe threaded on the shank, a three- 
 penny-bit hammered out with a hole bored in it, a teaspoon or 
 dessertspoon bowl bored with a hole and decorated with a hook 
 or two, a piece of tin from a sardine box cut to the shape of a 
 
BAITS 
 
 '45 
 
 A KKATIIKR FISH 
 
146 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 fish and given a twist to make it spin, a piece of indiarubber 
 band or tubing, a few feathers and wool from an old rug 
 these and many more simple and easily obtained materials can 
 be made up into killing sea-fish baits. The things that anglers 
 should never be without are hooks and leads of various weights, 
 swivels, gut, and gimp. With these, he ought to be able to make 
 almost any tackle he may require, perhaps not so neatly as that 
 which he can buy, but certainly more lasting. Not that I wish 
 to disparage bought tackle, though the fastenings-off are not 
 always the best, and hooks not always tested. But in outlandish 
 places, hundreds of miles from tackle-shops, the exercise of a 
 little ingenuity and trouble on the part of the angler will often 
 make all the difference between a good day's fishing and a bad 
 one, between a full and an empty creel. 
 
'47 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 
 
 FLY fishing in the sea is a lottery. There is more of it than 
 most people suppose, but there is no kind of sea fishing more 
 uncertain. Occasionally, takes are reported which would fill 
 the salmon or sea-trout fisher with wonderment ; but the blank 
 days are enough to make angels weep. 
 
 We need not concern ourselves to consider in what light a 
 sea fish regards an artificial fly, or the thing that we call a fly. 
 From the ordinary trout fisher's point of view there is no fly 
 fishing in the sea, for there are, generally speaking, no natural 
 flies to be imitated, except, perhaps, on some almost landlocked 
 waters. The sea fly is the same sort of thing as the salmon fly ; 
 that is to say, a representation of some marine insect or small 
 fish, usually the latter. The most plentiful fish of our seas is, I 
 imagine, the herring ; and it is when the surface-swimming fish 
 are feeding on the herring or sprat fry whitebait, sile, or britt, 
 as they are variously termed that the fly fisher has his chance. 
 
 The fly with which I have done most execution is an 
 imitation of the young herring, which, according to Dr. Meyer's 
 observations, measures about an inch and a half when about 
 five months old. I will venture to call it the ' Whitebait ' fly. 
 Its most usual size and form are shown in the accompanying 
 illustration. The over wing is a strip of white feather from a 
 swan's quill, the under wing being some strands of peacock 
 harl. The hackle is of the same material, and the body, which 
 
148 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 is well padded, is covered with broad, flat, real silver, tinsel. A 
 few strands of harl form the tail. When the wing of this fly is 
 nicely curved, the lure drawn rapidly through the water is a 
 very fair resemblance of a bright shining whitebait, the silver 
 tinsel representing its bright sides, and the green glistening harl 
 ,ts greenish back. What the white feather is for, I confess I 
 don't know ; but it is added because white flies appear to have 
 a special attraction for many kinds of sea fish. How these 
 and similar flies are tied is illustrated and explained in detail 
 on p. 83. 
 
 To still more accurately represent the herring fry I have 
 
 had some of these flies dressed 
 with the white wing underneath. 
 We then have the white swan's 
 wing, representing the belly ; 
 
 WHITEBAIT' FLY. NO. i 
 
 ' WHITEBAIT ' FLY. NO. 2 
 
 the sides of silver, and the green back. The first-men- 
 tioned fly, however, seems to kill as well as the newer pattern. 
 Where there is a breeze, the size shown in the illustration is 
 most useful for bass, coalfish, mackerel, and small pollack ; 
 but on a calm bright day when the water is clear, smaller flies 
 are often more killing. In fact, the trout or salmon fisher can 
 exercise just the same discretion in the sea with regard to the 
 size of his fly as he does in fresh water, using a very large one 
 on rough, dark days. 
 
 In whitebait fly No. 2 it will be noticed that I have tied 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 149 
 
 the back and belly together, which renders it a closer imitation 
 of the fry, but I doubt if its killing powers are in the least 
 increased. 
 
 The term ' whitebait fly ' is scientifically correct ; because it 
 was established beyond a question by Dr. Day that the ad- 
 mirable little fish which are caught at the mouth of the Thames 
 and elsewhere, and are held in particular veneration at Green- 
 wich, are the young of both sprats and herrings. 
 
 Fly fishing has special advantages over all other branches 
 of angling. In the first place, it is deliciously clean. Secondly, 
 it is simple, requiring nothing more than a fly and length of 
 gut, in addition to the rod and running tackle. Thirdly, from 
 its simplicity it is an inconspicuous tackle, there being no leads, 
 swivels, float, nor spreaders to frighten the fish ; and the bait 
 can be cast lightly on the water without the disturbance of a 
 boat passing over or near the fish, which cannot be avoided 
 when certain other methods are practised. 
 
 Generally speaking, all surface-swimming fish take the fly 
 when, as I have said, they are feeding on the young herrings 
 or sprats. Occasionally salmon, frequently sea trout in many 
 districts, and still more often pollack, bass, and coalfish may be 
 caught by the fly fisher. Herrings are not at all adverse to a 
 white fly, and grey mullet may sometimes be caught in this way. 
 There is a popular belief that an artificial fly is the best bait for 
 mackerel, and every ' boy's mackerel line ' which is sold at a 
 seaside toyshop is decorated with three or four iron hooks the 
 shanks of which are covered with red or white worsted with a 
 strand or two from a swan's-wing feather roughly tied on. No 
 doubt mackerel will occasionally take these flies ; but it is not 
 very often one can keep for any length of time near these fish 
 when they are shoaling and breaking the surface.- They appear 
 for six or seven seconds, perhaps, and the angler may get a couple 
 of casts into them and probably catch a fish ; then down they go, 
 
150 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 to reappear a hundred yards away. Long before the boat can 
 reach the spot they are away again, to break in quite another 
 direction. If they can be lighted upon while shoaling in this 
 way in any very small bay, then the fly fisher can whip them 
 out one after the other and have grand sport. Sometimes a fly 
 or two may be fixed on the ordinary whiffing line, in addition 
 to the strip of mackerel-skin which is by far the best bait for 
 the tail hook. Flies so placed catch a few fish during the day, 
 but not many, and I have long written them down a fraud. 
 
 In addition to the fish I have mentioned, most of the 
 bottom feeders that is to say those of them which are in the 
 habit of feeding on the whitebait will take this fly if it is sunk 
 low enough. I have occasionally caught cod, gurnard, haddock, 
 and whiting on a white fly ; but that has been when I have 
 been trailing or whiffing with it behind a boat for other fish, and 
 for some reason or other have allowed the tackle to sink almost 
 or quite to the bottom. 
 
 In 1893 the capture of a cod in Loch Nevis on a fly was 
 reported in the ' Pishing Gazette,' and numerous other in- 
 stances of sea fish taking salmon or other artificial flies of 
 considerable size have been recorded from time to time in the 
 ' Field,' ' Land and Water,' ' Rod and Gun,' the ' Angler,' and 
 other sporting papers. I may mention in particular a cod of 
 1 2 Ibs. caught by a friend of mine, the lure being a sole-skin fly 
 fished at a depth of a foot or so. There is not much doubt 
 that at times cod come close to the surface to feed on the 
 whitebait fry. 
 
 Though fly fishing for bass and coalfish has been carried 
 on for a good many years by a few people, not a great deal is 
 really known about this branch of angling. I hope, however, 
 that the rapidly increasing popularity of the sport will bring 
 about such an accession of experience, that before long our 
 knowledge on the subject may be very greatly increased. 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 151 
 
 Before dealing with what I may call the ' fly-taking sea fish, 
 a word or two as to tackle may be necessary. The salmon 
 fisher needs no teaching on this point, beyond perhaps a re- 
 minder that if he is casting for cuddies or small fish which 
 weigh at the outside a pound, he need not use an i8-feet rod, 
 nor a cast suitable for a i5-lb. salmon. Coarse tackle has 
 prevailed for so many centuries in the sea, that immediately a 
 man gets on salt water he seems to regard tackle which would 
 be laughed at on river or lake as_ being quite suitable and 
 proper for very small sea fish. 
 
 For those, then, who are not already fly fishers, a few re- 
 marks on rod, reel and line. The best general fly rod is made 
 of greenheart, and should be about 15 ft. or 16 ft. long. 
 That is a weapon to be used with two hands. For single- 
 handed use for small fish, n ft., or u ft. 6 in., is a good 
 length. The rod should be fitted with snake rings made of 
 phosphor bronze or hardened German silver (on no account 
 have steel rings bronzed over ; they invariably rust sooner or 
 later), and for the top ring I like nothing better than my own 
 little invention which is illustrated in the next chapter. It 
 should be fitted with an inner revolving ring of phosphor bronze. 
 
 The rod should be fitted with suction ferrules which should 
 be kept vaselined or oiled to prevent them sticking. The 
 Weger and Warner winch fittings are about the best. The 
 reel should be large in the barrel and free from any steel works 
 or screws. For bass and other large fish, it must hold at least 
 150 yards of line ; for smaller fish, a hundred yards of line is 
 sufficient less will suffice in harbours. Of lines there is a great 
 variety. The cheapest serviceable line is of eight-plait hemp or 
 linen, tanned. We can have much the same thing made in silk, 
 or an eight-plait silk line with the usual waterproof oil dressing. 
 
 The cast should consist, for bass, of two and a half or three 
 yards of the strongest salmon gut, or, failing that, treble twisted 
 
152 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 medium gut. In the chapter on making up tackle I have 
 described how casts should be twisted, flies tied on hooks, &c. 
 
 A gaff or landing net must 
 be used according to the size 
 of the fish ; anything over five or 
 six pounds being best landed 
 with the former instrument. 
 The best gaffs for all kinds of 
 purposes are not those screwed 
 into sticks, but lashed on to a 
 handle similar to the one shown 
 in the illustration. When the 
 gaff, which should be of steel 
 (and not of iron, like one which 
 was sold me last summer, and 
 bent out nearly straight with the 
 weight of a lo-lb. fish), gets a 
 little rusty, give it a coat or two 
 of varnish. The varnish will sink into 
 the rust and make a very good protecting 
 surface. 
 
 Not many people are aware that sal- 
 mon have been caught in salt water on 
 the fly. There are only a few places, so 
 far as I know, where this has been done ; 
 but in these places salmon are fished for 
 regularly in this way. But then, of course, 
 the sea is a big place, and the number 
 of inlets, sea-lochs, estuaries, and the 
 like, to which salmon resort in very 
 large numbers, is limited. One of the 
 smallest but most prolific salmon rivers in 
 the United Kingdom is the Grimersta, 
 
 X 
 
FLY FISHING IN 7WE SEA 153 
 
 which flows into Loch Roag, Island of Lewis. The fish are 
 small, but more numerous than sea trout in many a fairly good 
 sea-trout river. When the water in the river is low they collect 
 in large numbers at and below its mouth. 
 
 On the 28th of July, 1888, Sir John H. Morris, to whom 
 I am indebted for these particulars, caught five salmon with 
 the fly in this sea-loch. The water in which the fish were 
 caught was absolutely salt, not merely brackish, and as far 
 distant as half a mile from the mouth of the river. The loch 
 is shallow, from six to twelve feet in depth. The weather 
 was cloudy ; there was a good breeze, and the tide was flowing 
 into the loch. Later on, however, the fish were also taken on 
 an ebbing tide with very little wind. They rose best on the 
 flood with a good stiff breeze. 
 
 The fly used on the 28th of July was a black and yellow 
 (the Wasp) on a No. 5 hook, and was worked rather deeply in 
 the water ; but other and larger flies were used with equal 
 success. It is a curious fact that the fish had been waiting in 
 the loch for ten days or a fortnight before they showed any 
 inclination to take the fly. They continued to rise well for a 
 week, and some sixty fresh fish were taken by five rods sixty 
 salmon in a week ! But they ceased to rise on the 4th of 
 August. 
 
 Salmon had never been known to be caught on the fly in 
 the bay before, and Sir John Morris attributed their rising 
 during that week to the fact that they had been confined and 
 kept in the sea loch long beyond their usual time for going up 
 the river. But from a letter I have received from him recently 
 it appears that a good many fish have been taken in the same 
 way since that year. It is quite a common thing to catch 
 sea trout in Loch Roag with the fly, and it was owing to 
 the salmon rising to sea-trout flies that they were specially 
 fished for. 
 
 x 
 
154 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Another instance of salmon taking the fly occurs in the 
 Fleet, a piece of water between Dornoch and Goldspie, on the 
 coast of Sutherlandshire. There the fly is worked systemati- 
 cally during the first few hours of the flowing tide. 
 
 There are a great many instances on record of salmon taking 
 baits of various kinds in salt water, and a good many rivers where 
 sport is had on the tidal pools. On the other hand, there are 
 very many places where salmon rarely rise until they have 
 reached fresh water. 
 
 A friend of mine living in the north of Scotland once 
 caught a salmon of \\\ Ibs. in the sea on a worm. Now and 
 again salmon smolts are taken in the sea on the white flies used 
 by cuddy fishers. Most anglers are probably aware that in 
 Vancouver the salmon take both spoon bait and fly in the sea. 
 
 That sea trout may be caught in various ways by fair angling 
 in salt water is well known to men who have visited the north 
 of Scotland and the outlying islands. A great deal of fly 
 fishing is carried on for them in the brackish water of the 
 estuaries of most rivers which they frequent. Sea trout in 
 fresh water are uncertain fish ; they will suddenly begin 
 rising with the greatest vigour, and as suddenly cease ; and 
 after they have been in the river a few days they have the 
 unhappy knack, from our point of view, of rising extremely 
 short. In tidal pools they often rise very well. 
 
 I may refer here to a double hook which I designed 
 for some short-rising salmon and sea trout. How I came to 
 require its use is described under the heading ' Salmo Irritans ' 
 in a collection of sketches of life in the Hebrides called 
 ' Days in Thule.' Suffice it here to say that, finding many 
 fish plucked at ordinary flies and yet were not hooked, I con- 
 ceived the idea of lengthening the shank without enlarging 
 the bend ; for it has always seemed to me that after the bend 
 has been increased up to a certain size, further enlargement 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 155 
 
 is not required. A longer shank is, of course, necessary for a 
 larger fly, but it is not requisite to enlarge the bend. 
 
 Messrs. Warner & 
 Sons, the firm of Red- 
 ditch bookmakers, car- 
 ried out this idea ex- 
 tremely well for me, 
 and made a whole 
 scale of double hooks 
 on this system. I have 
 
 not had an opportunity %>^ Q 
 
 of trying the largest ^^ ^* 
 
 hooks of the scale, w 
 
 but the smaller ones * 
 
 answer excellently. I ^^""^^^"^^"^^^> M 
 
 have caught many a 
 
 salmon and sea trout ^~ u 
 
 through their instru- ^^* 
 
 mentality. The scale 
 
 of these hooks and r+ 
 
 V^ n 
 
 also a fly tied on them 
 are illustrated. The 
 proportion shown be- 
 tween body, wings, 
 tail and hooks should 
 be carefully followed 
 when flies are being 
 dressed on this system. 
 I have sometimes 
 
 seen sea trout follow C ' s '"S ie 
 
 the fly, making pecks 
 
 at it like a bird making bad shots at a worm ; but it was 
 
 rare indeed that they actually touched the hook without being 
 
1 5 6 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 caught. I mention these hooks here because they are well 
 suited for sea trout fishing in the sea. I imagine other anglers 
 are beginning to overcome their prejudice to the novel shape, 
 for I see the hooks at Farlow's and other tackle-makers. I may 
 add that they are not patented or protected in any way. 
 
 In Orkney and the adjacent islands it is a common practice 
 to fish for sea trout in salt water, but the worm, which is cast 
 by means of a fly rod, is a more favourite and more killing bait 
 than the fly. The largest sea trout are, as a rule, found on the 
 edge of a tideway and close to rocks on which there is a growth 
 of seaweed. They are exceedingly shy when the water is 
 clear. It is better to wade than to fish for them from a boat. 
 
 Sometimes they will take neither 
 worm nor fly, showing a prefer- 
 ence for a sole-skin sand eel, 
 which hooks more fish than baits 
 which spin. The fish are mostly 
 found in water varying from two 
 to five feet. 
 
 SEA-TROUT FLY ON ' SALMO 
 
 IRRITANS' HOOK Mr. Moodie-Heddle, of Ork- 
 
 ney, tells me that once when 
 
 casting a sole-skin bait he was fortunate enough to catch two 
 trout weighing between nine and ten pounds each. They were 
 taken within six feet of the beach in about sixteen inches of 
 water. In Orkney, he says, the only killing fly for sea trout is 
 one dressed with a fiery brown cock's hackle tied Palmer 
 fashion to imitate a sand-hopper, and either with or without 
 wings of speckled grey feather of some kind. The brightly 
 coloured sea-trout flies used farther south have not proved 
 killing. 
 
 Another bait used with much success and cast like a fly in 
 that part of the world is a mouse's tail, which is baited in the 
 following manner : The gut on a common round-bend worm 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 
 
 157 
 
 hook (without eye or flattened end) is softened and threaded on a 
 needle which is entered three-quarters of an inch from the end 
 of the tail and brought out at the thick end. The hook-shank 
 is then pulled up through the point of entry, and the thick end 
 of the tail firmly bound round with crimson silk above the end 
 of the hook shank to prevent it slipping. I have little doubt 
 that the trout look upon this bait as a very 
 small eel or worm of some kind. 
 
 A capital artificial sand-eel, which can be 
 cast with the fly rod, can be made in the 
 following manner : Get a piece of copper 
 bell wire, or thick brass wire, 2\ inches or 
 3 inches long; tie a hook (No. 12 or 13) 
 firmly to one end ; slip the other end through 
 a piece of greyish-white rubber tubing, such 
 as is used for feeding-bottles, which can be 
 bought cheaply by the yard. The tail end 
 should be cut sloping, and sliced at side of 
 tail so as to make it vibrate ; the end of 
 wire coming out at mouth should be attached 
 to a small phosphor bronze, brass, or Ger- 
 man silver swivel. The back should be 
 coloured with two coats of Stephens' blue- 
 black ink, the first coat being brought one- 
 third of the way down the side also ; then 
 varnish the inked part, which makes it olive MOUSETAIL 
 green. The belly can have a line of silver 
 paint or strip of foil. The sides should be left white, and 
 if they get discoloured scraping with a penknife will freshen 
 them up. Two pink beads, with a black circle round each 
 drawn on the indiarubber in ink, represent eyes. The neck 
 should be tied in with greenish silk. One hook is better 
 than two in clear water and near weeds ; and if an occasional 
 
1 5 8 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 fish may miss it, the consolation is that fewer rises are obtained 
 with more complicated tackle. 
 
 Wading in about two feet of water, and casting this bait 
 
 from the beach with a i6-ft. rod, Mr. Moodie-Heddle caught 
 five sea trout, one summer's day, when the fly was quite use- 
 less. The fish were in four feet of very clear water where 
 
 DURHAM RANGER 
 
 the weeds were plentiful. There was no tide ; the wind was 
 slight, and the day sunny. This bait can, of course, be made 
 to spin by curving the wire inside the tubing. The sole-skin 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 159 
 
 bait already mentioned, with the small strip of lead sewn into 
 the belly to make it swim upright, is so light that it can be 
 easily cast. 
 
 JOCK SCOTT 
 
 The four flies on which I should be inclined to pin my faith 
 for sea trout in the sea and estuaries, are a blue or silver Doctor, 
 Thunder and Lightning, Jock Scott, Durham Ranger, and the 
 
 THUNDER AND LIGHTNING 
 
 Alexandra. It is very important, however, not to have these 
 too large, and Mr. Moodie-Heddle's recommendation of more 
 sober-coloured flies for the Orkneys should be borne in mind. 
 
160 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 One of the finest takes of sea trout I have ever seen, 
 leaving out of consideration the monster fish which are found 
 in Norway, was caught on the smallest possible blue Doctor at 
 the end of a very fine cast. The fish were lying in a couple of 
 feet of water, or less, close to the edge of a sloping sandbank, 
 in the tidal portions of a Scotch river. The angler was stand- 
 ing on the other side, and caught these trout by sheer dint of 
 careful casting, fine tackle, and exceedingly small fly. I had 
 been salmon fishing, higher up the river, and when I joined him 
 the sport was just over. Other men who had been fishing with 
 flies which I should certainly not call large, but were larger than 
 the one which caught the fish, had no sport whatever. 
 
 I referred just now to Norwegian sea trout. In a few rivers 
 these grow to an enormous size, and many are caught out in 
 the fjords some distance from fresh water. The Norskers harl 
 with a bunch of worms, but many good fish may be taken by 
 harling the salmon fly, particularly at dusk or very early morn- 
 ing. As in Scotland, the sea trout lie close to the rocky shore, 
 and should be particularly looked for off projecting points and 
 in small sandy bays. Casting from the shore is not practised, 
 so far as I am aware ; but I have not the least doubt that if it 
 were systematically persisted in, some very good results would 
 be obtained. 
 
 I heard of one case in which two English anglers, who were 
 not in a position to hire a salmon river, went to Norway, and 
 actually had better sport with the sea 'trout in the fjord than 
 had a lessee of a very fine salmon and sea-trout river hard by. 
 That was, of course, in a very dry season, when the fish 
 were in large numbers, waiting in the sea until a spate came 
 which would enable them to run up the river. I understand 
 that the ' fly ' was a blue and silver Phantom. 
 
 In the fjords sea trout will take medium-sized Jock Scotts, 
 Butchers, and, in fact, all the brightly coloured salmon flies. 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 161 
 
 Both in Scotland and Norway I found the ' Thunder and Light- 
 ning ' particularly killing. 
 
 The chief points, it seems to me, to be borne in mind in 
 connection with sea-trout fishing in the sea, is that the fish are 
 not less shy than in fresh water, and, like brown trout in 
 rivers, lie close to the shore ; as we approach the river, we find 
 them on the edge of the stream. 
 
 There is a fish which is a sort of missing link between sea 
 trout and our good friend Fario. It has been named Salmo 
 estuarius, and in the estuary of the Shannon is known as the 
 slob trout. ' Slob,' a novel word which recently puzzled and 
 amused the House of Commons, is the local name for the vast 
 banks of mud that are disclosed at low water in the estuary, 
 many thousand acres of which have been lately reclaimed. 
 There is not much doubt that the slob trout is the ordinary 
 brown trout which, on account of the scarcity of food in his 
 own larder, pays visits to his marine friends. When there 
 comes a spate he will be found rushing up his native stream to 
 feed on whatever the flood may bring down. I once caught a 
 slob trout of a pound which, when knocked on the head, pro 
 ceeded to evolve a half-digested shrew mouse. 
 
 This variety of fish is to all intents and purposes a brown 
 trout, with a silver sheen over his speckled sides, brought about 
 by residence in brackish or salt water. He takes the fly readily 
 enough in the estuary, but, having a knowledge of natural 
 winged and other insects, shows a preference for ordinary brown 
 trout flies rather than blue Doctors and other gaudy lures 
 favoured by the real original sea trout. 
 
 Bass, which in the spring and summer are found in the sea, 
 but push up into estuaries in the autumn, take the fly best 
 when feeding on the herring fry. Here the tiro may naturally 
 say, ' Yes, it is all very well to tell me that ; but when are they 
 feeding on the herring fry ? How am I to find that out ? ' 
 
 Y 
 
1 62 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Imagine a large rocky island standing a furlong and a half 
 from the -mainland. In the little channel intervening, runs at 
 times a tremendous tidal current. The tide has turned an hour 
 or two past, but has not yet begun to make with any speed ; 
 running quietly, perhaps a couple of knots or so. On the 
 cliffs are hundreds of sea gulls, apparently asleep. By degrees 
 the tide runs faster and faster, there are swirls and eddies on 
 the surface, and presently we find ourselves in a miniature 
 maelstrom. The birds begin to wake up, and feathered scouts 
 take short flights over the sea, returning to the cliff. Presently 
 all the gulls set up harsh cries, launch themselves into the air, 
 and, hovering over the most troublous of the water, dip and 
 dip and dip again in their endeavours to pick something off 
 the surface. Just beneath them there is a splash, and then 
 another, and another. A few seconds later the surface is broken 
 in a fresh place by the hungry fish, and away hurry the gulls to 
 share in the banquet. 
 
 There can be no possible mistake about the bass being 
 on the feed ; you can even see them. They have hunted the 
 herring fry to the surface and are attacking them below, while 
 the gulls are worrying them from above. Go, cast a whitebait 
 fly over those fish, and see if you cannot avenge the death of 
 many a hundred paor baby herring, sprat, and mackerel. These 
 will not be big fish, mind, but what are called ' school bass ' ; 
 anything from two to five or six pounds. They must make up 
 in numbers for lack of size. They are the fellows the fly fisher 
 should look after ; the monster bass, weighing maybe fifteen 
 pounds, which we see basking in the sunshine off the rocks or 
 round about the harbour, are, as a rule, too stately to worry 
 themselves over such inconsiderable trifles as baby herrings 
 or whitebait flies. They like something larger and more tasty, 
 as you will discover if you turn to Chapter XL Sometimes, 
 however, a really splendid fish is found among the school bass. 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 163 
 
 One great difficulty is to hold the boat in such a place as I 
 have described. When you get to know the spot you will very 
 likely find that during certain tides the bass feed like this for a 
 half-hour or more, and more or less at fixed times. The sea 
 gulls know it far better than you do, and while apparently 
 asleep on their cliff perches, are patiently waiting the advent 
 of the bass. 
 
 It may not be barring fry the bass are feeding on. Their 
 quarry may be sand-eels ; in which case an artificial sand-eel 
 of the kind described on p. 157 as being good for sea trout 
 should be tried. I have often intended to make up a combina- 
 tion whitebait fly ; a union of the real and the artificial. It 
 could be done, I think, thus : Whip on to the shank of hook 
 three or four bristles with points projecting. There may be a 
 little peacock harl with a double strip of white swan's quill 
 feather in the place of a wing. Cut a thin strip of gurnard 
 skin and twist it round the shank of the hook. Tightly fasten 
 down each end with waxed silk ; of course, any tough, bright 
 fish-skin will do. For bristles, by the way, it is not necessary 
 to go to a hog, a hair-brush will suffice. I have often rigged 
 up rather novel spinning baits in some such way as this, 
 twisting strips of fish-skin over an arrangement of hooks, 
 and have caught bass with them too. 
 
 The flies which Mr. J. C. Wilcocks recommends for these 
 fish are any of the smaller salmon flies, and in particular the 
 Shaldon Shiner, which was used with great success by the late 
 Mr. J. C. Hale, near the village of Shaldon, on the west side 
 of the estuary of the Teign. It is a kind of imitation dragon 
 fly ; the body very thin, of flattened silver wire ; a small brush 
 of scarlet feather for the tail ; a little green, blue, and red 
 dubbing out of an old Turkey carpet for the shoulders ; and 
 bright blue wings, to which are added half a dozen fibres of 
 goose feather. It should be made about the size of a medium- 
 
1 64 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 sized salmon fly. Nowadays, however, many bass fishermen 
 prefer the fish-skin flies to any made of feather and tinsel. The 
 dogfish-tail fly (p. 171) should be killing. I have not had an 
 opportunity of trying it. One very important thing in fly fish- 
 ing for bass is to work the fly in rapid jerks, and, of course, the 
 man who can cast well will catch many more fish than he who 
 is inexpert at this most delightful branch of angling. 
 
 It is very desirable not to allow the boat to go over 
 bass ; and in the strong tidal currents which are chiefly fre- 
 quented by these fish it is often necessary to have two men, 
 or even three, to row the boat. If you can reach the fish from 
 the shore, as from rocky points, so much the better ; but where 
 there is a sound between an island and the mainland, such as 
 I have described, the fish will as likely as not be feeding out in 
 the centre of the current. 
 
 Of course there is no reason to be idle while waiting about 
 for the fish to begin feeding on the surface. A little railing 
 may be done ; and pollack, bass, or mackerel will very likely 
 be taken in that way. But, . I repeat, above all things do not 
 let the boat go just over the bass ground, nor, when the bass 
 are feeding, allow your men to take you too near them. The 
 longer the line can be cast, the better. 
 
 Very few salmon fishers are able to get out a long line 
 cleanly and well unless they are casting down stream and the 
 line is extended by the water at the end of each cast. If they 
 were to cast up stream the flowing water would bring the fly back 
 to them, and it would be a difficult thing to pick the line off the 
 surface and make the proper backward cast previous to the for- 
 ward cast which sends the fly in the desired direction. Dry- 
 fly fishermen in Hampshire, who fish mostly up stream, usually 
 grease their lines to make them float. The line can then be 
 picked off the water even when it is not extended ; but in sea or 
 salmon fishing the line is sunk, and long casts cannot well be 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 165 
 
 made unless the fly is fished down stream. At any rate, the 
 beginner should keep the boat placed at one side and rather 
 above the shoal offish. When I say 'above,' I mean regarding 
 the tidal current as if it were a river. Cast across the current 
 at an angle of about 45, letting the fly fall a yard or two in front 
 of the fish ; then work it in rapid jerks with the point of the 
 rod, allowing the tide to carry it among the shoal. Be particu- 
 larly careful not to cast beyond the fish, for if you are using a 
 thick line the fish will see the line before they see the fly, 
 which is obviously undesirable. 
 
 Bass very often take the fly under water ; so, especially 
 when there is much ripple, it is better to watch the line rather 
 than the fly. From the point of the rod to where it touches 
 the water, the line takes a gentle curve. Watch that curve, and 
 immediately you see it straighten, strike ; and then look out 
 for squalls. In playing the fish, keep the bend of the rod well 
 up ; hold the rod at an angle of about 45. If the fish makes 
 a determined run let him have line, checking it, if needs be, a 
 little with one of your fingers on the rim of the reel ; but never 
 allow the rod to be pulled down towards the water. Always 
 keep the rod up at an angle of about 45. If the bass is pulled 
 kicking and plunging up stream among the shoal, his struggles 
 will be so evident to his brothers that he alone of the shoal 
 will be landed. The wiser plan, which, however, involves a 
 considerable amount of labour, is, immediately a fish is hooked, 
 to draw it across the current towards the boat away from the 
 shoal, and then drop down with the tide below the other fish, 
 who, having their tails pointing that way, see nothing of what 
 takes place. It is a comparatively easy thing to pull a bass or 
 trout or salmon down stream. It should always be done 
 when possible. After the fish is landed the men should again 
 row the boat by the side of, but not too near, the shoal, 
 until they place one within casting distance, when with 
 
1 66 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 good luck another fish may be hooked and played in the 
 same way. 
 
 Beginners have a habit, when a fish is exhausted, of reeling 
 in too much line. If your rod is fifteen feet and you reel up 
 until only ten feet of line remain below the rod point, it is 
 obvious that the fish can never be brought close to the 
 boat. To decide exactly how much line to reel in requires 
 some judgment, but the word of warning on the point is 
 advisable. 
 
 When playing a fish from the shore and you are about to 
 land him, reel up until he is within twenty feet of the point 
 of the rod, let us say ; and then, if the ground will permit it, 
 walk slowly backwards. Your attendant should be stooping 
 down, gaff in hand, and you must try to bring the fish to 
 his feet. If you are alone you must, of course, do the best 
 you can. Get the fish well played out, and just a proper 
 length of line reeled up ; so that when the rod is nearly per- 
 pendicular the fish can be brought to the desired spot. Then, 
 with the gaff in the right hand, and the little finger of the left 
 hand pressing on the rim of the reel to prevent it revolving, 
 use the gaff with the right hand. 
 
 A word as to the manner of gaffing. I have a lively recol- 
 lection of an old Norwegian farmer whose services I solicited 
 in the matter of landing a i3-lb. sea trout. He had never 
 used a gaff before, and knelt down and began stroking the 
 back of the fish with it. The best place to gaff a fish is 
 the best place you can. If the line is in the way take him 
 under the belly, but give the preference to the back. If he 
 affords you a fair chance, lay the hook neatly over him, and 
 then give a pull towards you, sharp and sudden, such as would 
 bring a horse on to his haunches. If the hook takes hold, 
 at once turn the handle of the gaff into a perpendicular 
 position, which will help to prevent the fish kicking off and the 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 167 
 
 stick from breaking. The power of fish lies almost entirely in 
 their tails ; so that if you gaff a large fish in the middle of the 
 back or shoulder, he may work his natural propeller so vigor- 
 ously as to smash the gaff or break away from the hook. With 
 large fish, therefore, the best plan is, if possible, to get the gaff 
 well in near the tail. The big creature is then helpless. If 
 you have any reason to think your gaff is not strong enough 
 to lift him out, walk backwards, draw him tail foremost on 
 shore, and knock him on the head as quickly as possible. 
 When in a boat, a gaffer may be obliged to lay hold of the 
 fish with middle finger and thumb of left hand across the back 
 of the neck, in addition to lifting him in with the gaff stuck in 
 near the tail and held in the right hand. 
 
 It is worth bearing in mind that, however strong one's 
 tackle, very large fish cannot be lifted safely in by means of the 
 fishhook ; not that the tackle will necessarily break, but the 
 fish's flesh may give way if the creature is very heavy. In 
 anglers' language, the hook will tear out or break away. 
 
 For small fish anything under 5 Ibs. a large landing net 
 is certainly preferable to a gaff ; but I will repeat here what I 
 have already stated in an earlier chapter, that, if neither landing 
 net nor proper gaff is forthcoming, a large hake hook with the 
 barb filed or hammered down, lashed on the first available stick, 
 is a very excellent substitute. A steel meat-hook makes a very 
 fair gaff. These remarks on landing big fish apply perhaps 
 more to pollack than bass, for the largest bass are not com- 
 monly caught by the fly fisher. 
 
 Pollack and coalfish are frequently classed together in 
 sporting literature ; but their habits are more dissimilar than 
 their appearance. On the Devonshire coast I am well within 
 the mark in saying that many thousands of small pollack are 
 caught on flies in the spring of the year. The usual tackle, 
 however, is a kind of glorified paternoster with a number of 
 
1 68 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 flies or Belgian grubs (see p. 139) instead of hooks and baits. 
 This arrangement is trailed behind a boat, and the little fish are 
 often caught half a dozen at a time ; it is a case of quantity 
 rather than quality. This I hardly call fly fishing. I am now 
 more concerned with casting a bait of some kind by means of 
 a fly rod. 
 
 On many parts of the Scotch coast small pollack and coal- 
 fish swarm during the summer months, and take a white fly 
 greedily in the evening. The whitebait fly is killing. There 
 are few flies which, if large enough, they will not take, but they 
 appear to have a weakness for a white wool body and a white 
 wing, the size depending on size of fish. If a little red tail and 
 some gold or silver tinsel ribbing for the body are added, the 
 fly will be none the less killing. The sole-skin and imitation 
 sand-eel baits already described are very attractive to pollack, 
 which will also take large feather baits or flies as you may 
 please to call them. 
 
 Mr. Moodie-Heddle, of Orkney, sent me the following 
 dressing for a cheap and effective fly on a large-sized cod hook. 
 Tie on a body of orange and black, well barred in strips of half 
 an inch in width, and lay over the back of the body a few strands 
 of peacock harl, or two whole feathers tied down at the tail. 
 Wings either white swan's feather, two sides tied over one behind 
 the other, or two whole speckled turkey's or drake's feathers. 
 
 The two larger patterns illustrated, which are also strongly re- 
 commended by Mr. Moodie-Heddle, can be made in the follow- 
 ing manner. No. i, brown or grey turkey feathers for wings (tied 
 down at head), two feathers being placed face to face. Curlew 
 feathers, one or two further back, and peacock feathers on head 
 and tail of the bait. Beads for eyes ; red worsted at gills ; blue 
 worsted for back ; pale yellow or greenish-yellow on belly. 
 No. 2 is made in much the same style. Body red and black 
 worsted with gold or silver tinsel ; tail of heron's feather, cut 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 
 
 169 
 
 out in centre to make it forked, and a few strips of peacock 
 harl. For wings, two curlew feathers face to face, and, if needed 
 by the size, a pair or single second wing further back. Some 
 such flies have been used in Ireland for many years, and are 
 
 No. 
 
 No. 2 
 
 THREE POLLACK FLIES (ORKNKY) 
 
 mentioned in a book called ' Fly Fishing in Salt and Fresh 
 Water,' published by Van Voorst in 1851. The smallest of the 
 three flies is for use when small fish are plentiful, or when the 
 water is clear and smooth. 
 
 z 
 
t7o MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 In the Orkneys flies are by no means a modern innovation, 
 the local fishermen finding that these large double-winged flies 
 will kill lythe and saithe when red and white rags fail. A single 
 set of wings are not found large enough to cover the medium- 
 sized cod hooks which are used for the larger fish. I must 
 confess that these very large flies are not as a rule cast from 
 a rod, but are used as whirring baits from a boat which for 
 saithe is worked on the edge of the tide, the line being somewhat 
 heavily leaded. 
 
 Anyone who is accustomed to dress flies will see that baits 
 for lythe and saithe may be made of any materials which are 
 to be had, and wherever there is an old hearthrug, a mop- 
 head, a coloured blanket, a poultry run, or a red-haired child, 
 materials of some kind are forthcoming. I once caught some 
 trout on Daitmoor with a fly made of no better materials than 
 some white darning worsted and a quill pen, but I used it at 
 night during a spell of dry hot weather. 
 
 For small fish a white fly does well over a dark bottom ; 
 and a greyish-brown fly, dark wing, over sand. Another good 
 fly is made with a grey-brown turkey's feather, first dipped in 
 turmeric to give it a yellowish shade ; body either red and 
 black barred, or peacock harl. 
 
 A most killing fly, shown in the illustration, is made from 
 the tail of a dogfish, after drying. It will take when all others 
 fail, owing possibly to the peculiar glistening of the fibres in 
 the water. It can easily be made from the following direc- 
 tions : Dry the tail end of a dogfish by hanging up in the wind 
 (putting on a little salt if the weather is hot, to prevent it from 
 going bad). When the tail fin is quite dry, cut it off close 
 to the body and tear off the dry skin from each side. This will 
 leave the centre part of the fin composed of some fibrous rags 
 with possibly a little dry flesh adhering. This flesh is removed 
 by the Orkney fishermen by soaking in their mouths and 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 
 
 171 
 
 stripping between their teeth, holding one end of the fibres in 
 their hand. Possibly 
 
 maceration in water ~S^> "00GF/SH TAIL 
 
 -^TsNV FLY 
 
 and removal by scrap- 
 ing with a blunt knife 
 would do nearly as 
 well. The result is 
 from each tail a bunch 
 of bright, whitish-yel- 
 low, fibrous matter, 
 each fibre of which is stouter than 
 an ordinary pig's bristle, but softer, 
 and shines with a lustre like that on 
 very bright seal's fur. This, when 
 dry, is simply tied on a hook of the 
 necessary size, just as the ordinary 
 white feather would be. In the water 
 it softens and shines, and fish will 
 take it when they refuse the com- 
 mon white fly. It lasts a long time if 
 dried after fishing, so that the hook 
 does not rust it. On the north-west 
 coast of Scotland I found a red phan- 
 tom such an extremely killing bait 
 for lythe, i.e. pollack, that I should 
 imagine a large red fly would be very 
 deadly. 
 
 Lythe and cuddies, when close in 
 shore and gorged with food, some- 
 times take a small fiery brown Palmer 
 when white flies are not looked at. 
 Mr. Moodie-Heddle tells me that he 
 has taken a score or two in this 
 
 DOGFISH-TAIL FIBRE FLY 
 
i?2 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 way when people fishing close to him could get few or 
 none. 
 
 There is much more chance of catching large pollack than 
 large coalfish with the fly cast with fly rod, because the former 
 are often found in large quantities in comparatively shallow 
 water where rocky points stretch out some distance under the 
 surface, the most favoured rocks being those covered with 
 seaweed. In such places, in the evening, large fish will come 
 with a plunge like salmon, and go down again head foremost 
 to seek shelter among the weeds. I need hardly say that the 
 tackle must be very strong, and the rod proportionately 
 stiff. 
 
 For the little cuddies, in which term I believe the Scotch 
 include both lythe and coalfish, though some ichthyologists 
 limit the word to the latter variety, quite fine tackle can be 
 used. In the north it is a common thing to catch five or six 
 dozen of these little fish on a calm summer's evening with a 
 white fly. 
 
 Large coalfish are commonly found in seven to ten 
 fathoms of water in or at the edge of a tideway, and, unless 
 they are tempted to the surface by shoals of sand-eels or other 
 fry of some kind, are not very get-at-able with the fly rod. 
 The smaller fish, however, varying from half a pound to three 
 pounds, the billet of Yorkshire, which are favoured with the 
 extraordinary variety of local names given in the remarks on 
 coalfish, occasionally afford really splendid sport with the fly. 
 In the introductory chapter I referred to the very excellent 
 fly fishing I used to have from Filey Brigg, shoals of billet 
 coming close to the shore and taking the fly as quickly as 
 I could cast it to them. It is when these fish are thus 
 greedily feeding close to the rocks that the fly fisher has his 
 opportunity. In the sea wherever they are found it is always 
 well to be prepared with a fly rod and a suitable fly, and the 
 
1 
 
 FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 173 
 
 whitebait fly (p. 148) is the best, so far as I know, but some 
 prefer a piece of fish-skin. 
 
 The last time I sea-fished was in a Norwegian fjord. I was 
 using a paternoster and catching whiting, flat fish, and cod- 
 lings, but with a fly rod I might have had much better sport, 
 for every few minutes large shoals of billet were breaking the 
 surface and beating it into foam, splashing about after some 
 smaller fish which they were pursuing. Gulls hover over billet 
 as they do over the bass, and immediately the coalfish appeared, 
 the birds came swooping down from their resting places on 
 the mountain-side, and shrieked and fought for the small fry. 
 
 Both for pollack and coalfish the fly should be cast and 
 drawn through the water, and if the fish run over a pound I 
 should certainly not use more than one fly. 
 
 I hope these remarks will not .lead anybody to take a 
 rowing boat at Brighton or Hastings and begin casting vaguely 
 about a mile or so off the sea front. Neither should I advise a 
 stroll along the beach at Eastbourne ! or Cromer, fly rod in hand. 
 No ; to obtain sport with the fly it is necessary to go to places 
 frequented by fly-taking fish, and sport will, of course, depend 
 to a very large extent on the local knowledge available in the 
 person of the fishermen whose interest in the game must be 
 excited by any means the fly fisher thinks best. 
 
 I think it was Pliny who said that the mullet was a stupid 
 fish; but things have changed now, and the beautiful mugilidae 
 of the end of this century are as wide awake as the most ex- 
 acting angler could wish. There is a tradition that these fish 
 rise to the fly, but if I say that there are ' instances on record ' 
 (a good and useful old phrase) of grey mullet having been 
 caught by fly fishermen, perhaps I shall have put my case as 
 
 1 But a friend of mine tells me he has more than once had fine sport with 
 large bass off Beachy Head in September. He cast a white fly from a small 
 yacht which was sailed very slowly near the shoals of these fish. 
 
1 76 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 On the unimpeachable authority of a Dublin police magis- 
 trate Mr. Porter a fly fisher once took a large number of 
 herrings in Dublin Bay. There was a fish hooked at almost 
 every cast, and the fly was a black hackle or black Palmer. A 
 gentleman who writes under the name of ' Stormy Petrel,' on 
 the other hand, caught a very large number of herrings with a 
 fly dressed to represent a red caterpillar, and on another with a 
 green body, these killing better than the ordinary Irish herring 
 flies, which have white wings and silver-tinsel body. This was 
 in Strangford Lough at the end of summer ; the time was 
 evening. Three dozen and nine were brought into the boat, 
 sometimes two at a time ; and more would have been killed 
 had not a pollack risen to one of the flies, bolted for the weeds, 
 after the manner of these fish, and smashed up the tackle. 
 
 In the 'Field 'of September 23, 1893, Mr. Dombavand wrote 
 that while fishing for cuddies in Loch Inchard, a sea loch in 
 Sutherlandshire, he caught thirty-eight herrings. The loch was 
 at the time full of these fish, and the local fishermen were 
 making immense hauls. A week or two later Mr. J. C. Wil- 
 cocks mentioned in the same paper that he had seen shoals 
 of young herrings or whitebait rising at small gnats, just like 
 dace in a millstream. This was in almost, or quite, fresh water, 
 but he had seen them do the same thing at the Kingswear 
 Pontoon, Dartmouth. There was another letter on the same 
 subject from ' J. S.,' who wrote that fly fishing for herrings was 
 a well-known amusement in Shetland, and that he was once with 
 a party of three who had caught over eight hundred herrings in 
 Lerwick Harbour in a little over two hours. The best time 
 for fishing was in June and July, from about 9 to n P.M., 
 or from midnight to 3 A.M., the latter hours for choice. The 
 flies were not cast ; there were eight or ten on the line with a 
 small sinker at the end of it, and the line was worked gently up 
 and down. Not only will Scotch and Irish herrings take the 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 177 
 
 fly, but I heard of them acting in a similar way on the East 
 coast, particularly at Filey and Dovercourt. 
 
 It will doubtless surprise a good many people to learn that 
 the larger sand-eels take the fly greedily on some parts of our 
 coast. I have never attempted to catch them in this way 
 myself, but Mr. J. W. Blakey, the editor of the 'Angler.' who 
 used to fish a good deal for them on the Northumberland 
 and Durham coasts, has kindly sent me some very interesting 
 information on the subject. 
 
 It appears to be delicate and artistic work ; not over-profit- 
 able, but a pleasant pastime on a calm summer's day. When 
 the sea is smooth and glassy, the sand-eels come inshore in 
 large shoals. They may be seen swimming about the mouths 
 of harbours and amongst rocks, provided the water is still and 
 clear, and they rather affect a racing current. The larger launce 
 feeds a good deal on the young of other fish, which in turn 
 consume sand-eels on attaining maturity. 
 
 The best fly for sand-eels, if it can be strictly called a fly at 
 all, is a piece of dried fish-skin (the grey gurnard yields the best 
 material for the purpose) to which are attached three small 
 hooks. The gurnard should be split down the back, the skin 
 torn off, stretched on a piece of glass and put in the sun to dry. 
 Any particles of flesh which are clinging to the inside of the 
 skin should be scraped away. The result is a piece of kid-like 
 substance, white in the centre, and deepening in colour some- 
 what at the sides. On some days a strip of white skin kills 
 best, but on others the fish appear to prefer a darker shade, 
 why or w r herefore no man knows. 
 
 In the illustration is a piece of skin cut to the right shape 
 and size mounted on three hooks in fact the fly complete ; it 
 will be noticed that two hooks are not attached to the bait 
 proper. For casting this lure there is nothing better than an 
 ordinary single-handed trout rod, a fine dressed tapering line, 
 
 A A 
 
i?8 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 and a tapered three-yard cast. It is well to be prepared with 
 flies varying from white to grey. Sand-eels are not the only 
 kind of fish which will take these flies, for sea trout, smolts, and 
 billet by no means despise them. On a fine summer's day ten or 
 eleven o'clock is about the hour to start operations. Should 
 there be the least sea on, or the water thickened by river floods 
 or other causes, it is little use fly fishing for sand-eels. 
 
 The fly is worked very much like the salmon fly, cast across 
 and rather down stream, allowed to swing round, and then 
 drawn up against the tide in short jerks, but it is important to 
 keep it on the surface of the water. Sooner or later it will 
 attract one of the silvery little creatures to the surface, which 
 
 GURNARD-SKIN FLY FOR SAND-EELS (FULL SIZE) 
 
 will follow the fly a yard or more and then make a dash with 
 open mouth, taking it from behind, when the angler strikes. 
 Should the fish miss the fly, it disappears for a second, but very 
 likely comes up again and seizes it by the head. Owing to these 
 little creatures having most delicate mouths, they have to 
 be played very carefully, and a small meshed landing-net is a 
 decided advantage. One day, Mr. Blakey tells me, he saw a 
 number of sand-eels in pools among the rocks, rushing about, 
 seizing floating particles of food. He tried the gurnard fly 
 without avail, but noticed that now and again the fish would fly 
 at the frayed end of the casting line. This gave him an idea ; 
 he cut off an inch of line, frayed out all the fibres, attached this 
 curious bait to a hook, and with it caught a number of fish. 
 After this experience he tied some small flies in the nature of 
 
FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 179 
 
 elongated Palmers, and was so successful with them that he 
 almost discarded the gurnard-skin fly, but later in the season 
 found he had to go back to it. 
 
 The last fish of all possibly there are more, but I doubt it 
 are smelts ; and here again I must confess never to have 
 attempted their capture with flies. I need hardly say that 
 any fly used for the purpose should be extremely small. It 
 would be all the more killing if tipped with a fragment of 
 shrimp or lobster and allowed to sink a few inches under the 
 surface. Using a fly rod, I have killed a good many of these 
 fish on an ordinary cast, but in lieu of flies there were two 
 or three small roach hooks, each tipped with a fragment of 
 fish. This tackle requires casting with great care to avoid 
 whipping off the bait. 
 
 A last word as to fly fishing for herrings. In the name 
 of Neptune, don't go for them with a huge salmon rod 
 and salmon cast. They are little fish, and should afford very 
 pretty sport indeed with an eleven-foot trout rod and a light 
 trout cast. 
 
i8o MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 FROM LAND AND PIER 
 
 MANY centuries ago, before even what is occasionally termed 
 the ' dim and misty past,' some such scene as this took place : 
 A barbaric personage, carelessly wrapped in bear or deer skin, 
 might have been seen standing on a ledge of rocks, casting out 
 a line made of strips of untanned leather and weighted with a 
 stone. For hooks he had carved pieces of hard wood with 
 the points well sharpened, or perhaps fishbones, or the more 
 primitive but still not disused thorn or straight piece of wood 
 which was plunged into the bait and, when the line tightened, 
 came athwart the throat of the unfortunate fish. 
 
 The ledge on which the man stood sloped gently into the 
 sea and was covered with mussels and seaweed. Each time 
 that he hauled in his line some projecting rocky edge or sharp- 
 shelled mussel would catch it. Three times were his thongs 
 of deer-skin cut. With each succeeding accident his face 
 flushed with anger and became red as the unkempt, straggling, 
 knotty beard which reached almost to his waist. 
 
 Then an inspiration seized him. Quickly ascending the 
 cliff, he entered the forest, tore down a sapling ash, stripped it 
 of leaves and small branches, and to the lissom end of it 
 affixed his line. And now did the wild man cease to appeal to 
 strange gods, asking what sin he had committed that his lines 
 should be broken by the sharp-shelled mussels. For, regain- 
 ing his position, he cast his thong into the heaving sea, and, 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 181 
 
 when the untutored fish of those days swallowed the bait, he 
 lifted them out by means of that ash sapling and no longer 
 fouled the rocks. 
 
 Great was the pride of this barbaric personage, for he had 
 made one step towards civilisation. He had become an 
 Inventor. And the men of his tribe flattered him by making 
 similar rods, for there were no patent laws in those days. 
 Soon, wherever the rockiness of the coast was such that the 
 line could not be cast out or recovered without entanglement 
 or injury, there might men be seen with poles, some of them 
 huge, almost as weaver's beams ; for in those days there were 
 giants in the land. 
 
 For the origin of rod fishing in the sea we must, then, go 
 back to the first man who found he could not work a hand 
 line on a rough rocky coast. I would venture almost to assert 
 that he was the first angler as we now understand the word, 
 for the old meaning one who fished with the angle or hook 
 has long since fallen into disuse. The angler of to-day is a 
 knight of the rod and none other. We do know with cer- 
 tainty that for many years rods have been used for sea fishing 
 on the rock-bound coasts of Scotland and Ireland. The 
 people in the remote parts of the Outer Hebrides are at least 
 two centuries behind the rest of the world. As I found them 
 using rods for fishing from the rocks, it is a fair conclusion 
 that rods were used in sea fishing on other portions of the 
 globe at least two centuries ago. 
 
 From boats we undoubtedly can fish without using a rod, 
 and, moreover, fill our baskets ; but from the shore, unless it 
 be a sandy or muddy one, there is often no possibility of 
 fishing on the bottom with weighted gear unless a rod is used. 
 I have already shown in the previous chapter how, under certain 
 conditions, the fly fisher using the term as a salmon angler 
 understands it may have really good sport in salt water. 
 
1 82 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Now I propose to deal with the slightly lower branch of fishing 
 near or on the bottom of the sea, as it may be carried on from 
 rocks and piers, from flat sandy shores, and in harbours and 
 estuaries. Generally speaking, fishing of this kind is most 
 successful during spring tides. I have never been able to 
 make up my mind whether the reason is that the increased 
 current acts like a spate coming down a freshwater river, 
 stirring up the food and setting all the fish a-feeding, besides 
 reinvigorating them by the freshness of the water, as we are 
 brisked up by a good blow from a north-east wind ; or whether 
 the powerful stream outside simply forces the fish to seek that 
 shelter which they find in the slacker water close along the 
 coast. Perhaps both reasons may be correct ; but, whatever 
 the cause, the fact remains that in many places the fishing is 
 extremely indifferent from the shore except at the periods 
 when the moon is either at its full or new. 
 
 It is a great fallacy to suppose that wherever there is a pier, 
 or wherever there are projecting rocks, fish are to be caught. 
 On many parts of our coast sea fish are exceedingly scarce, and 
 there are not a few pierheads where half a dozen whiting pout, 
 two baby flat fish, and a six-ounce eel would be considered a 
 remarkable bag, though the whole weigh one and a half or a 
 couple of pounds. Those who have never had better sport, 
 among whom may sometimes be included the boys home for 
 the holidays, are well pleased with such meagre results of their 
 endeavours. Possibly, if they follow some of the instructions 
 given in this chapter, especially with regard to the use of 
 ground bait, they may even succeed in doubling the not very 
 enormous catch which I have suggested. On the other hand, 
 there are some piers, or the sea beneath, which in the autumn 
 months yield enormous cod. Down on the South-west coast 
 where the pilchard fishery is carried on, the pilchard refuse 
 attracts into the harbours a considerable number of fish 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 183 
 
 which yield sport to bare-legged fisher lads and skilful angler 
 alike. 
 
 In the autumn our good friend the bass comes into many 
 an estuary and harbour, giving the shore fisher a chance, and 
 during summer months may be seen playing round the piers. 
 I will not venture, as was done in a recent work on sea fishing, 
 to recommend any of the piers jutting out from the watering- 
 places near London as affording first-class bass fishing. But 
 the fact remains that a few bass do occasionally show them- 
 selves beneath these iron structures, and are still more occa- 
 sionally caught. Even Brighton and Hastings piers, and less 
 often the groins (particularly early in the morning, when the 
 water is thick after rough weather), at times yield a bass or two, 
 and the event is sufficiently startling to be deemed worthy of a 
 prominent paragraph in the local newspapers. And I must 
 say that these said paragraphs recur with greater frequency 
 than of yore, doubtless because an ever-increasing number of 
 anglers are giving their attention to bass fishing. 
 
 While for boat work the sea angler requires a rod rather 
 short than long, for fishing from rocks and the shore the rod 
 should err on the side of length. Even when fishing from a 
 pier it is well to have as long a rod as can be conveniently 
 handled, to keep the fish one has the good fortune to hook 
 from bolting in among the old woodwork or iron girders 
 beneath. Any long rod made as light as possible, having due 
 regard to the necessary strength, is suitable for fishing from 
 piers or similar positions ; while for spinning or casting out any 
 distance nothing is better than the excellent cane rods made 
 with greenheart tops, such as are used by pike fishers at the 
 present day. 
 
 Those who wish to avoid a multiplicity of rods may provide 
 themselves with one made on the following lines : Let the 
 butt and middle joint be of East Indian cane, and let there be 
 
1 84 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 two tops of greenheart. The longest top and the butt and 
 middle joint should measure each five feet, which together will 
 give a rod of fifteen feet. The second top should be only 
 eighteen inches in length, and strong. It will be found useful 
 for large bass, codfish and conger, and also for spinning. The 
 rod measures with this top n ft. 6 ins., which is a very 
 convenient length for spinning or casting out any moderately 
 heavy tackle. To obtain a very long rod there should be an 
 extra butt, four feet in length, which will fit on to the proper 
 butt of the rod, making the whole rod (now in four pieces), 
 with the longest top, nineteen feet. 'General rods,' which 
 in their various combinations are sold as being suitable for 
 salmon, trout, pike, stickleback or shark fishing, as the case 
 may be, are often and properly condemned. They are only 
 good for any one of these things by accident. But the sea- 
 fishing rod such as I have described is really a useful weapon 
 put together in any of its three lengths. It should be under- 
 stood that the extra butt is only required under special cir- 
 cumstances, and can as a rule be dispensed with. 
 
 A rod of twenty feet is an awe-inspiring, arm-wearying 
 weapon to hold, and those who consult their comfort will do 
 without it so far as possible. 
 
 In this connection I may call attention to the Brobding- 
 nagian weapons which are used at Biarritz by the natives for 
 catching mullet, and are described by Mr. Senior in his very 
 interesting chapter on Foreign Fish. 
 
 When buying a rod it is important to see that the winch 
 fittings really do ' fit ' the large reel which is required in 
 sea fishing. As a general rule this little detail is neglected by 
 the tackle-makers, but of late years a number of most excellent 
 winch fittings have been invented which, within certain limits, 
 take any sized reel plate. Among others I call to mind the 
 Weger, the Universal, and Warner's. The ordinary arrange- 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 
 
 185 
 
 inent of rings, even when it fits a reel, invariably sticks sooner 
 or later. 
 
 The snake rod rings shown in the illustration have come 
 into very general use, and are excellent for most kinds of fish- 
 ing, but there is a method of casting (not from the reel, but by 
 
 drawing down loops of line between the rings and holding 
 them on the fingers of the left hand) which cannot well be 
 done if snake rings are fitted all down the rod, and therefore I 
 would rather recommend for the two rings next the butt the 
 use of the bridge ring which was illustrated in the volumes on 
 Freshwater Fishing in this library and is hers reproduced. 
 
 BRIDGE RING 
 
 A rod top end ring I invented, which is also illustrated, 
 works on pivots and adapts itself to whatever angle the line 
 makes with the rod. It has an inner ring of phosphor bronze 
 which can be twisted round whenever it gets a little worn. For 
 sea use it should be made extra strong. The pivots may 
 
 B B 
 
1 86 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 appear to be the weak part of this ring, but I have had the 
 invention on my rods for many years, and some thousands of 
 them are in use, yet I never heard of a pivot breaking except 
 when in the hands of careless workmen before 
 being fastened to the rod top. If the ordinary 
 top ring is used, it should most certainly be fitted 
 with the inner ring or lining as shown in the left- 
 hand illustration. The ordinary 
 rings get cut into grooves very 
 quickly, and the great object of the 
 inner ring is that when a little worn 
 it can be moved round and the 
 wearing point shifted. I find, how- 
 ever, that the sharp edges of the 
 inner ring, unless countersunk, are 
 apt to cut or tray the line when it 
 forms an acute angle with the rod, 
 as when a fish has been reeled in 
 and the angler is about to gaff it. 
 This led to my inventing the ring 
 working on pivots, which varies its 
 angle with the angle of rod and line, 
 and so prevents a very great deal of wear and 
 tear. For use with very heavy leads the block 
 or roller ring illustrated in Chapter VII. is pre- 
 ferable to either of the two described. 
 
 All rings should be large and of equal size. 
 It is a great mistake to vary their size, making 
 them smaller towards the top end of the rod. Ring and all 
 other whippings should be of wire, the portion of the rod to 
 be whipped first being served with fine thread. Over the wire 
 a little soft solder can be run with advantage. This makes a 
 very permanent fastening for the rings, &c. 
 
 1 BICKER- 
 DYKE ' END 
 RING 
 
 RIGID TOP 
 
 RING WITH 
 
 MOVABLE 
 
 LINING 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 187 
 
 The reel should be of the Nottingham pattern, fitted with 
 the wire line guard, another little invention of my own which 
 prevents the line uncoiling and overcomes one of the greatest 
 drawbacks to the use of the Nottingham reel in the hands of 
 beginners. It should also have a check which can be put on or 
 off by moving a button on the back plate. The one shown in 
 the illustration is Farlow's Sun reel. The back is lined on the 
 inside with metal, which prevents the wood swelling and the 
 parts sticking. It is fitted with my line guard. Of course, the 
 better the reel, the better it will work. For boys' use from a 
 pier where only small fish are to be caught, a small reel to hold 
 
 SUN REEL LINE GUARD 
 
 fifty or sixty yards of line will answer all purposes ; but where 
 bass or large mullet may be expected, then certainly not less 
 than 150 yards of line should be on the reel, otherwise the angler 
 may lose the largest fish of a lifetime and for ever after regret it. 
 If the reel is entirely of wood it should be taken to pieces, 
 and either carefully painted inside with two coats of enamel 
 paint or smothered with vaseline. Otherwise the salt water, 
 which drips into and all over it from the long wet line, will be 
 certain to cause the wood to swell and stick. If either of 
 these precautions is omitted, and there is a stoppage, the best 
 thing to do is to take the reel to pieces, wash it well in fresh 
 water, and dry it slowly in a warm airy place in the house. 
 
1 88 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Next rub* down the parts which touch with sand or glass paper 
 until the winder will revolve freely. Then possibly vaseline 
 or enamel may be thought desirable to prevent a recurrence of 
 the bother. Steel screws, springs, &c., are quite inadmissible 
 on a reel for sea work. I have mentioned several of these 
 matters in the following chapter, but they are sufficiently 
 important to bear repetition. 
 
 Of all lines, I personally give the preference to a twisted silk 
 Nottingham pike line ; but it must be borne in mind that this 
 can only be used by those who have mastered the art of casting 
 from the reel ; for if the twisted line (unless it has been dressed) 
 be drawn in by the hand and allowed to fall in coils on the 
 ground, it will certainly kink and entangle. Perhaps the be- 
 ginner will be well advised to use an ordinary eight-plait dressed 
 silk pike line. He can then cast from the reel, or cast in the 
 Thames fashion, by simply having a quantity of line loosely 
 coiled on the ground. When he has at odd times practised 
 and finally mastered the Nottingham style of casting, then he 
 can take to the twisted, undressed Nottingham lines, which are 
 not only cheaper than the plaited, but stronger and best suited 
 for that method of angling. Of course, where the fish run very 
 small, lighter lines than those I have recommended may be used. 
 
 Among the sundry impedimenta, the most necessary is a 
 long-handled gaff. For large fish a roomy creel will, I hope, be 
 found useful ; at any rate, it will carry the lunch, and, if it be 
 constructed after the pattern of my own, is a useful seat. 
 
 When fishing from rocks and piers it is very necessary to 
 have something at hand with which to kill the fish as soon as 
 caught, particularly eels, otherwise they are apt to slip back into 
 the water. The most annoying incident of the kind that ever 
 occurred to me was not in salt water, but in fresh. The story is 
 worth telling on account of the remarkable sagacity and deter- 
 mination exhibited by a pound trout. I had been casting down 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 189 
 
 a small stream which ran into a Sutherlandshire loch, and had 
 caught this solitary fish. I then removed my shoes and stock- 
 ings, waded into the loch as far as I dared, leaving my creel 
 with the fish in it on the shore, about ten yards from the water's 
 edge. The trout were rising pretty freely, and what with them, 
 and the midges which formed a black band round each leg 
 between the water-line and my rolled-up knickerbockers, I 
 gave little attention to things on shore. Hearing a slight noise 
 behind me, I looked round and saw the lid of the creel spring 
 up and then fall back again. The trout had evidently given 
 a leap and hit the basketwork above it. It continued its 
 efforts, and presently the lid flew right open. A second or two 
 later out jumped the fish on to the sandy shore. I was some 
 little distance out in the loch, catching trout and holding them 
 in my landing net, so did not think it worth while to return to 
 the bank after this runaway, which very quickly by a series of 
 leaps reached the water. I had, as a matter of fact, called to 
 the gillie, but he had taken off his coat, covered his head with 
 it, and plunged into a great mass of heather to get out of the 
 way of the midges, so he pretended not to hear me. Moral : 
 kill your fish as soon as caught. It is both humane and profit- 
 able to do so. Employ midge-proof gillies ; if they exist. 
 
 Some years ago I worked out a little instrument in the 
 nature of a ' Priest,' to use the Irish term, which not only 
 slew the fish, but held his mouth open, took out the hook, and 
 measured him when all was over. We have not yet arrived 
 at the stage when sea fish under certain limits of size have 
 to be returned by the angler, though certain limitations have 
 been here and there placed upon netsmen ; so the measure 
 need not count, but the other instruments are useful. In the 
 illustration it will be seen that my own particular ' Priest ' (in 
 addition to the knobstick which performs the last office for 
 the dying hence Paddy's name for it) contains a disgorger, one 
 
190 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 end being sharpened so that it can cut out the hook if need 
 be, and also a gag which is of no small service where a 
 conger has to be dealt with, but which at the moment is busy 
 with a fish of some new species. This gag an opener rather 
 than a closure if reversed, is serviceable as callipers for gauging 
 the dimensions of specimen fish. The instrument, excepting 
 the case, was at first made of steel and tinned. It rusted so 
 quickly as to be unfit for sea or, indeed, freshwater fishing. I 
 
 KNOBSTICK OR 
 ' PRIEST ' 
 
 have now prevailed upon the makers, Warner & Sons (who 
 shared the error so common among tackle manufacturers that 
 tinning was a preventive of rust), to make the ' Priest ' from 
 top to toe of brass. I had one of the first made for me electro- 
 coppered, and it answered admirably. 
 
 Next to fly fishing, the highest form of saltwater angling 
 from rocks and piers is undoubtedly spinning for bass and pol- 
 lack. The tackle is almost identical with that which we should 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 191 
 
 use for pike, except that in the case of pollack the trace must 
 be weighted heavily enough to bring the bait near the bottom, 
 unless it be evening, when these fish rise to the surface. 
 
 Bass, on the other hand, very often feed close to the sur- 
 face, not far from the shore ; so that for them little lead is 
 necessary, only enough, indeed, to enable the angler to cast his 
 tackle with accuracy and to a sufficient distance. I doubt if 
 there is anything better for the trace than twisted gut. The 
 length between the lead and the running tackle should be about 
 eighteen inches, and between the lead and the other end of 
 the trace three feet or a little more. 
 
 In the chapter on Fishing from Small Boats I have very 
 carefully described the best forms of lead, and the position 
 in which the swivels should be placed. The various kinds of 
 bait which may be used have been described in a chapter 
 particularly devoted to them, and the tiro should very care- 
 fully study the remarks on bass, pollack, and other fish which 
 come near the shore, to be found in the chapter more par- 
 ticularly devoted to surface-swimming fish. 
 
 Suppose now that the angler is standing on some rocky 
 point a well-known haunt of bass, best fished at spring tides 
 and the tide is rising. There is a gentle breeze blowing on the 
 shore, causing a slight rippling of the surface, and all condi- 
 tions are favourable to sport. Taking the spinning rod in his 
 right hand, he should unroll on to the ground thirty or forty 
 yards of line, and hold the line near the lowest ring in his left 
 hand. The trace and about three or four feet of line should be 
 dangling from the end of the rod. He should then make his 
 first cast and, as the bait flies out over the water, let the loose 
 line pass through his left hand before it enters the rod rings. 
 The first cast or two should be short ones. The length can 
 gradually be increased as confidence and skill are acquired. 
 
 When the bait touches the water, the angler, if bass are 
 
192 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 about, should at once draw in the line quickly with his left 
 hand, letting it pass between the first finger of his right hand 
 and the rod. Between each draw the rod should be pulled 
 away from the sea, so that a constant motion of the bait is kept 
 up. In other words, there should be first a draw of the left 
 hand, and as the left hand comes from the rod down to the left 
 hip, the point of the rod should be brought round a little sea- 
 ward ; then while the left hand is coming up for a further draw 
 of the line the rod should be brought landward. If these 
 alternate motions are maintained, the bait will be kept in 
 continual motion. For bass the bait should be worked rather 
 quickly. For pollack a slower spin is better, and before any 
 attempt is made to draw in the line, time should be given for 
 the bait to sink nearly to the bottom. The exception to this 
 rule occurs, as I have already stated, in the evening, when 
 pollack are often found near the surface. 
 
 There is one considerable objection to casting in this manner 
 for bass. If while w*e are drawing in the line a fish of this 
 species suddenly seizes the bait and makes a gallant rush sea- 
 ward, as likely as not some of the line on the ground at our 
 feet will twist up into a small knot and foul the rod rings or 
 get caught in the toe of our boot or on a button, and in an 
 instant there is a lamentable smash. For pike fishing the 
 method which is common on the Thames answers well enough, 
 because pike do not, as a rule, make any considerable rush 
 when first hooked, as do salmon, trout and bass. Unfortunately 
 the difficulties of casting from the reel in the Nottingham 
 fashion, which for sea fishing is undoubtedly superior to the 
 Thames method, deter many people at the outset from learning 
 not only a very useful but a very pleasant branch of angling. 
 No one, however, need dread the difficulty of casting from 
 the malloch reel described on p. 197. But I certainly prefer 
 Nottingham gear myself. 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 193 
 
 After all it is only the first rung or two of the Nottingham 
 ladder which presents any difficulty. After they have been 
 surmounted the rest is easy, and proficiency soon comes with 
 practice. Early attempts at casting from the reel should 
 certainly be made in a lonely place where men, trees, houses, 
 animals and beasts are not. Even a small dog standing twenty 
 yards behind the angler who is making his first cast in an 
 opposite direction would not be safe. Let the first day's 
 practice be on some desolate sandy shore at low tide. 
 
 The rod should not be too stiff, for the spring of it will 
 help the cast. The rings should all be large ; the line of pure 
 silk lightly twisted and undressed, and the reel should be well 
 made. Cheap Nottingham reels are apt to revolve untruly, and 
 the unseasoned wood soon warps. The reel may be fitted with 
 an optional check, which when the cast is being made should be 
 thrown off. It is obvious that a large reel requires more force 
 to set it revolving than a smaller one made of the same material, 
 but having once started, it continues revolving for a longer time 
 than a reel of less circumference. Two things follow : In the 
 first place, the small reel is best suited for casting lightly leaded 
 tackle, while a large reel would require checking with the finger 
 towards the end of the cast sooner than a small one. As a rule, 
 one or two ounces of lead will be required on the trace used 
 for spinning ' from the shore. In deciding this point, the 
 additional weight of the bait, which if of metal may be half an 
 ounce or more, should be taken into consideration. It is a 
 great thing to know one's weapons. The expert caster becomes 
 as accustomed to using his own particular reel as a shooter 
 does his gun. In sea fishing so much line is usually required 
 that small reels are generally out of the question. For casting 
 
 1 I use the word ' spinning ' as the term is a technical one understood of 
 anglers. As a matter of fact several of the natural baits cast from the shore 
 for bass and pollack do not and need not spin. 
 
 C C 
 
194 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 light weights it is therefore desirable that the drum of the reel, 
 though large, should be of a light material. Some day we may 
 see them made of aluminium. 
 
 It is not altogether easy to give satisfactory instructions in 
 writing for casting from the reel in the fashion known as the 
 Nottingham, which practically originated with the anglers of 
 the Trent ; but anyone who closely follows the directions here- 
 after furnished should, after a little practice, acquire the knack 
 of it. Assuming that the beginner is a right-handed man, he 
 should stand with his left side towards the sea, and hold the rod 
 with the right hand above the reel and the left hand below it, 
 pointing the rod along the line of shore and rather away from 
 the sea than towards it. The rod should be a little above the 
 horizontal, not much. The first finger of the left hand should 
 bs pressing against the rim of the reel to prevent it revolving, 
 and the line should be wound neatly on the reel until only five 
 or six feet of line and trace together depend from the point of 
 the rod. The rod should then be waved back and checked for 
 an instant, when the bait will swing pendulum-like backwards 
 and upwards. As it reaches the full height of its swing, the 
 rod should be brought smartly forward in the direction the 
 angler wishes to cast, and the reel released by removing the first 
 finger of the left hand. I do not pretend to say what the bait 
 will do at this first cast. The line may twist round the angler's 
 neck. When success meets his endeavours, and the leaded 
 trace is seen flying out over the sea, like a rocket shot from a 
 life-saving apparatus, then comes the most important and 
 delicate task of all namely, to check the reel at the right instant 
 and to put on the pressure of that first finger of the left hand 
 slowly and gradually. 
 
 It is a very free-running reel, mind ; and, on being started 
 with a jerk, soon revolves infinitely faster than is required by 
 the line which is leaving it. In anglers' language, it will ' over- 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 195 
 
 run ' unless slightly checked. The bait steadily loses way, but 
 the reel keeps whirling round at an enormous rate, and the most 
 fearful entanglement will ensue if its speed is not diminished. 
 When the bait has passed halfway on its course through the 
 air, or sometimes a good deal less, the first finger of the left 
 hand should gently touch the rim of the reel and put on a 
 slight drag, stopping the reel altogether just as the bait touches 
 the water. The drag is not intended to check the bait, but 
 simply to cause the reel to revolve only just so fast as is required 
 to feed line to the bait which is passing through the air. 
 
 For the first day or two it is as well not to attempt any long 
 casts, and it is far better to put too heavy a drag on the reel 
 than too light a one. Not only has the art to be acquired, but 
 the particular reel the tiro is using has to be learned. I 
 made many a bad cast with a new rod or reel until I got 
 into the way of it, and am not ashamed to confess it, for it is 
 the experience of most fishermen. 
 
 When the cast has been made the next thing to do is to reel 
 in the line quickly until the bait is brought right up to our feet. 
 The butt of the rod should rest on the left hip, the left 
 hand now holding the rod above the reel, on to which it guides 
 the line, while the right hand does the winding. It will be 
 noted that when making the cast, I directed the right hand to 
 be above the reel and the left hand below it. This, though it 
 necessitates a shift of the hands when winding in begins 
 (unless the reel is reversed and wound in with the left hand), 
 will be found most convenient by the majority who have more 
 power and command over the right arm than the left. But 
 those who are not too right-handed (I know men who fly fish 
 as well with the left hand as the right) will certainly be well 
 advised to practise casting from the reel holding the left hand 
 above the reel and the right hand below it, with the first finger 
 of the right hand checking the reel. When winch fittings are 
 
196 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 some distance from the lower end of the butt, which involves 
 one hand being held a few inches below the reel, the checking 
 may be done by the little finger of the hand held above the reel. 
 This seems a complicated matter in letterpress, but is simple 
 enough in practice. 
 
 The tackle should not be taken out of the water until it is 
 close to the edge of the rocks, for fish frequently follow it, 
 seizing it at the last moment. When a bass takes a bait offered 
 to him Nottingham fashion and makes one of his grand rushes, 
 there is no loose line to catch in anything, and the fish may be 
 played on the reel, just as one would play salmon or trout. 
 
 The beginner will do well, as soon as the fish is on, to 
 push up the button, which has the effect of turning the reel into 
 a check ; but those who are used to the Nottingham reels put 
 on any drag they require by keeping a finger on the rim of the 
 reel. When it comes to gaffing the fish and holding the rod in 
 the left hand with the butt on the thigh, then the little finger 
 of the left hand, which will be above the reel, comes down to 
 the rim of its circumference and prevents it revolving. 
 
 There is a method of making short casts of ten or fifteen 
 yards which is extremely useful, particularly with light tackle, 
 as, for instance, a small float weighted with a few shot. Such 
 tackle cannot be cast off a reel, at least not with the line and 
 reel we should be using in the sea, and success sometimes 
 depends entirely upon getting out tackle some distance beyond 
 the point of the rod. I mentioned earlier (p. 185) that the 
 snake rings were not suitable for the two lowest rings on a 
 rod-butt, owing to their interfering with a certain method of 
 casting, and this is it. Stand with the rod in the right hand, 
 pull half a dozen yards of line off the reel, and hold loops of 
 the line on fingers of the left hand in the manner shown in the 
 illustration. Make a cast, and, as the tackle flies out, release 
 first the topmost loop, then the others in turn, and lastly the 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 
 
 197 
 
 loop above the first ring ; the few yards of line which may 
 be on the ground will follow. This may seem very compli- 
 cated, but is, I think, more easily learned than casting 
 from the reel. 
 
 Perhaps the easiest method of casting 
 is by means of the malloch reel. Mr. 
 Geogehan, of the British Sea Anglers' 
 Society, uses this reel with great 
 effect on the East coast, casting 
 out his tackle a long dis- 
 tance and catching many 
 large cod. The cast 
 is made from the 
 reel, but instead 
 1 X. of the drum 
 
 revolving, it is twisted at right 
 
 angles to the rod before the cast 
 
 is made, and the line is slipped 
 
 off it sideways. This has the 
 
 effect of putting twists into the 
 
 line, but by a judicious use of 
 
 swivels this drawback is to a 
 
 great extent overcome. Owing 
 
 to the support to the drum 
 
 working on a pivot in the foot 
 
 or plate of the reel, when a 
 
 heavy weight was being wound 
 
 in, the drum was apt to wobble 
 
 a little. I understand, however, 
 
 that recent alterations have been made in the mechanism 
 
 of the reel which tend to overcome these weak points in a 
 
 very clever invention. The kinking is evaded by occasionally 
 
 METHOD OF CASTING OUT 
 LIGHT TACKLE 
 
198 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 removing the drum of the reel and turning it so as to make the 
 line slip off it the other side. This reverses all the twists in 
 the line, but involves winding the reverse way, which requires 
 some practice. An improved pivot is now used which, so 
 the maker alleges (I have not had an opportunity of trying it), 
 prevents the reel from wobbling when a heavy fish is being 
 played. 
 
 When fishing from high piers, casting is anything but a 
 convenient method of working the bait, owing to the distance 
 
 MALI.OCII R F.F.I., 
 
 of the rod from the water. For bass and pollack it is not, as a 
 rule, necessary to cast from such places, because these fish are 
 found close to the piles of pier, jetty, and the like, and many 
 of them are caught by simply sinking and drawing the bait 
 through the water, or even by walking up and down the pier 
 and trailing the bait. A live ragworm has been the death of 
 many a pollack in such places, and a small sand-eel, a strip of 
 mackerel-skin, or a few oyster beards are all killing baits for 
 midwater or surface fishing. 
 
'Of! A PRECIPITOUS ROOK' 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 199 
 
 There are three typical positions on a rocky coast. The 
 angler may find himself standing on a precipitous rock with 
 deep water just under his feet, and is, as regards the fish, 
 much in the same position as if he were in a boat ; that is to 
 say, he can fish right underneath the point of his rod, and may 
 use a paternoster or float tackle whether the bottom be rocky 
 or sandy. If it be rocky and covered with seaweed the lowest 
 hook of the paternoster must be placed two feet or more above 
 the lead, so that it may play well above the weeds. The angler 
 may, of course, use an ordinary paternoster if only he be 
 careful not to lower the lead too near the bottom. Once 
 having ascertained the depth to which the lead should be 
 lowered in such places, it is a good plan to tie a small piece of 
 cotton round the line and unreel no further, readjusting the 
 cotton from time to time as the water rises. 
 
 What I may term the second position is when there is a 
 sandy bottom coming right up to the base of the rocks. Then, 
 of course, the angler can fish in any way he pleases on the 
 bottom, in midwater, or near the surface. 
 
 If the rocks stretch away for some distance, and the fish are, 
 say, fifteen or twenty yards out to sea, then to cast out bottom 
 tackle by which I mean tackle which lies on the bottom 
 among these rocks and seaweeds would be simply folly, as it 
 would be lost to a certainty ; the only plan, then, is either to 
 spin or to use float tackle. 
 
 On the construction of float tackle there is not a great deal 
 to be said. The size of the hook and the strength of the gut 
 necessarily depend on the fish we expect to catch, and the 
 si/,e of the float is regulated by the weight of leads which it is 
 desirable to use to keep the bait near the bottom. If we have 
 to cast out a long distance, a large pear-shaped cork float and 
 at least an ounce of lead on the line will be required. But 
 there should be two clear feet of gut between the lead and the 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 hook ; that is important. Round rocky points where the tide 
 sets strongly float tackle can be cast out, and the line being 
 used on a reel, allowed to run out with the current. It will 
 probably be brought round into the eddy on one side of the 
 rocks, working almost to the feet of the angler. 
 
 A handy float, named after the ' Fishing Gazette,' is shown in 
 the illustration. It is as useful in salt as in fresh water, and is 
 most easily put on or taken off the line, which has only to be 
 passed through the slot in the side of 
 the float and pegged in the centre. 
 
 If the water is deep, it may be asked 
 how float tackle can be used? By a 
 clever little contrivance, known as the 
 Slider float, which is explained on p. 253, 
 almost any depth, within reason, can be 
 fished. I have also illustrated on pp. 239 
 to 245 the various forms of paternoster 
 tackle. Generally speaking, for shore 
 fishing there is nothing better than the 
 paternoster illustrated on p. 239, and 
 made of salmon gut or twisted gut with 
 two hooks on single gut placed eighteen 
 FLOAT inches apart, the lower one six inches or 
 
 less above the lead. The hook links 
 may be about seven inches in length, the lower one double 
 that length if there are flat fish about. 
 
 When fishing under the point of the rod for codling or 
 whiting, it is a capital plan to fix a pipe lead on the end of the 
 line, and below it a yard of gut on which are two hooks (eighteen 
 inches apart) baited with mussels, lugworms, or pilchards, &c. 
 The depth must be ascertained with considerable care, and 
 just so much line unreeled that the end hook is checked close 
 to the top of the seaweed. I have caught many codling with 
 
/ROM LAND AND PIER 201 
 
 this tackle. If large fish are about, one hook is sufficient, as, if 
 two are used, the one on which the large fish is not hooked will 
 as likely as not catch in the seaweed or rocks. 
 
 From piers either paternoster, float tackle, or the pipe-lead 
 tackle just described may be used. With float tackle the baits 
 can, of course, be worked away from the pier with the tide. When 
 flat fish, whiting, or codlings are expected this is a great advan- 
 tage, as a considerable expanse of fishing ground can be covered. 
 But the best all-round tackle is certainly the paternoster, for on 
 it the slightest bites can be felt and, owing to the line being 
 taut, the fish can be struck immediately. With float tackle the 
 bites are not perceptible when there is any wind unless the float 
 is drawn under water, and not always then ; and by the time 
 the angler strikes, the fish has perhaps discovered that the bait 
 contains a hook, or has ascertained from the resistance of the 
 float that something is wrong. 
 
 A very deadly tackle for casting out some distance is the 
 upper paternoster shown on p. 243, the lowest hook link 
 lengthened to two yards and furnished with two or three hooks. 
 It is very good on a sandy or muddy bottom where flat fish, 
 codlings, or eels are present. I must confess, however, that I 
 do not like a number of hooks on my tackle. They perhaps 
 appear to catch many fish, but in the long run so much time is 
 lost by baiting them and clearing the various entanglements to 
 which complicated arrangements of the kind are very subject, 
 that, after all, the more simple tackle often catches most fish 
 in the course of the day. 
 
 Where a very strong tide runs round a pierhead, a drift trot 
 can easily be set. There is no lead at the end of this piece of 
 tackle, which, in fact, is exactly like our paternoster with the 
 lowest hook link elongated to four or five fathoms, and bearing 
 short hook links at every foot or eighteen inches. First of all, 
 the end hook is lowered, and then, as the tide takes this rosary 
 
 D D 
 
202 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 of hooks away from the pier, more line is let out, till finally the 
 lead of a pound or two is gently dropped into the water. Of 
 course, there is little or no sport in this method of fishing. A 
 more detailed description of a drift trot, and illustration, will be 
 found in Chapter VIII. 
 
 The fish which are most usually found round piers on the 
 South coast near London are whiting pout, rock fish, small 
 whiting, and flat fish. For large whiting we must, as a rule, 
 go into deeper water. In some places, pollack are fairly 
 plentiful ; in others, where the bottom is muddy, nothing but 
 flat fish will be caught. But wherever we may be, there is 
 always a chance of a nasty little wriggling eel which leaves bars 
 of slime on Master Tommy's blue serge suit and threatens 
 Aunt Jane with hysteria or, should I not say neurasthenia ? 
 and, after twisting round and round until line, hooks and lead 
 are one inextricable mass of kink and slime, nips through 
 the gut, wriggles tail foremost through a hole in the staging, 
 and drops quietly, smiling to itself the while, into the salt 
 sea. 
 
 From the economic point of view, the smelt is perhaps the 
 best of all the fish which are found round pierheads, for they 
 are distinctly edible. Of them more when we leave the pier 
 and make for the harbour. Now and again a goodly plaice 
 will fall to the lot of the pierhead angler, particularly if the pier 
 be not far from the town drain ; and when the big cod are in- 
 shore in late autumn there is always a chance of one of these 
 fish. But for cod, go to the East coast. 
 
 In summer-time when the water is very clear, and a fringe 
 of unproductive lines depends from the steamboat staging, I 
 have not the least doubt that sea fish, like their cousins of the 
 rivers and lakes, become somewhat suspicious of baited hooks. 
 Then the ground-bait net will be found of great advantage. 
 One of the best mixtures for ground bait is the common green 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 203 
 
 crab, particularly in its soft state, pounded up with raw potato 
 into one big mash. Sink this in a piece of netting, by means 
 of stones, near the bottom, and fish close to it, giving the 
 netting a good jerk occasionally to shake out some of the 
 contents. If there are any fish about, they will most certainly 
 begin feeding round that net, and if your hook is baited with 
 soft crab, it will surely be taken before long. 
 
 Ground bait has two characteristics : not only does it collect 
 fish, but it brings them on the feed. Let us try to imagine 
 ourselves a fish. We have been feeding, say, on shrimps and 
 small marine insects, and, having about cleared the table, have 
 ceased our repast. Suddenly there appears in front of us a 
 mangled lugworm, screwed up on a hook, and suspended in 
 the water in a very unnatural position. We eye the thing with 
 suspicion. W'hat reason has a lugworm to be hovering over 
 the rocks which pave the bottom of the sea, like some hum- 
 ming bird over a flower in a tropical garden ? But presently 
 there comes through the water a shower of lugworms, and 
 our suspicions vanish at once. ' This queer-looking worm is, 
 after all, only one of a quantity,' we think ; and, swimming 
 hastily about hither and thither, pouching the luscious morsels, 
 we suddenly find that we have inadvertently swallowed the 
 hovering lug, if I may so term it, are hauled up bewailing our 
 stupidity, and lifted over the gunwale of a boat or on to the 
 stage of some pier or other. 
 
 In the same way we regard solitary lumps of soft crab in a 
 hovering state as somewhat suspicious objects, especially at 
 a place where we know hundreds of our brothers have been 
 slain, thanks to their greediness. But when a number of 
 fragments of this most delicious dish than which there is no 
 better in our dietary when fragments, we say, of this most 
 delicate food come floating away with the tide from a stupendous 
 mass of it which now and again shakes itself, giving off sweet 
 
204 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 fragrance, then we all hasten to the feast bountiful Providence 
 appears to have prepared for us, and sooner or later one of us 
 pays the penalty. 
 
 Imagine a man walking through a forest and suddenly 
 coming upon a mutton chop daintily arranged on a silver 
 plate ! I don't believe he would eat it. He would think it 
 was poisoned, or something or other wrong about it. But if 
 as he went on he came upon numbers of such carefully grilled, 
 hot, and gravy-yielding mutton chops upon similar precious 
 platters, I venture to say he would very soon taste one of them 
 and make a hearty meal. Maybe that is the view fish take of 
 the matter, or else how can we explain the great success which 
 so often attends the use of ground bait, both in fresh water and 
 salt ? In fresh water I am certain fish are brought on the feed, 
 rather than merely collected, by the use of ground bait ; of this 
 I have absolute proof. Over and over again have I cast my 
 baited hook among fish which I could see, and not one would 
 look at it till I had distributed handfuls of ground bait amongst 
 them. Then, and not before, they came on the feed, and after 
 a minute or two one would be caught. 
 
 There are many recipes for saltwater ground bait. That 
 given is one of the best. As a matter of fact the angler will 
 be well advised to take whatever he can get in the way of fish- 
 offal, shell fish, lobster shells, oyster shells, small mussels and 
 mussel shells. One of the most collecting ground baits he 
 can use consists of the oily livers of fish, and particularly the 
 entrails of pilchards. These latter, by the way, are excellent 
 baits for many kinds of sea fish, though somewhat difficult 
 to keep on the hook. There is more on this subject on 
 pp. 131-136. 
 
 Now, leaving the rocks and the piers to the boys, let us take 
 a stroll round the harbour and see what sport is there afforded. 
 There are harbours and harbours. Some into which rivers flow 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 205 
 
 are so fearfully polluted with chemicals from manufactories, gas 
 works, and the like, that no fish will be found in them. From 
 a fish's point of view ordinary town sewage is unobjectionable 
 if kept within certain reasonable limits. The best harbours 
 are usually those not too much polluted, and frequented by 
 fishing boats, from which are cast all and sundry odds and 
 ends of refuse attractive to fish. 
 
 Of course local information is very necessary. It is obvi- 
 ously no use fishing for bass in a harbour where none are ever 
 found. The old sailor who haunts all harbours, if judiciously 
 approached, will generally dole out items of information which 
 will put us on the right track. Bass, small pollack, codlings, flat 
 fish, smelts, grey mullet, may all be inquired after, but cautiously, 
 for if too many questions are put your informant's mouth 
 will close with a snap on the stem of a short clay pipe, and 
 nothing more is to be learned from him that day. Your ancient 
 mariner is a suspicious person, and above all things dislikes 
 to be pumped. 
 
 Sometimes mackerel visit harbours. I remember, late one 
 evening or rather I should say early one morning, for it was 
 about two o'clock how, returning from conger fishing at 
 Tenby, so shallow was the water, owing to the spring tide, that 
 I had to anchor my boat some forty yards out and walk ashore. 
 It was a dark night, but the waters were brilliant with phos- 
 phorescence, and I suddenly found myself wading through a 
 large shoal of mackerel. The fish dispersed hurriedly. Little 
 bars of incandescent silver leapt out of the water before, 
 behind, and all around me, and as they fell again raised a 
 shower of sparkling phosphorescent fires. It was a brilliant 
 and very lovely sight. An evening or two later I was in the 
 harbour at high water, and saw small mackerel swimming 
 among the fishing boats which lay at anchor, for there was no 
 wind. It was an easy matter to catch some of these fish with 
 
206 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 a small spinning bait ; a Devon minnow I think I tried. This 
 had only to be cast into the water and drawn a yard or two 
 when half a dozen fish would rush at it. 
 
 At night-time large bass sometimes come right into the 
 harbour among the fishing boats and are occasionally caught, 
 but the bait must be such a one as they would expect in such 
 a place. Something tasty, yet not over-nice. Skate's liver a 
 little ' high ' ; or the inward parts of chicken or rabbit, well 
 hung. If the water is slack, there should be no lead on the line. 
 
 From the enthusiastic angler's point of view, one of the most 
 important fish found in harbours is the grey mullet. I devote 
 an article to this most shy of sea fishes later in Chapter XI., 
 so this is hardly the place to detail his peculiarities and the 
 methods of catching him or fishing for him. But let it be said 
 here that the surest time to find him feeding is in the grey 
 dusk of early dawn, and the tackle, which may be a paternoster 
 or the ordinary float tackle, should be both fine and strong. 
 Ground bait is most necessary. 
 
 A well-known bass fisher once related to me with tears in 
 his voice how, when bass fishing, his hook being covered with 
 skate's liver, a mullet which weighed at least 12 Ibs. seized his 
 bait, ran out every yard of line, and then broke the triple gut. 
 
 No one who has ever fished for mullet will assert that sea 
 fishing does not require skill. I am inclined to say that a mullet 
 of any size is no more easy or more difficult to catch than a carp 
 of the same age. Of course the youngsters, foolish, ignorant, 
 simple little things, like carp at the same period of their exist- 
 ence, come to the hook readily enough. But the adult mullet 
 is certainly no fool. The lesser grey mullet is more easily cap- 
 tured than the larger variety. 
 
 Smelts are found in most harbours, and it is pretty work 
 fishing for them with the lightest roach tackle and roach hooks 
 baited with tiny fragments of uncooked shrimps or soft crab, 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 207 
 
 the latter for preference. Whatever bait is used, a little ground- 
 bait of the same kind chopped or minced up very small should 
 be thrown in every few minutes. A dessertspoonful is enough at 
 a time, for the object is not to feed the fish, but simply to keep 
 them on the feed or look-out for food. The lightest and finest 
 tackle is necessary for these small fish, and either a paternoster 
 with four or five hooks can be used, or roach tackle with the 
 same number of hooks. A porcupine quill float with a couple 
 of shot to sink it is quite heavy enough. The hooks can hardly 
 be too small ; in fact, few seaside tackle-makers sell them small 
 enough or on sufficiently fine gut. The weight at the end of 
 the paternoster should not exceed a quarter of an ounce. A 
 toy bamboo rod, running line of fine plaited silk, two yards of 
 fine-drawn gut, a dozen roach hooks, a quarter of an ounce 
 of lead, and the smelt fisher has the necessary tackle. 
 
 In the Solent and other places thousands of smelts are 
 caught by means of small meshed nets extended on an iron 
 hoop and let down into the water by means of a stout pole. 
 Shoals of these fish can usually be seen swimming about. It 
 is not advisable to let the net down very deeply, or the fish will 
 be off before it can be pulled up, though it must, of course, be 
 deep enough for them to swim over it ; the depth depends 
 very much on the place, colour of the water, light, and perhaps 
 other considerations. 
 
 If the smelts can be found in shallow water where the net 
 can rest on the bottom, so much the better. The pole must 
 be kept very still, because any motion of the ropes which sup- 
 port the net has a tendency to frighten these little fish. To 
 bring the smelts over the net it is customary to cast in crabs 
 and raw potatoes bruised up ; in fact, the ground bait I have 
 already recommended for a variety of fish. The net, as soon 
 as the fish swim over it, should be hauled up steadily but 
 quickly, and its contents shaken into a basket. 
 
2C8 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 In late summer and autumn quantities of young sprats and 
 herrings, better known as whitebait, and in some places myriads 
 of sand-eels, come into many harbours and estuaries, and are 
 often to be seen swimming round steep rocks and along the 
 open coast. They are invaluable as bait, being taken readily 
 by nearly all sea fish. The whitebait are often caught in quan- 
 tities in these round nets ; in fact, the professional whitebait 
 fishers often use a very similar contrivance, but on a much 
 larger scale. Of course this method of catching smelts can 
 hardly be termed sport in any sense of the word ; but I refer 
 to it here because these delicate little fish are not only excellent 
 for the table, but are good baits for sea fish on many parts of 
 the coast. For instance, they make excellent spinning baits 
 for pollack, and where they can be used alive are a deadly bait 
 for bass. 
 
 The hoop net to which I have referred is exactly like the 
 minnow net used on the Thames, but larger. A strong man 
 can use one four or five feet in diameter, but a boy would not 
 be able to lift so large a net quickly through the water ; so 
 boys must satisfy themselves with something two-thirds of 
 the size, or even smaller. For this method of fishing, a small 
 net raised sharply will catch more fish than a large one raised 
 slowly. 
 
 Small whiting pout and pollack and whiting require tackle 
 just a little stronger than that used for smelts, but if there are 
 any large flat fish in the harbour, such as, for instance, one 
 would find at Lowestoft or Scarborough, then the tackle must 
 be fairly strong, and what is commonly called lake-trout gut 
 must be used. In my very youthful days, before I had even 
 got into trousers, I remember my big brother lamenting the 
 loss of a huge Yarmouth avonbutt, as flounders are, or were, 
 called locally, hooked in Lowestoft Harbour on fairly strong 
 tackle, which it broke. 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 209 
 
 In estuaries, and particularly in harbours where shrimps are 
 sifted, a live shrimp hooked by the tail is one of the best baits 
 for flat fish. Next to that, perhaps, ranks a peeled, unboiled 
 shrimp. Lug and rag worms are always killing baits, better 
 even than the usually useful mussel. 
 
 Some shallow inshore waters swarm with small flat fish 
 not larger than one's hand, and the angler, if so disposed, may 
 fish for these with what I have termed the paternoster-trot, 
 illustrated on p. 243 ; soft crab or ragworms being about the 
 best baits. Mussels are also good ; but, so far as my experience 
 goes, a bait that will kill in one harbour is sometimes almost 
 useless in another, so that local knowledge is very valuable, 
 and, as I have pointed out, should be acquired at the earliest 
 opportunity. 
 
 I have had excellent sport fishing from the beaches and 
 sands of the East coast in autumn, when the codling come 
 inshore. There is a tackle peculiar to that district, known as 
 the 'throw-out line,' which, if not so killing as a paternoster 
 tackle, deserves mention here. 
 
 At the end of the line proper is a piece of finer line, eight 
 feet in length and about as thick as common whipcord. The 
 lead weighs about a pound, and is fixed to the whipcord (I will 
 call it so for convenience) by means of a strip of leather put 
 through the hole of the lead. At the other end of the whipcord 
 is a button. The hooks begin at the end of the main line, 
 and may number from six to twenty or even more ; they are 
 fixed on snoods seven inches long and placed fourteen inches 
 apart. A necessary part of the tackle is a broom handle ' six 
 feet long with a cleft cut at the end of it, and the whole line 
 when not in use is wound on a winder similar to that shown in 
 the illustration, there being a strip of cork along the top of it in 
 
 1 With a not too stout ash stick which has some spring in it a longer cast 
 can be made than with the stiff broom-handle. 
 
 E E 
 
210 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 which to fix the hooks. The two side pieces of the winder are 
 eighteen inches in length, and they are placed eight inches 
 apart. 
 
 This tackle is used in the following way. The line is 
 uncoiled and spread out in S-shaped curves on the beach, the 
 landward end of it being fastened firmly to the winder, which 
 is stuck into the sand. The hooks are then baited, and if 
 mussels are used these are often tied on by means of a piece of 
 yarn, thread, cotton, &c. Scotch fishermen use a fragment of 
 wool for the same purpose. Lugs are perhaps the best bait ; 
 mackerel and squid are also good. The line being baited, the 
 button on the end of the whipcord is placed in the cleft of the 
 stick. The exact position of the lead on the whipcord must 
 depend on the height of the caster and the length of the pole, 
 a short man having to slip it up rather nearer the button than 
 a tall man. 
 
 By means of the pole the lead is now swung backwards and 
 then pitched forwards, not too straight, but rather up in the 
 air, for the weight and the line has to be raised. It is not 
 always necessary to cast out a great distance, for sometimes fish 
 will be feeding close along shore. 
 
 If only one line is used the fisherman will, of course, hold 
 it in his hand, and immediately he feels a bite haul it in. If 
 he has two lines, it is a common practice to fasten the end of 
 one to a supple wand six or seven feet long, which has been 
 s.uck upright in the sand. By watching this wand the fisher- 
 man can at once see if he has a bite from a fish of any size. 
 The method by which this tackle is pitched out is decidedly 
 clever, and I have no doubt the baits can be projected a 
 greater distance than can a paternoster. But after all it is a 
 very rough-and-ready kind of fishing, much akin to the laying 
 of long lines, for either the fish hook themselves or escape with 
 the bait more often the latter. If mussels are used as baits 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 
 
 211 
 
212 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 on these lines, a dozen hooks will be robbed for every fish 
 caught, and this simply because the fish cannot be properly 
 hooked when they bite. 
 
 I have had many opportunities of contrasting the results 
 obtained by fishing with rod and paternoster and these throw- 
 out lines. The more scientific tackle has invariably beaten 
 the older method out of the field. I have already mentioned 
 in the introductory chapter how one October day I stood 
 between two persons who were using throw-out lines each 
 bearing thirteen hooks. I fished with a paternoster, and my 
 two hooks caught many more fish than were taken on the 
 twenty-six hooks on my neighbours' lines ; yet we were using 
 the same baits and were fishing within a few yards of one an- 
 other. I, of course, was able to detect the slightest bite ; could 
 at once strike and hook the fish. Possibly, too, my finer tackle 
 had something to do with it ; though I doubt if cod in the 
 thick water of the East coast exhibit any appreciation of our 
 efforts to please them in the way of fine tackle. Certainly my 
 hooks were superior, for they were of the kind used in fresh 
 water, and much sharper than the tinned abominations which 
 for years have been used in the sea. 
 
 A paternoster suitable for this method of fishing may be of 
 single gut if the codling run from one pound to five pounds ; but 
 if anything much larger is expected, twisted gut should certainly 
 be used, for the angler may have to deal with a fish of twenty 
 to thirty pounds. The right sort of paternoster is illustrated 
 on page 239. When I first practised this kind of fishing I 
 used to think the great point was to cast as far as possible, long 
 casting being a weakness common to most young fishermen, 
 who always think the fish lie mainly under the opposite bank 
 of the river or the other side of the Atlantic. But I had a very 
 wholesome lesson one evening. I had gone down to the shore 
 after dinner, taking my rod and a few mussels, and fished for 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 213 
 
 a good hour without getting a solitary bite. I was just giving 
 up in despair when three little urchins, the eldest of whom 
 could not have toddled on this earth for more than ten years, 
 came trotting down the beach. One of them had a penny ball 
 of string ; another a hook tied on gut ; while the third pro- 
 duced three mussels. Twine-makers do not give us much 
 string for a penny ; so the line was very short, and after a 
 stone had been fixed to the end of it and the hook tied on 
 and baited, the most the little fellows could do was to cast 
 their bait a yard or two beyond the point where small waves 
 were breaking on the shore. 
 
 I do not know if my face bore a pitying smile, but I certainly 
 felt that way, and was searching my pockets to see if I had not a 
 piece of string which could be attached to the youngsters' line, 
 when, behold, the eldest raised a scream of delight and hauled 
 in a codling of about two pounds. I was distinctly humiliated, 
 but was not too proud to profit by the lads' experience ; so I 
 quickly reeled in my line and made a fresh cast, placing the 
 paternoster just over the line of little breakers. There the fish 
 were in thousands, I should say, for hardly had the bait reached 
 the bottom before I had a bite. I continued pulling out fish 
 one after the other until I had about a dozen and a half, when 
 I had to return to the town. I think the boys caught two 
 or three more ; but, being thankful for the lesson they had 
 unconsciously given me, I presented them with most of my 
 codlings. 
 
 After that experience, whenever I found the fish were not 
 feeding at the usual distance, I. would wind in a few yards of 
 line ; then wait a minute or two, and if no bite came, wind in a 
 few more yards and wait again ; and so on until the paternoster 
 was brought right up to the shore. This movement of the 
 paternoster was, in fact, a thorough searching of the fishing 
 ground, and it had a secondary advantage, for the slight motion 
 
214 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 given to the baits often made the fish bite when they were not 
 very well on the feed. 
 
 The rod for this kind of fishing should not be too short, 
 as if there are any waves it is necessary to hold the line 
 above them. If this cannot be done, when the waves break, 
 each mass of water strikes the line and the paternoster is 
 jerked shorewards. 
 
 When the fish are supposed to be plentiful it is certainly 
 desirable to have a large number of mussels ready opened for 
 continued fishing. I have often heard it stated that mussels 
 lose some of their virtue and are not nearly so killing if they 
 have been opened some time. This may be true to a limited 
 extent ; but when codlings are feeding greedily they are certainly 
 not particular, and the great point is to lose no time. Mr. 
 Aflalo recommended opening mussels and laying them out to 
 dry in the sun before using them as baits. 
 
 It is obvious that when a fish takes the bait and swims 
 shorewards or towards the angler there will be no pull on the 
 rod. The line will suddenly feel slack, and when this happens 
 we should strike just as much as when a pull is felt. When the 
 fish are biting shyly it is sometimes a good plan to ease the 
 line to them a little at the first signs of a bite. But this should 
 be only a momentary easement, and a second later the strike 
 should come. At night-time the upper hook will often take 
 most fish, and indeed, when the tides suit, the best shore 
 fishing for codling is obtained after sunset. 
 
 But it is not everybody who cares to stand on a lonely sea- 
 shore, with ghostly looking waves hurrying up out of the dark- 
 ness and breaking at one's feet. At Lowestoft there was a 
 lighthouse with a red light on the right of the place where I 
 usually fished, and on the cliff behind me a revolving light 
 that cast moving shadows which, until I became accustomed 
 to them, constantly gave me the impression that some evil- 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 215 
 
 minded person was stealing up silently behind me. I well 
 remember, one warm night in autumn, when the sheet lightning 
 kept flashing out from behind a great mass of clouds banked 
 up just above the horizon. The distant sea looked black, but 
 the undulations of the water suddenly whitened as they broke 
 on to the beach and came rushing up to my feet, drawing back 
 again over the sand and pebbles with a noise, half murmur, 
 half roar. 
 
 Some distance beyond me little twinkling lights were 
 showing along the shore the lanterns of the men with the 
 throw-out lines. Great dark masses glided silently by over 
 the sea, and suddenly the revolving light, as it searched the 
 waters, caught one of them and revealed a big ship in full sail. 
 Then a steamer with saloon lights came by, and a lurid glare 
 went up as her fires were coaled. After she had passed, all 
 seemed doubly quiet and dark. The surf grew greater as the 
 tide flowed more strongly, and it was next to impossible to 
 keep the bait on the bottom, though I kept on increasing the 
 weights of my leads. In the words of a passing fisher lad, 
 'there was a great swipe on,' and the greater the 'swipe' 
 which in southern English means, I suppose, surf breaking in 
 the same direction as the strong tide which runs along the 
 shore the less useful the fishing. 
 
 Codling are by no means the only fish to be caught from 
 sandy shores and beaches. There are always a few flat fish 
 available ; and big bass, for which in such places squid is an 
 excellent bait, often come cruising along, especially if near the 
 mouth of an estuary. For bass some sea fishermen prefer the 
 leger to the paternoster. This piece of tackle is clearly shown 
 in the illustration. The lead works on a piece of gimp, and 
 the chief peculiarity of the tackle is that when the fish seizes 
 the bait, instead of dragging the lead after him, he pulls the 
 line through a hole in the lead, while the angler who is holding 
 
2l6 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 GUT. 
 
 J 
 
 LKGER FOR BASS, ETC 
 
 the rod is at once notified of the 
 bite. There is in practice very little 
 difference between this tackle and 
 the paternoster illustrated on p. 243, 
 in which the lowest hook link is 
 prolonged to a yard or more ; and 
 as it is hardly necessary to use two 
 kinds of tackle when one will do, I 
 have for some time almost given up 
 the use of the leger. 
 
 There are times, however, when 
 the fish appear to pick up the bait 
 delicately and swim off with it a 
 short distance before taking it so 
 far into their mouths that, on the 
 angler striking, the hook will lay 
 hold. If any resistance is offered, as 
 by a fixed lead, the fish drops the 
 bait. In such cases the leger is 
 a decided advantage, though the 
 caution of the fish may often be 
 overcome by simply using a smaller 
 hook, with bait in proportion. Many 
 bites are missed owing to the bait 
 being too large for the hook. A very 
 simple leger can be made by placing 
 a leger lead, or indeed any lead of 
 the right weight, with a hole through 
 it on to the casting line, up which 
 it may freely travel, its downward 
 course being restrained by the knot 
 fastening the line to the yard or 
 more of snooding. A clever leger 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 217 
 
 lead, invented by Mr. F. T. Williams, which can be placed on 
 any part of the line without untying any knots, is shown in the 
 illustration. There is an inner slotted tube which is turned 
 after the line has been placed through both slots. 
 
 For fish which are shy and can be depended upon to pick 
 up a bait from the bottom, there is a great advantage in a 
 tackle which lies almost hidden amid sand and pebbles, at 
 least that portion of it near the bait. With the ordinary pater- 
 noster, where the hook links are short, the fish has an oppor- 
 tunity of inspecting the gut line rising up straight from it at 
 an angle to the bottom ; but where either the leger is used or 
 
 the lowest link of the 
 paternoster is pro- 
 longed, as I have ex- 
 plained, the gut near 
 the bait is practically 
 invisible to the fish 
 and not noticeable as 
 
 WILLIAMS'S LEGER LEAD ' lt HeS On the Sand ' 
 
 People who do 
 
 not care to exercise any skill or take much trouble about sea 
 fishing, sometimes use an apparatus which has various names in 
 different localities. Mr. Wilcocks calls it an outhaul bulter 
 a bulter is the same gear as a trot or spiller. The form of the 
 thing is very clearly shown by the illustrations (pp. 2 18 and 219). 
 A heavy anchor or stone is placed at low-water mark 
 during spring tides, or it may be taken somewhat farther out to 
 sea by means of a boat and dropped overboard. It will be 
 noticed that attached to it is a block. Sometimes a ring is 
 used instead of the block. Through the ring or block an end- 
 less line passes, endless inasmuch as the two ends are joined 
 together. A number of snoodings, at least eighteen inches or 
 two feet in length, are placed so far apart that they will not 
 
 F F 
 
218 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 entangle. Of course the size of the snoodingand of the hooks 
 must depend on the fish you expect to catch. If big cod cr 
 
 bass are about, then the tackle 
 must be strong ; while for flat 
 fish only small hooks and fine 
 snoodings should be used. 
 The main line must be long 
 enough to reach to the shore 
 above high-water mark, and 
 by simply hauling on one side 
 of the line the hooks can be 
 brought in, any fish caught 
 removed, and the hooks re 
 baited ; then by hauling on the 
 other side of the line the baited 
 portion can be taken out to sea 
 again. 
 
 Where there is a consider- 
 able rise of tide, a very long 
 line is of course required ; in 
 fact, this tackle is not suitable 
 for places where the tide rises 
 over several hundred yards of 
 shore. If the bulter is laid in 
 a place where conger may be 
 expected, there should be a 
 swivel on each snooding, and 
 in any case there should be 
 fixed on the line a piece of 
 bone or wood or other sub- 
 stance, of sufficient size to pre- 
 vent the snood which comes 
 next the block or ring from 
 
FROM LAND AND PIER 219 
 
 being drawn through. To ascertain the exact length of line 
 required, pace the distance between a few yards above high- 
 water mark down to the spot on which the stone is to be 
 placed ; you will want a little more than double as much line. 
 It is, of course, necessary to drive in a post or to have some 
 heavy stone on the beach to which to fasten the shore portion 
 of the line. Where the sea recedes a great distance, it is a 
 simple matter to lay a long line on the shore near low-water 
 mark. This will catch fish at night and a few in the day-time, 
 but it is poor sport. 
 
 As I expect this chapter will be one of the most useful in 
 the whole book to the coming generation, I. would like to 
 
 OUTHAUL BULTER 
 
 say a few words here to the boys. My advice is this : Learn all 
 you can as to the tides whether the fishing is best at the 
 spring tide or the neaps. If it is best at the springs, then do 
 not miss going a-fishing when the moon is full or new. Ask 
 the fishermen what is about, and do not let them laugh you 
 out of using fine tackle ; the laugh will probably end in being 
 on your side. Do not make any mistake as to season. For 
 instance, do not be satisfied with some general reply as to the fish 
 which are caught at any particular place ; find out during which 
 months they frequent that part of the coast. If you are at the 
 seaside in winter and are told that the place is good for bass, 
 ask whether there are any bass about then. Whatever fish are 
 
220 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 mentioned, read what I have said about them later on in the 
 book, and see on what pages there are references to them by 
 searching the index. Particularly notice what baits are recom- 
 mended, and read all about those baits in the chapter devoted 
 to them. 
 
 Sea fishing does not only consist of personal skill. Success 
 depends in a great measure on your fishing at the right time 
 and in the right place, with the right baits. These three things 
 are all important ; but above all use your own brains, and if 
 you are not catching fish try to puzzle out the reason for 
 your failure. Learn the names of the curious things you see 
 on the shore or in the water. There are numbers of strange 
 creatures among the rocks which only have to be looked 
 for ; young fish of all kinds, beautiful prawns and shrimps, 
 anemones flowers of the sea crabs of many kinds, jelly-fish 
 (deal with these cautiously, for many of them sting), and when 
 the tide is very low you may even come across a lobster or 
 conger-eel in some hole deep under a rock, and how to catch 
 them you may learn in a subsequent chapter given up almost 
 entirely to these creatures. 
 
 It is a good plan to have a little notebook and to put 
 down what you catch every day and the bait and tackle used. 
 Above all things, if you have been out in a beat half a dozen 
 times don't imagine you know how to manage it. Small-boat 
 sailing is in its way as difficult as yachting, and infinitely more 
 dangerous when carried on by the inexperienced. So never 
 resent a word of caution from an ignorant old sailor, though 
 you may be in the sixth form yourself. Whatever you do, do 
 it with all your heart, use your wits, and do not try to catch 
 fish simply by rule-of-thumb methods. There was an old and 
 very successful fisherman who was once asked what he used 
 that enabled him to fill his creel so fully and frequently, and he 
 replied, ' Brains.' 
 
221 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 
 
 IN the pages of ' Punch ' the inimitable John Leech once 
 drew a happy sketch of a very unhappy cockney sportsman 
 middle-aged and corpulent, sitting in a very small boat in 
 company with a stout man in a blue jersey at least, I assume 
 the blueness and a black glazed straw hat. Extreme woe is 
 depicted on the face of the sportsman, who is leaning over the 
 side, holding a hand line, while the mariner in attendance is 
 cheerful of aspect. ' Don't yer feel anything yet, sir ? ' he is 
 asking ; ' perhaps you had better try another worm.' There 
 is a good sailing breeze abroad and a little bobble of a sea. 
 The sketch is so strong it hardly requires words to elucidate 
 it. It is, without much doubt, these same uncontrollable 
 feelings and I am not alluding to the pull of the fish on 
 the line which deter so many from taking their pleasure on 
 the sea. My own pet aversion is a steamboat with a screw 
 propeller ; but seafaring persons do say that nothing is more 
 trying to the feelings, let me call them, than a few hours at 
 anchor in a very small boat when there is a lively lop on. 
 
 Many an enthusiast, full of hope, has pushed off from the 
 beach, where tiny wavelets were breaking, on to what appeared 
 to be (from the shore) a smiling, rippling blue sea, only to come 
 home an hour or two later yellow of visage, and in a state of 
 collapse. It is unfortunate, and I lament that I can suggest 
 no remedy. Those who suffer, if their inward parts cannot be 
 
222 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 tutored by practice, would be well advised to stick to harbours 
 and landlocked waters generally. As I have said in an earlier 
 chapter, if they choose to journey to the north-west coast of 
 Scotland, or certain portions of the Irish coast, or to the fjords 
 of Norway, they will find water as calm as any millpond. Few 
 indeed are the days when on the South or West coasts of England 
 there is not some slight upheaval of the water and the rest. 
 
 With regard to the choice of a boat, the sea angler must 
 necessarily take what he can get ; but if there is much variety 
 let him select a craft which is somewhat beamy and seaworthy, 
 
 YORKSHIRE COBIil.KS 
 
 rather than narrow and cranky. Wherever there is a harbour 
 the boats will, as a rule, be more stable than those which have 
 to be beached. On portions of the East coast, where the shores 
 are very flat and sandy, a peculiar kind of boat, called a cobble, 
 is used. This is a composite arrangement of fine lines in the 
 bows and fairly deep in the water. But towards the square 
 stern, where the single deep keel is replaced by three smaller 
 ones, the bottom flattens out. Though these boats are not 
 over-safe when running in a big sea, they do most excel- 
 lently meet the peculiar requirements of a flat sandy shore. 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 223 
 
 They are always backed in, and the surf breaks harmlessly 
 against the sharp bows, while the flat stern slips over the sand 
 through the shallow water until it is brought within reach of 
 the hauling rope. 
 
 On Deal beach, which has a tremendous slant, very sea- 
 worthy little vessels may be seen. Though these have but 
 small keels, they are of fairly deep draught, for the water is 
 deep close along shore. It is quite a sensation to get into a 
 Deal lugger or galley-punt some forty yards from the water, 
 and be sent spinning down the sloping beach, striking the sea 
 with a bang, and taking in half a dozen bucketfuls of water. 
 But it is still more exciting coming on shore in a gale of wind, 
 for the Deal boats are usually hauled up stern foremost, and lie 
 broadside on to the waves for a few minutes before the winch 
 can be set to work and they can be brought out of reach of 
 the waves. 
 
 Points which the hirer of the boat should look to are good 
 oars ; a good anchor, or, if the bottom is rocky, a killick stone ; 
 a sufficiency of cable at least half as many more fathoms as 
 the greatest depth at which the boat may have to be anchored ; 
 and thole-pins which are not more than half worn out. Long- 
 shoremen are apt to be very careless about these matters, often 
 letting a thole-pin, for instance, break before they will take the 
 trouble to renew it. Of course, I need hardly say that if the boat 
 is a small sailing vessel, the better the condition of the rigging 
 and cordage generally, the safer she will be in case it comes 
 on to blow. Above all things, in small craft generally, and 
 particularly in boats without ballast, never allow the boatman 
 to make the sheet fast. Many a man has been drowned who 
 has neglected the simple precaution of holding the sheet in his 
 hand. Along high rocky coasts, which is just the place where 
 much of the best fishing is obtained, squalls come down and 
 lay the boat over in an instant. On the open sea a puff can 
 
224 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 generally be seen coming, by the darkening of the water to 
 windward. Even when the sheet is made fast, as may be done 
 with a certain amount of safety in summer weather away from 
 the high lands, the rope should be secured in such a way that 
 a mere pull will release it, as, for instance, according to one of 
 the methods shown in the accompanying diagram. 
 
 It is not easy to say which kind of rig is best for a small 
 
 fishing boat. On 
 the whole, I am 
 inclined to favour 
 a balance lug with 
 a small foresail and 
 a small mizzen. A 
 mizzen is certainly 
 in the way when 
 whiffing, but in 
 the event of bad 
 weather coming 
 on, or when it is 
 desirable to sail 
 slowly for fishing 
 purposes, it is very 
 convenient to lower 
 the lug, and saU 
 under the mizzen 
 and the small fore- 
 sail only. Spritsails I do not much like, as the sprit has a 
 nasty way of slipping out of position and suddenly plunging 
 through the bottom of the boat. A cutter rig is certainly not 
 suitable for very small boats, for the boom is in the way. The 
 Tenby boats, fitted with a shifting lug, sail closer to the wind 
 than any vessels I ever handled, except a Norfolk wherry ; but 
 the lowering of the big lug when putting about is a great 
 
 TWO METHODS OF MAKING THE SHEET FAST 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 
 
 225 
 
 nuisance, and if badly steered they may be taken aback and 
 capsized. On the whole, perhaps the most handy form of 
 mainsail, and one that can be used with or without jib and 
 mizzen, is the comparatively modern sliding gunter. A sketch 
 of it is given below. It sets almost like a cutter's mainsail, 
 without requiring peak halyards, nor is a boom necessary in a 
 small boat. 
 
 A HANDY FISHING BOAT 
 
 Boatmen's charges is a subject on which there is not a 
 great deal to be said. At short-season watering-places, where 
 the men have to make their harvest in a few weeks, a habit has 
 arisen of charging what appear to be exorbitant rates. The sea 
 angler, whose season is frequently not coincident with that of the 
 ordinary visitors, may reasonably expect to be accommodated on 
 more moderate terms. At half-a-crown an hour for boat and 
 man, which is no uncommon charge, sea fishing may be much 
 
 o c, 
 
226 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 more expensive than angling in fresh water. This rate, which 
 is about a pound a day or a little more, would cover all one's 
 expenses at many an angling hotel in the Highlands, including 
 rights of salmon and sea-trout fishing. In Scotland, by the 
 way, it frequently happens that the landlord has a boat of his 
 own on the sea loch for which he makes no charge, while 
 the gillies who row one are well satisfied with 3^. 6d. a day 
 and a reasonable (in the Scotch sense) allowance of whisky. 
 By degrees, the boatmen at many places on our coast are 
 beginning to learn that to treat their sea-fishing customers 
 with greater liberality is good policy on their part. Wherever 
 there is an agent or corresponding member of the British Sea 
 Anglers' Society he is generally in a position to recommend 
 men whose terms will not be found unreasonable. Of course, 
 if a large heavy boat is hired which requires two men to work 
 her, 4/. or 5/. a week is not out of the way. 
 
 A curious and unsatisfactory custom exists on some parts 
 of the Welsh coast. When the day is over, and the angler has 
 paid his ten shillings or a sovereign, and maybe broken his back 
 hauling in the heavy mackerel leads over the stern, one of the 
 boatmen places the fish in a box and walks off with them, say- 
 ing, as he does so, that he will be pleased to ' give ' the gentle- 
 man half a dozen fish to take home for dinner. There is no 
 class more liberal, as a whole, than the amateur fisherman, and 
 few of us would grudge the fish ; but when the boatman claims 
 the take as a matter of right it is an entirely different matter, 
 and one's British back is put up at once. 
 
 A slight knowledge of the knots used by sailors is well 
 worth having. Not one person in a hundred knows how to 
 join two ropes together properly. This is done by what sailors 
 call a bend, a very simple knot indeed, and easily understood 
 by means of the illustration opposite. Next comes the reef 
 knot, which is always used when tying a reef in a sail, and is 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 
 
 227 
 
228 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 easily undone. In attempting this a landsman nearly always 
 ties what sailors would call a 'granny's knot.' The two can 
 be compared in the diagram. A bowline knot is also very 
 useful. A running bowline is simply made by placing the end 
 of the rope B through the loop A. The clove hitch is a safe 
 and very useful knot for fastening a rope to a round piece 
 of timber : the harder the rope is pulled, the tighter it jams. 
 The timber hitch is used for similar purposes. The rolling 
 hitch is, in a sense, an improvement on the clove hitch, and is 
 used for like purposes, more particularly for making fast tail- 
 
 ATTACHMENT OF ROPE TO ANCHOR ON ROCKY GROUND 
 
 blocks to the standing rigging. In the illustration is also 
 shown the method of fastening a rope to a mooring stone. 
 Any knot which is intended to be more or less permanent will 
 be made all the more secure by the ends being whipped down 
 to the main length of rope. 
 
 When using an anchor over ground which is partially rocky, 
 it is a good plan to ' scow ' or ' trip ' it. It will be seen from the 
 illustration that the rope is made fast to the wrong end of the 
 anchor, but is held to the ring by means of a piece of yarn strong 
 enough to hold the boat and yet so weak that it will break if 
 a very heavy strain is given to it, as would be the case should 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 229 
 
 the anchor catch in a rock. On the twine breaking, the strain 
 comes at the other end of the anchor, which is then easily 
 lifted. * 
 
 Another plan, which is only suitable in slack water, is to 
 have a light line from the flukes of the anchor, and, at the end 
 of it, a small buoy, such as a tin can or a large lump of cork. 
 Then, if the anchor sticks, by hauling on this line it is easily 
 lifted. A strong tidal current, of course, sinks the little tin 
 buoy. 
 
 When a stone or anchor is insufficiently heavy to hold the 
 
 BUOYING AN ANCHOR 
 
 bottom, and the boat is slowly drifting away from her marks 
 a most annoying incident when fish are biting well a piece of 
 iron or stone ballast can be easily sent down the cable with 
 advantage. How this is done is very clearly illustrated on the 
 next page. 
 
 It is a capital plan to have a few fathoms of galvanised 
 iron chain next the anchor. It inclines the pull on the anchor 
 to the perpendicular, and increases its holding powers. Often, 
 by merely paying out a few fathoms of cable, the dragging of 
 anchor or stone will be checked. Always be well supplied with 
 cable. 
 
230 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 When fishing in the fairway where vessels are frequently 
 passing and it is necessary for a small boat to get out of the 
 road in a hurry, it occasionally happens that there is not suffi- 
 cient time to haul up the anchor or stone. To prevent both 
 anchor and cable being lost, it is a capital plan in such situa- 
 tions to have something buoyant, such as a large tin can, fixed 
 to the end of the cable so that it may be cast overboard, and 
 recovered after the danger has passed. Of course this cannot 
 be done if chain cable is used. 
 
 I propose in this chapter to deal with the three methods of 
 
 Wa ter line 
 
 SENDING MESSENGERS DOWN TO THE ANCHOR 
 
 fishing which are principally carried on from small boats. In 
 the first place, fishing on the bottom with more or less heavy 
 leads ; secondly, fishing at or about midwater with drift lines 
 (lightly leaded lines which are carried out by the tidal current); 
 and thirdly, whirring or trailing a bait on lightly leaded lines 
 behind a boat which is rowed or sailed along. Finally, there 
 will be a few remarks on hand lining. 
 
 When I first wrote my little treatise, ' Angling in Salt Water,' 
 I did not think sea anglers would ever venture to use 2-lb. 
 leads when fishing with a rod, nor until recently have I done 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 231 
 
 so myself ; but from some of the many letters received from 
 readers of that handbook, I have learnt that the rod can be 
 used successfully with leads even exceeding the weight men- 
 tioned, and that hand lines are in consequence much less used 
 than formerly. 
 
 In the introductory chapter (p. 26) I explained where the 
 advantages of a rod came in, and I will only repeat now that it 
 enables one to use a fine strong line which on account of its 
 fineness could not with any degree of comfort be held in the 
 hand. By using this fine line the weight of the lead can be 
 much reduced ; but a fine line necessitates a reel, and a reel a 
 rod ; and the rod, by reason of its pliancy, gives us the oppor- 
 tunity of using fine gut tackle which we could never venture to 
 place at the end of a hand line. Sometimes it is desirable 
 to keep the bait quietly on the bottom, and this cannot be 
 done in bobbly weather except with the rod, the point of 
 which is easily raised or depressed according to the movements 
 of the boat. The longer the rod, the more easily can the move- 
 ment of the boat be humoured and the lead kept steady. This 
 steadying of the lead is one reason why many more fish are 
 often caught on lines worked with the rod than on hand lines. 
 Unfortunately, where a very heavy lead is absolutely necessary 
 a long rod cannot be used with any degree of comfort. 
 
 Under certain conditions sea fish will unquestionably take 
 a suitable bait on any tackle, however coarse, as, for instance, 
 in the gloom of very deep water and at night, or when the 
 sea is thick after storms. But in the long run the amateur 
 fisherman beats the professional out of the field. Mr. C. N. 
 Hemy writes to me that when fishing on the Cornish coast 
 with modern appliances he has caught six times as many fish 
 as the local men. 
 
 The best rod for boat work I have yet seen is one which 
 has been gradually worked out by members of the Gresham 
 
232 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Angling Society with the assistance of Mr. Hemens, of the New 
 North Road. With it leads up to 2 Ibs. can be easily worked. 
 I have even used a 3|-lb. lead with its assistance without much 
 difficulty. It is made in two pieces, and is by no means so stiff 
 
 SHORT SKA ROD FOR BOAT WORK. 
 
 as tackle-makers generally think it necessary to make sea rods. 
 It measures only about seven feet, and I may say here that 
 eleven feet is the outside length of a rod for boat work when 
 ground tackle is used. Owing to the great strain which it has 
 to bear, it is fitted at the end and next the reel with a roller 
 
 BLOCK FOR F.ND OF BOAT ROD (ACTUAL SIZt 
 
 apparatus over which the line passes. There are two good 
 arrangements for the end of the rod : one is simply a little 
 block fixed on with wire; the other a brass arrangement in- 
 vented and made by Mr. Jones, of Scarborough, and sufficiently 
 explained by the illustrations. The Jones apparatus is rather 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 
 
 233 
 
 heavy and more expensive than the block, but answers admir- 
 ably, and its advantages are particularly apparent when the 
 angler has to use his rod from pier or shore and wishes to cast 
 out some distance. In place of the ring next the reel, there is 
 a metal sheave and two little metal supports into which it is 
 
 JONES'S ROLLER RING 
 
 SHEAVE IN LIEU OF LOWEST 
 RING (ACTUAL SIZE) 
 
 carefully countersunk. Here the friction is considerable, and 
 a roller of some kind is very necessary. The sheave and its 
 supports are shown in the illustration. 
 
 There are many kinds of rod rings made for use between 
 the two end rings ; but, patents notwithstanding, none, so far 
 as I have discovered, is in actual use better for this parti- 
 
 SNAKE RING 
 
 cular rod than the snake ring, which is a double misnomer, for 
 it is not a ring nor does it take the shape of a snake. There 
 is simply a curved piece of wire beginning slightly on one 
 side of the centre of the rod and ending on the other ; but 
 the illustration already given repeated here for the reader's 
 convenience will explain it better than any written description. 
 
 H H 
 
234 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 It is now a well-known item of fishing tackle, and is cheap, 
 simple, and effective. It should stand out half an inch from 
 the rod. 
 
 For sea-fishing tackle (the hooks excepted) beware of iron 
 or steel in any shape or form, whether bronzed, plated, or 
 otherwise treated to prevent rust. For rod rings and any metal 
 fittings for which it is suitable I am very fond of phosphor 
 bronze, but hard German silver, or brass, answers almost equally 
 well, and doubtless some day aluminium will come into general 
 use for such purposes. The rod from which the illustration 
 was made was of greenheart from end to end, and I doubt 
 if there is a better wood for the purpose. As I said before, 
 it is not very stiff, nor when we have an exceedingly short 
 rod of this kind is stiffness necessary, even with very heavy 
 leads. 
 
 When I first began writing about sea fishing I always recom- 
 mended a Nottingham reel, and lived in hopes that some day 
 or other a special reel for "saltwater angling made on that system 
 would soon be brought into existence by enterprising tackle- 
 makers. But now, some ten years or more later, I find myself 
 still only able to say that the best reel is a Nottingham reel. It 
 should be made as strongly as possible, far stronger than is 
 used for pike fishing ; both the spindle and the neck of the 
 reel should be extra stout. It should be fitted with the wire 
 guard illustrated on p. 187. These guards are coming into very 
 general use indeed, and a well-known tackle-maker has paid 
 me the indirect compliment of including mine in a patent reel 
 which he brought out recently. 
 
 These wooden reels have one great fault after winding up 
 twenty fathoms or so of wet line the salt water works its way all 
 over the reel ; the wood swells, and sooner or later sticks. I 
 have been in the habit of preventing this by removing the barrel 
 of the reel from the back, and smothering the woodwork with 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 235 
 
 vaseline. The Rev. F. W. Tracy, who in former years had a 
 considerable experience of sea fishing on the coasts of Devon, 
 Cornwall, Wales, the Isle of Man, and elsewhere, and has 
 kindly sent me many very valuable suggestions and criticisms, 
 tells me he makes it a rule to dress the inside of his reel with 
 one of those enamelled paints which were recently so popular 
 among ladies for decorating deal furniture. It may be asked, 
 ' Why not use the old-fashioned brass or gunmetal winch ? ' 
 The answer is To reel up a great length of line on one of those 
 winches would take too much time. What is required is a large 
 barrel to the reel, every turn of which is equivalent to three 
 or four turns of the winch, thus giving the advantages of a 
 multiplier with none of its complications and liability to get out 
 of order. 
 
 A strong Nottingham reel six or seven inches in diameter 
 is not by any means too large for the sea angler, and it is im- 
 portant that it should be fitted with what is termed an ' optional 
 check ' that is to say, an arrangement by which it can be made 
 a free-running reel or a reel with a check at the option of the 
 user. A portion of the usual check mechanism consists of a 
 double steel spring attached to the inside of the reel back by 
 means of two steel screws. These rust at once in salt water 
 usage. I have abused and preached against the use of steel 
 in sea-fishing tackle until I am tired ; perhaps two centuries 
 hence the tackle-makers will appreciate the fact that some metal 
 which does not rust is better suited for the purpose. Perhaps 
 then we shall have reels made on the Nottingham system, but 
 with very little wood and no steel in them. Of course there are 
 even now Nottingham reels' made principally of brass, vul- 
 canite, &c., but I have come across few strong enough for sea 
 fishing. Some of the best of these are made by Slater, of 
 Newark, who has a patent line guard of his own a very good 
 one. 
 
236 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 What we most particularly require in sea fishing is some- 
 thing very strong, very durable, and very simple, and at the same 
 time not too heavy. Farlows, I am glad to say, have recently 
 worked out a capital wooden reel for sea fishing. The check- 
 ing gear consists mainly of a brass nut which screws down 
 the axle and presses against the barrel of the reel, thus doing 
 away with the objectionable steel spring. It is illustrated 
 below, and is thoroughly strong and trustworthy. 
 
 For fishing from a boat 
 an absolutely free-running 
 reel is necessary to lower 
 the lead quickly through 
 
 SLATER S REEL AND 
 LINE GUARD 
 
 FARLOW'S NEW SEA KEEL 
 
 the water; hence the advantage of the optional check, but 
 a Nottingham reel without a check I often use one myself 
 can with a little practice be manipulated and prevented 
 overrunning by the pressure of a finger on the rim of the 
 reel. Perhaps some day an ingenious person will contrive 
 a spoon brake, such as is used on bicycles, to work on the 
 edge of the reel and so prevent the friction with the finger. 
 
 When I first began to consider the subject of lines, I confess 
 I felt perplexed, their number and variety being simply alarm- 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 237 
 
 ing. But, thinking the thing out, I came to the conclusion to 
 recommend for the methods described in this chapter only one, 
 which I firmly believe to be far and away the best. It is simply 
 an undressed twisted line made of pure silk. Twist is infinitely 
 stronger than plait, size for size, and silk is stronger and more 
 durable than any other known material ; so what can possibly 
 be better? 
 
 Owing to the considerable friction between the line and the 
 rod fittings when heavy weights are used or a big fish is being 
 played, any dressing quickly wears off, so I never use one, and 
 do not recommend its use ; but there is no objection whatever 
 to barking the line in the same way as sails are barked. The 
 process, which is very simple and inexpensive, and quickly per- 
 formed, should increase durability. Of course the undressed 
 line takes up a good deal of wet, and when I have time I 
 usually vaseline the whole line, which helps to keep the salt 
 water out of it, though I am not quite sure that a line treated 
 in this way lasts so long as one which is simply washed in 
 fresh water after use and carefully dried. But the lines I have 
 in my mind are so cheap that it is folly to keep one until it 
 gets rotten. 
 
 The following is a recipe recommended by Mr. Hearder, of 
 Plymouth, for barking (the term is now obviously a misnomer) 
 silk lines and nets : ^ Ib. catechu ; \ oz. sulphate of copper ; 
 one gallon of water. Boil together till the solids are dissolved, 
 remove the saucepan from the fire, put the line in the mixture 
 and leave it for twenty-four hours. At the end of that time 
 lift the line out of the liquid, wash it in fresh water, and dry 
 in air. 
 
 The reel should be well but not over filled, and should hold 
 not fewer than seventy-five fathoms, or, in landsmen's language, 
 one hundred and fifty yards. Under special circumstances 
 even more line than this is required, especially in a strong 
 
238 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 tideway where the line is carried out some distance from 
 the boat. 
 
 The actual bulk of the line must depend in a measure on 
 the size of the fish, the weight of the leads, the depth of the 
 water, and so on ; but what is most generally serviceable is 
 one just a little larger than the Trent anglers use for pike 
 when they cast off the reel. I have often had my line 
 derided by ancient mariners who saw it for the first time ; 
 but when they came to try its strength, and made their hands 
 bleed in vain attempts to break it, they admitted that it was 
 far superior to anything with which they were acquainted. 
 
 Without much question the best tackle for catching fish on 
 or near the bottom is the paternoster and its various modifica- 
 tions. With the old-fashioned hand line and Kentish or other 
 rig, one dangled about in the water, over and in full sight of 
 the fish, a lump of lead and a cross-bar of metal wire, at the 
 ends of which were attached two pieces of hemp snooding 
 and some rough tinned hooks. With the paternoster the lead 
 lies on the bottom, and the fish see nothing but the gut tackle 
 above it. 
 
 In the illustration I have shown the most simple and most 
 generally useful form of paternoster. To it is attached the 
 ordinary pear-shaped lead which may be bought in most tackle 
 shops. How the simple loops are made to which the hook 
 lengths are attached is shown in the illustration opposite. It is 
 a thing anybody can tie up in five minutes out of a couple of 
 yards of gut. Swivels are not always necessary. 
 
 If there is not much current, and nothing larger than 
 whiting and flat fish are expected, we can fish with light leads 
 and a paternoster made up of lake-trout gut. If there are 
 large codling about or other fish of considerable size, then 
 the paternoster should be of salmon gut, or twisted gut, 
 which is a good deal used. If of twisted gut, the loops to 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 239 
 
 ^$N= 
 
 A SIMPLE PATERNOSTER WITH PEAR-SHAPED LEAD AND 
 SHOWING HOW A SWIVEL MAY BE INTRODUCED 
 
 which the hooks are attached must be 
 whipped on to the main length instead of 
 being simply formed out of it by means of 
 a knot, but it is infinitely better to intro- 
 duce small swivels in the manner illus- 
 trated. Any brass or German silver swivel, 
 if about the right size, can be used, but it 
 is very desirable before making up the tackle 
 to flatten or render oval the wire loop to 
 which the upright portions of the tackle are 
 made fast. I have shown how ordinary 
 swivels may be used, but while at work on 
 this book I devised a special swivel which 
 not only allows for the twist of the hook link, 
 but also revolves round the upright part of 
 the tackle, which movement is less important. 
 In the illustration overleaf are three sizes 
 of these swivels, and they should answer all 
 
240 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 * 
 
 ordinary purposes. They were made by Messrs. Warner & Sons, 
 of Redditch. Perhaps experience will prove that some modi- 
 fication of their shape will be an advantage. But as they 
 stand they are thoroughly practical pieces of tackle. 
 
 A swivel boom of brass wire, much favoured by anglers 
 who frequent Deal, is illustrated opposite. It does not give 
 the double motion, the wire bends under 
 A the weight of a big fish, and the boom 
 
 itself, so far as my experience goes, is un- 
 necessary. 
 
 Another word as to swivels. These 
 are most needed on the hook link, for very 
 often the bait, particularly if a piece of 
 pilchard or other fish, will slowly twist in 
 the current. A small fish when hauled up 
 out of the deep water frequently spins 
 round and round, and would kink up the 
 hook link unless there were a swivel to 
 prevent it. In shallow water where the 
 current is slight neither swivels nor booms 
 are required, unless it be, indeed, a swivel 
 (to remove kinks from a twisted line) be- 
 tween the running line and the top of the 
 paternoster ; but in deepish water, and 
 wherever there is much stream or current, 
 I would always advise the use of the 
 swivel to prevent the hook links being twisted. It should 
 hardly be necessary for me to say that steel swivels should 
 never be used in salt water, brass being infinitely preferable, 
 though not so strong as phosphor bronze. Bright brass 
 swivels should be dulled by being placed for a few minutes in 
 a solution of hyposulphite of soda, or by means of sulphur 
 fumes. 
 
 A NEW 
 
 PATERNOSTER 
 
 SWIVEL 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 
 
 241 
 
 A still stronger form of paternoster can easily be made for 
 use in very deep water where the fish are large and heavy 
 leads are required. The upright portion may be 
 r/,/ made of strong hemp line served with wire at 
 
 intervals where flat booms, made of horn and 
 CO) bored at one end to take the line, revolve. To 
 
 DEAL SWIVEL BOOM FOR PATERNOSTER 
 
 the end of each boom (these measure 
 four or five inches) should be six inches 
 of tarred snooding, twisted up hard. 
 Then comes a swivel, and beyond that 
 from one to two feet of either gimp, 
 
 twisted gut, or fine plaited line, according to the fish which 
 
 are sought after. If conger or dogfish are abundant, the re- 
 marks on hooks and snooding for these fish 
 
 given on p. 74 should be noted. This is 
 
 useful tackle on a hand line in deep water, 
 
 in which case one should have three little 
 
 booms placed at intervals of six feet. For 
 
 rod work, on the other hand, the topmost 
 
 boom must not be further from the lead than 
 
 the length of the rod. 
 
 The flattened cone lead, shown in the 
 
 illustration, is rather a favourite of mine. I 
 
 first saw it at Deal. It offers very little 
 
 resistance to the water after being lowered, 
 
 but does not sink so rapidly as the one next to be described. 
 A simple and excellent weight can be made out of a piece 
 
 of composition gas piping. The requisite length is cut off and 
 
 i i 
 
 FLATTENED 
 CONE LEAD 
 
242 
 
 THE ' TRACY 1 
 LEAD, WITH 
 SWIVEL AT- 
 TACHMENT 
 TO PATER- 
 NOSTER 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 filled with melted lead, a piece of brass wire as 
 shown in the illustration being held in position. 
 These leads, it will be noticed, are very much in 
 the shape of a conical bullet, and sink rapidly 
 to the bottom, which is a consideration when a 
 strong tide is running. I have called them the 
 ' Tracy ' lead, after their inventor. By using the 
 swivel illustrated at the end of the paternoster 
 these, and indeed other leads, can be changed 
 with great ease. The following little table shows 
 some useful sizes, with their approximate weights. 
 The wire loop should err on the side of stout- 
 ness. 
 
 Light 
 
 Diameter of Piping 
 
 in. 
 
 i in. 
 I in. 
 
 Length 
 2 in. 
 
 3^ in. 
 4^ in. 
 
 Medium 
 
 4 in. 
 5| in. 
 
 Heavy 
 6 in. 
 
 Weight 
 2 OZ. 
 302. 
 
 4 oz. 
 
 8oz. 
 i Ib. 
 
 2lbs. 
 2 Ibs. 
 
 For fine fishing, where a light weight can be 
 used, I rather prefer a more dumpy lead, which 
 lies closer to the bottom and is barely visible to 
 the fish. 
 
 To fill a piece of composition piping with 
 lead seems a simple matter. I tried and found 
 that the hot lead melted the pipe. I overcame 
 this difficulty by standing the pipe in moist sand 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 
 
 243 
 
 firmly pressed around it. The end of the pipe con- 
 taining the wire should be stopped with putty and 
 put downwards. 
 
 I used to believe that for fishing on the bottom 
 for flat fish the leger was the best form of tackle, but 
 have long ago come to the conclusion that for such 
 purpose there is nothing so 
 good as a modified form of 
 paternoster. For flat fish 
 the lowest hook link should 
 be prolonged, and may bear 
 two or even three hooks at 
 
 PATERNOSTER ADAPTED FOR FLAT FISH, ETC 
 
 intervals of ten inches. Two I consider quite enough 
 (see illustration). 
 
 The lowest hook link may be made three yards 
 or even more in length, and bears half a dozen hooks, 
 when it closely resembles what sailors call a trot, and 
 I think we may call it a ' paternoster-trot.' It is a 
 deadly tackle for sand dabs, plaice, and other flat 
 
 PATER N OSTER-TROT 
 
244 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 fish. Whether the lowest hook link is short or long, it is not 
 advisable to dispense with the second hook link above it, which 
 secures any fish not feeding close to the bottom. I may say 
 that often when angling for flat fish I have caught them on 
 this top hook ; they feed off the bottom more often than people 
 suppose. 
 
 These various forms of the paternoster will, I think, suffice 
 to catch fish on or near the bottom in any water round our 
 coasts. There is one point I have omitted, and that is, sup- 
 posing the bottom is rocky and the weeds are growing some 
 distance above it, then the hook links and hooks must be well 
 up above the lead, and the angler should be careful, having once 
 ascertained the depth, never to have his lead nearer the bottom 
 than about three feet. It may be asked, how can we do this ? 
 A simple little dodge gets over the difficulty. Having once 
 ascertained the right depth, reel up a yard or so, tie a piece of 
 cotton round the line, and be careful never to unwind beyond 
 the mark. Of course, if the tide is rising or falling due allow- 
 ance must be made ; and if the fish appear to have suddenly 
 ceased feeding, the depth should be again taken. 
 
 A useful arrangement for ascertaining the nature of the 
 bottom is a sounding lead made much in the shape of the long 
 cylinder illustrated. Its lower end is filled with tallow. Lower 
 until it reaches the bottom, and on drawing it up you will find 
 whether you are fishing over stones, mud, or sand ; it is a very 
 useful guide to the fish which may be expected. Of course 
 this is no new idea to men who know anything about naviga- 
 tion, for it is a common thing to take soundings to discover 
 the nature of the bottom. 
 
 The sea angler should not stint himself in the matter of 
 leads. He will want them of various weights, from one ounce 
 up to two pounds. He should always fish with the lightest 
 possible weight at the end of his line, changing it for a heavier 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 245 
 
 ^ 
 
 METHOD OF ADDING TO OR DECREASING WEIGHT 
 AT END OF PATERNOSTER 
 
 lead as the tidal current increases. If, on 
 the other hand, he is fishing with a. heavy 
 lead and the tide slackens, then he should 
 change it for a lighter lead, for the less the 
 weight on the end of his line, the easier 
 will he feel the bites of the fish and the 
 quicker will he be able to strike and hook 
 them. 
 
 Sea leads are so heavy that it is obvi- 
 ously an advantage to have some arrange- 
 ment to which, instead of changing the 
 entire lead, additions may be made. One 
 very simple method of doing this is to use 
 from one to four or five large bullets with a 
 considerable hole drilled through them, 
 through which the line can easily be passed. 
 The bullet at the end is fixed by simply 
 passing the loop through the bullet and 
 then the bullet through the projecting 
 
246 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 loop. The other bullets are put on or off the loop by removing 
 the end one. This explanation will, I trust, be understood by 
 reference to the illustration. 
 
 Two clever leads have been contrived to get over the 
 variation of weight difficulty. Their construction is sufficiently 
 evident from the illustration. One consists of a series of cone- 
 shaped lead cases each of which 
 can be removed by screwing up the 
 
 HEMENS' LEAD. 
 
 ALLCOCK'S LEAD. 
 
 nut and passing the central wire through the slot. The cone- 
 shaped lead is made by Messrs. S. Allcock & Co. The other 
 is sold by Mr. Hemens, the maker of the sea rod already 
 described. The various sections are removed from the bottom 
 by turning the end of the wire straight. 
 
 If there is any chance offish over two pounds, the landing 
 net or gaff is almost a necessary item of tackle. Not only do 
 fish often kick off when being lifted on a hook through the air, 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 247 
 
 but if at all large their weight, coupled with the weight of the 
 lead, may be sufficient to break the gut tackle which doubtless 
 many readers of this book are in the habit of using. Even 
 with coarse deep-sea gear which will sustain sixty pounds or 
 more, a gaff or net should be used with large fish, as the hook 
 is so likely to tear out. I have often seen a landing-net carried 
 on the Scotch boats. 
 
 I was once fishing with a No. 7 hook and a fine gut pater- 
 noster for sand-dabs when I hooked a conger of over seven 
 pounds. We had a landing-net, but into this it resolutely 
 refused to be inveigled, and my Welsh boatman, though well 
 used to these ' serpents,' as the Scotch call them, was disinclined 
 to handle the creature. I played the fish until it was dead 
 beat and not the flap of a tail left in him, and a pretty piece 
 of sport he gave me. Some twenty minutes elapsed from the 
 time he was hooked before he became limp enough to allow 
 himself to be carried by the current, tail foremost, into the 
 landing net. 
 
 If not provided with a regular gaff, a very good substitute 
 can be made out of a hake hook, the barb of which has been 
 filed off or hammered down. It is easily whipped on to the 
 first available stick. 
 
 Assuming that the amateur fisherman is all prepared for 
 the fray provided with rod, reel, line, paternoster, hooks, 
 various leads, baits, and has his boat moored on the fishing 
 ground according to the marks now comes the time when his 
 own skill and judgment must be brought into play. Probably 
 he will have some general idea of the fish in this particular 
 spot. If the bottom be sandy or marly he will, of course, 
 expect flat fish, and perhaps gurnards, whiting, and cod ; if 
 over rocks, pollack, coalfish, bream, conger, wrasse, and other 
 rock fish. 
 
 Some men make it a rule to use tackle strong enough to 
 
248 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 catch the largest possible fish which may be about. For 
 instance, if they are on good flat-fish ground, and rocks are not 
 far distant, knowing that towards evening the congers may 
 come out from the rocks and travel over the sand in search 
 of food, they perhaps fish with stout gear and big hooks which 
 may be relied on to hold a conger. The result is that they catch 
 very few flat fish perhaps none at all. I rather prefer to use 
 the tackle for the fish which are most abundant, and trust to 
 luck and skill for landing any larger fish which good fortune 
 may throw in the way. 
 
 In some cases it is possible to compromise a difficulty of 
 this kind by having one big hook on the paternoster mounted 
 on gimp or soft hemp for big sharp-teethed fish, and a smaller 
 hook on fine tackle suitably baited for small fish. But so far 
 as my experience goes it is no uncommon thing, if this method 
 is practised, to find the large fish taking the small hook 
 on gut, unless it be a cod, which will usually give the prefer- 
 ence to a large bait. Conger in particular appreciate fine 
 tackle. 
 
 It is of the very first importance to have the best possible 
 baits, and among those which are suitable for fishing on or 
 near the bottom are lugworms, mussels, ragworms, live or dead 
 shrimps (the latter peeled but not boiled), or pieces of fish such 
 as pilchards, herring, mackerel, and smelt. With either lug- 
 worms, mussels, ragworms, and pilchards, herrings, or sprats, 
 the fisherman is likely to have some sport if any fish are about. 
 In this connection the Bait chapter should be studied. 
 
 If the fish expected are mostly small, such as whiting or 
 whiting pout, the tackle, of course, may be very fine ; for cod 
 something stronger is necessary, and the hooks should be 
 proportionately larger ; but always have the vertical portion of 
 the paternoster stouter than the hook links. The exact form 
 of paternoster must depend on whether we anticipate finding 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 249 
 
 our fish right on the bottom or a little above it. In very deep 
 water we should fish at a greater distance from the bottom than 
 where it is shallow. 
 
 The right weight of lead can only be determined by experi- 
 ment or local knowledge. The best plan is to put up a rather 
 light sinker, and if that holds the bottom, well and good ; if it 
 does not, add to it or change it for a heavier one. Whether 
 the weight does or does not hold the bottom, can easily be felt. 
 After baiting the hooks, the paternoster swung over the side, 
 the check to the reel is taken off by pushing back the button, 
 and down runs the tackle to the bottom by mere force of its 
 own weight, the reel spinning round. A finger should be kept 
 on the rim of the reel to prevent it overrunning and to check it 
 altogether immediately the lead is felt to hit the bottom. After 
 a few seconds lift up the point of the rod and lower it again, 
 and see if the lead is keeping its position or is being carried 
 away by the current. Where there is much stream it will pro- 
 bably be necessary to pay out a few more yards of line, for 
 the current will gradually carry the tackle out at an angle with 
 the boat. It is possible, of course, to fish with such an extremely 
 heavy lead that the line hangs almost perpendicularly, but it 
 is far better to use a lighter lead. By letting out a few extra 
 fathoms of line the bottom will be held very well, particularly if 
 the line be fine. 
 
 Having ascertained the proper lead and let out a sufficiency 
 of line, the check can again be put on the winch, and the rod 
 should be held over the water with a gentle strain on the line. 
 Unless the first fish is very small there will be no mistaking its 
 bite. Immediately the little tug tug conies at the top of the 
 rod, the angler should strike and proceed to reel up, and not on 
 any account draw in the line with his hands. 
 
 Except where the tidal current is very strong, the ground - 
 bait net which I have described on page 133 should be used. 
 
 K K 
 
250 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 If there is no current at all, it is a capital plan to throw in 
 fragments of crushed crab, mussel shells, raw potatoes and the 
 like over the spot, so as to fall just where the paternoster is 
 resting on the bottom. 
 
 So much, then, for fishing on the bottom from boats. The 
 second method of fishing from what I may term a stationary 
 boat (though I am afraid people with ' feelings ' may deem the 
 term somewhat inaccurate) is by means of drift lines. For this 
 purpose the professional fisherman, if he can afford it, uses a 
 long line of twisted horsehair with half-ounce pipe leads placed 
 on it at every two fathoms. Mr. Wilcocks, in the ' Sea Fisherman,' 
 recommends these lines to be made in the following way : By 
 means of a twisting machine short lengths of lines are made, 
 each length containing three strands, and each strand contain- 
 ing from twelve to fourteen hairs. One length should be twisted 
 to the right, and the next length (to which it is knotted) to the 
 left, and so on ; the alternate reverse twists preventing the line 
 untwisting. For obvious reasons the hair should be from a 
 horse, and not from a mare, the best coming from the tail of a 
 young stallion. When twenty-two fathoms of black line have 
 been made, white hair should be used for nine feet, or rather 
 more, with three hairs less in each strand. To the end of 
 the white hair should be fastened two yards of plaited silk, and 
 to this two lengths of double twisted salmon gut. Then comes 
 the hook. 
 
 On the black portion of the line, pipe leads (which are 
 threaded on while the lengths are being knotted together) are 
 placed at intervals of two fathoms (twelve feet). The pipe leads 
 are a little barrelled in the middle, and weigh half an ounce or 
 more ; the knots on the line prevent them slipping downwards. 
 Nowadays the hair lines of the tackle-makers are twisted in one 
 length, and no knots are required. The pipe leads are kept in 
 position by means of wooden pegs. It is important to shift 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 251 
 
 the leads occasionally, or the portions of the line which pass 
 through them will soon rot if left wet and covered. 
 
 The only advantages that horsehair possesses over hemp 
 or cotton are its elasticity and durability, the former doing good 
 service when the fisherman is playing a large pollack ivithout a 
 rod. The two-strand hemp or cotton lines are also very elastic, 
 but very rough to handle. 
 
 It should be unnecessary for me to point out that drift 
 lining can only be pursued in a tideway where there is a 
 sufficient stream to carry out the tackle. Those who go in a 
 good deal for this sort of fishing frequently use five lines from 
 one boat, which must be arranged in the following manner : 
 On each side of the stern two lines with half-ounce leads are 
 let out, and between them one without any leads whatever, 
 the bait of which keeps near the surface by the force of the 
 current. Then there may be two more lines, more heavily 
 leaded than those at the stern, placed on each side of the 
 boat about amidships, and these, of course, will sink to a lower 
 depth than the others. Arranged in this way, three different 
 depths can be fished. Unless the depth is known, it should be 
 ascertained by means of a plumb line or sounding line. One 
 advantage of having light leads placed at a fixed distance of 
 two fathoms from one another is that those who use these lines 
 can tell exactly how many fathoms of line are out and can 
 regulate them accordingly. 
 
 It is a good plan, when more than one line is being used, to 
 remove the tholepins and fix in the holes tell-tales, two-foot 
 pieces of those canes commonly known as * penny canes.' These 
 will project about a foot to eighteen inches above the gunwale, 
 and the spare lines may be fastened to the ends of them. 
 When a fish seizes the bait the cane bends, takes the first pull, 
 and informs the angler of the bite. A little bell is sometimes 
 fastened to the tell-tales. 
 
252 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 There is a good deal of this sort of fishing carried on off 
 the coasts of Devonshire, Cornwall, and the Channel Islands, 
 the favourite bait being living sand-eels, contained in peculiar 
 baskets called ' courges,' which are towed behind the boat. 
 This method of drift lining is, of course, hand-line fishing pure 
 and simple, though if the snood is long and fine it is as killing 
 as any newer method. Still^ I infinitely prefer to use a rod 
 either the boat rod already described or one about eleven feet, 
 which is a convenient length for large pollack and bass. It 
 must be strong, but may very well be made of East India cane 
 with a greenheart top. The same line and reel may be used as 
 for paternoster fishing. In fact our old friend the paternoster, 
 with a very slight modification, will answer the purpose very 
 well indeed if fitted with a lead so light that it will be carried 
 out by the current. On the last loop of the paternoster fasten 
 a swivel, and to this swivel attach three or four yards of gut, at 
 the end of it being the hook. When I say ' gut ' it must be 
 understood that if the fish run large, the gut must be double or 
 treble and of good quality. 
 
 For bass of size salmon gut is necessary. The largest of 
 them may be caught on single salmon gut, provided it is new 
 and sound and there is an abundance of running line on the 
 reel. In the case of big pollack it is absolutely necessary to 
 have tackle strong enough to give them the butt ; for these fish 
 have a nasty habit, as I will explain later on, of diving down 
 to the bottom among rocks and seaweed unless they are firmly 
 held. The first rush of a pollack, hooked over a weedy rocky 
 bottom in water of little or moderate depth, must always be 
 restrained. I have nearly had a rod dragged out of my hand 
 by a pollack of only ten pounds ; and even smaller fish have 
 pulled the point of the rod under water. 
 
 The weight of the lead on the drift paternoster must 
 depend on the speed of the current. A good average weight 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 
 
 253 
 
 would be two ounces, but half a pound or more might be 
 necessary. It is a simple matter to add a few leads to the line 
 
 ARCHER-JARDINE LEAD 
 
 THE SLIDER 
 FLOAT 
 
 if the angler is provided with any like that illus- 
 trated, the excellent invention of Mr. A. Jardine, 
 and known as the Archer-Jardine lead. The 
 Norfolk lead, illustrated on p. 259, is also suitable 
 for this purpose. When light weights suffice, 
 large floats can be used ; but if the water is deep 
 and the float has to be at some distance above 
 the lead, it is necessary to have what is known 
 among freshwater anglers as a ' slider,' that is to 
 say, a float which slides up and down the line, 
 but is kept from going too high by means of a 
 little piece of indiarubber band tied on the line. 
 The construction of the float and also its appear- 
 ance in the water are shown in the following 
 illustrations. It is obvious that if the float is 
 fixed firmly on the line twenty feet from the hook, 
 it will be impossible to reel in the fish close to 
 the side of the boat ; for when the float is brought 
 up to the top ring of the rod there will still be 
 twenty feet of line between it and the fish. In 
 such a case, therefore, the sliding float is abso- 
 lutely necessary, for, as the line is reeled in, it 
 slides down until it rests on the lead. The rod 
 rings should be, of course, large enough to allow 
 the knot and piece of indiarubber to pass freely 
 through them. 
 
254 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Any large-sized float with a hole down the centre can easily 
 be used as a slider. In default of anything better, one of the 
 
 INDIARUBBER STOP, A 
 
 lumps of cork used 
 
 to mark crab pots, 
 
 cut to a decent 
 
 shape with an old ra- 
 zor or sharp knife, and 
 
 bored with a red-hot 
 
 skewer, can be placed 
 
 on the line. Owing to its 
 
 size it carries more lead 
 
 than the float one buys 
 
 at shops, which is often 
 
 advantageous. 
 
 One great advantage 
 
 of the float is that by 
 
 simply letting off line 
 
 from the reel one can fish at various distances 
 from the boat, and cover much more water 
 than with the hand lines which I have de- 
 scribed. The result of letting out the hand 
 line is that the bait swims at lower depths, 
 until finally it reaches the bottom. With the 
 float tackle, on the other hand, the same depth can be main- 
 tained at any distance from the boat from one up to a hundred 
 
 DIAGRAM 
 
 SHOWING 
 
 THE SLIDER 
 
 FLOAT IN 
 
 USE. 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 
 
 255 
 
 yards, or even more if 
 there is abundance 
 of line on the reel. 
 
 In this, as in all 
 other methods of 
 fishing, the man who 
 does not meet with 
 success should do 
 his best to discover 
 the cause of his 
 failure. His bait 
 may be too deep 
 or too near the sur- 
 face, or the lead may 
 be too heavy or too 
 light. I regret it is 
 impossible to con- 
 vey in a book that 
 faculty of correct 
 judgment which can 
 only be obtained by 
 long experience and 
 practice. 
 
 In the accom- 
 panying illustration 
 I have shown how 
 the drift paternoster 
 appears in the water, 
 both with and with 
 out a float. 
 
 I have suggested 
 a modified paternos- 
 ter for this particular 
 
256 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 purpose, because I want to keep the tackle as simple and free 
 from complications as possible ; but I should certainly regard 
 the pipe lead placed at the end of the line, with a swivel be- 
 low it, and then three or four yards of gut, single, double, or 
 treble (according to the size of the fish sought), as rather more 
 suitable, though I doubt if an extra fish would be caught by 
 its use. 
 
 The most usual baits for this method of fishing are live 
 sand-eels, live rag-worms, and live shrimps. Dead baits will 
 also kill fish, but not nearly so well, and of these the best are 
 dead sand-eels and strips of squid, mackerel or bass skin. If 
 the bait is dead the fisherman should give a lively motion to 
 it by frequently jerking his line. The principal fish caught 
 are pollack, coalfish, bass, mackerel, and garfish. 
 
 PIPE LEAD WITH HOOK SWIVEL 
 
 This completes all I propose to say here respecting fishing 
 from a boat which is moored and as stationary as the motion 
 of the waves will allow it to be. When we come to deal with 
 the various kinds of fish, any special tackle and methods which 
 are incidental to their capture will be described. 
 
 From a boat in motion, if we except casting the fly or bait 
 or drifting with the tide, there is only one method of fishing 
 railing or whiffing, which is very similar to what is known on 
 the Irish lakes as trolling, and in the South of England, and 
 particularly on the Thames, as trailing. There is this difference, 
 however that on the sea it is not nearly so necessary to use a 
 bait which spins as in fresh water. 
 
 The first point which the would-be trailer, railer, whiffer, or 
 trailer, as he may like to call himself, should most thoroughly 
 
'WE CAN ABJURE THE PROFESSION A.L GEAR* 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 257 
 
 appreciate is that the size or weight of the lead should depend 
 on three things : (i) the speed of the boat ; (2) the depth at 
 which the fish are to be found ; and (3) the size of the running 
 line ; for if the line be coarse it will require a heavier lead to 
 sink it than if it be fine. Of these three things the first is the 
 most important. If we are on a yacht doing about seven knots 
 an hour, it is necessary to have a lead of two, three, or even 
 more pounds in weight. But in a small boat which travels 
 slowly a two-ounce lead will often suffice. Use that lead from 
 a yacht, and the bait will be skipping along the surface of the 
 water most of the time. Another factor to be taken into con- 
 sideration is the length of line let out behind the boat. Often 
 when unprovided with sufficiently heavy leads I have, by 
 simply unreeling twenty or thirty extra yards of line, sunk 
 the bait to a proper depth. The foregoing are just those 
 elementary principles which should be understood at the 
 outset. 
 
 With regard to mackerel fishing from a small rowing boat, 
 the same number of fish are not likely to be caught as from a 
 sailing vessel, because twice as much water will probably be 
 covered in the course of the day by the faster craft. Indeed it 
 often happens that the mackerel will not take the bait unless it 
 is drawn through the water faster than can be managed with a 
 rowing boat, and I fancy that the splash of the oars has a ten- 
 dency to frighten them. 
 
 For small-boat fishing we can abjure the professional gear 
 and use much the same sort of tackle as would find favour 
 with a salmon harler on Loch Tay or the trailer for Thames 
 pike ; I should, perhaps, say which ' used ' to find favour with 
 the Thames trailer, for this method of fishing has now been 
 entirely abolished on the river. But though ordinary spinning 
 or trailing tackle suffices, for reasons which are not quite clear 
 to me I have always found it best in the sea to use a much 
 
 L L 
 
25* 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 longer line (i.e. snood) below the lead than seems to be re- 
 quired in fresh water. 
 
 Of leads there are many patterns, but the best of them are 
 those the centre of gravity of which is below the level of the 
 line. The old system was to have the trace running through 
 the centre of the lead. Swivels notwithstanding, twisting and 
 kinking of the line above the lead frequently took place. 
 Now that the lead nearly always hangs below the level of the 
 line, the lead does not turn over, and kinking above it is im- 
 possible, unless a very powerful spinning bait is being used and 
 the swivels are not in working order. In the event of none of the 
 specially designed leads being available, the ordinary pipe lead 
 can be adapted by placing a short piece of gut, gimp, or line 
 
 A MODERN TRACE LEAD 
 
 through it and lashing the two ends on to the trace. It will 
 then be below the level of the line and effectually stop kinking, 
 assuming that there are any swivels beyond the lead. Sea fisher- 
 men have been aware of the advantage of this arrangement for 
 generations. The late Mr. Francis Francis introduced a lead of 
 the kind into freshwater fishing, and his ideas were still further 
 perfected by Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell, whose excellent leads 
 for pike fishing are well known. The above illustration shows 
 a first-rate lead for spinning traces, greatly favoured by fresh- 
 water anglers ; but what is perhaps a still greater improvement 
 has been introduced by Mr. Geen, in whose invention, as will 
 be seen from the illustration opposite, the swivels and leads 
 are one. 
 
 When fishing for pollack it is very often desirable to vary the 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 
 
 259 
 
 depths of the bait according to the time of day and the depth of 
 the water ; for while in the evening these fish may be hooked 
 close to the surface, in the daytime they cannot be caught at 
 all unless the bait is dragged close to the rocks and weeds just 
 
 GEF.N'S LEAD 
 
 NORFOLK LEAD 
 
 in front of their eyes. Many a professional fisherman will say 
 that railing for pollack in the daytime is time wasted ; but those 
 who have learned the secret often capture very nearly as many 
 fish before sunset as afterwards. If I am failing to secure 
 pollack in the daytime, I keep on 
 increasing the weight of lead until I 
 find my hooks catching in the sea- 
 weed. Then I reduce the length of 
 the line by a few yards by simply 
 reeling it up, which will cause the 
 
 bait to swim a foot or two higher, and I feel satisfied that the 
 bait is just clearing the weeds. 
 
 Where the lead is a permanent fixture on the spinning trace, 
 as is often the case with the productions of the tackle shops, 
 this lead-changing is a great nuis- 
 ance. One way of dealing with the ^SSlSSBBfi^ 
 difficulty is to have leads of various 
 
 'FISHING GAZETTE LEAD 
 
 weights fitted at each end with strong 
 
 hooks, such as those shown attached to the Geen lead. An- 
 other method is to use either a ' Fishing Gazette ' lead, which, 
 it will be noted, is mounted on a sort of safety pin, a Norfolk 
 or a curved ' Jardine ' lead. The way they are applied to the 
 
260 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 line can be easily gathered from the illustration. Failing these, 
 ordinary pipe leads can be curved (a piece of wire through 
 them the while to keep the hole open), and mounted with long 
 loops of gimp at each end. These are easily strung together, 
 or hook swivels can be substituted for the loops. 
 
 In a pike or salmon trace there is generally gut or gimp 
 both below and above the lead ; but in sea fishing it is more 
 
 ARCHER-JARD1NE LEAD CURVED 
 
 convenient to have nothing above the lead except the running 
 line, on which it is easy to fix one or more adjustable leads as 
 may be required. Immediately below the lead should be fixed 
 a strong double swivel. 
 
 Sometimes, and particularly when using a metal bait, 
 no lead is required on a trace. In that case it is a capital 
 plan to fix a piece of lead or copper wire above the double 
 
 SWIVEL COMPELLER 
 
 swivel, in the manner shown in the above illustration. It 
 compels the swivels to work and prevents kinking of the 
 line. 
 
 When mackerel are near the surface, an ounce lead may 
 be found sufficient, and the weight can be increased up to 
 three or even four ounces if the fish do not come to the hook. 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 
 
 261 
 
 Mackerel tackle, for use from small boats, is very simple : to the 
 end of your running line attach your Geen or similar lead, then 
 three or perhaps four yards of lake-trout gut, and at the end a 
 hook of a size between those shown in the illustration. The 
 best bait for mackerel is illustrated on p. 107. 
 
 If the fish are large, plentiful, and biting freely, a large hook 
 is best, as it is speediest removed from the mouth of the fish. 
 But when the mackerel are shy a small hook is great medicine, 
 as I have proved times and oft. 
 
 I have seen salmon gut and even twisted gut used for a 
 mackerel snood. This is absurd 
 when fishing with a rod from a row- 
 ing boat, for the fish only run from 
 a half to two pounds as a rule, and 
 may be caught with very light tackle. 
 In fine, calm weather fairly fine 
 tackle is a decided advantage, and 
 the value of silkworm gut in this 
 connection has been recognised by 
 hosts of professional fishermen, many 
 of whom never think of mackerel 
 fishing without a yard or two of gut 
 at the end of their snooding. 
 
 For bass railing, either first-rate salmon gut should be used 
 below the lead and three yards l of it will not be too much 
 or else slightly lighter gut, double or treble. But these fish are 
 shy, and in bright, calm weather the angler will be well advised 
 to fish as fine as he dare. If he is an expert trout fisherman, 
 used to catching fish of three or four pounds on fine-drawn gut, 
 he will hardly need stout salmon gut to bring to boat a bass 
 of five or six pounds ; but, of course, if he is not accustomed 
 
 13 
 
 MACKEREL HOOKS 
 
 1 A trace thus constructed is unsuitable for casting out. For that purpose 
 the lead must be at the most four feet from the bait. J. B. 
 
262 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 to use fine tackle, he will be well advised to begin by using 
 something very strong and trustworthy. 
 
 With pollack, on the other hand, very strong, sound tackle 
 is absolutely necessary ; for these fish are enormously strong, 
 and their first rush, which must be checked, is, as I have 
 pointed out, always downwards towards their haven of refuge 
 among rocks and seaweed. Once they reach a point of vantage, 
 there is no dislodging them, and the tackle has to be broken. 
 Only once in my life have I ever succeeded in catching a 
 pollack which had reached the bottom. It was a large fish of 
 six or seven pounds, if I remember rightly, and having some 
 doubt about the strength of my trace, I did not hold him very 
 firmly, and so he weeded me. There he stuck, and, though 
 with a long sweep we were able to reach the bottom and poke 
 about among the rocks and seaweed, there seemed no chance 
 of moving him. The old plan of checking a runaway salmon 
 by suddenly giving him a slack line occurred to me. The 
 theory, of course, is that the fish, imagining he is free, stops in 
 his course, and may even head in the other direction. I deter- 
 mined to try this delusion on my pollack. Holding a few yards 
 of slack ready in my right hand, I pulled as heavily on the line 
 with my left as it would bear, then suddenly released it and 
 threw the slack overboard. Then I sat still, and patiently waited 
 developments. Presently I saw the line going away from me 
 at an angle with the boat, and just as it was about to tighten I 
 seized it and hauled up the fish. I have been careful since to 
 let a pollack break me rather than allow him to reach the sea- 
 weed, so have never had occasion to repeat the experiment. 
 The incident happened during one capital day's lythe fishing I 
 had on the north-west coast of Scotland, a few miles south of 
 Scourie. I should add in this connection that there are pollack 
 grounds where piscine havens of refuge are wanting, and the 
 fish can be played in the ordinary way. 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 263 
 
 There is pollack fishing and pollack fishing. In the spring, 
 for instance, quantities of baby fish are caught half a dozen at 
 a time on the Devon and Cornish coasts, and these, of course, 
 only require fine tackle. It is usual to have a spinner on the 
 end of the line, and four or five, or even more, white flies or those 
 peculiar local baits, Belgian grubs (illustrated on p. 139), between 
 the lead and the end of the trace. There are not many parts 
 of this coast where very large pollack are commonly caught, but 
 it was off Cornwall that Lord St. Levan caught the specimen 
 pollack already recorded. 
 
 Good salmon gut double, or lightly twisted, is, generally 
 speaking, strong enough for pollack up to twelve pounds ; 
 but for fish above that weight which I again repeat must, as a 
 rule, be held, and cannot by any possibility be played, at least 
 over rocks and seaweed I would prefer something still stronger, 
 such as treble gut or stout gimp. The running line, of course, 
 must be proportionately strong. 
 
 Under the headings 'Pollack,' 'Artificial Baits,' and 
 ' Natural Baits ' I have dealt more at length with this branch 
 of sea fishing, and the remarks on bass and mackerel in 
 the pages devoted to those fish should also be carefully 
 noted. 
 
 Harling in the tidal reaches of a river for bass or other fish 
 may be carried on almost exactly as it is done in Scotland and 
 Ireland in fresh water. It has the great advantage of present- 
 ing the bait to the fish before the boat has passed over them, 
 and with such shy creatures as bass this is a point of consider- 
 able importance. It is, in fact, very similar to the drift-line 
 fishing already described, only instead of being at anchor the 
 boat is slowly rowed across the current which carries out the 
 line to a considerable distance. At each turn fresh water is 
 covered, and sooner or later the fish will be met with. Either 
 the drift-line tackle or the trailing or railing tackle already 
 
264 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 described answers very well for this purpose, and live baits 
 are far better than those which are artificial or dead. Large 
 mud or rag worms and live sand-eels are among the best that 
 can be used. This plan can be followed in any tideway, not 
 necessarily in estuaries. For instance, in channels between 
 large islands and the shore there are often very strong tidal 
 currents in which are found bass and pollack, and these places 
 can be easily harled. 
 
 If, when harling, a large shoal of fish is met with, it is 
 sometimes desirable to let down the anchor or stone, and try 
 for them with the drift lines, using live baits ; but often it will 
 be found that more fish will be taken by harling than by re- 
 maining stationary in one spot. The drift-line harling with 
 live baits, described in the previous paragraph, is particularly 
 deadly. 
 
 Of course there is nothing to prevent the sea angler casting 
 a spinning or other bait from a boat, either off the reel or in 
 Thames fashion, after the manner described in the chapter on 
 Fishing from Piers, Headlands, &c., p. 190, &c. In special 
 cases where harling is out of the question, and the fish cannot 
 be covered by railing, or where it would be undesirable to row 
 a boat over or near them, this plan is the best that can be 
 followed. 
 
 Heavily leaded float tackle can be cast out in exactly the 
 same manner just as a freshwater fisherman will cast out a 
 live-bait tackle for pike. I have dealt with the method ex- 
 haustively in the chapter already mentioned. 
 
 There is a method of whiting fishing, carried on while the 
 boat is in motion, which I have seen practised with success at 
 Ilfracombe and other places. It is only suitable for fishing 
 grounds where the bottom is not very foul, and the fish are 
 abundant and widely distributed. Either paternoster tackle 
 or ordinary hand lines are used. The boat is allowed to drift 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 
 
 265 
 
 up or down channel with the tide and back again. Fairly light 
 leads can be used, as there is no pressure of water on the 
 lines unless an adverse wind checks the boat. By these 
 means fishing grounds can be worked over which, owing to 
 the fierceness of the tidal current, no small boat could be 
 moored, or where the bait could not be kept near the bottom 
 with leads of reasonable weight so long as the boat was at 
 anchor. 
 
 With regard to hand lines, the most ancient form, and that 
 still most commonly used, consists of a lead and a spreader, from 
 the two ends of which dangle snoodings with hooks. There 
 
 HKARDER S KENTISH RIG 
 
 are several varieties of this tackle ; the best of them is perhaps 
 the Kentish rig, of which an improved form, invented by 
 Mr. Hearder, is illustrated on this page. A loop of line, which 
 the maker would be well advised to make at least five inches 
 in length, holds the lead. On it is a piece of brass piping 
 with rolled edges, and on the piping is the twist of wire 
 the ends of which are prolonged and form the spreaders. 
 By pushing up the piping (which saves the line from friction) 
 the lead is easily unlooped and a heavier or lighter one put 
 in its place. To each end of the spreader should be fixed a 
 
 M M 
 
266 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 small swivel, and to this the snood, which may be about a yard 
 or less in length, and when possible of gut, should be attached. 
 
 The construction of 
 a true Kentish rig is 
 shown in the second 
 illustration. There the 
 spreaders are of whale- 
 bone, and they and the 
 lead are held together 
 by a strip of leather. 
 Additional leads, indi 
 cated by the dotted 
 lines, are added when 
 required. 
 
 I have sometimes 
 used an ordinary eight- 
 plait tanned hemp reel 
 line as a hand line. It 
 has the advantage of 
 requiring a compara- 
 tively small lead, owing 
 to its fineness. But 
 these fine lines cut the 
 'hands, and to fish 
 without a rod with 
 any degree of comfort 
 something stouter is 
 required. A hand line 
 KENTISH RIG FROM DEAL should be cable-laid, of 
 
 hair, cotton, hemp, or 
 
 flax, and dressed, to prevent kinking, and there should always 
 be a swivel between the end of the line and the spreader. 
 The cotton lines are in great favour ; but best of all, though 
 
SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 267 
 
 expensive, is a hair line best because of its elasticity. The 
 comparative sizes of hand and other lines are illustrated in the 
 following chapter. 
 
 The lighter the lead the better, so long as it will keep the 
 tackle near the bottom. As a general rule, immediately a bite 
 is felt, the fisherman should haul in the line, hand over hand, 
 letting it run over the gunwale of the boat, which helps to play 
 the fish, and scrapes off a good deal of the water which would 
 otherwise come inboard. 
 
 The snooding or portion of the tackle immediately next the 
 hook must be a good deal stronger than if a rod is used, 
 for though an expert is able to play a fish with his hands to 
 a certain extent, it is impossible to prevent sudden strains and 
 jerks which are certain to break light tackle. When using a 
 hand line I much prefer a strong twisted gut paternoster at 
 the end of it to a Kentish rig, but if the fish run small, 
 say 3 Ibs. or less, the hook links should be of single gut. I 
 have seen both Kentish rig and paternoster worked on hand 
 lines from the same boat. More fish were killed on the pater- 
 noster than on the professional gear. 
 
 On the whole, I am inclined to think that to knock about 
 in a small boat, with a skilful boatman and a good supply of 
 the right bait, yields as much amusement as any to be obtained 
 from sea fishing. The sport is far more certain than that 
 obtained from pierheads or rocks, and it is a great convenience 
 to be able to carry all one's tackle and sundry impedimenta 
 about without difficulty. 
 
 In a sailing vessel we are entirely dependent on the wind, 
 though, on the other hand, there is the advantage of fishing 
 more distant grounds which it would not be safe to venture 
 upon in the small open boat. There is, of course, that poetry 
 of motion which is not thoroughly appreciated by the great 
 majority ; but, as I have pointed out, there are many inlets of 
 
268 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 the sea, and large estuaries, harbours and the like, as calm as 
 need be, and these may be commended to 'bad sailors,' to 
 use a term which is well understood, but maybe lacks scientific 
 accuracy. 
 
269 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SEA FISHING FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 
 
 YACHTS and other vessels are often so situated that a good 
 deal of the more delicate kinds of sea fishing may be enjoyed 
 from their white decks. For instance, when they are moored 
 in a Scotch sea loch, or in any shallow bay or roadstead, it is 
 as easy to fish from them with rod and line as from a small 
 boat. . But in this chapter I propose to give some account 
 of the heavier tackle and methods by which fishing is carried 
 on in deep water at some distance from the land, where it 
 would be unsafe for small boats to venture. Under this head- 
 ing also comes the subject of whirring under sail, in which for 
 large fish very strong tackle is necessary. 
 
 It has often been a matter of surprise to me that yacht- 
 owners do not, as a rule, take more interest in sea fishing. 
 Perhaps it is because their opportunities are so great that they 
 fish so little. Just as there are many people who have lived in 
 London all their lives without going to see St. Paul's or West- 
 minster Abbey, and three generations of whom may dwell 
 in England without any one of them making a pilgrimage to 
 Shakespeare's resting-place. It is the country cousin and the 
 globe-trotting American who sail straight away for Westminster 
 and the banks of the Avon respectively. Certainly people who 
 live on the seacoast fish less than occasional visitors. 
 
 The Prince of Monaco's great interest in the scientific 
 
270 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 side of sea fishing is well known. English yacht-owners might 
 render national service if they would follow his example and 
 avail themselves of their magnificent opportunities to make a 
 thorough study of the natural history of sea fish and the best 
 means of catching them. But then, those spotless planks ! 
 What a sorry plight they are in after a night's hand lining for 
 big conger, or when a shark five feet long has been hauled 
 aboard ! Or imagine a few lugworms dropped about the 
 
 YACHT RAIL PROTECTOR 
 
 deck and trodden in ! Why, the mere reading of such a thing 
 is enough to turn some men faint for does not the lugworm 
 exude a bright yellow, ineradicable stain ? Having a weakness 
 or a strong love myself as you may please to consider it for 
 that perfect cleanliness, brightness, primness and order which 
 are nearly always found on an English yacht, I would venture 
 to suggest that those who take to sea fishing should have a 
 piece of oiled canvas, tarpaulin, or even common oilcloth or 
 
 : 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 271 
 
 linoleum, to protect the portion of the deck where the fish are 
 being hauled on board. 
 
 Mr. Basil Field tells me that on a yacht from which he 
 did a good deal of sea fishing, a means was devised of slightly 
 mitigating the mess, and, in the case of hand lines, preventing 
 injury to the rail of the vessel. The lines were hauled over a 
 bracket-shaped ledge, on which the head of conger or other 
 fish could be rested for a moment while the happy despatch 
 was administered. It received the first of the mess. The 
 size and exact shape of this arrangement are very much a 
 matter of taste, but 
 if fitted with a roller 
 as in the illustra- 
 tionsto reduce the 
 friction of the line, so 
 much the better. It 
 is best made of oak 
 or other hard wood 
 at least an inch thick, 
 and is hung on to the 
 rail just as a kettle- 
 stand is hooked on 
 
 to the fire-bars. In London I have noticed servants sitting" on 
 brackets so fixed for the purpose of cleaning the outsides of 
 windows. For one man to work a line over it, the protector 
 should be about three feet long and a foot or a little more 
 wide. I have often thought that sheaves for lines to work on 
 might be fixed on the rails of fishing boats with advantage. 
 They would lessen the labour by decreasing friction, and save 
 wear to both vessel and line. 
 
 I have no doubt that many yachtsmen and yachtswomen, 
 particularly the latter, object to sea fishing because of the 
 weight of the leads ordinarily used, and the handling of the wet 
 
 YACHT RAH, PROTECTOR (SECTIONAL 
 DRAWING) 
 
272 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 lines. While it is of just such tackles that I have to write in 
 this chapter, I would strongly urge every intending sea fisher, 
 whether yachtsman or not, to give the very short boat rod 
 and line described on pp. 28 and 231 a thorough trial. It will 
 carry a two- or three-pound lead, and a sinker of that weight 
 on a fine line is as effective as a much heavier sinker on a 
 coarse hand line. I have never worked the thing out with any 
 degree of accuracy, but I should say that a two-pound lead on 
 the fine Nottingham twisted line will hold the bottom in a tide- 
 way where four or even more pounds of lead would be required 
 on the ordinary hand line. Where this rod tackle can be em- 
 ployed the greatest objection to sea fishing is removed. If the 
 necessary weights at the end of the line will allow a rather 
 longer rod to be used from yacht or large fishing boat, so much 
 the better, for with the very short rod it is not always easy to keep 
 a lively fish from fouling the keel or sides of the vessel. With 
 hand lines one is at a still greater disadvantage. Eleven feet 
 is a convenient length for a rod if the weight does not exceed 
 about a pound or a pound and a quarter. With reference to 
 this point, it should be mentioned that, if the tackle is a pater- 
 noster in which the top hook is far above the lead, the rod 
 must be of corresponding length. Otherwise a fish on the 
 lowest hook could not be brought within reach of gaff or net. 
 A big rubber ball or button at end of rod to rest on the hip, 
 and the placing of the winch fittings some eight inches above 
 it, make the handling of long rods more pleasant when heavy 
 ends are used. 
 
 In deep water, where at any time a large fish may be ex- 
 pected, it would be hardly wise to fish with the single gut 
 paternoster recommended for small-boat work, unless whiting 
 are the particular fish sought after, and then it is .a decided 
 advantage to use fine gut. Of course, the deeper the water, 
 the less light there is at the bottom ; and in the gloom of 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 273 
 
 /iANollNE- 
 
 /BOUT 
 
 5 TO 8tbs 
 
 SNOOD 
 
 PLAITED 
 SNOOD 
 
 Sin, 
 
 fifteen or twenty fathoms fish 
 are not so observant of coarse 
 tackle as they would be in 
 four or five fathoms. Out 
 in open waters, too, there is 
 generally more or less of a sea 
 which diminishes the light 
 below the surface. 
 
 Suppose, now, we are fish- 
 ing a very deep place where 
 such heavy leads are required that a hand 
 line must be brought into requisition ; the 
 exact form of tackle to be used should 
 depend on the variety of fish which are 
 about. For bottom-feeding fish, if the 
 tidal, current is not strong, there is nothing 
 much better than the Kentish rig, which has 
 been illustrated and described on pages 
 265-6. It is as well to have a swivel on 
 each end of the spreader, and, as I have 
 said, when fishing for whiting it is most 
 
 N N 
 

 274 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 desirable to have a gut 
 snood between the swivels 
 and the hooks. 
 
 For fish which are found 
 at a little distance from the 
 bottom, the paternosters re- 
 ferred to on pp. 238 and 
 241 are admirable tackles, 
 fishing at different depths. 
 A paternoster for use on a 
 
 hand line can be made up with the hook links 
 placed any distance apart the fisherman pleases. 
 In a heavy current where the water is deep, one 
 of the best gears is simply a boat-shaped lead 
 with a long snood bearing one or two hooks below 
 it. But I rather prefer to stick to the paternoster, 
 merely varying it to meet the case by prolonging 
 the lower hook link to a fathom or thereabouts. 
 There is really no object in having 
 a large number of different forms 
 of tackle where one will do. In 
 a very powerful current which 
 would be otherwise unfishable, 
 a small grapnel may be substi- 
 tuted for the lead. This if 
 lowered quickly grips the bottom 
 
 NORTH SEA HAND- LINE HOOK AND PLAITED LOOP (ACTUAL SI/E) 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 275 
 
 and defies the tide. With this gear it is as well to have hooks 
 to the number of a dozen or thereabouts, and the thing then 
 really resolves itself into a drift-trot. The illustration on p. 273 
 shows what is probably the heaviest hand line used by profes- 
 sional fishermen. It hails from the North Sea, Iceland and 
 Faroe. The hook, drawn full size in the illustration on p. 274, 
 should be noted. It has a little bright lead casting of a fish on 
 its shank. This the men believe adds to the attractions of 
 the bait. The plaited hemp, as I have explained elsewhere, 
 longer withstands the sharp teeth of 
 conger, ling, and shark than the ordi- 
 nary snood. 
 
 It is impossible for 
 me to say what sized 
 
 FOUR USEFUL-SIZED HOOKS 
 
 hook should always be used, as that will depend on the avail- 
 able fish ; for flat fish it must be small, and for cod, pollack, 
 coalfish, haddock, and other roomy-mouthed members of the 
 Gadida, large. Hake fishing, which is usually done at night, 
 involves the use of a very large hook. In the illustration are 
 hooks of four very useful sizes, with which the yachting fisher- 
 man should certainly be provided. Those which are eyed 
 are certainly the most convenient. For soft-mouthed sea fish 
 I am very partial to what is known as the twisted Limerick. 
 
276 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Those illustrated are the well-known Pennell-Limerick pattern. 
 There are some further remarks respecting hooks on p. 70 
 which should be noted. 
 
 Sharks are such destroyers of other fish that, apart from 
 sporting considerations, their capture is very desirable. They 
 are not, as a rule, sought after in British waters, and are often 
 caught and still more often lost when hand lines are being used 
 for smaller and more desirable fish. There is no bait they 
 will not take, and when a long line is set for haddocks or 
 whiting, they think nothing of swimming along the row of 
 hooked fish and picking them one by one off the hooks. 
 More will be said of these voracious creatures later on. 
 
 Yachting gives splendid opportunities for conger fishing. 
 The largest congers often dwell among reefs of rocks in deep 
 water at a long distance from the shore, where it would not be 
 safe on the finest night to anchor a small boat. But in suitable 
 weather a yacht can lie to or be anchored beyond the rocks 
 while the fishing can be carried on from one of her boats, she 
 being at hand, of course, in case of bad weather coming on 
 suddenly. There are few things more exciting than hauling big 
 conger into a boat on a dark night ; especially when an 
 unusually big fish hits the lantern with a flap of his tail, and 
 then goes on a voyage of inspection under the thwarts, bark- 
 ing the while. Mr. Briggs's eel was nothing to the congers 
 of the Welsh, Scotch, and Irish coasts. 
 
 Yachtsmen often have a difficulty in getting a good supply 
 of bait, and it might be worth while to arrange a locker as a 
 sort of bait nursery fitted with well-pitched and ventilated 
 drawers with sea sand or seaweed in them, which could be 
 occasionally moistened with salt water. Sand-eels cannot well 
 be kept alive for any length of time except in a basket in the 
 sea, and the courge, as the special basket for the purpose is 
 termed (see p. 119), is unsuited for towing after a yacht when 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 277 
 
 she is sailing at any 
 rate of speed. But 
 if a fair supply of 
 lug and rag worms 
 can be kept in 
 good condition for a 
 few days at a time, 
 the yachtsman need 
 never be short of sea 
 fish. On the Devon 
 and Cornish coasts 
 
 several yacht-owners possess the fine 
 meshed seine nets, shown on p. 1 18, made 
 specially for catching sand-eels. Sand- 
 eels are not only about the best bait 
 for pollack, provided they are used 
 alive, but are also excellent on the table. 
 There are several forms of railing 
 or whirring tackles used on various 
 parts of the coast. They vary mainly in 
 the shape of the lead, and the chopstick 
 used in connection with it. The most 
 important point is to have a lead of 
 such a shape that it will tow steadily 
 and not sheer about. If it is of such 
 a form that it will keep its position on 
 the deck and not roll to leeward when 
 
 I 
 to 
 
 MACKEREL TACKLE 
 (SOUTH WALES) 
 
2 7 3 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 I YA RD GUT 
 
 MODERN PLYMOUTH MACKEREL GEAR 
 
 hauled in, so much the better. 
 
 The more or less circular leads 
 
 are believed not to sheer about 
 
 so much as a boat-shaped 
 
 one, but these latter, so far 
 ^ as my experience goes, have 
 5 little tendency to sheer if cast 
 
 in an even-sided mould and 
 
 fitted truly to the line. 
 
 Three mackerel gears are 
 
 illustrated. The first drawing 
 
 was made from gear provided 
 
 by one of the cleverest fisher- 
 men at Tenby, a place where 
 
 mackerel lining is well 
 
 understood, four or five 
 
 hundred fish sometimes 
 
 being taken by a single 
 
 boat before midday. The 
 
 illustration on this page is of the gear commonly 
 
 used by the Plymouth fishermen, who, it will be 
 
 noticed, now use a corpulent cigar-shaped lead, 
 
 cast on brass or galvanised iron wire, having 
 
 given up their old gear, which was somewhat similar 
 
 SPINNER 
 (ACTUAL Size) 
 USED WITH OR 
 WITHOUT LASKE 
 
 COTTON LINE (ACTUAL S>z] 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 279 
 
 in principle to the Tenby tackle. Thirdly is a drawing of a 
 neat amateur gear designed by Mr. Hearder, of Plymouth. 
 Here a wire boom works round a piece of brass piping 
 passed over the line. 
 
 I do not know a better outline for a mackerel whiffing lead 
 of the old type than that followed by Brooks, of Stonehouse, 
 in the patent arrangement made in sections and illustrated on 
 page 280. By pushing up the indiarubber block (which is 
 pierced by the wire) and the top section, the central sections 
 
 HEARDER'S MACKEREL LEAD 
 AND BOOM 
 
 may be removed or re- 
 placed, so that the weight 
 of lead can be diminished or increased. I 
 have used this piece of gear for mackerel 
 ^ fishing and find it answers exceedingly well. 
 The idea originated with the Rev. F. W. 
 Tracy and was perfected by Messrs. Brooks. 
 It is a good lead, too, for fishing on or near the bottom, a long 
 snood with three or four hooks being attached to the swivel. 
 It will be noticed that when a fish is hooked it pulls not 
 immediately on the lead, but on the line a foot above it. A 
 bite is thus more easily felt by the fisherman than with other 
 gears, particularly if the lead is resting on the bottom. I re- 
 gard it as a very valuable invention. The wire boom prevents 
 it rolling about when hauled inboard and laid on a thwart. 
 Some of the best lines for snoods I have seen are those 
 
2 80 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 manufactured by the Manchester Cotton Twine Spinning Co. 
 About thirty yards or fifteen fathoms of mackerel main line is 
 required ; and below the lead there should be about four yards 
 of fine snooding, then a brass swivel and two yards of gut ter- 
 minated by a single hook. Many amateurs' snoods are now 
 
 made of gimp tailing 
 off into gut. This ar- 
 rangement kinks and 
 entangles far less than 
 hemp or any piece of 
 soft line. 
 
 The usual weights 
 of lead are three pounds, 
 two pounds, and one 
 pound, two pounds be- 
 ing perhaps the one 
 most generally useful 
 for fishing from yachts. 
 When there is a very 
 slight breeze, and the 
 yacht is hardly moving, 
 leads of a few ounces 
 only are quite sufficient 
 and will catch many 
 more fish than those of 
 greater weight. Large 
 yachts often tow leads 
 weighing as much as 
 
 four pounds, but if the vessel is sailed at the right speed 
 so much lead is not required. 
 
 The length of line let out is not as a rule very great, 
 ten yards being often deemed enough with the three-pound 
 lead. When the fish are feeding well, it is obviously a dis- 
 
 PATENT VARIABLE LEAD 
 SENSITIVE GEAR 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 281 
 
 advantage to have more line out than is necessary, because 
 time is lost in hauling in. But on bright days, when the fish 
 are shy, and particularly if the yacht is a large one, it is 
 desirable to have a light lead, let out a long length of line, and 
 use a rather small hook. 
 
 A common practice of professional fishermen is to have 
 out two pairs of lines, or even more, bearing different weights, 
 and therefore fishing at different depths. Lines are frequently 
 boomed out, and in small yachts it is a simple matter to rig 
 them out at the end of the sweeps. Two lines can thus be 
 worked on each side of the yacht. Four lines will keep two per- 
 sons busily employed if the mackerel are plentiful. In the Bristol 
 Channel, lines which are boomed out in this way are brought 
 into the boat by means of a leader, an extra piece of line made 
 fast to the mackerel line a fathom and a half below the end of 
 the boom and brought inboard. By this means the outside 
 lines can be brought within reach of the hand without inter- 
 fering with the booms, which should be firmly fixed in position. 
 On the Cornish coast, where, as off Devon, this mackerel 
 railing is often termed ' plummeting,' fishermen frequently use 
 a long stick with a hook on the end to get hold of the boomed- 
 out lines. Just such a leader as above described is shown in 
 the illustration of the ocean fishing rod in Chapter IX. 
 
 At Plymouth the usual custom among the professional 
 fishermen who are expert mackerel catchers is to have six lines. 
 From each side of the stem are heavily leaded lines, from amid- 
 ships two lines less heavily leaded, and from each side the stern 
 two with still lighter leads. These stern lines are boomed out 
 and have a tripping line attached to haul them within reach. 
 The boat is sailed two or three miles an hour, and a couple of 
 men can soon haul in a few hundred mackerel. The cigar-shaped 
 gear must be free from the vice of sheering to be used in this 
 way. The spinner (p. 278) is sometimes used without other bait. 
 
 o o 
 
282 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 On p. 261 I have given an engraving of two hooks, one for 
 use in places where the mackerel are small, the other for large 
 mackerel. On the question of baits I must refer the reader to 
 page 107, and merely say here that quite the best is a triangular 
 piece of skin cut close to the tail of a mackerel. It is not 
 well to sail too fast when mackerel fishing ; about three knots 
 an hour is quite fast enough, and sail must be reduced if 
 necessary. 
 
 In reeling, railing, or whiffing ' for pollack to turn to 
 another subject considerable judgment is required. With 
 regard to the lead, the lighter it is the better, certainly, 
 provided that by letting out plenty of line the bait can be 
 brought near the bottom. But in the evening time, when the 
 fish come to the surface, a lead of a few ounces will answer very 
 well. For both pollack and bass fishing from a sailing boat I 
 have been using lately a lead brought me by a friend from 
 Norway. I have also found it a good piece of gear for mackerel 
 fishing. It is sufficiently explained by the illustration. It tows 
 very steadily, and probably would not frighten the fish so much 
 as some other forms of lead. It inclines to the shape of a 
 somewhat dumpy sea-boat. 
 
 The snood for pollack or bass must, of course, be very 
 much stronger than that used for mackerel. It must be some- 
 thing which will not only hold a fish of 25 Ibs., but that will 
 .stand the sudden jerk when the fish seizes the bait. It is never 
 safe when pollack or bass fishing to make fast the line ; for 
 even if a large fish does not break the snood, the hook tears 
 out. As tending to moderate some of the suddenness of the 
 pull, the use of really good horsehair or two-strand cotton lines 
 
 1 These terms are used indiscriminately by fishermen, and there are other 
 local words meaning much the same thing. I have seen it asserted, however, 
 that whiffing is more properly applied to trailing a line after a boat which is 
 being rowed, while reeling or railing is the same process carried on from a 
 yacht or other sailing vessel. J. B. 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 283 
 
 is recommended ; for they possess so much elasticity that the 
 fish is played on them almost as if it were on a rod. 
 
 In the chapter on Ocean Fishing a clever gear is described, 
 which enables fish of one or even two hundredweight to be 
 hooked and held while the vessel continues her course. 
 There seems no reason why similar gear, on a much smaller 
 scale, should not be used for pollack and bass fishing from 
 yachts. Another method of meeting the first pull of a fish on 
 
 NORWEGIAN LEJO &. G/ffi 
 
 an otherwise more or less rigid line is to take a piece of round, 
 solid indiarubber about eighteen inches in length and join the 
 two ends of it to two points in the line 3 ft. 6 in. apart. When 
 a fish seizes the bait the rubber stretches to the extent allowed 
 by the line, and no more. 
 
 It is difficult to lay down any exact rules as to the length 
 and consistence of the snooding. The bigger the lead, the 
 longer the snooding should be, but in no case less than six 
 
284 MODERN SEA FJSHIA'G 
 
 yards ; for the lead, which is large and conspicuous, must on 
 no account be near the bait. Next the bait should be a yard 
 and a half of the strongest salmon gut, either single, double, or 
 treble, according to the size of the fish which are likely to be 
 caught. There are some places where the largest probable pol- 
 lack is not more than 5 Ibs. ; others, again, where fish of 10 Ibs. or 
 12 Ibs. are likely to be met with in the course of any day's fishing. 
 
 Between the gut and the lead either the ordinary hemp 
 snooding may be used, or one of the Manchester snoods, 
 or an eight-plait tanned silk, flax, or cotton line. Of course, 
 the finer it is the better, consistent with the necessary 
 strength. For bass I would advise a still longer snooding, 
 four fathoms or eight yards at least, for these fish are shyer 
 than pollack. When they are feeding near the surface, quite 
 light leads of only an ounce or two will suffice. This is not 
 generally recognised by the professional fishermen, whom I 
 have often seen sinking their lines by means of two- and 
 three- pound leads, quite four or five fathoms down, when 
 the bass were to be seen splashing about on the surface of the 
 water after sand-eels. 
 
 There are not many pollack railing grounds over which 
 large yachts can be safely sailed, and even in small vessels the 
 helmsman must exercise great caution and care to prevent run- 
 ning aground. The tidal races in which bass are so frequently 
 found are particularly nasty places for yachts. A responsible 
 man should be at the helm not only by reason of the danger, 
 but also because sport depends very much on the way the yacht 
 is handled. As a general rule, few large pollack will be caught 
 unless the line can be kept over submerged rocks. When bass 
 are about and feeding just below the surface, very great skill 
 is required to place the baits among the fish without letting the 
 yacht pass through the shoals. In fact, harling (see p. 263) 
 under sail should be attempted. 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 285 
 
 I had a day's bass fishing, which might have been a record 
 one, altogether spoilt by the clumsy and thoughtless behaviour 
 of some people in a small cutter, who worked about all over 
 the ground, sailing the yacht right through the shoals, and 
 frightening every fish to the bottom. They would have done 
 much better to have anchored and fished with drift lines in 
 the manner described in the previous chapter. 
 
 This is all, I think, that need be said here concerning 
 whiffing, and fishing near the bottom, it being understood 
 that this chapter should be read in connection with the detailed 
 information given in other chapters in the book, particularly 
 the previous one and that on Baits. 
 
 In the interest of the larder rather than of sport, a few 
 remarks may find place here on trots, long lines, bulters, or 
 spillers, which are practically synonymous terms, and the three 
 kinds of nets which are most used by yachtsmen. 
 
 There are three kinds of long lines. The drift-trot is laid 
 along the bottom, and is weighted at one end. It is only of 
 advantage where the tide runs strongly. Another is also laid 
 on the bottom, but is weighted at both ends, and, if very 
 long, at intervals ; and the third, called a floating trot and 
 used for bass and other surface-swimming fish, is buoyed with 
 corks so as to keep it near the surface. 
 
 How the unleaded end of the drift-trot is kept extended by 
 the current is shown in the illustration on the next page. The 
 lead should weigh from three to six pounds, according to the 
 tide. In a very strong tidal current a grapnel or small anchor 
 may with advantage be substituted for the lead. 
 
 The size of the hooks, of which there may be twenty or 
 more on the drift or other trot, must depend on the fish 
 which are about ; if these happen to be inconsiderable whit- 
 ing and flat fish, obviously a small hook must be used. 
 If the fish vary from a few ounces to twenty pounds or 
 
286 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 so, then larger hooks are necessary. A 
 capital plan is to use hooks of two 
 sizes : large ones with herring, mackerel, 
 squid, pilchard, or other bait, for big- 
 mouthed fish ; and smaller ones, baited 
 with lugworms or mussels, for flat and 
 other small-mouthed fish. 
 
 It is a good plan, indeed almost 
 necessary, to have a very large swivel 
 between the lead and the portion of 
 line bearing the hooks. Such a one, 
 for instance, as that illustrated in 
 connection with the ocean tackle in 
 Chapter IX. The more expensive 
 lines, made for amateurs, are fitted with 
 a swivel on each snooding. If a trot 
 is laid near rocks, and large congers 
 are likely to visit the hooks, it is most 
 certainly advisable to have a heavy 
 weight at both ends, and to have a 
 swivel on each snood. 
 The trot then becomes 
 a paradoxical piece of 
 tackle a short long- 
 line. Indeed, long lines 
 are frequently called 
 
 ^ 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 287 
 
 trots, and, as I have said above, also bulters and spillers, the 
 last name being a Devonshire term. 
 
 The main line before being used should be wetted and 
 stretched, or, better still, towed after a boat for some hours to 
 get all the kink out of it. The snoods should be placed so far 
 apart that the hooks will not and cannot possibly foul one an- 
 other. If snoods of four feet are used they should be placed 
 at least nine feet distant. For conger professional fishermen 
 do not as a rule use swivels on their long lines, but these little 
 refinements are, as I have said, most desirable. 
 
 Amazing are the lengths of line carried by the professional 
 fishermen who visit the North Sea and the fisheries of Iceland 
 and Faroe. Fully equipped boats carry about two hundred 
 and fifty lines, each forty fathoms in length, and each line 
 bearing from twenty to twenty-six hooks. These lines, when 
 being laid, are joined together into one immense line several 
 miles long, bearing 5,000 hooks or thereabouts. Of course, 
 the expense of adding swivels to each snood would be very 
 considerable. The amateur, who does not fish for the market, 
 may well be content with fifty hooks at the outside, and it will 
 save him a great deal of trouble if he has a phosphor-bronze 
 or brass swivel fixed in each snood. 
 
 In the illustration is given the actual sizes of the principal 
 lines used by professional and amateur sea fishermen. The 
 comparison between the Faroe halibut line and the little twisted 
 silk reel line is remarkable. Forty fathoms of the halibut line 
 weighs about 5 Ibs., and the lightest long line used for North 
 Sea inshore fishing weighs 3 Ibs. per forty fathoms. This length 
 is called a half-piece, two lengths knitted together a piece, six 
 pieces constituting a dozen lines. In from twenty-five to thirty- 
 five fathoms of water a boat can work about twenty-five dozen 
 lines each day, but on the Faroe bank, in from 100 to 120 
 fathoms, not more than fifteen or sixteen dozen lines a day can 
 
288 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 HAUBUt 
 
 TAN 
 
 FISHING LINES COMPARED (ACTUAL SIZE) 
 
 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 289 
 
 be satisfactorily attended to. The heavy halibut lines are not 
 raised by hand, but by patent haulers which are fixed on the 
 rail and are worked by a small winch. 
 
 As a part of the long-line gear each codman carries ten 
 small and two larger (captain) buoys. The anchors which hold 
 the line weigh about 10 Ibs., and there is one to each buoy. 
 The North Sea cod baits are whelks, lampreys, and squid. At 
 Faroe and Iceland herrings and sometimes young coalfish are 
 used for the long lines, and whelks on the hand lines. Herrings 
 and sillocks (coalfish) are the principal baits used in the Faroe 
 fishery for halibut. 
 
 While on this subject I am tempted to say a word concern- 
 ing the North Sea fishermen, of their perils, hardships and 
 bravery. To do so would be rather beyond the scope of this 
 work, so I will only say here that those who sympathise with 
 these fine fellows cannot give expression to their feeling in a 
 more practical way than by subscribing to the Mission to 
 North Sea Fishermen. The Mission not only attends to the 
 spiritual wants of the men, but gives them medical attendance 
 and performs many friendly offices for them. 
 
 Whelks are recommended among the best baits for long 
 lines because of their toughness and the difficulty with which 
 they are removed from the hook by crabs, cuttle-fish, and 
 small fry. 
 
 There is a particular knot for fastening snoods to a long 
 line which I learnt from an old Thames poacher who had used 
 it for his eel lines. An amateur is not very handy at unhooking 
 fish, and as when taking in a line in a breeze it is often necessary 
 to free the hooks from the fish as fast as the line is pulled in, 
 I recommend this knot to those clumsy of hand. By merely 
 pulling the short end of the snood the knot falls to pieces, 
 and the fish, hook in mouth, can be instantly dropped in the 
 bottom of the boat. The hook can be extracted at leisure, and 
 
 p P 
 
290 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 the snoods, which on our amateur lines are not very numerous, 
 are soon retied on to the main line. 
 
 Trots or long lines should be coiled in a shallow basket, on 
 the edge of which the hooks can be caught. The main length 
 of line should always be tanned, and should be strong enough 
 to moor a small boat ; for often, when hauling it in, the anchor 
 or stone at one end will catch in the bottom, and the boat is 
 held by it. Professional fishermen are exceedingly expert both 
 in laying and taking in these lines, and will pay out miles of 
 line from a basket without a hitch. The amateur, on the 
 
 KNOT FOR FASTENING AND QUICKLY UNFASTENING 
 SNOODS FROM LINES 
 
 other hand, is likely to become involved 
 in the most fearful and wonderful entangle- 
 ments ; but a little practice will soon make him fairly proficient 
 at the business. 
 
 With a line bearing some twenty hooks or so, it is only 
 necessary to have a weight at each end a stone, a piece of 
 iron ballast, or a heavy leaden plummet with a ring, made 
 specially for the purpose. A few pounds more or less weight 
 on the line does not much matter, provided there .is enough to 
 hinder any large fish, such as a halibut of a hundred pounds, 
 swimming off with it. 
 
 The efficient buoying of the line is very important. It is 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 291 
 
 usual to fasten two or three semicircular pieces of cork into the 
 buoy line at distances of a few fathoms ; these help to support 
 the line, at the surface end of which is a larger piece of cork, 
 on which it would be wise to have your initials branded ; if it 
 is painted red so much the better. Professional fishermen 
 sometimes have a little staff with a small flag on it stuck into 
 the buoy. Such a one is shown in the illustration. Scotch 
 
 LONG LINE SET 
 
 fishermen inflate a sheep's skin, which looks like a small 
 black balloon on the water. They use the same buoys on 
 their herring nets. The buoy line should be half as long again 
 as the water is deep at flood tide. In a very strong tideway 
 the buoy is sometimes submerged ; but as the current eases 
 it will appear again, and that, of course, is the time to take up 
 the line. 
 
 Long lines are usually set across the tides, but the amateur 
 
292 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 is BETWEEN 
 =TH BOTTLE CORKS 
 
 will no doubt chiefly lay them 
 along the coast, near rocks, in 
 places frequented by bass and 
 pollack, rather than in the offing. 
 In autumn and winter, when the 
 cod come inshore, these fish may 
 be caught on the long line set a 
 few hundred yards below low- 
 water mark. 
 
 The floating trot is used for 
 catching fish near the surface. 
 The illustration, prepared from 
 a piece of gear made by Mr. 
 Hearder, of Plymouth, renders a 
 detailed description unnecessary. 
 The horizontal line which bears 
 the snoods is buoyed at short 
 intervals, in addition to the larger 
 buoys. Ordinary hemp snooding 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 293 
 
 may be used for the hooks, or, what is better, there may be 
 eighteen inches of horsehair and eighteen inches of twisted 
 salmon gut, or single gut if the fish do not run very large. 
 Some people place a small pipe lead on every snood just at 
 the junction of the horsehair with the gut. 
 
 Live sand-eels, smelts, or very small dabs, flounders and 
 plaice may be used for baiting this line. It is very desirable 
 that the baits should be alive. Sometimes sea trout, and very 
 occasionally salmon, are caught in this way. The ordinary 
 long line may, of course, be baited with live sand-eels, and if 
 this is done in an estuary in the autumn, large bass are likely 
 to be taken. 
 
 It is with great reluctance that I venture any remarks which 
 may lead to an increase of trawling ; for the practice has long 
 been doing great injury to the fisheries all round our coasts. 
 Flat fish, and, in particular, soles and plaice, have become 
 exceedingly scarce in many places. Unless trawling is abso- 
 lutely prohibited in territorial waters, and the sale of immature 
 flat fish is made an offence, irreparable harm will be done to a 
 very important calling. 
 
 In this matter the sportsman and the poorer fishermen who 
 obtain a living by setting long lines near the coast are on the 
 same footing. Both of them suffer from the disastrous effects 
 of not only the destruction of immature fish, but also of over- 
 fishing the shallow inshore grounds. The sea is no doubt a 
 large place, but the portions of it which can be profitably fished 
 are far more limited than the general public suppose. 
 
 For some reason or another a number of leading scientific 
 men have for some time been rather fighting the battle of 
 the trawler, and a cry of delight was raised by them when 
 some one pointed out that the eggs of the principal food fishes 
 float on the surface. 'Therefore,' said they, being all un- 
 practical men, ' you see, after all, the trawlers do no harm ; 
 
294 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 for they do not disturb the eggs.' These worthy but un- 
 practical people altogether left out of consideration the fact 
 that the eggs hatch, and in due course the resulting small fish 
 retire to the bottom, where they are scraped up by the trawl 
 together with stones, prickly sea urchins, conger eels, -spiny 
 thornbacks, oysters, sharp-edged shells of various kinds, and a 
 vast quantity of ddbris ; and that, after being towed along in 
 the cod of a net in such dangerous company, these wretched 
 little creatures are brought out and emptied on deck, crushed, 
 bruised, and injured almost beyond the power of identification. 
 
 It has been truly said that you can prove anything by means 
 of statistics, and figures have been used to prove that our 
 fisheries are not being injured by trawls. The proof is easily 
 effected in the following manner : The number of boxes of 
 fish caught in 1866, let us say, are not so many as the number 
 of boxes of fish caught in 1895. ' You see,' says the trawler, ' we 
 are catching more fish now, therefore our fisheries cannot be 
 falling off.' But the weak point in this argument is that there 
 are many more vessels with much more deadly engines of 
 destruction engaged in the fishing industry now than there 
 were in 1866, which is the real reason why more fish are 
 brought to market. Moreover, our boats go farther afield to 
 new fishing grounds. Even the trawlers and their learned 
 friends admit that certain kinds of fish are scarcer than they 
 used to be. 
 
 Are the fisheries deteriorating or not ? The only practicable 
 way to test the question is to compare the season's catches at 
 the present day made by one or some other given number of 
 boats, with the catches made by the same number of boats, 
 working similar gear, at an earlier period of similar duration. 
 
 Perhaps the most useful work the Marine Biological Asso- 
 ciation ever did was in sending Mr. W. L. Holt to make inves- 
 tigations into this subject. In the report of the Association 
 
295 
 
 for October 1894 there is a paper by this gentleman on the 
 destruction of immature fish in the North Sea. He states that 
 the suggestions as to size limits embodied in the draft report of 
 the parliamentary committee would, if carried into effect, leave 
 the North Sea fishery in statu quo. So much for committees. 
 With regard to one important flat fish, he says : 
 
 That plaice are actually decreasing in the North Sea is a fact 
 so generally recognised that it hardly needs illustration, but the 
 present scarcity may not be so apparent from figures dealing with 
 aggregate catches as it becomes when we examine the catches of 
 individual boats. In examining the total figures it must be borne 
 in mind that the fishing power is enormous, our own large fleet 
 being supplemented not only by foreigners, but by vessels hailing 
 from other British ports, such as Scarborough, Shields, Aberdeen, 
 Glasgow, and even Milford Haven. 
 
 The scarcity is most felt in the winter months, when, for what- 
 ever reason, the fish are very hard to catch. Thus in the last winter 
 a smack failed to average two boxes of plaice in ten consecutive 
 voyages along the neighbouring coast and off Flamborough Head, 
 an area which has the reputation of being fairly productive for the 
 season. The matter may be further illustrated by extracts from 
 some observations of which my friend Mr. R. Douglas permits me 
 to make use. On February I, 1893, a steam trawler landed one 
 plaice after ten days' fishing ; on the 3rd another landed one box 
 after eight days. On December 13, 1892, a steam trawler had 
 three boxes for fourteen days, and on the next day two similar 
 vessels had two each for eight days. These figures are, unfortu- 
 nately, by no means so rare as to be exceptional. 
 
 Mr. Holt regards steam trawlers as most powerful engines 
 of destruction, dangerously so, in fact, in the present state of 
 the grounds. With regard to the advantage of closing the 
 fishing grounds within the three miles' territorial limit of the 
 shore, Mr. Holt gives an account of some trawling which was 
 carried on by Professor Mclntosh, on the Garland in the 
 neighbourhood of Scarborough, with the object of obtaining 
 
296 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 soles to stock the Scotch Fishery Board's hatchery at Dun- 
 bar, &c. 
 
 The fishing grounds extend along the coast for a little more 
 than ten miles, from Hayburn Wyke to Filey Brigg. Scarborough 
 lies midway between these two points. The fishing grounds 
 had been closed to trawlers for two years, and the local people 
 believed that a considerable improvement had already mani- 
 fested itself in the local line fishery. Soles seemed scarce, but 
 those taken were fine fish, and it was a curious fact that the 
 local fishermen were catching soles very easily on their lines, 
 though the steam trawler took very few. This, I think, is 
 often the case early in the season. Directly after spawning the 
 fish are hungry, and take a bait more readily than at other 
 times. While the Garland took only sixteen and a half pairs 
 of soles in her trawl during the best night's fishing, twenty-five 
 and eighteen pairs were respectively taken on lines from two 
 cobbles fishing on the same grounds in one night. Mr. Holt's 
 conclusion is that the sole fishery had greatly revived since 
 trawling was forbidden in those waters. He was told that the 
 haddock fishery had not much benefited by the by-law, as the 
 grounds lie further out than those on which the soles are chiefly 
 caught, and that the trawlers still encroach a good deal on the 
 territorial haddock ground. 
 
 It is often put forward on behalf of the trawlers that all 
 undersized fish are returned to the water, being unsaleable. 
 But this is one of those dreadfully unpractical remarks put 
 forward by unpractical people, who quite overlook the injury 
 done to the fish while in the trawl. Referring to the trawling 
 experiment off Scarborough, Mr. Holt said 'a rather large 
 quantity of undersized haddock, whiting, and gurnard were 
 thereby destroyed, while the destruction of small plaice, though 
 not great in actual numbers, was very considerable in regard 
 to the local supply of this species.' 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 297 
 
 From investigations carried on by the Scotch Fishery Board, 
 it seems that when the trawl is only down for from an hour to 
 an hour and a half the percentage of dead fish is small ; but 
 that when the net is kept down for six hours or seven hours 
 nearly all the more delicate fish, which will include the smallest 
 of those caught, if not killed outright, are so injured that they 
 die in the course of a few hours. 
 
 Soles are very scarce on the east coast of Scotland, and for 
 the purpose of obtaining some for fishcultural purposes, the 
 Garland made the journey already described to the Yorkshire 
 coast. Of the soles caught many died. Some were placed in 
 St. Andrews Bay, and others in a tidal pond, but of these a 
 large number subsequently died. At the next attempt a Grimsby 
 trawler caught a large number of soles off the coast of Holland 
 and endeavoured to keep them alive in tubs;, but out of 
 several hundred only twelve were living when the English 
 coast was sighted, and these perished before they could be 
 landed. 
 
 Later on the Lancashire Sea Fisheries Committee agreed 
 to allow their steamer to trawl for soles off the Lancashire coast, 
 for the use of the hatchery. The trawl was only dragged for 
 short periods, with the result that the soles were vigorous when 
 brought on deck, and there was no difficulty in preserving them 
 alive and transporting them from Fleetwood to Dunbar by rail. 
 After some difficulties in connection with the carriers had been 
 overcome, forty-two out of forty-seven soles were brought alive 
 and in good condition to Dunbar. 
 
 The largest number of small flat fish is probably caught 
 in the very small meshed shrimp trawls which are worked in 
 most of our larger estuaries. A report was made on this 
 subject some time ago by the Marine Biological Association. 
 It appears that the number of small flat fish taken in the 
 course of a day by the shrimp trawlers is enormous. Of these, 
 
 QQ 
 
298 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 without much doubt, a large number are injured, and die 
 after having been returned to the sea. 
 
 I have not the slightest wish to write anything which would 
 injure a very important branch of the fishing trade, and it may 
 be said, of course, that I am chiefly interested in preserving sea 
 fish for the use of sportsmen. If, however, it is shown that 
 overtrawling is being carried on, and that certain fisheries are 
 being seriously injured, it should be obvious that any reasonable 
 restrictions on trawling, which tend to promote the welfare of 
 the fisheries, are really most of all in the interests of the 
 trawlers. 
 
 Many people are blinded by statistics and remain quite 
 ignorant of the fact that it is the vast quantities of fish brought 
 from the more distant fisheries of Faroe and Iceland, which swell 
 the takes and promote the illusion that our own fisheries are as 
 fruitful as ever. The history of many a fishing ground reads 
 somewhat as follows : a little trawling and a good deal of line 
 fishing and average quantities of fish caught year by year. 
 Then come more trawlers, and for several years more fish are 
 caught than previously, owing, of course, to increased and im- 
 proved methods of capture. But soon fellows the inevitable 
 falling-off in the productiveness of the fisheries, the men cry out, 
 and there is a royal commission or a special committee. In 
 due course a blue book is published, sooner or later a general 
 election occurs, new fishing grounds are discovered, and the 
 matter is forgotten. 
 
 They seem to manage these things better in Denmark. The 
 Government of that country, finding that the English and 
 other foreign trawlers were beginning to injure the Faroe and 
 Icelandic fisheries, have recently prohibited trawling in those 
 waters. The mere possession of a trawl on those fishing 
 grounds entails a heavy penalty. 
 
 What could be more forcible than the statement of the 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 299 
 
 Select Committee of 1893 ? That committee reported, as re- 
 gards the great fishing grounds in the North Sea, that the con- 
 sensus of evidence of a number of persons interested in the 
 fisheries, whether professionals or landsmen, whether smack- 
 owners or fishermen, whether scientific experts or statisticians, 
 'showed that a serious diminution had occurred among the 
 more valuable classes of flat fish, particularly soles and plaice 
 a diminution which was to be attributed to overfishing by 
 trawlers in certain localities.' 
 
 Perhaps some people who read these remarks have never 
 seen a beam trawl. The origin of this peculiar net is unknown ; 
 but for many years something of the kind has been used in the 
 Mediterranean, dragged between two vessels. In England, 
 Barking and Brixham both claim to be the first ports from 
 which trawlers sailed. The trawl generally used is a triangular- 
 shaped bag, the mouth of which is kept open by a beam of 
 wood. The beam does not rest on the bottom, but is fixed 
 along the upper edge of the mouth of the net and kept off the 
 bottom by two irons. The ground rope to which the rest of 
 the mouth of the net is fastened scrapes along the bottom, 
 forming a big curve behind the beam. As the fish meet this 
 ground rope many of them swim upwards, only to find the back 
 of the net above them, and a certain number, not by any means 
 all, work down to the narrow end of the net, which is called 
 variously the cod, purse, or bunt. The top of the net is called 
 its back, and the portion which scrapes the ground its belly. 
 To preserve the belly from being worn away on the bottom, 
 several layers of old netting are often placed under it. 
 
 The trawl travels very slowly, and doubtless many fish after 
 entering turn their tail towards the purse and depart hastily. 
 If the net were simply a bag most fish would have little diffi- 
 culty on reaching the end of the net in turning and swimming 
 out again if they were so disposed. To prevent this, what are 
 
300 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 THE BEAM TRAWL 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 301 
 
 called pockets are made in the net. This will be understood 
 very clearly from the illustration. 
 
 The belly and back of the net are laced together along the 
 lines a a, b b ; and these parts with the back form an arrange- 
 ment which carries out exactly the same principle as that on 
 which the crab pot or lobster pot, and many kinds of fish-traps, 
 are made. The cod, or extreme end of the bag, into which 
 most of the fish find their way, is about one-seventh of the 
 whole length of the apparatus. The end of the cod can be 
 opened by undoing the cod line, and its contents, together with 
 the fish in the pockets, emptied out. It is a curious fact that 
 soles are more often found in the pockets than at the end of 
 the cod. 
 
 The following are the names of the different parts of the 
 trawl : i, the beam ; 2, the head irons ; 3, the ground rope ; 
 4 and 5, the pockets ; 6, the cod, purse, or bunt. Sailors often 
 prefer an old rope for use as ground rope, so that if it catches 
 in any rock, old anchor, or wreckage, it breaks ; though the 
 net may be torn, the whole apparatus, which is very costly, is 
 not lost. 
 
 The edge of the back which is fastened to the beam is 
 called the square of the net ; while the portion attached to the 
 ground rope is cut away to form a deep curve, and the centre 
 of this curve is called the bosom. The centre of the beam is 
 distant from the centre of the bosom about as many feet as the 
 beam is long. It is obviously desirable that the beam and 
 back of the net should overhang for some distance before the 
 fish are disturbed by the ground rope. The two ropes which 
 lead from the eyes on the irons to the big towing rope are the 
 bridle of the trawl ; while the big rope itself is called the trawl 
 warp. 
 
 A clever apparatus, and one much more suitable for yacht- 
 owners, is that known as the otter trawl, which, as will be seen 
 
302 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 I'ME OTTKR TKAVVJ, 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 303 
 
 from the illustration, has no beam. The mouth of the trawl in 
 this case is kept open by means of two upright pieces of board, 
 which are acted upon by the water in exactly the same way 
 that the wind acts upon a kite and sends it up into the air. 
 This will require no explanation to those who are familiar with 
 the poaching instrument known as the otter board, which is, 
 unfortunately, used on so many lakes in Scotland, Ireland, and 
 Norway. 
 
 I have sometimes seen it stated that the otter trawl catches 
 more fish than the beam trawl, and instances of this have been 
 
 THE OTTER BOARD (FITTED) 
 
 quoted. Mr. Hearder claims to be the originator of this net ; 
 but in Holdsworth's ' Deep Sea Fishing ' a Mr. Musgrave is 
 described as the inventor. 
 
 The otter trawl has the disadvantage of not holding the 
 ground well when there is a sea on ; but this drawback can be 
 surmounted to some extent by heavily weighting the otter 
 boards and by paying out a longer warp. The back of the net, 
 instead of being supported by a beam, is floated by means of a 
 number of corks ; and as it then takes a considerable curve, 
 the fish which are under the back of the net are not so fully 
 covered as they are in a beam trawl. This net is more suitable 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 for flat fish than for round fish, which are inclined to swim 
 upwards. 
 
 A yacht of ten tons could carry an otter trawl measuring 
 about forty-two feet on the ground rope, and costing about 1 2/. 
 without the warp. A very long bridle ending with a shackle is 
 required with this trawl. To avoid catching undersized fish, I 
 
 think yachtsmen might set the 
 example of having these nets 
 made with a larger mesh than 
 that ordinarily employed. 
 
 I must confess I shared 
 the opinion, common among 
 fishermen, that the size of the 
 mesh, within reasonable limits, 
 had no influence on the size 
 of the fish captured, owing to 
 the meshes being drawn close 
 together by the strain on the 
 net while fishing. But some 
 recent experiments carried on 
 by the directions of the Scotch 
 Fishery Board have disillu- 
 sioned me. They have proved 
 beyond question that a com- 
 paratively small difference in 
 
 the size of the mesh makes a very appreciable difference in 
 the size of the fish captured. 
 
 The experiments were performed in the most thorough 
 manner. A beam trawl of twenty-five feet was used, the cod 
 of which had a mesh of one and a half inch from knot to 
 knot. Surrounding the cod was a second net of small mesh 
 measuring only half an inch from knot to knot. Thus, what- 
 ever escaped through the meshes of the trawl net would be 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 305 
 
 caught in the outside surrounding net. The first trial was made 
 with the ordinary cod mesh of one and a half inch from knot 
 to knot, and it was found that not less than 74 per cent, of 
 common dabs passed through the cod into the surrounding 
 net. But it was very different with plaice : only 2-4 per cent, 
 out of 2,772 captured escaped from the trawl. From this it is 
 evident that in the ordinary trawl nets used by professional 
 fishermen the great majority of small dabs escape, while most 
 of the plaice, large and small, are retained. About twice as 
 many codlings passed through the trawl net as were caught. 
 About the same number of haddocks passed through as were 
 caught ; and while 450 whiting were found in the cod, 8,000 
 were found in the outer net. The fish that escaped were, of 
 course, small ones. The proportion between fish caught and 
 fish passing through the meshes of the net would naturally 
 depend on the grounds trawled over that is to say, whether 
 those grounds were mainly stocked with small fish or large ones. 
 
 Then followed an experiment made with a special cod-end 
 having meshes of single twine of the same size as before ; 
 after which came a trial of the trawl fitted with a cod-end 
 having meshes of two inches from knot to knot, and, as in all 
 cases, enclosed within a small meshed net. Six hauls were 
 made with this net ; the cod or purse retaining in all 546 fish, 
 while 2,426 passed through into the outer net. But here again 
 the great majority of plaice were retained in the cod, it being 
 the dabs, codling, and whiting, and a few hundred herrings, 
 which went through into the outer net. One hundred and 
 seventy-two plaice were caught, of which only three were in the 
 surrounding net. Taking the fish as a whole, 18-3 per cent, 
 were retained, while 8i'6 per cent, passed through the two-inch 
 mesh. 
 
 The next experiment was with a cod-end having a two and 
 a half inch mesh from knot to knot ; when it was found that 
 
 R R 
 
306 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 i4'8 per cent, of the fish were caught in the cod-end, while 
 85 'i passed through into the net outside. Most of the plaice 
 remained in the trawl, only four out of eighty-six escaping into 
 the outer net. 
 
 The fifth experiment was with a cod-end having meshes of 
 three inches from knot to knot ; when the trawl contained 6'2 
 per cent, of fish, and the outer net 93*7 per cent. 
 
 The total results may be summed up as follows : that an 
 increased number of fish passed through the trawl-end as the 
 meshes increased ; the percentage rising from 66 '3 with a one 
 and a half inch mesh to 937 with a three-inch mesh ; but that, 
 as the meshes increased, the proportion of round fish which 
 escaped increased to a greater extent than the proportion of 
 flat fish. This appears to explain the curious fact that where a 
 great deal of trawling has been carried on, more injury has 
 been done to flat fish than to round fish. 
 
 From these experiments we should expect to find the trawlers 
 do greater injury to plaice than to any other variety of fish, and 
 that unquestionably is the case if we leave soles out of con- 
 sideration. For out of 3,348 plaice of various sixes caught in all 
 the experiments, only 74, or a little over 2 per cent., escaped 
 through the meshes of the trawl. The broad results of the ex- 
 periments are that no regulation of mesh practicable for fishing 
 purposes would save from capture anything like an appreciable 
 proportion of the undersized and immature specimens of plaice 
 (probably soles also) which enter the net. But, with regard to 
 many other kinds of fish, the increase in the size of the mesh 
 would appear to be an advantage to the fishing without any 
 disadvantage to the fisherman. I therefore repeat my suggestion 
 that yachtsmen should set the fishermen the example of using 
 cod-ends to their trawls made with at least a three-inch mesh 
 from knot to knot. 
 
 The otter trawl is best let down over the stern of the yacht, 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOA'I S 307 
 
 which should be sailed in about the same direction as the tide. 
 The sides of the bridle should be paid out over each quarter, 
 and the otter boards will quickly expand the mouth of the net. 
 It is necessary to sail faster than the tidal current, and an otter 
 trawl in particular should not be worked across the tide. It 
 requires far more skill to work than a beam trawl. 
 
 Fish, as a rule, lie head to the current, even those which 
 burrow in the sand, such as flat fish, and it is better for the 
 trawl to come on to their noses than on to their tails. If their 
 tails were touched first, many of them would probably swim 
 off in the opposite direction from the trawl ; but on meeting 
 the ground rope they swim up, and the ground rope passes 
 under them. 
 
 Professional fishermen often cause their trawls to steer the 
 vessel by making fast the warp to such part of the hull that 
 the pull of the warp nullifies the action of the wind. In a 
 strong wind or bad weather, when the vessel is pitching or 
 travelling too fast, it may be found necessary to place extra 
 weights on the end of the otter boards. Using galvanised 
 iron chain as part of the bridle has the same effect as a chain 
 cable has on an anchor, tending to keep down the warp and 
 make the pull on the boards rather towards the horizontal than 
 the perpendicular. It has been recommended to make fast the 
 warp to the bows of the yacht, bringing the warp down to the 
 stern or other part as may be desired, so that should the trawl 
 catch in anything the warp may be cast off the stern, when the 
 yacht would be at once brought up head to wind. I should 
 think this was a rather dangerous proceeding in bad weather. 
 
 Trawling is not often successful during the day in bright 
 weather when the water is fairly calm and clear. At night most 
 fish will be caught, or during the day when the water has 
 been rendered thick by recent storm, or floods coming down 
 the estuary of some river. 
 
308 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 The trammel is another net carried by many yachtsmen. It 
 consists of three walls of nets joined to the same head rope and 
 ground rope. The central wall is the deepest and of small mesh 
 about one and a quarter inch from knot to knot. The two 
 outer walls are of large mesh, twelve inches from knot to knot. 
 The net is about six to eight feet high, and the lower edge of it 
 is weighted to rest on the bottom, the upper edge being floated 
 by means of corks. The inner net of small mesh, which must 
 be made of some fine soft material, is quite double the depth 
 of the outside nets. When fish swim against this apparatus 
 they pass through the big mesh on one side and bring the fine 
 meshed portion through one of the large meshes on the other 
 side, thus making a sort of bag for themselves in which they 
 remain. This will be made clear from the illustration. 
 
 A trammel of forty fathoms is the largest size required for 
 all ordinary purposes. One of that size costs about 9/. It should 
 be set in a line with the tide, and not across it, and is most 
 deadly about dusk. It is usual to set trammels about six or 
 seven o'clock, take them up at nightfall, remove the fish, reset, 
 and leave them till early morning. If they are left too long 
 any fish which are caught are likely to be eaten by cuttle-fish, 
 crabs, &c. These nets are particularly useful for red mullet. 
 
 In waters which are not very prolific I have seen fisher- 
 men set a trammel net, and row round beating the water with 
 oars. This makes the fish dart about and drives some of them 
 into the net. 
 
 Drift and seine nets hardly require lengthy consideration 
 here. The former consist of single walls of nets the under 
 rope of which is leaded, while the head rope is sufficiently 
 buoyed to float on the surface. These nets, which are joined 
 together, making often a length of several miles, drift with the 
 tide, and the shoals of herring, mackerel, or sprats, as the case 
 may be, swim against them in the darkness. The fish mesh 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 309 
 
310 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 themselves, that is to say, they push their heads through a 
 mesh beyond the gills and are unable to withdraw them. 
 
 The seine or scan is probably the oldest form of net used, 
 and, it has been suggested, was introduced into Cornwall by 
 the Phoenicians when trading with the West-country folk in 
 the days before Moses existed. There are, broadly speaking, 
 three descriptions of seine nets : (i) the common or deep 
 water seine, (2) the tuck seine, and (3) the ground seine, foot 
 seine, or scringe. 
 
 ' "Vjj i v 
 v, iiY .t. , Vi . 
 
 - 
 
 PREPARING TO SHOOT A DEEP-WATER SEINE (PENZANCE) 
 
 Every seine consists of a wall of netting the centre portion 
 of which is called the bunt, and is considerably deeper than 
 at the sides, which are termed sleeves or wings. Like the drift 
 nets, this wall of netting is buoyed along the upper edge and 
 weighted beneath so that it retains a vertical position in the 
 water. As in the case of the common seine it does not reach 
 to the bottom, it is only of service in deep water in capturing 
 surface-swimming fish, and a large number of pilchards are 
 caught off the coasts of Cornwall by its assistance, where there 
 is no suitable shore up which the net can be dragged. 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 311 
 
 The seine is shot in a circle from the stern of the boat, which 
 rows round the spot where the shoal of fish is believed to be. 
 Sometimes two boats start together, going round the circum- 
 ference of the circle in opposite directions, each shooting 
 a. net, and, on meeting, bringing the ends together. Three 
 nets can be used, one acting as a stop net. If the circle to be 
 enclosed is very large, two or even more stop nets which 
 have been joined together are required. When the circle is 
 completed it is diminished by the removal of the stop nets and 
 the ends of the seines are brought together. The seine is then 
 slowly worked towards the shore if possible. 
 
 The pilchards, &c. are removed by using what is called a 
 tuck seine inside the larger net. This net is ten fathoms 
 deep, and as its ends are brought together the lower portions 
 are raised under the fish, forcing them to come near the sur- 
 face, when they can be scooped out in baskets. Sometimes 
 on the Cornish coast so large a quantity of pilchards are en- 
 closed that they cannot all be removed from the nets in 
 one day. 
 
 The ground seine, shore seine, or scringe is not quite so 
 deep as the common seine. It is usually shot from a boat 
 starting from the shore, and always drawn up on land. It is 
 not of great service except in those shallow waters where the 
 foot rope touches the bottom. Everything which is enclosed 
 and cannot pass through the meshes is caught, though maybe 
 the foot rope misses a few flat fish lying hidden in the sand. 
 The net, after being shot and both ends brought on shore, 
 should be dragged in gradually and evenly from both sides, 
 the men who are working it approaching one another until they 
 meet, when the bottom ropes can be laid side by side, with 
 the result that the bunt or centre of the net comes under the 
 fish which have been encircled by it. Of course, with surface- 
 swimming fish the scringe or ground seine need not touch the 
 
3 I2 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 bottom. Many visitors to the seaside have doubtless seen 
 these nets used for encircling mackerel during the summer 
 months. 
 
 It is a curious fact that in the early part of the century 
 the use of the seine net for encircling shoals of herrings was 
 so much opposed in Scotland by the drift-net fishermen that 
 Parliament actually prohibited its employment. The fact seems 
 
 SHORE SEINE OR SCRINGE 
 
 to have been not that the herring fisheries were in any way- 
 injured by the nets, or seine trawls, as they were called, but 
 that the enormous takes of herrings which were sometimes 
 made by their means glutted the market from time to time, 
 and reduced fish to a price which was anything but pleasant to 
 the drift-net fishermen whose takes were more regular. A royal 
 commission sat and inquired, and for once in a while some- 
 
FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 313 
 
 thing came of it, for the exceedingly stupid legislation on the 
 subject was repealed. 
 
 Seine nets for sand-eels are illustrated on p. 118. 
 
 Yacht-owners very frequently, and with great wisdom, carry 
 lobster and prawn pots. These also are dealt with in a separate 
 chapter. 
 
 I think yachtsmen who do not fish for the market might 
 very well limit their use of nets to capturing just so much food 
 as they require for the table or for their friends or for scientific 
 purposes. By exclusive or indiscriminate netting they run the 
 risk of injuring not only the livelihood of the poorer classes of 
 fishermen who own small open boats and set their lines near 
 the shore, but also the comparatively new branch of angling 
 which unquestionably will, in the course of time, take thousands 
 from our overstocked rivers and lakes, and provide them with 
 inexpensive, healthy and profitable amusement off our coasts. 
 
 I have to acknowledge the loan by Mr. Hearder, of Ply- 
 mouth, of trawl and trammel nets, floating trot, &c., from which 
 the illustrations in this chapter were made. 
 
 Note. Only a few days before the publication of this book, 
 and therefore too late for more than this short notice, there 
 appears a most important report on ' Trawling in the North 
 Sea,' with special reference to the destruction of immature fish, 
 by E. W. L. Holt. It is issued as a special number of the 
 ' Journal ' of the Marine Biological Association, and I earnestly 
 commend it to the attention of all those interested in the pre- 
 servation of sea fish. 
 
 s s 
 
314 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE OCEAN FISHING ROD 
 
 A GOOD ship is steadily ploughing her way through that mari- 
 time oven known as the Red Sea. Under the shade of the 
 awning passengers in varying degrees of exhaustion are lying in 
 deck chairs. There is a slight breeze, but it follows the vessel 
 and is not felt. A few white clouds now and again pass across 
 and obscure the sun. It is too hot for deck quoits ; too hot 
 for that wearying constitutional ; too hot for talking, or think- 
 ing even ; almost too hot for flirtation. Suddenly there is the 
 jangle of a bell, and all these apparently inanimate forms come 
 to life, dart to the side of the ship and stand gazing at the 
 wake of the vessel ; that is, all except the poor fellow invalided 
 by Indian fevers and agues, who remains lying listlessly in his 
 deck chair. 
 
 Standing out from the ship's side is a huge bamboo pole, 
 forty feet in length, bending double under the weight of a 
 great fish which is splashing and twisting on the surface some 
 sixty yards astern. The captain, who has been dozing in his 
 bunk, is called, and, after the manner of sailors, wakes up in a 
 fraction of a second and turns out. He and the first mate run 
 to a light line fastened to the taffrail, the other end of which is 
 attached to the stout fishing line a few yards below the point 
 of the rod. The rod itself is not touched, for it would require 
 a very Goliath of a man to wield it ; but by clever gearing 
 it rises and falls, playing by its own weight the coryphene 
 
THE OCEAN FISHING ROD 315 
 
 which, firmly held by two stout double hooks, is churning the 
 tepid sea. The line is hauled inboard, and, without easing the 
 engines or in the slightest degree slackening speed, the sea 
 monster is brought steadily and carefully alongside. One of 
 the crew stands by, cord in hand. This is passed round the 
 line, fashioned at the end into a running bowline knot, and 
 slipped down on to the fish. A sharp jerk pulls it tight, 
 the noosed creature presently swings in mid air, and is hauled 
 up on deck among the plaudits of the passengers. 
 
 A frail, effeminate-looking youngster begins to quote Byron 
 to the black-eyed girl at his side, telling in verse of the 
 changing colours of the dying coryphene, which the licensed 
 poet miscalls dolphin. But this is the third fish and quotation 
 of the kind during the voyage, and he is listened to a trifle im- 
 patiently. The fish is carried off, the line is released ; the big 
 double hook, bearing a poor imitation of a flying fish made out 
 of white bunting, is again skimming over the waves far astern, 
 and the passengers relapse into their former state of inanimation. 
 
 It is fine sport this, catching tunnies, barracuda, dolphins, 
 bonito, coryphenes, seerfish, and other huge and sometimes 
 ugly members of the fish tribe, maybe weighing 100 Ibs. and 
 over. The attempt is often made, but less often successful. 
 Even those who thoroughly know the game fail for days together 
 to bring a fish on board. A big liner is not a fishing boat, and 
 when time is money the owners would be ill pleased if their 
 commanders were to slow the engines when fish were seen play- 
 ing around the vessel, or stop when some extra huge creature 
 had been hooked. The thing, then, was to devise a tackle which 
 would stand the enormous strain when an animal, weighing 
 perhaps 150 Ibs., seizes the bait which is being whizzed through 
 the water at the rate of from nine to fifteen knots an hour. At 
 lower speeds the tackle question is less difficult of solution. 
 
 The ever-restless Bay of Biscay is scoured by men known 
 
316 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 as tunny fishers, who may be seen sailing in quite small vessels 
 with a long bamboo rod projecting on either side. The tackle, 
 which would be perfectly useless on a large steamer, is so 
 arranged that when a tunny takes the bait a little bell rings. 
 The principle has been very cleverly adapted by Captain 
 E. H. Howell, R.N.R., for what I may term 'ocean fishing.' 
 Possibly Captain Howell's description of his gear may not be 
 intelligible to landsmen, but on board ship there should be 
 many among the crew capable of rigging it up from the follow- 
 ing directions, which are somewhat similar to those originally 
 communicated by Captain Howell to the 'Field.' When once 
 the idea is grasped that the pull of the fish lifts the rod or 
 boom the weight of which counterbalances the strain on the 
 line the description is not so difficult to understand, more 
 particularly with the assistance of the very clear illustration. 
 
 First is required, a rod or boom, forty to forty-five feet 
 long, composed of spliced he-bamboo, about two inches in 
 diameter at the outer end and about six inches in diameter in- 
 board. (A thirty-foot pine boom would answer the purpose, 
 except from a large passenger vessel, where the quantity of 
 stuff thrown overboard is so great that without a long rod the 
 hooks would be fouled every few minutes.) The boom is 
 supported by two topping lifts, led through a double-tail block 
 made fast to the rigging twenty feet above the rail (if the forty- 
 foot boom is used). The inner topping lift is made fast to 
 about the middle of the boom, just so far distant from the rail 
 as the rail is distant from the double-tailed block. 1 The outer 
 topping lift is made fast as near the end of the boom as 
 possible, the foreguy being made fast just outside it. Some- 
 times it is necessary to have a double foreguy, corresponding 
 to the topping lifts. The hauling ends of both topping lifts 
 
 1 This is important, as it enables the boom to be hauled out of the way 
 right up and down the standing rigging when in port or in bad weather. 
 
THE OCEAN FISHING ROD 
 
 317 
 
318 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 are made fast to the rail or to a pin in the rail. The heel of 
 the boom rests on the rail, and is perfectly free, except that it 
 is kept from running inboard by a heel rope rove through it 
 and made fast to the rail. 
 
 Now comes the working of our ocean fishing rod. First 
 we have to ascertain how far the boom is to project over the 
 water. It should be projected until the strain on the topping 
 lifts (ascertained by lashing a spring balance or 2Oo-lb. weight 
 to their hauling parts) is just 200 Ibs. When a pull equal to 
 this weight will lift the boom, the heel lashing should be 
 made fast to the rail, and a mark put on the boom to 
 show how to adjust it on any future occasion. A pine boom 
 may be so heavy that it may be necessary to hang a 56-lb. 
 weight at the thick end of it. Otherwise too much of the 
 boom would have to be inboard to partly balance the project- 
 ing portion. The line, which is from forty-five to sixty fathoms 
 long, according to the speed and sea, is rove through a block 
 at the boom end, made fast between the topping lift and the 
 fore guy, and close to both. When the line is paid out the 
 length required, which may be marked on it, the inboard 
 end is made fast to the hauling parts of the topping lift, about 
 eight feet above the rail ; so that when a fish strikes he can 
 never pull more than 2oo-lb. weight without topping the boom 
 up ; and as the strain becomes less, so the boom goes back in 
 its place again, thus playing the fish until the time comes for 
 hauling him in. 
 
 Captain Howell always uses two hanks of stout log line, at 
 the end of which there is a swivel ; through this he reeves a 
 galvanised wire trace about two fathoms long. The hook is 
 double (made according to his own idea) on one shank six 
 inches long, with a swivel attached to it. Upon the shank of 
 this is the bait, which consists of white rag, bound round in the 
 shape of a fish, the ends being allowed to form a tail about two 
 
THE OCEAN FISHING ROD 
 
 319 
 
 LINE Dicvm 
 
 THE OCEAN BAIT (CAPT. HOWELL's) 
 
320 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 inches long beyond the hooks, and in this is sometimes put a 
 little red. Dolphin prefer white. In rough, sunny weather a 
 strip of bright tin, half an inch wide, may be fastened to the 
 back of the bait with advantage. The line is hauled into the 
 ship's quarter by another small line made fast to the rail and 
 hitched on to the fishing line. 
 
 It is easy to introduce a bell into this gear, which rings 
 when the fish strikes. The bell is fixed on the fishing line 
 at the spots shown in the illustration (p. 317). The line is 
 slightly pulled together over the bell by means of a piece of 
 twine. Immediately a fish seizes the bait, the twine breaks, the 
 line straightens with a jerk, and the bell rings. 
 
 I feel I must add a few words of explanation for the benefit 
 of those to whom such words as ' topping lifts ' and ' foreguys ' 
 are even less understandable than Greek. Obviously a huge 
 pole cannot be projected over a vessel's side unless either the 
 end which is on board is very heavily weighted, or the portion 
 which is over the sea is supported by one or more ropes. If 
 the pole is long and limber two supporting ropes are necessary. 
 These come down from the rigging above and are made fast 
 to the pole. On the rigging is a block (in landsman's language, 
 pulley) through which the ends of these supporting ropes pass, 
 being then brought down and made fast to the bulwarks. The 
 pole is now supported, but requires another rope to keep it 
 from swinging about. This is the foreguy, a single rope which 
 is fastened to the pole and, at its other end, to the bulwarks. 
 It will be seen that, by hauling on the ropes which support 
 the pole, we can lower or raise our big rod. The fishing line 
 passes through a block or pulley at the end of the pole, and its 
 end is fastened to these ropes which support the pole. The 
 result is that when a fish pulls on the line he actually lifts the 
 pole. Now what weight ought our fish to lift in other words, 
 what strain ought to be placed on the fishing line ? Captain 
 
THE OCEAN FISHING ROD 321 
 
 Howell says, decide this by using a spring balance in the 
 manner he has directed, or by fastening a weight of 200 Ibs. on 
 to the ends of the ropes by which the pole is sustained. He 
 shifts the pole until he finds the 2oo-lb. weight will just raise 
 up the rod and no more. The pole is then marked where it 
 rests on the edge of the bulwark or rail, so that it can always 
 be placed in the same position without further reference to 
 spring balance or weight. It should be particularly noted that 
 the fishing line is practically a continuation of the ropes which 
 support the pole, so that the fish which is hooked simply hauls 
 up the pole a little. The ropes which support the pole (boom) 
 are the topping lifts, and, as I have explained, the rope which 
 keeps the pole from swinging towards the stern is the foreguy. 
 
 I trust the foregoing explanation will suffice even for lands- 
 men. I have made it perhaps unduly elaborate, finding that 
 most people have much difficulty in understanding the con- 
 struction of this clever invention. 
 
 I may here gratefully acknowledge much kind assistance 
 given me with this part of the subject by Captain Howell, who 
 thus expresses himself on ocean fishing : 
 
 There is nothing expensive about the gear, and the whole thing 
 is very simple when you understand how to rig it up. It does 
 seem a pity that so many men should go on ploughing the ocean 
 year after year under the impression that it is quite impossible 
 to catch fish from a steamer under way. Apart from the sport 
 itself, nothing can be more welcome to crew and passengers than 
 fresh fish put on the table in hot weather. I know my own passen- 
 gers have often been able to eat fresh fish when they could not 
 look at meat in the tropics. 
 
 It has occurred to me that possibly an arrangement of india- 
 rubber could be invented to bear the first jerk of the fish ; such 
 a tackle, for instance, as that occasionally used in connection 
 with the main sheet of a cutter yacht. But one object of the 
 
 T T 
 
322 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 long boom, be it remembered, is to keep the bait and line 
 away from the side of the ship. I believe this might be done 
 by means of an otter board. The experiment is worthy a trial. 
 But what is generally available is a long spar, or, at any rate, 
 a stout oar, and this latter has been used with some success by 
 Lieutenant-Commander E. Hunter-Blair, who, like Captain 
 Howell, is a very successful ocean fisherman, though his fish 
 were probably caught while the vessel was going at a compara- 
 tively low rate of speed. Above nine knots Captain Howell's 
 gear is certainly to be preferred. This gear was also described 
 in the ' Field,' and in the following words : 
 
 Lash the loom of a large ash oar to a boat's afterdavit, as high 
 from the water and as far out from the ship's side as possible. Secure 
 an ordinary 2o-fathom lead line to the end of the blade of the oar, 
 leaving sufficient of the line to form a foreguy to lead to the fore- 
 most davit ; continue the lead line with thirty to forty fathoms of 
 window-sash cord ; next a snooding six fathoms long, best made of 
 three wires, unlayed from a piece of two-inch steel wire hawser. The 
 wire must be secured to the hook without any sharp bend what- 
 ever. 
 
 Fish in foreign seas in home waters they seem more timo- 
 rous are sometimes caught right under the vessel's counter, 
 or ahead of the bow, by lines trailing from the jibboom. 
 
 The wire snooding for this purpose is as often as not made 
 from one to seven or even eight strands unravelled from a gal- 
 vanised, steel wire, twisted cable. A good hook for the purpose 
 is not easily obtained, nothing special being usually made, so far 
 as I know, which will stand the enormous strain. The hooks and 
 bait kindly lent me by Captain Howell for the use of the artist 
 (see p. 319) were made by Messrs. Farlow & Co. An ordinary 
 shark hook, about one-third the usual size, will answer the 
 purpose ; but it must be of first-rate steel, and may be larger 
 or smaller according to the size of the fish expected. The 
 
THE OCEAN FISHING ROD 323 
 
 hooks should be long in the shank, and fitted with an eye and 
 swivel. 
 
 Many ocean fishers favour some such ' fly ' as that de- 
 scribed by Captain Howell, the size being chosen according 
 to the weather and fish. Another excellent bait is a strip 
 of parchment six or seven inches long, cut half an inch 
 wide, one end being tightly fastened to the head of the 
 hook, about a quarter of its length projecting beyond the bend. 
 Parchment is a capital substance for the purpose ; very much 
 akin to sole-skin, it gets soft and gelatinous after being used, 
 and being tough will last for several days. Pork-skin is a 
 favourite bait (see p. 91). It should be cut with a swallow tail. 
 
 Another essential is a very long handled gaff, for many a 
 fish is lost in lifting it over the side. The gaff is for fish of 
 medium size, and up to about sixty pounds. If much larger than 
 this a single hook will tear away, unless it can be fixed just 
 under the gills of the fish. Better is a very large double gaff, 
 the hooks set rather close together. If the fish are very large, 
 or if a gaff is wanting, they may be noosed after the fashion in 
 which the Red Sea coryphene was treated at the opening of 
 the chapter. But it is almost impossible to use a running 
 bowline when going at any speed, say over seven knots, for 
 the fish is very apt to spin round, causing the noose to foul 
 the fishing line. With a gaff the fish are secured more speedily 
 and surely. 
 
 The following measurements for a double-hook gaff are 
 useful : Shank twelve inches long, flattened out to lie closely 
 against the bamboo pole to which it is whipped. Points of 
 hook three and a half inches apart, and distant from the shank 
 three inches. 
 
 The dolphin's favourite food seems to be the curious, so 
 called, flying fish, and it cannot be doubted that the closer these 
 eccentric creatures can be imitated, the more fish will be caught. 
 
324 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 No doubt any of the ordinary spinning baits would attract 
 ocean fish, but they would have to be made enormously strong 
 to bear the strain, particularly of albicore, which is the most 
 sporting of ocean fishes. 
 
 Again and again beginners in this branch of sport get broken 
 and are apt to attribute their loss of gear to sharks ; but it is 
 generally believed that sharks will not take a bait passing through 
 the water at a high rate of speed. The question of speed is, 
 of course, of some importance. Occasionally fish are caught 
 when the vessel is only going three and a half miles an hour. 
 Lieutenant Harston Eagles, of H.M.S. Tyne, had some excellent 
 fishing under sail off the east coast of Africa while sailing at 
 that rate, catching tunny up to 45 Ibs., large barracuda, and 
 a purple-finned sailor swordfish of 125 Ibs. 
 
 But to revert to the question of speed. From eight to 
 twelve knots appears to be the most useful pace for our pur- 
 pose. Certainly, these large sea fish have no difficulty in seizing 
 the bait even should the vessel be going faster, for every one 
 who has made a voyage will remember how the dolphins, at 
 any rate, may be seen playing round the vessel, keeping up 
 with her without any apparent effort. Often large fish fifty 
 or sixty yards away will come dashing after the fragment of 
 white bunting and lay hold. Captain Howell's largest fish, an 
 albicore of 148 Ibs., was caught while the vessel was steaming 
 fourteen knots an hour through the Indian Ocean. 
 
 With regard to the weather, calms and storms are almost 
 equally bad ; though fish may be sometimes taken in half a 
 gale. Best of all is dull, showery weather with a lumpy sea ; 
 but good sport is often enjoyed on fine days when there are 
 a few clouds about and a nice breeze. The best season for 
 ocean fishing depends in a great measure on the locality. Be- 
 tween Gibraltar and Port Said, where dolphins and bonito are 
 fairly abundant, the fishing js indifferent during the winter 
 
THE OCEAN FISHING ROD 325 
 
 months, and is at its best from the middle of July to the end of 
 September, provided the weather is suitable ; but in warmer 
 latitudes there is plenty of fishing all through the winter. The 
 Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are full offish from October to June. 
 
 It is so unlikely that anybody would charter a vessel for the 
 express purpose of carrying on this branch of sea fishing, that it 
 seems hardly necessary to mention any particular fishing grounds. 
 The sport is rather one of the incidental amusements of a 
 voyage. Fish are found anywhere. Between Gibraltar and India 
 or China, in the Pacific, off the western coast of North and 
 South America, from San Francisco to Chili ; and near La Plata 
 Isle, off Jamaica, the fishing is particularly good. Sport has 
 also been obtained on the east coast of Africa, and very large 
 tunny are caught near the Cape de Verde Islands. In fact, 
 in nearly all the warmer portions of the watery world, between 
 25 N. and 25 S., great surface-feeding fish are to be found. 
 
 Records of sport enjoyed by ocean sea-fishers are very 
 interesting, and a few may be quoted to give a more or less 
 accurate idea of the success attending the use of the methods 
 described. One of the best baskets of fish ever made in this 
 way consisted of fourteen dolphins weighing 186 Ibs., which 
 were caught north of Socotra by Brigade-Surgeon-Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Smith. The same gentleman, when in a vessel four 
 days off Colombo, was hauling in a fish which appeared to be 
 seven feet long, when the hook broke. " Lieutenant Harston 
 Eagles, whom I have already mentioned, hooked nineteen fish 
 on a voyage from England to Bombay without bringing one 
 on board ; but on the homeward journey caught tunny, 
 barracuda, and other fish, weighing 54 Ibs., 33 Ibs., 23 Ibs., 
 iSlbs., 13 Ibs., 1 1 Ibs., and lolbs. respectively, giving an 
 average of 2 3 Ibs. On another voyage he did far better than 
 this, catching sixty-six fish, which weighed 2,084 Ibs., or an 
 average of 3 1*5 Ibs., the largest being a tunny of 150 Ibs. 
 
326 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Very often two out of three fish hooked were lost. Mr. G. G. 
 Borrett, Surgeon R.N., who was fishing with Lieutenant- 
 Commander E. Hunter-Blair, soon after crossing the equator 
 in the Atlantic, lat. 7 N., long. 7 W., caught a tunny of 180 Ibs., 
 and an hour or two later another nearly as large. Off the 
 Cape de Verde Islands he secured tunny of xoolbs., and an 
 albicore of 43 Ibs. Among the many notable fish caught by 
 Captain Howell was the large albicore already mentioned, 
 and another of no Ibs. He often secured two hundredweight 
 of fish in a day. Most of his largest specimens were taken 
 between Aden and Zanzibar. 
 
 Not the least charming feature of this ocean fishing is that 
 the quarry are more or less edible. Dolphins are considered 
 quite a luxury in the Mediterranean, fetch a high price at 
 Gibraltar, and their weight in rupees at Bombay. The name 
 is a popular one given to several species of Delphinus. The 
 common dolphin is not unlike a porpoise, but has a much 
 
 sharper snout. Byron wrote : . 
 
 Parting day 
 
 Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues 
 With a new colour, as it gasps away, 
 The last still loveliest, till 'tis gone and all is grey. 
 
 But this creature of the changing colours, alluded to by the 
 poetical youth on the East Indiaman, is not one of the mammalia 
 at all, but the coryphene (not to be confounded with coryphee, 
 whose colours are artificial, and unchangeable by the emotions), 
 which is a true fish. On the edible question Captain Howell 
 writes me : ' The bonito is little thought of by anyone as an 
 edible fish, though sailors seem to like them. Both dolphin 
 and barracuda are excellent eating, especially the former. The 
 dolphin, to my taste, is one of the most delicate-eating fish that 
 swims. The seerfish has been described as being like a white 
 salmon.' 
 
THE OCEAN FISHING ROD 327 
 
 Of TUNNIES there are two varieties, the short-firmed (Orcynus 
 thynnus], which is most common, and the long-finned tunny, 
 or albicore (Orcynus germo). Old writers record, or invent, 
 tunnies of enormous weight. Aristotle wrote of one weighing 
 1,200 Ibs., and, according to Belonius, one was caught off Spain 
 in 1665 which measured thirty-two feet in length, and was 
 sixteen feet in girth. Sometimes tunnies are captured in the 
 Cornish pilchard and mackerel drift nets, but there is no 
 regular fishery for them that I am aware of on the British 
 coasts. The Spanish tunny fisheries, on the other hand, are 
 of great importance, and have been carried on for many years, 
 the practice having been introduced, it is said, by the Phoe- 
 nicians. As in the time of ^Elian, watchmen in some lofty 
 position on the coast give warning of the advent of the shoals, 
 when the boats put to sea, and the fish are surrounded by 
 nets. There are also a large number of tunnies caught in 
 the Black Sea, as the shoals pass the Bosphorus. The 
 Romans used to consider the fish caught off Spain and Sardinia 
 superior as food to those brought from Constantinople. 
 
 These fish are very widely distributed. They have been 
 caught off the Scotch coasts and also near Ireland. One 
 8 ft. 3 in. long, weighing about 300 Ibs., was brought into 
 Dublin in the year 1841. Pennant mentions one of 460 Ibs. 
 caught off Inverary in 1769. At the beginning of the century 
 three were caught off Margate. In 1840 they are said to 
 have been plentiful off the Cornish coast, and a shoal visited 
 the Moray Firth in 1850, one which was caught measuring 
 nine feet in length. Day states that off Sardinia tunnies fre- 
 quently attain a weight of 1,000 Ibs., and Cetti asserts that 
 they run to 1,800 Ibs. 
 
 ALBICORE, or LONG-FINNED TUNNY so called because the 
 pectoral fin is one-third, or thereabouts, the length of its body 
 are found in the Bay of Biscay later in the year than the 
 
328 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 common tunny, which they resemble in their habits. Large 
 numbers of them often follow vessels, and it has been suggested 
 that they do this thinking to obtain some protection from their 
 great enemy the swordfish. 
 
 One was caught some distance up the river Exe, having 
 been left by the tide on the wrong side of some palings, but 
 very few examples have been captured on the British coasts. 
 
 The BONITO ( Thynnus pelamys) sometimes visits the British 
 coasts, and has been taken in the Firth of Forth. Couch 
 mentions one which was brought into Whitehaven in Cumber- 
 land, and a small specimen 20^ inches long became entangled 
 in a trammel net at Plymouth. In form it very much resembles 
 the short-finned tunny, but may be distinguished by having 
 clearly-defined stripes beginning at the gill covers and run- 
 ning towards the tail. There is a variety (Pelamys sarda), 
 termed the Plain Bonito by Yarrell, in which the stripes or 
 bands are found on the back, and take an oblique direction. 
 This also has been caught on the British coasts, and there is 
 not much doubt that some of the very large mackerel which 
 have been recorded by professional fishermen are small 
 specimens of this fish. It is plentiful in the Mediterranean, 
 the Black Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 There is also a bonito without stripes, known to naturalists 
 as Auxis rochei. It is regularly fished for in the Mediterranean 
 during the summer. In shape and the form of its fins it more 
 closely resembles the common mackerel than either the tunny 
 or striped bonito. 
 
 The FLYING FISH (Exoccetus volitans), the favourite food of 
 the great ocean mackerels, is sometimes caught on a hook. In 
 the ' Zoologist ' a Mr. Smith described how, during a voyage from 
 Peru to Callao, a variety of baits were employed in the capture 
 of these pretty creatures, such as pieces of red bunting, artificial 
 minnows, and small spoon baits ; the most successful being a 
 
THE OCEAN FISHING ROD 329 
 
 small gilt minnow and a large red fly. Mr. Smith relates that, 
 in following the minnow through the water, the fish would open 
 their pectoral fins the so-called wings- and poise themselves 
 for a rush at the bait. Spreading the wings also had the effect 
 of checking their progress, if their suspicions were aroused by a 
 close inspection of the bait. When hooked they prove very 
 game fish, taking out several yards of line in their first rush, 
 and often making a flight in the air, line and all. 
 
 I suppose I need hardly say that flying fish do not fly in 
 the ordinary sense of the word. When they shoot out of the 
 water their large pectoral fins are not worked with the motion 
 of a bird's wings, but seem rather to vibrate and act as 
 parachutes, delaying their fall back into the sea. On dark 
 nights flying fish appear to be unable to direct their course 
 wisely, for they sometimes alight or tumble on the decks of 
 vessels. 
 
 Captain Howell informs me that he used to catch a large 
 number of flying fish between Aden and Ceylon by rigging out 
 a net on the weather side of the ship, underneath the side 
 lights. The net was about thirty feet in length, and by means 
 of two supporting spars stood out from the side of the vessel 
 three feet or so. It was about the same distance below the 
 level of the deck, and formed a long, narrow, horizontal bag 
 of netting, into which the fish fell. 
 
 In British waters flying fish are rare, but not unknown. 
 Several have been seen on the coasts of Cornwall, Devon, and 
 Ireland, and one was picked up on the beach at Helford, near 
 Falmouth. Another was found on the quay at Plymouth. 
 
 There is a lesser flying fish known to naturalists as Exoccetus 
 evolans. According to Pennant, a specimen was once captured 
 in the river Towy ; but there is some doubt on the subject. 
 
 u u 
 
330 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 LOW-WATER SHELL FISH AND CONGER HUNTING, PRAWNING, 
 AND SHRIMPING 
 
 WE may leave for a while fish possessing backbones, ribs, and 
 other parts of great delight to osteologists, and turn our atten- 
 tion to those strange creatures which carry their skeletons on 
 their back, changing them when they grow too small, dropping 
 off a leg here or a claw there when it seemeth them good, 
 growing another in due course, and generally behaving in an 
 eccentric and altogether preposterous fashion. In short, as 
 Mr. Micawber might have said in one of his joyous bursts of 
 confidence, I refer to the lobster and the crab ; akin to which 
 are the delicate prawns and homely shrimps. 
 
 The crab of annoying habits the sea angler will meet many 
 a time and oft ; but now we will consider him in a different 
 light as a creature destined to afford sport and food for the 
 human race, and not merely as an aggravating, bait-consuming 
 nuisance. 
 
 A considerable volume might be written on the crabs of 
 the world. Probably the most remarkable-looking member of 
 the family is the King Crab, of Eastern seas. In general 
 appearance he resembles a round, shallow, down-turned bowl 
 with a spike sticking out from underneath it. The Malays are 
 reported to use the King Crab's tail for pointing their arrows 
 and spears, chiefly because the wound inflicted by an instru- 
 ment so tipped is considerably more unpleasant than the clean 
 
SHELL FISH AND CONGER HUNTING, ETC. 331 
 
 cut made by a steel weapon. Place a little poison on the crab's 
 tail, and the weapon is still more effectual. Tasmania, also, 
 rejoices in some remarkable crabs, the claws of which are so 
 large, travellers say, that they can take hold of the thigh of 
 a man. 
 
 Some crabs are all body ; others are all legs to wit, the 
 spider crab, which is sometimes captured on English coasts. 
 Everyone, from the reader of boys' books to the student of 
 Mr. Rider Haggard's romances, has heard of land crabs of 
 various kinds, some of which will dispose of a corpse or a 
 cocoanut with equal facility, and, though they live on shore, 
 occasionally take a saltwater bath. 
 
 The Cocoanut Crab, having no rocks to lie under, makes a 
 burrow for himself like a rabbit among the roots of huge tropical 
 trees. He tears off the husk from the eyed end of the nut, 
 and then hammers with one of his heavy claws at one of the 
 eyes until it caves in. He then inserts a hind leg conveniently 
 furnished with nippers through the hole and helps himself to 
 the contents. Moreover, being a practical creature, he rends 
 the cocoanut fibre and makes a pleasant couch with it at the 
 end of one of his subterranean galleries. When not eating 
 nuts he turns his attention to shell fish, and then is very often 
 caught and eaten himself. 
 
 The Land Crabs of the West India Islands, on the other 
 hand, prefer the uplands, only coming down to the sea coast 
 in the spawning season. When they are on the march both 
 negroes and white men feast grandly ; on their way back again, 
 though so many of them as are left they are unmolested, fcr 
 they now appear spent, keltish sort of things with no good in 
 them. 
 
 But enough of these foreigners ; let us come to our own 
 good, honest, dusky red fellows who live in submarine rocky 
 strongholds all round our coasts, and while affording us dainty 
 
332 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 dishes and rare good sport on occasions, pay us out by 
 poisoning us from time to time with ptomaines, the result 
 maybe of a banquet on some cholera-stricken seaman. 1 have 
 always had a distaste for the edible crab, as he is called, ever 
 since I saw one feeding on a particularly loathsome mass of 
 decaying animal matter which had floated out of Tenby Harbour 
 and moored itself among some rocks about a foot under water. 
 The quaint little Hermit Crab, common enough in English 
 waters, is certainly one of the most singular members of the 
 family. Something has already been said about him in the 
 Bait chapter. Nature having conferred upon him no decent 
 covering for the greater portion of his body, he slips the end of 
 his unclothed tail into any convenient shell, generally choosing 
 that of a deceased whelk. Many a time have I pulled up my 
 bait and found a pair of tiny pincers hanging on to it, the rest 
 of the creature, four short legs excepted, being contained within 
 an otherwise untenanted whelk shell. Put him down on the 
 floorboards of the boat and watch him for a minute or two. 
 For a time nothing will happen ; then the claws and the four 
 legs slowly come out of the shell and begin a slow progress 
 across the boat. Touch him ever so lightly and he retreats 
 into his shell-house with a sharp snap like the steel fastening 
 of a lady's bag. 
 
 From a zoologist's point of view the crab is a superior 
 animal to the lobster because he has no tail to speak of. For 
 the same reason a man is a superior animal to a monkey. 
 The crab, unlike a man, is born with a tail, but in course of 
 time shortens it, and tucks it away under his body. The lobster, 
 on the other hand, retains his tail at some length until supper 
 time. While the crab walks sideways, the lobster swims back- 
 wards, and having projecting eyes which work on universal joints, 
 he can see round the corner with the greatest facility. 
 
 Many years ago lobster culture was attempted with more or 
 
LET us COMB TO OUR OWN OOOD, HONEST, DUSKY-RED FELLOWS' 
 
SHELL FISH AND CONGER HUNTING, ETC 333 
 
 less success in France ; and many millions of lobster eggs have 
 been hatched in Newfoundland, Canada, Scotland, and other 
 places. So far as figures go Newfoundland takes the lead, 
 having in one year recently hatched seventy-five per cent, out 
 of 152,600,000 eggs. Our own feeble little attempt in the 
 lobster pond at Brodick, of 600,000 in one year, or a total of 
 27,160,000 since the hatchery was started, seems very trifling in 
 comparison. 
 
 Merely hatching lobsters presents no great difficulties ; 
 slowly circulating sea water is required, and in due course the 
 eggs hatch ; but the difficulty, which so far is, I believe, unsur- 
 mounted, is to feed the little creatures after they have come 
 into the world. At the present stage of our knowledge it is 
 deemed best to turn them into the sea before they require 
 artificial food. Not that they refuse to eat, for they are most 
 voracious things, eating anything that is given them, and even 
 one another, and many millions will die of indigestion if they 
 are only given the opportunity. At that early age their enemies 
 in the sea are so numerous that a very small percentage of the 
 many millions which are hatched and turned in are likely to 
 come to maturity. When the food difficulty has been over- 
 come, and lobsters free of dyspepsia can be reared to the length 
 of a few inches in ponds, we shall have some striking results. 
 
 Nearly akin to the lobster is the crawfish, a spiny, thorny- 
 looking creature, but lacking the big claws of his brother. The 
 differences between the two are plainly shown on page 346. 
 The crawfish takes a bait at times, and if you feel a dead weight 
 on your line as you are hauling up, be ready with the landing 
 net, or he will probably drop off the hook before you can lift 
 him into the boat. 
 
 Now and again lobsters which have foolishly clawed hold of 
 the baited hook are caught from pierheads and by anglers in 
 boats. And an agreeable variation they are to the pierhead 
 
334 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 routine of pout and small flat fish. They should be very gently 
 swung in and a landing net used if possible. Sometimes they 
 are hooked in the mouth and break off the point of the hook. 
 
 Crawfish figure in the period called classical. Pliny, who 
 it must be feared was a teller of fish stories, speaks of one four 
 cubits long. The ancient Romans used to eat them in com- 
 pany with asparagus. There is a story told of one of the three 
 notorious gluttons bearing the name of Apicius, that, hearing 
 crawfish of most extraordinary size and exquisite flavour were 
 to be obtained on the coast of Africa, he chartered a ship and 
 proceeded thence. Sad to relate, he found the crawfish of 
 that side of the Mediterranean little better than those of his 
 native land, so in great disgust put about and forthwith returned 
 to Italy. To see crawfish at their best he should have gone to 
 the West Indies, where he would have found most gorgeous 
 members of this particular family. Off South America they 
 are very abundant, particularly round the island of Juan Fer- 
 nandez. 
 
 Those who would join in the delights of crab and lobster 
 catching should provide themselves with a barbless iron hook, 
 either fixed into a wooden handle or with the shank extended 
 to four or five feet and turned into a ring at the end. The 
 hook itself should measure about two and a half inches across, 
 the point turned very slightly outwards, and, for crabs and 
 lobsters, must not be too sharp. For conger eels it cannot be 
 sharp enough ; so, if all three kinds of fish are expected, 
 take two hooks. It is well to be provided with a small file 
 wherewith to sharpen the points, which soon get blunted against 
 the rocks. Other things are wanted beside the hooks ; to wit, 
 youth, health, strength, vigour, good temper, a light hand and 
 sensitive touch. An ordinary fisherman's creel slung on the 
 back to carry the prey in, and either a small round prawn 
 net or a landing net, will be found useful. Also some fine 
 
SHELL FISH AND CONGER HUNTING, ETC 335 
 
 n 
 
 twine to tie up the claws of those monstrous big lobsters 
 we are going to catch. We must make up our minds to get 
 wet, so should dress accordingly ; an old pair of gymnasium 
 shoes, flannels, and a jersey there is no better attire for the 
 purpose. 
 
 It must be the time of spring tides that is absolutely 
 essential or we shall get no lobsters, for 
 their holes are generally situated so near the 
 lowest low- water mark that they are not un- 
 covered at other times. Even then they are, 
 as often as not, a few inches below the sur- 
 face. How well I remember my first day's 
 crab hooking ! My tutor was a poet, and it 
 was a beautiful sight to see the kindly man 
 of verse slipping among the rocks, putting 
 his little iron hook into a hole here and a 
 hole there, sounding them for shell fish. 
 The tide was ebbing, and' just as we reached 
 the shore I saw a conger of several pounds 
 swimming slowly seaward adown a miniature 
 creek. I dashed at him with my hook, but 
 missed him. Again and again I struck 
 wildly, and finally brought him out on to 
 the rocks and hammered him until he was 
 a shapeless mass. I had tasted blood and 
 was ravening for more, but the poet said 
 it was no use to continue fishing until the tide was lower. So 
 we sat down and looked at the blue sea. 
 
 Soon the poet strolled off, and presently came back with 
 a lobster a big one, but minus one claw and I think he also 
 had three prawns. Then we started wandering over the rocks, 
 trying every pool for prawns and every likely hole for crabs. 
 Lobster holes, which are a thing of themselves, were few the 
 
 CRAB, LOBSTER, 
 
 AND CONGER 
 
 HOOKS 
 
336 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 poet knew them, and I did not. There were, however, no 
 more lobsters forthcoming. None the less, it was a day full of 
 joy and novelty. There was one big conger which tried us 
 severely. It was in a small cavity, one entrance to which was 
 so small that I could only just get my hook into it. I could 
 feel his soft sides, and directly he was touched there was a 
 great slap of his tail in, I suppose, the pool of water standing 
 below the rock. There were two ways into this little cavern, 
 so the poet guarded one door and I the other ; and ever 
 and anon, as we poked about, our two hooks would catch 
 one in the other, and thinking we had a fair hold of the 
 fish we would each give a terrific pull and nearly break our 
 wrists ; but finally my hook, which had long before been 
 thoroughly blunted on the rocks, somehow or other caught 
 hold of the creature, out he came kicking, and we despatched 
 him. 
 
 This method may be described as fishing on land, in the 
 dark, by touch. The hook has to be most gingerly inserted 
 into every likely-looking hole, and after a while, it is not diffi- 
 cult to distinguish between the rock and the shell of a crab or 
 the yielding body of an eel. A somewhat mean way of finding 
 crab holes is to take a piece of line about two yards in length, 
 fasten to one end a piece of dead fish, to the other a fragment 
 of white or red rag and a small stone. Place this among the 
 rocks at low water. As the tide rises and covers the spot a 
 crab will as likely as not seize the fish and carry it off to his 
 lair, leaving the piece of rag outside to betray him when next it 
 is low water. Of course a number of these informers may be 
 laid along the seashore.. Lobster holes have to be learned, and 
 the crab-hooker who tries his skill in a new country is not 
 likely to catch many of these shell fish, though he may be 
 lucky enough with crabs and congers. The lobster holes, as I 
 have said, are close to the low-water mark ; sometimes there is 
 
SHELL FISH AND CONGER HUNTING, ETC 337 
 
 a few feet of water over them, and they are not infrequently 
 provided with bolt holes. The local people know this well 
 enough, and will always put a prawn net over the bolt hole 
 while they ply the front door with their crab hook. When 
 either crab or lobster takes alarm, and finds that there is an 
 enemy attacking him, if he has not a back door by which to 
 retreat he wedges himself up with his back against the walls 
 of his little cave, and is most difficult to dislodge. Professional 
 fishermen who catch a great many crabs rarely give any of 
 these creatures time to fix themselves. The moment they feel 
 the shell of a good crab the hook is turned upwards, and the 
 unfortunate animal is twisted out. 
 
 Great care must be taken to secure lobsters as they are 
 drawn out of their holes, for they are most powerful swimmers, 
 one flap of their tail sending them many yards backwards 
 shooting through the water ; and, even if you get them out 
 into a small shallow pool where everything is visible, you will 
 probably lose them unless you get them in a net at once. 
 The more a crab is worried by the hook, the more strongly 
 does he wedge himself in his rocky fastness ; but a lobster is 
 more inclined to show fight, and will sometimes lay hold of 
 the hook with such fierceness and bulldog tenacity as to allow 
 himself to be drawn out. After being pricked he sometimes 
 marches out. Professional hookers run the hook under the 
 lobster in a horizontal position, then turn up the point, and 
 gaff smartly. 
 
 I need hardly say that it is the early crab-hooker that 
 catches the lobster ; for the lowest spring tides come but 
 rarely, and the local people are all on the gut vive to take 
 advantage of them. Lobsters have this delightful peculiarity, 
 that if we take one out of a hole, another will probably be found 
 in the same position at the next spring tide. In this respect 
 they much resemble large trout in rivers. An ancient dame 
 
 xx 
 
338 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 of Skye and lobster catcher of repute, one Effie McArthur, 
 informed Mr. Pritchett, to whom we are indebted for the 
 portraits of our shell fish, that when a lobster is in its soft state, 
 changing its shell, it is usually guarded by a large, well-armed 
 lobster which has its abode in the same little cavern. Thus 
 having hooked out one unfortunate she would search further in 
 the same place for his companion. 
 
 There is always the chance of catching a very large conger, 
 and it is just as well to be provided with a club or ' priest ' 
 wherewith to destroy him. 'A Welsh youth who used to fish 
 with me a good deal, hooked a conger of nineteen pounds 
 from under a rock. Before the fish had time to struggle he 
 ran well up the sands with it ; but, recovering its senses, it 
 began to twist rapidly round and round in the extraordinary 
 way common to eels, and finally hit my young friend a blow 
 on the side of the head with his tail which, in his own words, 
 ' knocked him silly.' He killed the great thing, but was ever 
 after shy of handling even a conger of moderate size. 
 
 I hope no young fishermen, reading this chapter, will think 
 it a simple matter to catch dozens of conger, crabs, and 
 lobsters wherever there happen to be rocks along the sea coast. 
 Unfortunately, these fish are not over-plentiful, and there are 
 many rocky shores where they are so scarce as not to be 
 worth the trouble of going after. On some parts of the Welsh, 
 Irish, and Scotch coasts, however, they are very numerous. The 
 most suitable places are very rough and rugged rocky shores 
 where there is a considerable rise and fall of the water at every 
 tide. 
 
 Prawning should certainly be carried on at the same time 
 as lobster and crab hunting. One of the best nets for pushing 
 along a sandy bottom near rocks is shown in the illustration, 
 in company with some prawn pots hailing from Cowes and 
 Plymouth respectively. The latter is shown with its bottom 
 
SHELL FISH AND CONGER HUNTING, ETC 339 
 
 open for the removal of the prawns and baiting purposes. 
 
 This net is also used for shrimps. 
 
 For small rocky pools a round hand net is necessary. It 
 should have a long handle, about four feet six 
 inches long, and the hoop should be quite eighteen 
 inches across, rather flattened towards the front. 
 An ordinary piece of stout wire will do for the 
 hoop if the net, which is best tanned, is laced on 
 to it with ivire ; but it is far better to have the 
 regular hoops, made for the purpose, which are 
 flattened and drilled with holes in the manner 
 
 PRAWN OR SHRIMP NET, AND PRAWN POTS 
 
 illustrated overleaf. The wire or twine with which the net is 
 attached to the hoop passes through these holes and does not 
 chafe against the rocks. 
 
 It is not everybody who can distinguish a prawn from 
 a shrimp ; in fact, many a small prawn is sold under the 
 
340 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 name of pink shrimp. The chief characteristic of the prawn 
 is a long serrated spur which projects from its head ; this 
 is almost wanting in the shrimp. These delicate little fish 
 grow to a considerable size in English waters, but not nearly 
 so large as they are often found abroad. In India, where 
 they are very great scavengers, they are recorded a foot in 
 length. 
 
 There is considerable skill in catching prawns in rocky 
 pools. One man will take twenty or thirty prawns from one 
 pool, while another may only succeed in inveigling two or three 
 into the net. It is not advisable to begin by jumping into the 
 
 pool and poking about with 
 the net. The water should 
 rather be approached cau- 
 tiously, when perhaps a few 
 prawns will be seen swim- 
 ming about, and with good 
 fortune may be captured with- 
 out any great disturbance, the 
 net being gently placed un- 
 derneath them. But after 
 
 that every prawn in the pool will have gone into hiding, and 
 will probably be found not deep down, but close to the surface 
 under the fringe of seaweed which gently undulates with the 
 'rise and fall of the water. 
 
 Any little rocky crevice near the surface may contain prawns. 
 The net should be placed over its mouth, and the little fish 
 driven out by means of the crab hook. The net should also 
 be worked along the edge of the seaweed as I have indicated. 
 Small pools which are nothing more nor less than hollows in a 
 big rock, can be baled out, and the prawns will be found kicking 
 about on the bottom, in company maybe with other treasures 
 of the deep or shallows. In some formations the rocks trend 
 
 RIM OF PRAWN NET 
 
ATT AMATEUR SHRIMPER 
 
SHELL FISH AND CONGER HUNTING, ETC 341 
 
 seaward in 'little reefs, and between each reef will be a strip of 
 sand ; such places are best worked with the shrimper's net 
 illustrated on page 339. But beware of weevers, stinging fish, 
 whose portraits may be seen at the end of Chapter XIII. For 
 their sake go not bare of foot. 
 
 A deadly way of catching prawns is to lower a number of 
 hoop nets exactly the same as for lobsters (p. 343), but smaller, 
 to the bottom of pools and leave them there for a while. The 
 net, which may measure eighteen inches in diameter, must be 
 baited with dead crabs or other offal placed across it on a skewer. 
 The cork at the end of the rope is laid hold of by means of a 
 stick with a forked end a clothes-line prop in miniature and 
 the net lifted. These nets are occasionally used from boats, 
 but are best suited for those parts of the coast where there 
 are large pools left among the rocks by the receding tide. 
 Prawns and most other marine creatures appear to be most 
 active as the tide begins to flow, and the first quarter of an 
 hour of the flood tide is usually the most successful time to 
 catch them. Where the prawns are plentiful the net is lowered 
 into the pool and raised at the end of a few minutes, the rope 
 being held meanwhile in the hand. 
 
 Another method of catching prawns is by setting what I 
 may term fine-meshed lobster pots. Two are illustrated along 
 with the shrimp net. They have to be baited with crushed 
 crab to induce the fish to enter them. 
 
 Of the shrimp I need say but little. It is a fish of sandy 
 shores, and no great exercise of skill is required to wade in knee 
 deep and push the shrimp net along. Boys should not be 
 allowed to use a man's shrimp net, but should be content 
 with something half the size. Important shrimp fisheries are 
 carried on in large estuaries and other places by small trawling 
 boats, and, as I have said in a previous chapter, these fine- 
 meshed trawl nets catch immense quantities of immature flat 
 
342 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 fish. The shrimps while still alive are sifted through sieves 
 which separate the saleable from the undersized. Many of the 
 shrimpers of the Thames estuary and elsewhere carry great 
 cauldrons in which they boil their shrimps on board, so that by 
 the time they come into port their catch is ready to be placed 
 in the train and sent off without delay to London. The head- 
 quarters of the Thames shrimping industry is at Leigh, in 
 Essex. Excepting some modern additions to the place, the 
 whole of Leigh is inhabited by fishermen. 
 
 By the fishery bylaws of the Thames Conservancy, 'all 
 shrimps' by which, I suppose, is meant those which are 
 caught ' to be sifted when alive through a sieve of three- 
 eighths of an inch between the wires, all of which wires shall be 
 placed either vertical or horizontal, and no shrimp which will 
 pass through such sieve shall be kept or retained.' I suppose 
 the makers of the bylaw understood it. I live in hopes of 
 meeting some one who can explain to me the advantages of a 
 vertical sieve. 
 
 The setting of traps, called pots, for lobsters and crabs 
 hardly comes within the range of ' sport,' but the sea fisher may 
 be glad of a little information on the subject. First, however, 
 a few words as to the hoop net by which lobsters, when plenti- 
 ful, can be caught. Years ago the Hebridean fishermen had 
 the habit of going out in small boats to lay down these nets 
 baited with offal. As soon as they felt a pull on the line they 
 would haul up, when there was generally a lobster in the net. 
 Now they say lobsters are so scarce that this method is of small 
 service, and, in lieu of a single hoop, boats may be seen going 
 laden with a large number of lobster pots. 
 
 At Walton-on-the-Naze this method of fishing is still 
 carried on. The net, the measurements of which can be ascer- 
 tained from the illustration, is let down on the bottom, and 
 the line is buoyed. Those who are expert at the practice 
 
SHELL FISH AND CONGER HUNTING ETC 343 
 
 LOBSTER HOOP NET FROM WALTON-ON-THE-NAZE 
 
344 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 can feel by means of the line when anything is in the net, 
 even distinguishing crabs from lobsters. When a fish has taken 
 the bait, the net has to be hauled in at the greatest possible 
 speed. The corks on the hauling line keep the sling lines or 
 bridle steady, which is important, as the lobster is a shy fish. 
 This fishing is a summer pursuit, excepting the months of 
 June or July when the lobsters are changing their outworks or 
 skeletons. 
 
 Finally there are lobster and crab pots, which are familiar 
 to most of us. These can be made of ordinary wickerwork, 
 galvanised wire, or of light framework covered with netting. 
 More elaborate ones made for yachtsmen's use are of netting 
 with collapsible frame. Mr. Hearder made a number for the 
 Challenger Expedition which were arranged in sizes, the bottoms 
 being removable, so that one would fit inside the other, and a 
 quantity could be carried with a very small sacrifice of space. 
 The galvanised iron traps of various kinds are not nearly so 
 successful in taking fish as those of wicker or netting. At 
 Cromer are some of the most clever lobster and crab fishermen 
 round our coasts, and they use a pot with a piece of iron grating 
 at its base. These pots are not round, but in the form of a sec- 
 tion of a tunnel, the lobsters and crabs entering it at either end. 
 Most other pots are of the shape shown on p. 34, and have to 
 be weighted with bricks, stones, lead, or iron. Of whatever 
 kind they are, they must be very carefully buoyed with a 
 sufficiency of line and a sufficiency of cork. 
 
 The following are the dimensions of a Cromer lobster or 
 crab pot, the same pots being used for both kinds of shell fish. 
 Height, ii ins. ; length, 2 3 ins. ; breadth of iron base, 15^ ins.; 
 thickness of iron base, \ in. ; number of iron bars in base, 7 ; 
 mesh of net, i in. ; mouth of the openings (one opening on 
 each side), diameter 8 ins. ; narrow end of openings, diameter 
 5 3 ins. 
 
SHELL FISH AND CONGER HUNTING, ETC 345 
 
 In a strong tide the corks may get sucked under, and the 
 owner may deem the pots lost ; but if the place is watched 
 when the tide is slack, they will usually be recovered without 
 difficulty, provided their position has been noted in true nautical 
 fashion that is to say, by taking marks. 
 
 Let me close my subject by the statement of a very in- 
 
 CROMER CRAB BOAT AND POTS 
 
 teresting fact. When alive the lobster shell is a bluish-black 
 colour, but the prolonged application of boiling water brings 
 about a curious chemical change in the pigment, the creature 
 turning red. In a picture which was exhibited at the Royal 
 Academy some years ago, delineating, if I recollect aright, some 
 incident occurring in Neptune's realm, one of the figures was 
 a remarkable lobster, remarkable inasmuch as the chemical 
 
 Y v 
 
346 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 change in question appeared to have taken place before it had 
 been boiled ! The artist was unmercifully criticised, and no 
 doubt suffered much in spirit. But after all there was authority 
 for the colour, for not only red, but white, blue, yellow, and 
 also green lobsters have been caught. At Neptune's or any 
 other court, those most gaily attired would naturally be the 
 representatives of their race. These are words of comfort for 
 the persecuted artist, who may verify them by referring to the 
 ' Field ' of May 24 and June 7, 1890, and Sept. 10, 1891 ; Buck- 
 land's 'Curiosities of Natural History,' ist series, p. 27 ; ' Land 
 and Water ' of May 30, 1891 ; and the Natural History Museum 
 of South Kensington, where an albino lobster may be seen. 
 
347 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 
 
 WE have now fished many waters in many ways ; journeyed 
 round the coasts of Great Britain fly fishing here, pater- 
 nostering there, casting out our spinning or other tackle from 
 land or pierhead ; now and again, when the sea was not too 
 lumpy, trusting ourselves in small craft ; and, going further 
 afield in yachts or large fishing boats, have sought such sport 
 as the deeper water affords. We have even set lobster, crab, 
 and prawn pots, and hunted among the rocks with iron hooks 
 for fierce congers. During that voyage home from India there 
 was ocean fishing in tropical seas for the giant fish of the 
 mackerel species ; and, in addition, we carefully examined 
 into the several advantages of various baits which may or may 
 not be obtainable, as the case may be. With such experience 
 we should have acquired a good general knowledge of sea 
 fishing ; but there still remains much to be learnt concerning 
 the habits, peculiarities, and certain not-hitherto-noticed special 
 means of capturing, the more sporting sea fish. 
 
 First, for they deserve the place of honour, come those 
 fish which commonly or frequently swim or feed near the surface, 
 and are to be caught with fly or whiffing tackle. The most 
 important of these undoubtedly is 
 
 The BASS, the labrax of Aristotle, and lupus of Pliny. 
 This most admirable fish is nothing more nor less than a large 
 marine perch which, when it enters estuaries for spawning 
 
348 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 purposes at the end of summer, sometimes proceeds up rivers 
 into fresh water. Indeed, it is said that the Romans not only 
 kept bass in captivity, but also bred them in aquaria filled with 
 spring water. Mr. Arnold, of Guernsey, repeated this experi- 
 ment omitting the breeding part of it not only with success, 
 but went so far as to say that the flesh of the fish was greatly 
 improved by the sojourn in fresh water. 
 
 Though anglers who have cast their lines among shoals of 
 these fish and caught nothing, may question the fact, there is 
 not much doubt that the sea perch were anciently called wolves 
 on "account of their voracity, and, perhaps, also because of a 
 certain sense of cunning they appear to possess when surround- 
 ing the sand-eels, young herrings, and mackerel, &c., on which 
 they largely feed. They have various local names : in Kentish 
 waters are often termed sea dace, while at Herne Bay they are 
 dignified by the name of white salmon. In Scotland, where they 
 are very scarce, they are sometimes termed gape mouths ; while 
 at Belfast the people persistently call them white mullet, or 
 king of the mullets. 
 
 In form the bass is less graceful than the dace of fresh 
 water, but is built on finer lines than the chub, and may be 
 always recognised by the prickly dorsal fin, similar to that worn 
 by the freshwater perch. The back is dark blue, while the sides 
 and belly are silvery. It has a liberal allowance of teeth, some 
 placed in crescent shape on the roof of its mouth, others in a 
 small patch at the base of the tongue. Its mouth otherwise is 
 very leathery and tough, and, so far, very different from that of 
 the mullet. With regard to size, a ten or twelve pounder must 
 be considered a large fish, though occasionally one of 1 5 Ibs. 
 is caught by the angler. Yarrell mentions one of 28 Ibs., but I 
 must confess to being somewhat distrustful of the weights of 
 fish given by the older ichthyologists. It is said that a bass of 
 22 Ibs. was once netted near Herne Bay Pier. A friend tells 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 349 
 
 me he had an account of a bass weighing 24^ Ibs. after being 
 cleaned, from a trustworthy man who himself caught the fish. 
 
 For angling purposes bass may be divided into two classes : 
 those which run from about two pounds to five pounds, and may 
 sometimes be seen in immense shoals, hunting sand-eels or fry ; 
 and the large and more aged fish which, in the dusk of early 
 morning, will be seen swimming in stately fashion in little com- 
 panies of two to five in number, or thereabouts, close to the edge 
 of steep rocks, round wooden piers and jetties, and among the 
 old woodwork of harbours. It is these large, shy, old fish which 
 the enthusiastic bass fisher feels it an honour and a duty to 
 catch. They are the Thames trout of the sea. But for lively 
 and continued sport commend me rather to the shoals of 
 smaller bass when well on the feed. On many days even these 
 cannot be caught, though to all appearance they are savagely 
 and hungrily chasing their unfortunate prey. As in freshwater 
 fishing, much depends upon the weather. If it be very bright 
 and sunny the fish are scared by the line, and are not to be 
 deceived into deeming a piece of indiarubber band a succulent 
 worm or a baby eel. Under such conditions baits to be tried 
 are the curb-chain spinner (p. 143) or a white unvarnished 
 sole-skin phantom with silvered head. The angler, however, 
 will catch nothing unless he keeps out of sight and the boat is 
 worked noiselessly. 
 
 From an English bass-fisher's point of view, the most 
 interesting parts of our coast are those bordering Devonshire 
 and Cornwall, portions of Wales, and the Island of Anglesea. 
 Sometimes they are fairly plentiful in or near the estuary of 
 the Thames, as, for instance, at Herne Bay. Not that bass are 
 wanting elsewhere, for they can occasionally be found, even 
 in considerable numbers, on the East coast, as far north as 
 Scotland, and even Norway, where, however, bass are very scarce. 
 In Ireland they are caught on the east and south coasts, and I 
 
350 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 have known large shoals enter the Shannon estuary, and swim 
 up the mouth of a tributary river. Probably, when sea fishing 
 is still further recognised as a sport, places will be found on the 
 Irish coast where bass are very plentiful. 
 
 Speaking generally, the bass is a summer fish, not leaving 
 the deep sea and approaching the coast until the mild weather 
 sets in. Much depends on the state of the weather. If it be 
 cold their coming will be delayed, while in warm, genial 
 seasons they may be expected somewhat earlier than usual. On 
 the coast of Devonshire bass have been captured as early as 
 February, but it is usually March or April before any quantity 
 is observed. Thence onwards, until the cold weather comes 
 again and drives them into deep water, these fish will be found, 
 either in shoals or singly, off headlands, in races, playing 
 about the bars of rivers, and towards the end of the summer 
 entering the estuaries in large numbers. Sometimes they are 
 feeding on the surface, sometimes on the bottom. While the 
 youngsters play about in the sharp running water and per- 
 petrate fierce onslaughts on shoals of innocent sand-eels and 
 herring fry, the more elderly fish, as I have pointed out, coast 
 round the rocks, and enter harbours and other places where 
 there is plenty of refuse for them to feed upon. In such situa- 
 tions their tastes appear to degenerate, for they will often scorn- 
 fully turn away from a delicate sand-eel presented to them 
 alive, while a malodorous piece of oily ray's liver they will suck 
 in greedily. 
 
 There are few baits bass will not take at times ; but, as I 
 have pointed out, where fish develop a taste for scavengering, 
 their tastes must be pampered, and if ray's liver is not available 
 the entrails of chicken or rabbit (if somewhat high so much the 
 better) may often be used with success. Of squid, cuttle and 
 octopus they are particularly fond. The largest bass I ever 
 hooked came like a tiger at a piece of squid I was using as a 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 351 
 
 bait for conger, one night off the Welsh coast. I was hand- 
 lining, and thinking I had an eel on, which would have to be 
 hauled by main force away from the rocks, I brought this fish 
 up to the surface in double quick time. There he rolled and 
 splashed in a bath of incandescent silver as it were, for the 
 water which he lashed with his tail was full of phosphorescence. 
 He brought such consternation to the heart of the little Welsh 
 lad who was with me, that the youth of many consonants to his 
 unpronounceable name was too unnerved to use the gaff, and 
 while I was abjuring him to do his duty the hook came away, 
 the great fish disappeared, and nothing was left but flecks of 
 phosphorescence on the surface of the dark water. He was 
 every ounce of fifteen pounds. Indeed I might add another five 
 pounds to his weight, and who can contradict me ? There is 
 the one redeeming point about a lost fish. It is the proud 
 privilege of the lamenting angler to fix the weight of the dear 
 departed without the least fear of contradiction. 
 
 But to return to the bait question. Among the shoals 
 which are feeding in some tidal race during the best of the 
 flood tide, the bait should certainly be somewhat similar to the 
 fry on which they are feeding. A strip of fish skin, the Sarcelle 
 bait, a sand-eel, or a very small mackerel, all these may be 
 tried. 
 
 Sometimes the fly fisher meets with great success. Among 
 the many flies which may be used, 1 doubt if any are better 
 than the Whitebait fly (see p. 148), the Shaldon Shiner, and 
 the Goldfinch. The dressing of the Shaldon Shiner has 
 already been given (p. 163). The Goldfinch is a well-known 
 salmon fly, which is dressed as follows : Tag, gold tinsel 
 and black floss ; tail, a golden pheasant topping ; body, gold- 
 coloured floss ; pale yellow hackle ; blue jay at shoulder ; gold 
 tinsel ; wing composed entirely of toppings ; red macaw ribs 
 and black head. But bass fishers generally tell you that a 
 
352 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 piece of fish skin gurnet belly for preference cast like a fly 
 is more killing than feathers and tinsel. 
 
 Above all things, the boat must not be taken right through 
 or even very near the shoal. If the angler has not the skill or 
 necessary tackle to cast among the fish, the boat should be 
 worked across the tide in the fashion known as harling, a 
 method very carefully described on pages 263 and 264. From 
 a moored boat drift lines or float tackle is used, the tide carry- 
 ing the bait down to the fish. If a small live fish of any kind, 
 such as smelt, sand-eel, or flat fish, can be obtained for bait, so 
 much the better. The current will often work a spinning bait. 
 
 It is not always necessary to moor the boat when drift-line 
 fishing, for the crew can continue pulling steadily, and so keep 
 the little craft in about the right position. In that case it is a 
 good plan when a fish is hooked to edge the boat well to one 
 side of the shoal, drop down with the tide while reeling in, and 
 play him below the uncaught bass. If the water is at all clear 
 this plan, which the fly fisher should also bear in mind, will 
 prevent disturbing the fish and lead to further captures. If it is 
 thick and the fish are taking freely, it may in some cases amount 
 to a loss of time with no corresponding benefit, but it is very 
 seldom that the manoeuvre does not repay the trouble involved. 
 
 For fishing from rocks or piers the live sand-eel may 
 be tried, or ray's liver, lugworm, squid, a piece of mackerel, 
 soft crab, small flat fish, or other of the many baits already 
 mentioned. Where the fish can be approached, some ray's 
 liver should be placed in a coarse sack and fastened to a 
 cord and sunk by means of stones. The perfumed oils 
 emanating from this scent-packet are very likely to attract 
 the fish to the spot, where, if they find a tenderly arranged 
 morsel of ray's liver awaiting them, they will surely appreciate 
 the thoughtfulness of the angler and meet his wishes in the 
 matter. 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 
 
 353 
 
 f 
 
 For use on the bottom with a leger, as, for instance, on 
 the sandy shore of an estuary, there are few baits better than a 
 strip of squid, but ray's liver is equally killing in some places. 
 For these and some other baits the large round bend hook 
 shown in the illustration is suitable. If the fish run small, or 
 the bait is insignificant, use two or three sizes smaller. It 
 may be either round bend or the Pennell-Limerick illustrated. 
 Around bend gets a better 
 hold round bones and 
 cartilages than a narrow 
 hook of abrupt angle. 
 
 A capital plan one 
 followed a good deal at 
 Krixham, both in the har- 
 bour and outside is to 
 thread a small fish on a 
 No. 3 or 4 Exeter round 
 bend hook. This is done 
 by means of a baiting needle 
 which brings the snooding 
 in at the mouth of the bait 
 and out at its tail ; in fact, 
 the arrangement closely 
 resembles the gorge trolling 
 bait of pike fishers. The 
 snooding need not be very 
 
 long. To it is attached a somewhat fine unleaded line. 
 The bait is thrown overboard and allowed to lie on the 
 bottom. When a bass takes it he must feel no resistance 
 whatever, and should be given a few seconds to swallow it 
 and go off with four or five yards of line. Those who read 
 Mr. Harmsworth's contribution will no doubt notice the 
 resemblance between this method and tarpon fishing. In 
 
 z z 
 
 BASS HOOKS 
 
354 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 the harbour the favourite bait is a piece of squid or liver, 
 the same unleaded tackle being used. These harbour fish are 
 so excessively wide awake that if they feel the pull from a lead 
 they at once drop the bait. A rod can, and in most cases 
 should, be used with this tackle. A bait I see I have not 
 mentioned is the guts of the pilchard, which all fish love. 
 They make a most excellent ground bait, particularly if mixed 
 up with pounded crabs. 
 
 In considering what tackle and baits to use, the angler 
 must look at all the conditions of depth, colour of the water, 
 nature of bottom, distance from the fish, &c., and endeavour to 
 decide which of the various methods of angling mentioned will 
 best enable him to put the right bait in front of the fish. 
 There is really no royal road to fishing, and rule-of-thumb 
 work will more often than not simply lead to failure. In the 
 case of bass, and still more of mullet, the angler has to pit his 
 brains against some of the most cautious and cunning of the 
 fish which swim in the sea. Indeed, of large mullet it may be 
 said that, though perhaps not more wary than big bass, they 
 are infinitely more difficult to capture than the highly educated 
 chalk-stream trout or the venerable carp of some ancient fish 
 stew. 
 
 Tiros must not expect to catch many big bass in a day. If 
 they land an eight-pounder they may well regard it as a triumph. 
 For numbers they must seek the whereabouts of the school 
 bass, and if fortune favours them, and they and their boatmen 
 are fairly expert, they may weigh their fish by the hundred- 
 weight at the end of the day. That veteran amateur sea 
 fisherman, Mr. J. C. Wilcocks, by whose teaching in his admir- 
 able work on sea fishing I and many more greatly profited in 
 years gone by, has told how once, fishing with a friend close 
 to Berry Point, at Teignmouth, five hundredweight of bass 
 were caught. I doubt if there is anyone else living who has 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 355 
 
 met with such extraordinary success ; indeed, if everyone were 
 to kill bass in this wholesale way, in the next edition of this 
 work the article on ' Labrax lupus ' might be omitted. 
 
 The GREY MULLET, like the bass, has a prickly dorsal fin. 
 It is very easily distinguished from its more voracious com- 
 panion by the fact that this fin contains only four very evident 
 spines, while that of the bass contains eight. The mouth of the 
 mullet, too, is small and only suited for soft food. Of these 
 fish there are two kinds, the great grey mullet (Mugil capito) 
 and the lesser grey mullet (Mugil chelo\ the latter being very 
 abundant in some South-coast harbours, and sometimes as easy 
 of capture as the great grey mullet is difficult. A distinction 
 between the two varieties is the number of rays in the tail fin, 
 the larger kind, which is also called the ' thin-lipped mullet,' 
 having seventeen, while the lesser, or thick-lipped mullet, has 
 fifteen. 
 
 Of red, or surmullet, beloved of the Romans, I need say 
 nothing, for these fish are very rarely captured, except in nets, 
 either by the sportsman or the professional fisherman, only 
 now and again succumbing to the charms of a harbour-bred 
 ragworm, more particularly in the neighbourhood of very foul 
 drains. I commend this point to the attention of those who 
 deem red mullet worthless unless served a la woodcock. A 
 good many are caught in trammel nets. 
 
 Grey mullet are gregarious, and very plentiful in some 
 estuaries and harbours, Chichester, Littlehampton, Plymouth, 
 Weymouth, and the mouth of the Stour being favourite haunts 
 of theirs. They appear to be as much at home in fresh water 
 as in salt. At one time shoals were to be found in Oulton 
 Broad, entering there, no doubt, when the lock was open, or, 
 perhaps, making their way by the Yare and journeying round 
 to Mutford. 
 
 In the thirties a gentleman named Arnold, living at 
 
35$ MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Guernsey, sent a communication to the Zoological Society of 
 London, concerning some interesting observations he had 
 made on mullet kept in a five-acre lake which for nine 
 months in the year was filled with fresh water. In summer 
 the sea entered the lake through a tunnel. There were several 
 varieties of sea fish in the enclosure, including a large number 
 of mullet which appeared to breed freely. I have no doubt 
 that mullet could be introduced with advantage into many 
 a semi-tidal pool, provided there were a sufficient depth of 
 water. 
 
 A very curious experiment was recorded in connection with 
 the placing of a mullet which had been accustomed to the 
 Baltic (where the amount of saline matter is small) in North Sea 
 water in which there was three times as much salt. The fish 
 was forced to float. For about three hours it made ineffectual 
 attempts to keep below the surface, and then died. From 
 observations made in an aquarium, it seems that mullet are in 
 the habit of sucking sand into their mouths, almost immediately 
 afterwards sending out the coarser particles. By a beautifully 
 arranged natural filter, hard substances of any considerable size 
 cannot find their way into the stomach, nor can sand get 
 access to the gills ; for this reason, therefore, it is absolutely 
 necessary that any bait used for mullet should be soft, and the 
 hook should be small. If the hook were too large, it would 
 be rejected and the bait retained. 
 
 Following up the tide into estuaries and harbours, these 
 shy fish feed greedily, sucking in various odds and ends of 
 partly decomposed matter, silkweed, ragworms, fish garbage, 
 and the like. They will swim after a ship that has come from 
 abroad into dock, and work all over its bottom with their snouts, 
 eating the softer seaweeds and small marine insects. 
 
 Mullet are very easily tamed, and, being susceptible to 
 sound, have been known to assemble for dinner on hearing the 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 357 
 
 knocking noise of the chopper employed to prepare their food. 
 So acute is the hearing of these creatures, that old mullet 
 fishers would never dream of shouting to one another, and when 
 rowing after a shoal, the men, if careful, will muffle their oars. 
 
 The thick-lipped variety is much more widely distributed 
 than are the large grey mullet. Quantities have been seen in 
 Belfast Lough and other parts of Ireland. From June to 
 September they are found on the coasts of the Orkneys and 
 Zetland, and also on the eastern and western shores of Scot- 
 land. Of all the sporting fish of the sea, grey mullet are the 
 most difficult to capture and among the gamest when hooked. 
 There are times when the lesser variety will feed ravenously, 
 and are caught in large numbers on a paternoster baited with 
 a live ragworm ; but the big fellows that we see with their broad 
 dark backs swimming round the piles in harbours, or under the 
 old-fashioned wooden jetties and piers, are singularly cautious 
 so far as taking a baited hook into their mouths is concerned. 
 In the matter of showing themselves their timidity is not 
 apparent. Sometimes they are speared or harpooned, and there 
 is a legend of an Italian gentleman who caught many fish in 
 this way from Margate Jetty. 
 
 These fish are as difficult to net as they are to secure with 
 hook and line. When first surrounded there is, to use the 
 words of the reporter, ' a scene of great confusion ' ; but pre- 
 sently they become organised, and elect a leader who carefully 
 examines the net for holes, and, failing to find any, leaps over 
 the buoy rope, the rest following. In the Mediterranean the 
 fishermen sometimes heighten their net above the surface by 
 means of pieces of cane. Another plan is to sprinkle a little 
 straw or sawdust on the water inside the net. The mullet then 
 seem unable to distinguish between the rope and the straw, and 
 take short leaps. At Naples the fishermen sometimes place 
 rafts made of .reeds close to the outside of the nets encircling 
 
358 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 the mullet, so that when the fish leap they fall on to the rafts 
 and are captured. In English waters a trammel net is often 
 found deadly. 
 
 Sometimes enormous takes of grey mullet are made in seines. 
 One of the biggest hauls on record occurred in January of this 
 year (1895). A quantity of these fish was seen in Whitesand 
 Bay, Land's End. The Sennen Cove fishermen were sent for, 
 and shot their nets by moonlight, about ten o'clock at night. 
 About twelve thousand mullet, averaging something like 4 Ibs. 
 each, were surrounded. Many of them weighed as much as 
 8 Ibs. This was a very unusual and very valuable catch, the fish, 
 which weighed several tons, selling for 6oo/. The take seemed 
 so remarkable, that I doubted the accuracy of the figures and 
 wrote to the postmaster of St. Just on the subject. He kindly 
 assures me that the report is perfectly correct, and adds that the 
 buyers who sent the fish to Paris made a very bad bargain. 
 
 Angling for these shy fish is like an incurable disease there 
 are many prescriptions for it. Some of these, I fear, do not 
 stand the test of time and are merely based on chance successes, 
 depending more on the humour of the fish than the attractive- 
 ness of the bait or 'cute arrangement of tackle. The great point 
 in mullet fishing is to use ground bait, not, as I have previously 
 explained, so much for the purpose of attracting fish as of lulling 
 their suspicions. Those who have studied the chapter on Baits 
 may remember that some years ago I suggested to the director 
 of the Marine Biological Association that macaroni might be 
 used as a vehicle for the bait extracts which a chemist employed 
 by the Association was preparing. Whether experiments were 
 ever tried with the substance, I cannot say. But now, behold ! 
 while I am at work on this chapter a sea fisherman, Mr. John 
 Kirby, under the pseudonym of j. A. c. K., sends a most enter- 
 taining and practical account of mullet fishing to the ' Field,' 
 in which he appears to prove most conclusively that the 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 359 
 
 one really successful bait for large grey mullet is macaroni. 
 This gives me some hope that the Italian paste, either 
 flavoured or not with some biological preparation, will prove a 
 useful substitute for the mussels, pilchards, and other natural 
 baits which the professional fishermen have so much difficulty 
 in obtaining. 
 
 j. A. c. K. catches his mullet in this wise. His fishing 
 ground is in the Fleet, a great backwater which separates the 
 Chesil beach, west of Portland Roads, from the mainland of 
 Dorsetshire and lies midway between Weymouth and Portland. 
 Two bridges cross it, one carrying the railway, and the other - 
 known as the Passage Bridge the public car- 
 riage road. At times this water teems with 
 mullet, and occasionally big bass put in an ap- 
 pearance. The best mullet fishing is done during 
 the ease of the tide. j. A. c. K.'S tackle consists 
 of a stiff eighteen-foot greenheart salmon rod, a 
 large Nottingham reel carrying 200 yards of 
 
 HOOK FOR 
 
 hemp line, ten feet of stout salmon gut, at the MUI.I.K.T 
 end of which is a Pennell-Limerick No. 8 hook. MACARONI 
 Above it are five or six other hook links of 
 medium salmon gut, six or seven inches long, 
 lapped to the main length on gut at intervals of eighteen inches 
 or thereabouts. Two feet above the bottom hook is a pistol 
 bullet which is split and squeezed on to three inches of fine 
 copper wire, the ends of the wire being lapped round the gut 
 at a knot. The hook baits are pieces of ordinary macaroni 
 pudding, and the gathering or ground bait boiled macaroni 
 chopped up fine. Each bait consists of about three-quarters of 
 an inch of macaroni which is big enough in the tube to admit 
 the hook without splitting. The hooks have to be carefully 
 covered and hidden. When everything is ready the angler takes 
 the running line above the point where the gut is joined to it 
 
 o 
 
360 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 and presses it into the slit of a wine cork which acts as a 
 float. 
 
 The next proceeding is to lay the rod against the parapet 
 and, after pulling a sufficient quantity of line off the reel, to 
 throw the bait into the water, and then lower the baited hooks 
 (for the moment using the tackle as a hand line) under and 
 against the very noses of the fish. The bright-looking baits, 
 so says j. A. c. K., soon attract a goodly congregation of fish, 
 which inspect them, smell them, touch them with their sensitive 
 lips, deliberate upon them, and apparently come to the decision 
 that they are most excellent food for mullet, but dangerous. 
 Therefore they absolutely decline to partake of the feast in the 
 form set before them. Presently a big old fellow will whisk 
 smartly round and deliver a stroke with his tail which knocks 
 off the bait ; a friend below opens his wide lips and the bait 
 disappears. The other baits are knocked off in the same con- 
 temptuous way and eaten. The angler smiles, says nothing, 
 and rebaits his hooks. Next he throws in some ground bait, 
 and I confess I do not see why this proceeding should not have 
 taken place earlier. This gathering or anti-suspicion bait is 
 common macaroni boiled with skimmed milk and sugar and 
 chopped up into quarter-inch lengths. As it sinks, the mullet, 
 which as likely as not are feeding on the bottom, rise up, perhaps 
 showing themselves, and take it greedily. While they are busily 
 feeding flop go the baited hooks again into the very middle of 
 them. Almost immediately a big fish will, or may, take in one 
 of the baits ; but it is a long affair, this getting food into the 
 mouth of a mullet, and the time to strike is not yet. In a few 
 seconds the float sinks, a decided backward twitch is given to 
 the line, and the fish is hooked. 
 
 All this time the rod has been leaning against the 
 parapet of the bridge, quietly and harmlessly. Many a shy fish 
 has been put down by seeing a long wooden wand waving 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 361 
 
 about between it and the bright sky. j. A. c. K.'s plan after 
 hooking a fish is to give him the butt remorselessly, in fact 
 treat him as one would a salmon which was being played, or 
 rather held, a few yards above a considerable waterfall. 
 
 The mullet has a tender mouth, and it might be supposed 
 that harsh proceedings of this kind were fatal to success, but 
 some mullet anglers declare that there is less likelihood of the 
 hook cutting out when the fish is played roughly from the very 
 onset than if he were dealt gently with and kept on the hook a 
 considerable time ; perhaps this is very much a matter of 
 opinion. Certainly strong measures adopted from the very 
 beginning of the battle sometimes appear to cow fish and take 
 all the nerve and pluck out of them. The method described 
 is suitable for fishing when the tide is slack. At the beginning 
 of the flood or ebb, four or five split wine corks should be 
 added at even distances to buoy the tackle. Throw in an 
 extra allowance of ground bait, and drop the baited hooks just 
 over it, so that all float away together. 
 
 One opinion I will venture ; that now j. A. c. K. has let out 
 the secret of his success (by the way, he catches bass as well 
 as mullet in this manner), a troop of sea fishers will forthwith 
 journey to the bridge over the Fleet and give those unfortunate 
 mullet such a dose of the bait that it will -be a case of toujours 
 macaroni, and some other lure will have to be invented. It must 
 not be supposed, however, that j. A. c. K. or anyone else has 
 been invariably successful with large grey mullet. It took this 
 ingenious fisherman six or seven weeks to bag his first mullet. 
 If he caught one he was content, if two he was pleased. Two 
 mullet averaging 8 Ibs. each and a bass of 14 Ibs. was the biggest 
 bag. These were taken in about an hour at the top of the 
 flood, and were the outcome of about ten fish run. Blank days 
 were frequent, and would be expected in a neck-of-a-bottle 
 tideway, slack water in which the gathering bait could abide 
 
 3 A 
 
362 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 round the hook baits being the essential condition precedent 
 to the mullet taking to the hook freely. One hour's suitable 
 water was the most that could be reckoned on daily. With 
 regard to j. A. c. K. holding these large fish on very small 
 hooks, I should think it very necessary that the hooks should 
 be made extra stout in the wire, otherwise they would tear out. 
 
 Here is another prescription for catching mullet : Take the 
 tough upper crust of a newly baked, plain bread bun and cut it 
 in strips about half an inch wide. These should be kept in a 
 tin for a few hours to toughen. Three-quarters of an inch cut 
 from one of these strips is the bait ; the hooks used are small. 
 The main line, which is used without a rod, consists of horse- 
 hair, at the end of which is a length of twisted gut ; the whole 
 line is buoyed by means of small pieces of cork placed along it 
 at intervals. If no fish are to be seen, breadcrumbs are scat- 
 tered about, which may or may not bring them up to feed. 
 When the whereabouts of the mullet are thus determined, the 
 line is laid along the surface, the angler being in a boat, and 
 more breadcrumbs are sprinkled around it with a lavish hand. 
 The boat retires, the fish reappear, and if they have been edu- 
 cated up to buns, will surely be caught. 
 
 The object of having hair line is to obviate the rod. It 
 is far easier to play a fish on a hair line, because of its elas- 
 ticity, than on one made of hemp. A somewhat similar plan 
 can be carried out by means of a rod and an ordinary undressed 
 silk line well soaked in vaseline. This will float for a long 
 time on the surface, particularly if a few small pieces of cork 
 are used to increase its buoyancy. 
 
 I once saw a man fishing for and catching grey mullet from 
 Dover Pier by means of a somewhat similar tackle. His line 
 was of twisted silk ; just such a one as is used on the river 
 Trent for chub, but perhaps a little thicker. At the end of it 
 was a three-yard cast, such as we should use for lake trout ; at 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 363 
 
 the end of the cast was a small hook, while at intervals of three 
 feet were two droppers. The arrangement was, in fact, just 
 like a fly cast made up for stream fishing, bare hooks being 
 substituted for flies. But in addition, between the hooks, there 
 were small fragments of cork which kept the arrangement from 
 sinking. The end hook was baited with that slimy green weed 
 which is found in harbours growing on the piles. The two 
 droppers were covered with bread paste. The day was calm, 
 which is the most favourable condition for mullet fishing, and 
 the fish were now and again visible. The tackle was very 
 carefully cast above the fish, and some breadcrumbs were 
 sprinkled over the water. The line was worked very skilfully, 
 and several fish of no great size were caught while I looked on. 
 
 In mullet fishing the element of individual skill comes very 
 much to the fore. The tackle may be right and the bait may 
 be right, but unless the angler can place the bait in a natural 
 manner before the fish, he will have but poor sport. For 
 instance, it is no use making clumsy casts and splashing down 
 corks and baits on the top of the water, nor jerking the rod 
 to get out line, thus making an inanimate piece of paste or 
 macaroni jump about as if it were alive, in the most unnatural 
 way. Except in the case of voracious fish, it is always desirable 
 to make the bait look and act, if I may use the expression, as 
 naturally as possible. 
 
 Mr. Senior in a later chapter describes the most artistic 
 method of mullet fishing carried on at Nice by local anglers 
 who wade in and, with a careful sweep of the rod, cast their 
 lightly buoyed tackle beyond the waves. At San Sebastian 
 somewhat similar gear is used, baited with small squares of 
 salted tunny ; a favourite local ground bait consisting of 
 chopped heads of sardines, potatoes, and clay squeezed up 
 into balls. One of the Mediterranean pastes for mullet fishing 
 is made from fresh roll mixed with pounded sardines or 
 
364 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 anchovies. As marine ichthyologists hold the opinion that 
 the' sardine is identical with our pilchard, this latter fish could, 
 no doubt, be used in the same way. I have heard of officers 
 stationed at Gibraltar, unable to catch fish by any other means, 
 setting small trimmers for mullet and baiting them with paste, 
 and ground baiting or surface baiting the sea all around with 
 a mixture of breadcrumbs and water. 
 
 With regard to paste, that made from bread is better than 
 the common flour paste. A piece as large as a pea will often 
 suffice, unless, of course, there are fish of from six pounds 
 upwards about. In the Channel Islands the chervin ground 
 bait (see p. 135) is used. Few ground baits are more attrac- 
 tive than pilchard guts, and pounded green crab should never 
 be forgotten. A large number of different hook baits have 
 been recommended, including shrimps and prawns, both boiled 
 and unboiled, but always peeled, pilchard guts, live ragworms, 
 cabbage, silkweed, wasp grubs, fat pork, tripe, and gentles. An 
 enormous mullet of about 12 Ibs. or 13 Ibs. was hooked by a 
 bass fisher at Tenby, who was baiting with ray's liver ; the fish 
 immediately ran out every inch of line, and then broke a 
 strong, treble-plaited gut trace. 
 
 Generally speaking, mullet are caught more easily in salt 
 water than in the brackish water of estuaries, and the best of all 
 times to begin fishing is an hour before daybreak, if the tide 
 suits. Of course, in places where the tide runs strongly we 
 have to fish according to circumstances ; but wherever mullet 
 are found unapproachable in the daytime, very early morning 
 fishing should be tried. 
 
 The little there is to be written concerning fly fishing for 
 mullet will be found on page 173. 
 
 To any who would condemn sea fishing on account of the 
 ease with which the quarry are captured, may I respectfully 
 suggest a short course of mullet or big bass fishing ? 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 365 
 
 The POLLACK, of all the members of the Gadida or Cod 
 family, is, from a sportsman's point of view, by far the most 
 important. When first caught it is a very beautiful fish ; its 
 back of dark green bronze, lightening towards the sides, where 
 it is marked with gold, the belly being nearly white. Soon after 
 death, however, its back darkens, its lower portions become 
 a dirty white, and the beautiful brown eyes get quickly glazed 
 over. In shape it closely resembles the coalfish, but anyone 
 who has once seen the two side by side will never mistake them, 
 the coalfish having a bluish-black back and none of the golden 
 brown colour of the pollack. Moreover, the coalfish has 
 depending from its lower jaw a rudimentary barbule, while the 
 pollack has none. As there are instances on record of fish 
 having been caught which appeared to be hybrids between 
 Gadus pollachius and Gadus carbonarius (coalfish), it is quite 
 possible that the angler may at times be puzzled to determine 
 the exact species of his capture. 
 
 The size of the pollack seems to depend very much upon 
 locality. On many parts of our South coast one of 4 Ibs. would 
 be regarded as large, while at other places a five-pounder would 
 be deemed a fish of no importance. Those I have caught on 
 the north-west coast of Scotland ran from 4 Ibs. to n Ibs. 
 in weight. Couch stated that he had a specimen weighing 
 24 Ibs., and there is Lord St. Levan's Land's End fish of about 
 the same weight. A friend tells me, however, that he has 
 occasionally heard of fish weighing 30 Ibs. to 35 Ibs. : these are 
 certainly very rare. 
 
 On the West coast of Scotland and off the Isle of Man 
 pollack are, rightly or wrongly, supposed to follow the herrings, 
 keeping at some distance seaward until the autumn, when their 
 prey comes inshore and enters the sea lochs. When the 
 herrings depart, the pollack follow, and pass the winter in deep 
 water such is the belief of the fishermen. The only reason 
 
366 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 to doubt this is that we cannot see beneath the surface, and it 
 may be that the fish only take a bait well when herrings, &c. 
 are about. The probability is that the smaller and more active 
 school pollack follow the herrings, mackerel, &c., while the 
 larger fish always haunt their fastnesses off headlands and rocky 
 places generally. 
 
 Pollack are believed to spawn between Christmas and the 
 early spring, the exact period probably differing, as it does with 
 most fish, according to the locality. 
 
 Mr. Mathias Dunn, of Mevagissey, has placed on record 
 an interesting account of porpoises attacking both the young 
 and full-grown pollack. Some Mevagissey fishermen saw a 
 battle of the kind taking place, and on putting about and sail- 
 ing up to the spot, found that over thirty large pollack in a more 
 or less moribund condition were floating on the sea. 
 
 There are very few places on our coasts where pollack are 
 altogether wanting, but in apparently suitable localities they 
 are occasionally very scarce. Small and medium sized fish are 
 found in great quantities on the Devonshire coast, growing 
 larger as we reach Land's End. So far as I know, the best 
 sport of all with pollack is obtained on the coasts of Scotland 
 and Ireland, where, the fish not being very saleable, they are 
 not sought after by the professional fishermen, and are, in 
 consequence, very plentiful. 
 
 I rather incline to the opinion that pollack fishing is very 
 easily overdone, and fishing grounds more particularly those 
 skirting headlands and outlying islands more or less depopu- 
 lated, at any rate for a time. When fishing is carried on over 
 large submerged reefs of rocks, and generally in fairly deep 
 water, the fish may be both scattered and plentiful, and no 
 appreciable harm will result from the angler's attacks. But if 
 you take a number of small channels between islands little 
 pieces of water which are almost like rivers and ponds in a 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 367 
 
 week's fishing most of the largest pollack will be thinned out, 
 and the place may feel the effect of the attack for a considerable 
 period. The same may be said of a solitary headland, a resort 
 for pollack along miles of otherwise barren coast. I have seen 
 several instances of spoilt pollack grounds ; take, for example, 
 the end of Filey Brigg. At one time this spot had a reputation 
 for large pollack, but now very few are caught there, the con- 
 stant whiffing to and fro across the end of the Brigg having, it 
 seems, thinned out the fish. 
 
 I once spent a few days at Scourie, on the west coast of 
 Sutherlandshire (people go there to visit the island of Handa), 
 and did a good deal of whiffing for pollack. I fished there for 
 a whole day, catching only one lythe, as these fish are termed 
 in Scotland. In the evening our man confessed that there 
 were ' no many lythe ' thereabouts. There used to be plenty, 
 but he thought most of them had been caught. If we a 
 friend and I would go a couple of miles down the coast we 
 should do much better. So we forthwith set sail, arrived at the 
 spot in question, and left our boat in a sheltered bay for the 
 night. We walked over there the next morning and had some 
 very fine sport. 
 
 The wanderings of sea fish are so mysterious and uncertain 
 that I may be utterly wrong in my surmises ; but, in any event, 
 there is no particular object in slaughtering these fine sporting 
 fish by hundredweights. When forty or fifty pounds of pollack 
 have been brought into the boat the rest might very well be 
 returned. Unfortunately, these fish do not keep well, and 
 therefore, if a great quantity are caught they are as likely as 
 not to be wasted. In fact, they are only fairly good eating on 
 the day of capture, but superior to coalfish. They are greatly 
 improved by being crimped as soon as caught, and make by 
 no means despicable kippers. 
 
 The pollack does not possess so many local names as the 
 
3&8 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 coalfish, but is fairly well supplied in that respect. On many 
 parts of the English coast he is always termed the 2v hi ting 
 pollack, and the great North-country and Scotch name for him 
 is lythe. Other local names are heat, leet, laithe, skeet, green- 
 ling, and greenfish. 
 
 The pollack is essentially a rock fish, loving a free run of 
 water, and frequenting the shallows rather than the deeps. I 
 have caught large lythe in only four or five feet of water, and in 
 the evening known them leap up into the air after a bright 
 spinning bait as it was being drawn into the boat which had 
 just passed over them. In the daytime they very much 
 resemble pike, lying hidden among seaweed, ready to pounce 
 out upon any passing prawn or fish, but rarely troubling to 
 come to midwater or to the surface. Thus it has often been 
 said that pollack fishing in the daytime is a useless proceeding, 
 the fact being that the anglers have been at fault in not sinking 
 their baits to bring them within sight of the quarry. I am not 
 speaking of small fish, but of the large lythe one finds in the 
 north of Britain. Small fish of one to four pounds are often 
 very plentiful in fairly deep water where the bottom is rocky, 
 perhaps congregating together in some little basin among the 
 rocks, or other favourite place. There ragworm or live shrimp 
 fished near the bottom would probably be successful. When 
 such a spot is discovered, the marks should be very carefully 
 taken. 
 
 A friend whose veracity is beyond question tells me that 
 once when leaning over the boat and looking down through 
 the clear, smooth water, he saw a strange sight. A pollack of 
 6 Ibs. rose from the bottom and seized and absorbed a rubber 
 eel which was hanging motionless from the boat. The day 
 was sunny, which makes the incident the more remarkable. 
 
 The various methods of pollack fishing have already been 
 described in previous chapters. Amongst others there is drift 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH __ 369 
 
 lining with live sand-eels, whiffing with dead ones on natural 
 or artificial spinning baits, and fly fishing or whiffing with large 
 sea flies. 
 
 There is no absolute rule in the matter of pollack baits, 
 the fish having what I may term local appetites. But the two 
 which stand first and foremost are sand-eelsalive for prefer- 
 ence and a very young sea or freshwater eel. Almost, if not 
 quite, as good are any small fish of elongated shape, such as the 
 gunnel, variously known as butterfish and swordick of Orkney 
 and the nine eyes of Cornwall. For moderate-sized pollack there 
 are few more deadly baits than the large ragworm, which, on 
 that account, is termed on some parts of our coast the pollack 
 worm. Of artificial baits there are few better than a red 
 rubber eel, sole-skin baits, and the red phantom. Often more 
 successful than the foregoing are the feather baits mentioned 
 in Chapter IV. They are sometimes found more effective in 
 the daytime than the rubber eels. 
 
 The best pollacking is enjoyed during the early autumn, 
 but a quantity of small fish are caught during the summer. 
 On the coast of Devonshire thousands of small pollack are 
 taken on whiffing lines in the early spring. A large number 
 of baits (see Belgian Grub, p. 139) are used, and often several 
 small fish are hauled in at once. About pierheads and such- 
 like places there frequently lurk a few pollack, and those who 
 would catch them must rise early, before the water has been 
 disturbed by boats, steamers, and paternosters, and let a single 
 hook baited with a live pollack worm hooked through the head 
 the line being weighted with a half-ounce pipe lead down 
 among the fish, which, if not feeding very bravely, will often be 
 tempted, particularly if a slight sink and draw motion is given 
 to the bait. A few pollack are caught from Deal Pier in this 
 manner during the early spring and summer. 
 
 When pilchards or any other fish or marine creatures on 
 
 3 B 
 
370 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 which pollack feed are very abundant, the artificial bait some- 
 times fails ; then the angler should study as far as possible to 
 fall in with the passing fancy of the fish. A six-inch strip of 
 pilchard-skin together with a smaller piece of mackerel-skin is 
 often used as a bait on the Cornish coast. Three inches of 
 gurnard-skin is a good whiffing bait. Where the fish run very 
 large, large baits must be used. 1 have known success attend 
 the use of indiarubber eels, made by an amateur out of a piece 
 of black rubber tubing, double as thick and double as long as 
 the baits ordinarily sold in the tackle shops. The hooks on 
 which these indiarubber eels are mounted are tinned, and very 
 apt to be rather blunt ; indeed, when fishing in the daytime 
 close to the bottom the hooks are likely to come in frequent 
 contact with the rocks and so get their points smashed. It is 
 very desirable, therefore, to carry either a watchmaker's file or 
 a roughish quick-biting hone for renewing the point. Sharp 
 hooks are of the first importance in sea fishing. 
 
 May I again remind the tiro that the pollack is a powerful 
 fish and requires very strong tackle, and that this is particularly 
 the case in water of moderate depth where the bottom is rocky 
 and weedy, for headlong will the fish go into his submarine 
 fastnesses unless firmly held. There must be no yielding to a 
 pollack in his first rush, except in some places where the bottom 
 is fairly free from seaweed or the depth of water is consider- 
 able. 
 
 The COALFISH, a fine sporting fish, is remarkable for the 
 extraordinary number of aliases under which he passes. Ich- 
 thyologists have given him various Latin names, but these 
 fade into insignificance before the remarkable titles by which 
 he is known on different parts of our coast. He is probably 
 called coalfish on account of the nearly black colour of his 
 back, which, however, in some places is a dark green. He is 
 the saithe of Scotland ; in Cornwall they call him the rauning, 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 371 
 
 or ravenous pollack while the commonest name for him on the 
 Yorkshire coast is parr in childhood, and billet in middle age. 
 Coalsey, coal w kiting, and black pollack are also common names, 
 and those who have visited the north-west coast of Ireland, 
 and are taken out glissaun fishing, will recognise in their cap- 
 tures the billet of Scarborough. The Irish fishermen, by the 
 way, have a theory which is very likely founded on fact, that 
 when a glissaun or coalfish is hooked and is drawn through the 
 water, its comrades follow it, regarding it as the leader of the 
 shoal. Two lines, and often more, are used, depending from 
 long bamboo rods, the bait being a rough wool-bodied fly. 
 When a fish is hooked it is not drawn in until a second glissaun 
 has taken a fly. Then one line is hauled in, and the other, with 
 the unfortunate fish struggling at the end, left out for the shoal 
 to follow. The sport, while it lasts, is fast and furious, and 
 there is no difficulty in keeping a fish out on one of the lines. 
 Mackerel fishermen have much the same idea. When fishing 
 in fresh water I have often, seen several fish follow one I had 
 hooked and was bringing to the surface. Chub, perch, and 
 sometimes roach will do this. Once a chub, hooked some 
 fifteen yards from my punt, was followed in every turn and 
 movement by another of about the same size which swam 
 close to its side, and did not leave it until the landing net was 
 about to be used. There are similar instances on record in the 
 case of trout and, I think, salmon, in which both fish have 
 been netted. 
 
 The late Dr. Day collected a number of local names for 
 coalfish, from which I complete my incomplete list. Sillocks 
 (Scotland) ; blue-backs (Yorkshire) ; also haddock, bit, billiard, 
 black pollack, black jack, bleck, coalsey, coal whiting, colemie, 
 colmey, cooth, cuddy, dargie, gilpin, glassock, glashan, glossan, 
 glossin, green cod, green pollack, gull-fish, harbine, kuth, lob, lob- 
 keeling, moulrush, piltock, podlie, podling, prinkle, rock-salmon, 
 
372 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 saithe, sethe, sey-pollack, skrae-fish, stenlock, and tibrie. The fry 
 are variously termed soil, poodler, billets, or billiards, up to one 
 year ; also cuddies, saithes, coalman, saidhean, or suyeen (Moray 
 Firth), gerrocks (Banff), and herring-hake (Aberdeen). In 
 County Down the fry are gilpins, next size blockan, then gray- 
 lord, and adults glashan. In some localities the young are 
 cudden, pickey, and gtassin. At Portrush the following names 
 are given according to the age of the fish : cadan (pr. cudden}, 
 ceithnach (pr. catenach), glasan (pr. glashin), and, when full- 
 grown, gray-lord. 
 
 The name cuddy is, so far as my experience goes, commonly 
 applied to the young of both pollack and coalfish in Scotland, 
 but is, perhaps, more strictly the property of the young of the 
 saithe. These little fish give rare sport to the fly fisher on a 
 warm August evening, as I have described on p. 168. They 
 sometimes come very short to the fly which, if fish skin, may 
 have its holding powers improved by the addition of a small 
 triangle just beyond its tail. 
 
 Coalfish are found on all our coasts, but are, perhaps, most 
 plentiful off Yorkshire, in the north of Scotland, and all round 
 Ireland. They are sometimes taken in the Downs by the 
 whiting and cod fishermen. The coasts they appear to favour 
 are steep and rocky, and when they come close inshore in the 
 evening on the top of the tide, chasing sand-eels or the herring 
 fry, they give grand sport indeed to the man who can cast a 
 straight line and can play a fish. 
 
 Though found close to the shore, they like not such 
 shallow waters as are frequented by pollack, the largest fish 
 being taken in several fathoms of water on the edge of a tide- 
 way. It is, as a rule, when feeding on the fry of other fish 
 that they come close to the surface. At other times they hunt 
 in shoals along the bottom in search of food, and may be caught 
 on any ordinary bottom-fishing tackle. I have made several 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 373 
 
 good bugs of them on the Yorkshire coast when paternostering 
 for cod, using mussels as bait. Coalfish spawn in the spring, 
 and by August attain the cuddy size of about four or five 
 inches, when little bare-legged youngsters sit on projecting rocks 
 and catch dozens of them. 
 
 I have a lively recollection of initiating some ladies into 
 this small form of sea fishing, one stormy day in the Lews. 
 An immense trap dyke runs for some distance into the land, 
 exhibiting on the coast a sheer wall of rock between two and 
 three hundred feet high, which trends in gigantic steps down 
 to the water. On one of these steps, in shelter of the rocks 
 rising abruptly behind us, we sat in mackintoshes and cared 
 little for a south-west gale which sprang up. 
 
 We began about low water, and then the little fish would 
 only feed near the bottom. Our hooks were of the smallest, baited 
 with fragments of the dwarfed mussels growing almost at hand 
 among the crevices. As {he tide rose, the fish came gradu- 
 ally nearer the surface, until, at the full flood, they were feeding 
 within a foot of our little cork floats. The rain ceased, but the 
 wind blew harder than ever, and I shall never forget our walk 
 back to the lodge along the top of the cliffs. The whole country 
 was running water, and every few yards small streams were 
 pouring over the edge of the cliffs. But these hastily impro- 
 vised waterfalls had not dropped a fathom before the wind 
 caught them and hurled them back on to the moor, deluging 
 us with the drainings of the land. However, home we brought 
 our cuddies dead eleven dozen of them and delicate eating 
 they proved that night at dinner. The following day they 
 were soft and watery. 
 
 A friend living in the islands still further north caught no 
 fewer than two hundred score of cuddies in one winter ; but 
 these were fish varying from three-quarters of a pound to one 
 and a half pound. In Orkney there is a spring run of coalfish 
 
374 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 which go from ten to twenty pounds in weight, large numbers 
 of which are caught by the fishermen, who trail small eels. 
 Both in the Orkneys and Shetlands the liver is cut out for 
 oil, the rest of the fish being often thrown away or used for 
 manure. I believe there is an oily extract from the liver 
 which is of service in tanning. 
 
 As food the coalfish is certainly inferior to the pollack, 
 having a peculiar flavour of its own which is not altogether 
 pleasant, and lies, I imagine, in the skin. This can, however, 
 be overcome by judicious manipulation in the culinary depart- 
 ment. An excellent way of dealing with a large catch of these 
 fish is to have them kippered. I made the experiment some 
 years ago, and the result was a success in every way. In fact, 
 there is hardly a fish in the sea which cannot be treated in this 
 manner. A kippered codling is certainly much better eating 
 than the same fish plain boiled. Kippered mackerel, too, is a 
 most estimable creation of civilis.ation. But it is, alack ! a 
 thing to be eaten with caution, not to say fear, for the mackerel 
 being a bad-keeping fish, it frequently happens that the unscru- 
 pulous fishermen, if unable to dispose of their take at a fair 
 profit, sometimes hurry their two-days-old fish into the smoke 
 house and produce an article which, though tasting well enough, 
 is apt to work ill on those who eat of it. An imperceptible 
 but very dangerous decomposition originates in the mackerel 
 not very long after it has been caught. Beware of those which 
 are dull as to their gills on the fishmonger's slab, or weedy as 
 to their brown flesh when on the table. 
 
 But to return to gadus alias, which is as appropriate a 
 term for him as any of those conferred by Linnseus, Pennant, 
 Couch, Yarrell, and the rest. As the coalfish feeds on the 
 surface, in midwater, and on the bottom, there is hardly a 
 method of fishing described in previous chapters which will not 
 suffice to take him ; but the best sport of all is certainly to be 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 375 
 
 obtained with the fly rod when he is feeding near the surface. 
 He rises savagely at the fly, like a fresh-run sea trout as yet in 
 ignorance of the wiles of the angler, and if there is a big shoal 
 of them, should one by any accident miss, another will take his 
 place before the fly is lifted from the water. These fish are 
 grand swimmers and full of pluck, and play gamely from first 
 to last. 
 
 The very strong tackle necessary for pollack is hardly re- 
 quired for coalfish, for they can be played in orthodox fashion ; 
 but there must be abundance of line on the reel, as a provision 
 against conflicts with large fish. Whirling you may take them ; 
 paternostering you may take them ; and they pick up a bait 
 lying on the bottom. But a mussel, or piece of fish skin, or 
 lugworm, will be infinitely more attractive if moved through the 
 water. If there is a slight bobble of the sea. and we are fishing 
 from a boat, it is best not to let the lead rest on the bottom, 
 but to wind it up a foot or two, which will cause the baits to 
 dance up and down and keep time with the motion of the 
 boat. When these fish are met with, the angler should make 
 the most of his time, for the shoal may not stop under the boat 
 or close to the rocks more than half an hour. While there 
 they will be caught as fast as the line can be cast in, the fish 
 played and unhooked, unless the angler is a bungler. On the 
 whole, I am almost inclined to say that gadus alias ranks 
 higher as a sporting fish even than the pollack, though the latter 
 takes precedence in this chapter as being more frequently 
 sought after, and better known to sea fishermen. 
 
 SALMON and SEA TROUT are such undoubted sea fishes, 
 coming into fresh water for breeding purposes, and possibly in 
 the case of salmon in very large rivers early in the year for pro- 
 tection from seals, porpoises, and other enemies, that it seems 
 right they should have a place in this volume. In dealing with 
 the subject of fly fishing in the sea I have already mentioned a 
 
3?6 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 few places at which they have been caught in salt water. As 
 a general rule salmon are too scattered to afford much sport. 
 Compared with other sea fish, they are certainly scarce, and, 
 all things considered, this is not surprising. Where they of 
 necessity collect and are wedged up together, as in Loch Roag, 
 Island of Lewis, a very long and narrow inlet, the angler has 
 his finest opportunity. But in the broad mouths of great rivers 
 the fisherman may toil all day and perhaps not present his fly 
 to a single fish. 
 
 In America and Canada enormous runs of salmon occur, 
 the fish being swept up by means of revolving traps arranged 
 something after the fashion of a watermill wheel, thence 
 turned down a trough, knocked on the head, and ultimately 
 canned. The fish are in such enormous numbers as to afford 
 very fine sport at the mouths of these fruitful rivers, particu- 
 larly in Vancouver, where quantities are caught on spoons and 
 similar baits both by sportsmen and the Indians. There, I 
 take it, the sport results mainly from the quantity of the fish 
 and their concentration in one particular part of the sea. If it 
 should ever happen that, thanks to wiser laws than at present 
 exist, coupled with their proper enforcement, our rivers should 
 be freed from pollution and restocked by means of fish culture, 
 then, I imagine, there would be many more places in which 
 the sea angler might have an opportunity of plying his art on 
 the king of anadromous fishes. 
 
 I should, however, mention here that on many rocks there 
 is a tradition that salmon will not rise in the tidal pools, re- 
 fusing the fly until they have reached fresh water. Sea trout, 
 on the other hand, rise freely in brackish water. 
 
 SEA TROUT appear to hang about the coastline all through 
 the summer, lying close to the rocks in the shelter of over- 
 hanging weeds, and may be caught in two to four feet of water. 
 They are, too, far more plentiful than salmon. If in consider- 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 377 
 
 able numbers, they are, perhaps, best fished for in many places 
 from the shore, the fly, or worm, or spinning bait being cast just 
 over the edge of the weeds. An excellent bait, too, for the 
 purpose is that cut out of a piece of sole-skin (p. 138). If, on 
 the other hand, the fish are scarce, and it is necessary to trail a 
 long distance to make sure of the bait being presented to a 
 sufficient number, then, of course, a boat must be used. Such 
 fishing, trolling, trailing, or spinning, as you please to call it, is 
 carried on extensively in the kyles of Durness and Tongue with 
 natural sand-eels or other bright spinning baits, natural or arti- 
 ficial. Very large sea trout are caught in this way, the tackle 
 being much the same as would be used in fresh water. The 
 amount of lead should be varied according to the force of the 
 current and depth of the water ; but just enough to keep the 
 line from kinking, a quarter of an ounce or a little more, is as 
 a rule sufficient, as the sea trout generally feed close to the 
 surface. If the water be thickened by storms or flood water 
 from rivers, then more lead should be used and the bait fished 
 near the bottom. The lightest possible anti-kinking lead is 
 shown in the illustration on p. 260. Note that the lead wire 
 is placed above the swivels. 
 
 Some years ago naturalists supposed that there were several 
 species of trout. Now, owing to the observations of fish 
 culturists, who by keeping fish in their ponds have reduced this 
 branch of ichthyology to a more or less exact science, the better 
 opinion seems to be that there is but one trout, which is subject 
 to variations in its appearance according to local surroundings, 
 food, sex, and age. If it be rightly assumed that the fish in 
 Loch Leven were originally sea trout which subsequently be- 
 came landlocked, there is apparently no difference between a 
 sea trout and the common brown trout of our rivers. In Loch 
 Leven these fish certainly have an appearance somewhat sug- 
 gestive of sea trout ; but in other waters they so change their 
 
378 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 appearance as to become indistinguishable from common brown 
 trout. Here, then, we have sea trout, if my first presumption 
 be correct, changing into rather remarkable loch trout and, 
 when bred in the fish culturists' ponds, developing into ordi- 
 nary fario. Assuming we are correct so far, the very interesting 
 question arises whether the sea trout is a river trout which has 
 left fresh water to seek the more abundant food supplies of 
 the ocean, or the river trout is a sea trout which has pushed 
 into fresh water to spawn and has taken up its abode in rivers ? 
 Brown trout, sea trout, and salmon are evidently closely 
 allied. 
 
 In the Antipodes the statement has many times gone forth 
 that salmon have at last been acclimatised and been caught. 
 The fact so far seems to be that the Antipodean salmon are 
 ordinary brown trout which have left the rivers, taken to marine 
 habits, and put on the silvery coat of the salmon or sea trout. 
 A number of New Zealand trout recently were sent to Mr. 
 Bambridge, of Eton, in a frozen condition by Mr. A. H. 
 Strong, of Ashburton, New Zealand, with the following com- 
 munication : 
 
 I have taken them in the salt water, and landed them in the 
 breakers. All the fish taken at the mouth of the river are as white 
 as silver, and the spots come out and show only after death. 
 Higher up the river the fish are freely spotted and darker. The 
 flesh varies from white to cream colour ; but I have had trout from 
 Lake Heron very deeply spotted, and with the flesh deep orange 
 not pink like char and salmon. There is no doubt that the trout 
 go to sea, as they are caught in nets outside, and miles from the 
 river. The strangest thing about these trout is that, although 
 several varieties have been put into the river, we never seem to 
 take any other variety than those I sent. I have put over 1 5,000 
 Salmo fontinalis in the main rivers ; but no one has ever taken one 
 out, though when put into a small stream by themselves, they do 
 well and grow to three or four pounds weight. They are then 
 splendid fish and very game. 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 379 
 
 In British waters we have trout acting in just the same way, 
 though not growing to the same size, and there is not much 
 doubt that the ordinary brown trout and sea trout sometimes 
 breed together, producing fish which are neither one nor the 
 other. In the chapter on Fly Fishing I have referred to the slob 
 trout of the Shannon and other Irish rivers. These estuary 
 trout have received the attention of naturalists for many years. 
 Knox, in his 'Lone Glens of Scotland,' published in 1854, 
 refers to some taken at the mouth of the Nith, and also re- 
 corded fish of the same variety in the Kyle of Bute, Loch Fyne, 
 the Forth, and the Yorkshire Esk. Dr. Giinther describes 
 specimens coming from Galway. Dr. Day, in ' British and Irish 
 Fishes,' mentions them as common at Waterford. At Portrush, 
 in Ireland, they are known as dolachan. These fish very 
 frequently retain their red spots, and their river markings can 
 be traced through the silver sheen. I have caught a good 
 many in a tributary of the Shannon. In Norway it is a 
 common thing to catch brown trout in the fjords a considerable 
 distance from the river's mouth. 
 
 MACKEREL. The mere name recalls pleasant visions of 
 rippling waters flecked with white, of sunny skies, and the 
 healthy, salt, sea breeze whistling through the rigging ; of a pile 
 of little silver billets, two or three still quivering in the throes 
 of death, and of a weather-beaten man with genial face who 
 gently encourages us to continue hauling in those two-pound 
 leads, breaking backs none the less. There are three hundred 
 mackerel lying on the floor of the lugger, which means that we 
 have hauled in our lines three hundred or more times. No ! 
 friend, we have come for pleasure, not for toil. If you would 
 add to the catch, take the lines yourself while we recline in the 
 stern sheets and smoke, and hold that tiller smoothed by 
 hardened hands on many a voyage. 
 
 Everyone is acquainted with the appearance and taste of 
 
380 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 the mackerel, but few would be the wiser for the telling that of 
 branchiostegals it has seven, that pseudobranchise are present, 
 that the air bladder when present is simple, and that pyloric 
 appendages are numerous. He is a fish of brilliant colours, 
 marvellous activity, and when fresh caught is most beautiful. 
 Scomber scomber is his most approved classic title, but 
 naturalists have several names for him, some asserting that 
 there are several species, others that, as with trout, there are 
 simply certain differences of appearance of no fixed character, 
 all the mackerels being in fact one and the same fish. 
 
 The only local names for mackerel which I have come 
 across are the terms joey for the shoals of immature fish a few 
 inches in length which appear in the Bristol Channel in 
 September ; shiners, a. name used off the West coast ; and 
 harvest mackerel, large fish caught at end of summer. The 
 great majority of mackerel in the Bristol Channel appear to be 
 immature, but are not so small as the joeys which weigh half a 
 pound or thereabouts. Round about the rocks will be found 
 fish three or four times as large ; but these are coarse and poor 
 eating, while the half-pounders are particularly delicate. 
 
 Some of the finest mackerel come from Ireland. There 
 the nets sometimes secure from 15,000 to 30,000 fish per boat. 
 On many parts of the East coast of England large numbers of 
 mackerel are caught by means of nets. Lines are not much 
 used, the fishermen declaring that the water is too thick for the 
 fish to see the bait ; but whether this view be correct or not I 
 have never had an opportunity of testing. 
 
 On all our coasts this useful fish is more or less abundant, 
 and is widely distributed over the more temperate portions 
 of the world. Some of the best are caught in the English 
 Channel ; some of the worst, from an edible point of view, in 
 the Mediterranean. As a matter of fact, we know very little 
 about the wanderings of the great shoals of mackerel, beyond 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 381 
 
 the fact that in winter they stand far out to sea, and in summer 
 come close inshore. For years they may apparently forsake 
 one portion of the coast and then return to it again in 
 undiminished numbers. Such changes are possibly in con- 
 sequence of the natural food supply having diminished ; as 
 soon as it has regained its former condition the fish return. 
 One of the earliest places at which mackerel are found inshore 
 is Plymouth, the local boats sometimes taking them in February 
 or March. But for our purpose they are a summer fish, and 
 admirably serve to while away the time at many a seaside 
 resort, the resources of which, natural and artificial, are soon 
 exhausted. 
 
 Among the many reasons for which we should regard the 
 mackerel with especial favour is the fact that they are, in their 
 small way, tending to increase the wealth of an impoverished 
 country, Ireland to wit. I see from the Fishery Reports that 
 in 1893, 467,560 barrels of mackerel, valued at 152, 5i2/., were 
 caught on the Irish coasts, principally west and south ; and 
 over 51,000 barrels of Irish mackerel were cured and sent to 
 America. Pickled mackerel is to the New Yorker what salted 
 herring is to the German ; and by the late failure of the 
 American mackerel fishery Ireland has been greatly benefited. 
 I am glad to say that the development of the West coast 
 fisheries continues, thanks in a great measure to the active 
 endeavours of the Congested Districts Board. In 1893, 6,579 
 vessels and boats, manned by 24,001 men and 1,215 boys, took 
 part in the fisheries, showing an increase .of 208 vessels since 
 the previous year ; 730 more men and 240 more boys having 
 become engaged in this work. We even find eleven Irish boats 
 from Wicklow attending the Scotch herring fishery, a piece of 
 enterprise which it is to be hoped was well rewarded. 
 
 Talking of enterprise, when the American mackerel fisheries 
 failed, a fishing schooner from Gloucester, Massachusetts, sailed 
 
382 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 right away to Norway in hopes of making a haul of those very 
 large and handsome Norwegian mackerel which in America 
 fetch a high price. Owing to bad weather, only fifty-nine 
 barrels of fish "were captured. The return voyage, a distance 
 of 4,400 miles, was made in twenty-two days. American 
 fishermen have even visited the coast of Africa in search of 
 mackerel ! 
 
 There are some very tall stories related by old writers about 
 mackerel. According to ^Elian, the fishermen of his time used 
 to train them to act as decoys, just as a little dog is trained to 
 lead wild ducks into the hoop nets of the wildfowler. These 
 remarkable fish would head a shoal and lead it into the nets 
 which were ready spread. More than this, the progeny of 
 these decoy scombers inherited the same remarkable powers. 
 Then there is another story of a Norwegian sailor who went 
 bathing, when a shoal of hungry mackerel surrounded, and 
 nibbled and worried until by gentle persistence they worked 
 him some distance out to sea. Assistance came in the shape of 
 men in a boat, but it was with some difficulty the poor fellow 
 was lifted on board, and he was in such a state of exhaustion 
 from loss of blood that he soon died ! 
 
 Another charming story, of the nature of so many found in 
 popular natural histories, was once told by Lacepede, who 
 quoted Admiral Pleville-Lepley as his authority. On the 
 coast of Greenland are certain shallow bays which are almost 
 land-locked. The water is clear, and the bottom of mud. 
 There, throughout the winter, thousands of mackerel might 
 be seen with their heads stuck in the mud and their tails 
 pointing skywards ! As might be supposed, when they first 
 resumed the vertical position at the advent of summer, their 
 eyesight was affected, and they were netted without difficulty ; 
 later on they were caught with hooks and lines. I love these 
 old stories which writer after writer repeats so carefully, each 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 383 
 
 with some little touches and additions of his own, just to give 
 'an air of verisimilitude to a bald and otherwise unattractive 
 narrative.' 
 
 There are four methods of mackerel fishing. The largest 
 catches are usually made by means of drift nets which are 
 simply walls of netting, buoyed on one side, that drift with the 
 tide during the night. The mackerel run against them, push 
 their heads through the mesh, and are held captured. As the 
 fish swim near the surface, the nets are not so deep as those 
 used for herrings, and are often very much longer, eleven or 
 twelve nets knotted together extending, perhaps, two and a 
 half miles. 
 
 After mackerel have spawned in the spring they quickly 
 recover their condition and, coming nearer the shore, take a 
 bait eagerly. Then the net fishermen, in addition to capturing 
 them in drift nets, use the seine, and surround the shoals which 
 are seen breaking the surface inshore, chasing the britt or sile, 
 as the young herrings and sprats are variously termed. At 
 night I have known them to come on the sand in only a few 
 inches of water, probably to feed on sand-eels. I have described 
 at an earlier page how, wading on shore one night when my 
 boat was stranded, I walked through a shoal of mackerel which 
 made the sea beautiful by stirring up the phosphorescence. 
 This phosphorescence, by the way, is sometimes called by the 
 fishermen ' marfire ' (i.e. sea-fire, from mare or mer), ' brimming,' 
 and ' waterburn.' It is not favourable to drift-line fishing, as it 
 no doubt discloses the position of the nets. On the other 
 hand, it is helpful to the fishermen in search of the shoals, for 
 as the fish swim near the surface their position is distinctly 
 visible on the darkest night. I have heard of fishermen knock- 
 ing a piece of wood against the outside planks of a boat, and 
 when they noticed numbers of fish darting away, making a trail 
 of light as they went, the nets would be shot. 
 
384 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Of line fishing there are three kinds : first, railing, whiff- 
 ing, trailing, or plummeting, as it is variously called ; and much 
 difference of opinion exists among fishermen as to the best 
 gear to use for the purpose. I have illustrated and explained 
 the different forms of tackle on pages 277 to 281. Though 
 the ideas of fishermen vary considerably on the subject, there 
 is little to choose between the various gear, except that some 
 tow more steadily than others. 
 
 The bait of baits is undoubtedly the laske, or last, which is 
 illustrated and explained on p. 107. Those who indulge much 
 in mackerel fishing should provide themselves with dried gurnard 
 or sole skin, to use as temporary laskes until a fish has been 
 caught. A bait which is sometimes used with success when 
 nothing better is forthcoming is a piece of tobacco pipe. Next 
 the hook should always be two or three yards of gut, medium 
 or stout according to the run of the fish, and the heavier and 
 .more clumsy the lead, the more distant from it should be the 
 bait in other words, the longer should be the snood. I need 
 only add that for small mackerel the small hook shown on 
 p. 261 should be used, while for larger fish the larger of the 
 two will be better. These seem large hooks for so small fish, 
 but the mackerel has a very big mouth, and the longer shank 
 is a great advantage in enabling the fisherman to unhook the 
 fish quickly. 
 
 The management of the boat is, of course, important. In 
 the first place, it must be taken to the right fishing grounds ; and, 
 secondly, it should be sailed at the right speed, which can be 
 effected by carefully trimming the sails. The best time of the 
 day for fishing is from daybreak till about twelve o'clock. If 
 the wind is very light and the water clear, fish can be caught 
 on very fine tackle when they will not look at the ordinary gear 
 used by the fishermen. Under such circumstances the speed 
 will be low and a very light lead should be used. Whether 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 385 
 
 such heavy leads as are commonly used are really required I 
 very much doubt. One summer, at Tenby, I fished persistently 
 with a lead of about three ounces, while the fishermen kept 
 to their two-pounders. I caught about twenty-five per cent, 
 more fish than they did and with considerably less labour. 
 It can hardly be doubted that the very large leads towed 
 through the water tend to scare the fish. 
 
 The two remaining methods of fishing are from a boat at 
 anchor. Off Scarborough and other places a fair number of 
 mackerel are caught by means of an unleaded line terminated 
 with a single gut snooding and a hook baited with the laske. 
 The bait simply drifts out with the tide, and the bites of the 
 fish are easily felt. The boat is usually moored on the edge of 
 a big eddy just off the run of the tide. This is one of those 
 methods which have been carried on successfully with the rod, 
 and very pretty fishing it is when the mackerel are biting freely. 
 I rather improved on this plan by adding a float and a half- 
 ounce lead to the tackle and letting it out with the tide, and 
 have caught a good many mackerel in this way. The float 
 enables one to see exactly where the bait is. To search the 
 water thoroughly the pipe lead should be placed three feet 
 from the hook, and the float, which is such a one as we 
 should use in jack fishing (see p. 200), two feet above the 
 pipe lead. For the running tackle there is nothing better 
 than an undressed Nottingham silk pike line, such as I have 
 recommended for fishing on the bottom. 
 
 About the end of summer mackerel begin to feed a good 
 deal inshore, on the bottom, where they are caught on ordinary 
 hand lines or with the paternoster tackle described on p. 238. 
 A very good tackle for the purpose consists of the arrangement 
 just described, minus the float, but the lead must be of sufficient 
 weight to nearly hold the bottom. There may be two hooks, 
 one at the end of the snood below the lead, the other attached 
 
3 86 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 MACKEREL 
 
 GROUND GEAR. 
 
 to the line by means of an eight-inch piece of gut a foot 
 above the lead. This fishing requires a good deal of skill, 
 for the fish bite shyly and have to be struck at the slightest 
 nibble. It is a great advantage to use a rod. Among good 
 baits may be mentioned a very small sand-eel or half a large 
 one, the hook being placed in at the mouth and the point 
 brought out half an inch below the gills ; and mussels. On 
 the Devonshire coast pilchard guts have been found an excel- 
 lent bait, and a favour- 
 ite plan is to cover the 
 shank of the hook with 
 a small piece of squid 
 and put on the point 
 of it either some pil- 
 chard guts or a small 
 strip cut from the side 
 of a pilchard. The 
 lead should be lowered 
 until bottom is felt, 
 and raised about two 
 yards. The profes- 
 sional gear for this 
 method of fishing on 
 the coast of Devon 
 
 consists of a boat-shape lead with wire through it, and six feet 
 of fine snooding. A favourite bait consists of a strip of very 
 fine pilchard-skin, one and a half inch long by a quarter- 
 inch wide, and an almost equally thin strip of squid about 
 the same size. The two are just caught on the hook and are 
 worked up and down, to give them an appearance of life, just 
 above the bottom. This fishing ends about the beginning of 
 October. 
 
 Off the Channel Islands ground fishing for mackerel is 
 
 TACKLE FOR FISHING FOR MACKEREL 
 ON OR NEAR THE BOTTOM 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 387 
 
 carried on a good deal at night. I have not used ground bait 
 for these fish, but have not the slightest doubt it would con- 
 duce to a good catch. In America the mackerel fishermen 
 have mills in which they grind up herrings for the purpose. 
 Having attracted a large number of mackerel, they lower a 
 bright metal fish which is well armed with hooks and then jig 
 it about ; the mackerel rush to it and are foul-hooked. 
 
 When sport is not obtained either by whiffing or fishing 
 near the bottom, various depths should be tried, for mackerel 
 exhibit great susceptibility to changes of temperature, both as 
 to their migrations and the depths at which they feed. 
 
 This concludes nearly all I think need be said about this 
 admirable fish. When the mackerel are biting very shyly and the 
 hook is being constantly robbed, I would suggest and it is a 
 mere suggestion, for I have not tried it using Stewart tackle 
 made up with large hooks, the bait being a strip of pilchard and 
 a strip of squid cut worm-shape caught on and twisted round 
 them. There is a two-hook tackle of this kind on p. 117. 
 Three hooks might be better for this purpose. I have used this 
 tackle for several kinds of bottom-feeding freshwater fish, other 
 than trout and salmon, and found it answer extremely well, 
 except in the case of tench, which mumble the bait and soon 
 discover any hooks which are not well covered. Fly fishing for 
 mackerel is referred to on p. 149. 
 
 Sometimes the plummeter will capture a fish in which the 
 usual mackerel markings are replaced by spots such as are 
 found on the back of a loch trout. This is merely a variety, 
 Scomber punctatus, or spotted mackerel. There is also Scomber 
 colias, the coly or Spanish mackerel, the latter name being the 
 least desirable, as it is also applied to the tunny, and confusion 
 engendered. This fish is not common in British waters. It 
 may be instantly known by the eye, which is twice or three 
 times the size of a common mackerel's. 
 
388 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 The HORSE MACKEREL or SCAD is, according to naturalists, . 
 not a mackerel at all, but a member of the Carangidce family, 
 and has none of the usual markings on its back. A glance at 
 its back fins will suffice to distinguish it from the common 
 mackerel. In Scomber scomber the two dorsal fins are set wide 
 apart, but in the scad they almost meet, and close to its anal 
 fin are two spinous defensive weapons which the angler should 
 avoid with care. A striking peculiarity of this fish is a lateral 
 line, which crosses a number of scale plates so formed that 
 they give the fish the appearance of having an external back- 
 bone on each side. These fish, which are common off 
 Cornwall and are found all round our coasts, are fished for in 
 just the same way as the mackerel, and take all the usual 
 mackerel baits. They feed best at and after dusk. 
 
 The GARFISH, often found swimming with the mackerel 
 shoals, is one of the most curious fish of the sea. It is long, 
 ed-bhaped, with a beak almost like a snipe ; the lower jaw, if 
 jaw it can be called, projecting ; the back a beautiful bluish- 
 green, and the sides glistening with silver. This savage little 
 fish, Belone vulgaris, is classed by naturalists in the same family 
 (Scombresocidce) as the flying fish. Of names it has enough and 
 to spare : long-nose, gorebill, sea-needle, mackerel-guide, needle- 
 fish, gar-pipe, horn-fish, guard-fish, green-back, and- green-bone, 
 In Scotland they call it the sword-fish, the green-ben, and green- 
 bane. On the east coast of Ireland it is called the horn-eel, 
 mackerel scout, and spearling. 
 
 Garfish favour cold and temperate rather than tropical 
 waters, and are found all round the British and Irish coasts, 
 being particularly abundant off Kent, Essex, and Cornwall. 
 They are a fish of moderate size, occasionally but very rarely 
 reaching a length of three feet. In some places they swim in 
 shoals, but in others are found singly. A few are nearly always 
 mixed up with the mackerel, whose advent they are supposed 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 389 
 
 to herald. Through the cold weather they live in deep water, 
 appearing on our coasts in spring. 
 
 There are many curious instances on record of these fish 
 having so savagely darted at their prey as to transfix them on 
 their long snout. Several mackerel have been picked up 
 pierced by the upper jaw of a garfish, which in some cases had 
 broken off. In the ' Zoologist ' is an account of a salmon peal 
 (by which, I take it, is meant the sea trout of Devonshire) having 
 been attacked by a garfish. The long snout had passed com- 
 pletely through the thickest portion of the trout, which weighed 
 nearly four pounds. 
 
 But sometimes the garfish itself is hunted. Mr. Dunn, of 
 Mevagissey, tells a story of seeing one chased by a porpoise. 
 For a hundred yards the fish and its pursuer rushed through 
 the sea, the former continually throwing itself out of the 
 water. When the garfish was almost overtaken, a projecting 
 rock was providentially arrived at over which it leaped. The 
 porpoise, on the other hand, ran its head against the stone, 
 was more or less stunned, and gave up the pursuit. Garfish 
 are great leapers, often springing high into the air ; and I have 
 heard of their being caught by means of a net floated on the 
 surface of the water. In the autumn large quantities are taken 
 in the mackerel seines. As a rule these peculiar creatures are 
 not specially fished for by sportsmen, but numbers are caught 
 when whiffing for mackerel, and angling with drift lines for 
 pollack, bass, &c. They sometimes give off a very peculiar 
 smell when first brought into the boat, and their flesh does not 
 the more commend itself to the epicure by reason of the peculiar 
 green bones. I have heard people say they were better than 
 mackerel, but that is a matter of opinion. Certainly they make 
 very good baits cut up into strips. 
 
 The SKIPPER, or SAURY, closely resembles the garfish. It is 
 also known as saury -pike, skip -jack, halion, and skopster. The 
 
390 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Scotch call it the Egyptian herring, gosnick, and gowdnock. It 
 rarely or never exceeds eighteen inches in length, and may be 
 distinguished from the garfish by five or six finlets which will 
 be found between the dorsal fin and tail ; there are similar 
 finlets near the tail, on the belly. The edges of its jaws are not 
 serrated as are those of the garfish. 
 
 Very large shoals of skippers visit the coast of Cornwall 
 at the beginning of summer, departing in the autumn ; and 
 hundreds may sometimes be seen leaping out of the water at 
 one time, this peculiarity no doubt giving them some of their 
 local names. They probably do great harm to the pilchards, 
 which they attack and sometimes transfix with their little 
 sharp snouts. A few are sometimes caught on small baited 
 hooks, but skippers would not be specially fished for. 
 
 The HERRING is a remarkable fish. I have often wondered 
 why no one has written a book on him, for there is much more 
 material for such a work than there is for a dissertation on 
 any other of our food fishes. At the same time, I doubt if we 
 really know more about the herring than we do of the salmon. 
 There is a herring language peculiar to fishermen, fishcurers, 
 and salesmen ; there are herring legends ; and there is a most 
 powerful mass of fishery statistics. How many people, I 
 wonder, know the meaning of over-day-tart, Matties or niaties, 
 and gut-pock herring? Sodger and soldier we know, but what 
 are these ? White-herring, green-herring, red-herring, black- 
 herring, kings and queens all these are terms of mystery; 
 possibly of deep meaning. Let me say at once that an over-day- 
 tart is a costermonger's phrase, applied to herrings which have 
 been kept over twenty-four hours without being salted, and 
 have reddened considerably, owing to the extravasated blood 
 near fins and gills. A gut-pock herring is a Scotch term applied 
 to fish which have made a hearty meal and distended themselves 
 with small crabs, &c. Matties or mattes, a word possibly derived 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 391 
 
 from maiden, signifies a herring which has not spawned and 
 from which the roe is absent. Fish full of roe, on the other 
 hand, are in Scotland termed mazy herrings. 
 
 As for legends, there is no end to them. According to a 
 copy of the ' Banff Journal,' published some time in 1885, cer- 
 tain Buckie fishermen dressed up an unfortunate cooper in a 
 flannel shirt with bars all about it, and wheeled him through 
 the town on a barrel, like a cockney Guy Fawkes. The herring 
 fisheries had been very bad, and it was supposed that this 
 proceeding would improve them. There are even dark stories 
 of men and women having been burnt for having cast their evil 
 eye on the fishery and driven away the herrings. It is, by the 
 way, a common practice for whale fishers to burn an effigy to 
 bring luck whenever a ship has fallen in with few whales. The 
 crew attribute their bad fortune to some unlucky person, and 
 by burning his effigy they believe his malign influence will 
 be overcome. Needless to say, the unlucky individual is 
 generally the must unpopular man on board. If luck is 
 exceedingly bad, two or three pictures or effigies are thus 
 sacrificed. It is possible that this ancient practice arose 
 from just such a custom as that which prevailed among the 
 herring fishers of Banffshire, by whom it may have been intro- 
 duced on board the Peterhead whalers. 
 
 In Norfolk there was a curious theory that herrings and 
 fleas made their appearance about the same time. In ' Notes 
 and Queries' a fisherman of Cromer was credited with the 
 following remark : ' Lawk, sir, times is as you might look in my 
 flannel shirt and scarce see a flea, and then there ain't but a 
 very few herrings ; but times that'll be right alive with them, 
 and there's certain to be a sight of fish.' 
 
 The Manx fishermen, who are particularly superstitious, 
 think there is great virtue in taking a dead wren to sea. The 
 idea appears to be based on an old tradition of some sea spirit 
 
392 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 which haunted the herring fisheries and brought storms. 
 Assuming the form of a wren it would fly away, carrying with it, 
 let us hope, all bad weather and misfortune. 
 
 Many curious theories have been put forward with respect 
 to the migrations of herrings, but the generally accepted opinion 
 now is that these fish simply retire to deeper water, returning 
 to the coast at various seasons which differ with the locality. 
 At the same time, they appear to forsake districts and parts 
 of the coast for years together. The periods at which they 
 spawn are very uncertain, and, like their movements, vary 
 with the locality. From winter to late spring is the usual 
 time, but it is quite possible that in some places they spawn 
 twice during the year. From 10,000 to 30,000 eggs have been 
 counted in a single herring. These when shed, unlike the eggs 
 of most of our food fishes, sink to the bottom of the sea and 
 attach themselves to the seaweed, rocks, and stones. In the 
 Baltic herrings have been known to spawn in two or three feet 
 of brackish water. 
 
 These fish feed variously at the surface, midwater, and on 
 the bottom, many having been caught in trawl nets. From 
 some very interesting observations made by the Scotch Meteoro- 
 logical Society it was proved that the weather had an important 
 bearing on the movements of the herrings and the success of the 
 fishermen. When there were thunderstorms about, the catches 
 were small. Most fish were taken when the temperature of the 
 sea was about 5 5 '5. 
 
 I have included the herring within the scope of this book 
 because of the undoubted sport they give to the fly fisher on 
 occasions (see p. 175). The herring also takes bait, and at Peter- 
 head, Wick, at the entrance to the Firth of Forth, and at 
 Tarbert on the west coast, is caught on a dandy-line during the 
 spring. The gear is nothing more nor less than a paternoster 
 with little booms made of whalebone or stout wire about nine 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 393 
 
 inches in length. The lead varies in weight from i^ Ib. to 4 Ibs. 
 There are half a dozen to a dozen booms, each of which is 
 simply attached at its centre by a clove hitch in the line ; they 
 are placed nine or ten inches apart. At the free end of each 
 boom is about three inches of line terminated with a bright 
 tinned hook. This arrangement is lowered to the bottom and 
 then worked with a sink and draw motion. The brightness of 
 the hooks attracts the fish. It is when the herrings are plenti- 
 ful and are keeping near the bottom about or during the 
 spawning season that this apparatus is used, those caught being 
 usually cut up as bait for the cod lines. At night-time herrings 
 will take a bait such as mussels, pieces of fish, &c., offered to 
 them on any modification of the paternoster. 
 
 It is hardly meet I should say much concerning the eco- 
 nomical side of herring fishing, but the figures are simply 
 astounding. It has been said that during each autumn the nets 
 in the North Sea, if joined together, would make a length of 
 from 8,000 to 10,000 miles. On the Scotch coasts alone the 
 annual take is over a million barrels of herrings, each barrel 
 being worth over i/. It is supposed that something like 
 2,000,000,000 are caught in British waters every year. Most 
 fortunately herrings are prolific, for not only do we catch them 
 in such enormous quantities, but all nature seems against them. 
 There is hardly a fish in the sea larger than themselves which 
 does not feed on them ; and, hunted from below, they are 
 harried from above by wildfowl of every description, while 
 porpoises, sharks, seals, all take toll from the shoals. From 
 babyhood to old age the herring swims in constant danger 
 of its life. If this slaughter by billions continues, it will 
 not be surprising if Nature steps in and causes the herring 
 to spawn three times a year instead of twice, to meet the 
 demand. 
 
 In captivity herrings have been known to sacrifice them- 
 
 3 E 
 
394 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 selves. They appear to be a gay, reckless fish, dashing hither 
 and thither, believing that the sea is wide and obstacles few. 
 Some herrings imbued with this idea when placed in an 
 aquarium, ran their heads against the glass and killed them- 
 selves immediately the gas was turned out. It was found that 
 by leaving a small jet of gas during the night this self-martyr- 
 dom was prevented. Sometimes herrings revenge themselves 
 in a wholesale way on the fishermen by simply crowding into 
 the nets until their weight is so great that the warp has to be 
 cut. Once, on the East coast, about 700 nets, worth i,3oo/., 
 were thus sunk by fish. 
 
 The SMELT is a name given to three different fish. In the 
 first place, the term is used locally instead of smolt the young 
 salmon, with which we now have nothing to do. There is also 
 the atherine, or sand smelt, which naturalists do not call a smelt 
 at all ; and lastly there is the true smelt, also called sparling 
 (Osmerus esperlanus), which many people will be surprised to 
 learn is a member of the salmon family. This, the true or 
 cucumber smelt, has two back fins, that near the tail being 
 without rays and fatty or adipose, like those borne by salmon, 
 trout, and grayling. The atherine also has two back fins, but 
 the one near the tail is of the ordinary kind with rays, while 
 the back fin near the head is small, spines projecting from the 
 edge of it like the dorsal fin of the perch. If the posterior 
 dorsal fin of a doubtful specimen is carefully examined, there 
 need be no difficulty in settling the question. 
 
 Everyone, I take it, knows the general appearance of these 
 delicate silvery-looking little fish. The true smelt, when freshly 
 caught, gives off a peculiar smell, which many people have 
 compared with cucumber (possibly because it smells it is called 
 the smelt). Some say that the perfume is of violets ; others, 
 again, being reminded of rushes. For my own part, I say a 
 smelt smells of smelt and of no other smell whatever. The 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 395 
 
 Germans less politely have named it the stinkfisch. Taylor, 
 writing in the ' Hardwicke Society Gossip,' asserted that he had 
 known smelts come up rivers in such vast numbers that the 
 peculiar cucumber smell was apparent to those who walked 
 by the water's edge. 
 
 The true smelt is scarce on our southern shores, but very 
 numerous from the mouth of the Thames northward. Many 
 ancient and important smelt fisheries existed on that part of the 
 coast. In the estuaries of the Thames and Medway these 
 little fish are plentiful ; they are also caught in the Wash and 
 Huniber, and, in fact, in nearly all the tidal waters of that coast. 
 Breydon Water, at the back of Yarmouth, is full of them in 
 their season. They are fairly abundant in places on the West 
 coast, and are caught in the estuaries of the Tee and Mersey, 
 and all the rivers flowing into the Solway. Whether they are 
 found on the Irish coast is uncertain. 
 
 Like salmon and sea trout, the true smelts push into fresh 
 water for spawning purposes. They have been caught as high 
 up the Thames as Teddington and Hammersmith. They 
 spawn during the spring, and immediately after spawning are 
 not particularly good to eat. Observers tell some curious 
 stories of the way in which smelts on the East coast drive shoals 
 of freshwater fish before them, as they ascend rivers. Roach 
 and dace in large numbers are said to flee before the smelts 
 in Norfolk waters. Something similar in relation to the dace 
 has been noticed, or at any rate recorded, in respect of the 
 Thames. 
 
 Smelts appear to grow very rapidly ; a contributor to ' Land 
 and Water ' said that he had noticed in October ten or twelve 
 which weighed together no more than a pound, while in March 
 each fish would weigh four to six ounces, and a few as much as 
 half a pound. Some of the fish caught were opened, and it 
 was found that they had been feeding on herring fry. Their 
 
396 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 digestion must be rapid, for while those opened immediately 
 on being caught contained the young herring, in those car- 
 ried home was found nothing but digested food. Inside the 
 herring fry taken from the smelts were small shrimps ! The 
 gastric juice of the smelt would seem to be extremely 
 acrid, for after making these investigations the observer wiped 
 his hands on his handkerchief and then thoughtlessly used 
 it to blow his nose, which caused his nostrils and lips to 
 become inflamed, and his tongue to swell in an extraordinary 
 manner. 
 
 Smelts are easily reared in fresh water. Colonel Meynell, 
 of Yarm in Yorkshire, kept some for four years in a pond into 
 which no sea water flowed. A similar experiment was tried 
 with equal success in the lake at Roselherne Manor, Knutsford, 
 Cheshire. 
 
 The ATHERINE, unlike the true smelt, is scarce on the East 
 coast and abundant on our southern shores. It has a little 
 family all to itself, named by Dr. Giinther Atherinidtz. It is 
 a widely distributed little fish, but is not common in Scotland ; 
 and though, as I have said, rare on the East coast, is, I am 
 assured by a careful observer, very abundant in Lowestoft 
 Harbour. Great quantities are found in some of the Irish bays 
 and harbours. 
 
 These little fish have some quaint local names. In the 
 north of Ireland they are Portaferry chickens, pincher being 
 another Irishism having the same meaning. Sand smelt is, 
 perhaps, the most common name ; they are also called silver- 
 sides and, in Cornwall, quid. The atherine does not, like the 
 true smelt, push up far into fresh water, not going, as a rule, 
 beyond the flow of the tides. It spawns during the summer 
 close to the shore. Probably the greater portion of the shoals 
 retire into deep water in the winter. With regard to fishing 
 for smelts on the surface, in midwater, and at the bottom, I have 
 
SURFACE-FEEDING SEA FISH 397 
 
 written all that is necessary on the subject on pp. 179 and 206. 
 It will be remembered that these little fish sometimes afford sport 
 to the fly fisher, and are caught on the most delicate of 
 tackle. Their excellence on the table also recommends them, 
 but, as to this, the atherine is very inferior to the cucumber 
 smelt. 
 
398 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 FLAT-SIDED AND FLAT-BACKED FISHES 
 
 CERTAIN of the flat fish take a high place among the freaks 
 which Nature loves to produce. Regard a fishmonger's slab 
 and note the expression on the face of sole, dab, or flounder 
 the kind of paralytic twist in the mouths of these fish which 
 gives them an unamiable and perpetual sneer. So far as the 
 plaice is concerned, the supercilious appearance together with 
 the red spots are well accounted for by a very old legend which 
 is, or was, current in the Isle of Man. There had been disputes 
 among the fish of the sea, happily ending with a general con- 
 sensus of opinion that the election of a king to settle their 
 quarrels was desirable. So a great meeting was held. The 
 plaice, however, stayed at home overlong, covering himself 
 with red spots so as to appear beautiful and worthy of being 
 elected ruler over the inhabitants of the ocean. When he 
 arrived at the meeting-place he found another had been chosen. 
 Giving his mouth that disdainful twist which it now exhibits, he 
 remarked, ' Fancy a simple fish like a herring being King of 
 the Sea ! ' And fate so ordered it that he should wear those red 
 spots and that proud sneer for ever. 
 
 Soles, dabs, and flounders neither lie nor swim on their 
 bellies, but on one side which is light in colour, the other 
 being dark. If we would discover how this came about, we 
 may either consult works on natural history or the legends of 
 Upper Egypt. Let us take the legend first. Moses, so it was 
 
FLAT-SIDED AND FLAT-BACKED FISHES 399 
 
 said, was once frying a flat fish, but just as one side was done 
 the oil in the pan dried up and no more was available. A 
 practical man would have eaten the cooked side and left the 
 raw portion for further consideration ; but Moses, greatly irri- 
 tated, cast the half-fried fish into the sea. The creature came 
 to life, and ever since that day has been brown on one side and 
 white on the other. Notwithstanding the above narrative, let 
 it be confessed that there are fish which I may term ' done on 
 both sides ' that is to say, though true flat fish, for some reason 
 or other they have developed colour on both sides ; but these 
 are rare. They are, however, said to be better eating than the 
 parti-coloured flat fish. Disregarding the Egyptian legend, it 
 would seem that the colouring on one side of the flat fish is a 
 provision of nature by which the fish, assimilating itself to the 
 appearance of the ground on which it lies, or in which it buries 
 itself, is not easily seen by its enemies. In foreign seas there 
 are certain flat fish which are found among coral reefs, and 
 these are ornamented with rather striking colours. 
 
 I have called these flat fish remarkable freaks of nature 
 because, when hatched, they are coloured on both sides alike 
 and swim back upwards like any ordinary fish. Being very 
 thin from side to side and very deep from back to belly, in the' 
 course of a week or two they begin to topple over and swim 
 on their side. Then follows a marvel. The eye which regards 
 the bottom of the sea soon wearies of the prospect and gradu- 
 ally moves until it reaches the uppermost side, where it remains 
 for the rest of the fish's life. This remarkable phenomenon was 
 observed many years ago. How such an extraordinary change 
 of appearance takes place has been a subject of considerable 
 difference of opinion among naturalists. Some have said that 
 the eye works round under the skin and by the snout, others 
 that it passes under the frontal or forehead bone of the fish 
 right through to the other side, and some that it actually cuts 
 
400 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 through the forehead bone in its course. This remarkable 
 change occurs when the fish is very young and the bones are 
 soft and cartilaginous. All that the unscientific person will 
 observe is that the eye on the under side gradually becomes 
 depressed, while a round and dark spot appears on the upper side 
 of the fish in the place where the eye is destined to break through. 
 Gradually the spot above develops into an eye, and the eye 
 underneath totally disappears. Professor Alexander Agassiz, 
 writing in 1879, appeared to think that the eye was transferred 
 either by translation or rotation ; that is to say, in some in- 
 stances the travelling eye would go round the head by the snout, 
 while in others it appeared to pass right through the tissues of 
 the head. 
 
 Another curious fact about flat fish is that some have their 
 pair of eyes on the right side, while others have them on the 
 left. But even among those species which I may term ' right- 
 eyed ' the left side is occasionally chosen to simulate the back 
 of the fish. Those rare examples which are coloured on both 
 sides are sometimes termed ' double fish,' and these, by the way, 
 swim in a vertical position which explains their colouring 
 and more often leave the bottom of the sea than do the rest. 
 Occasionally flat fish are found which are white on both sides. 
 
 The principal flat fish possessing the remarkable peculi- 
 arities ' described belong to the family called Pleuronectida, 
 which includes the halibut, turbot, brill, sole, plaice, flounder, 
 dab, and solonette. Of these, the dab, plaice and flounder are 
 undoubtedly the most important from a sportsman's point of 
 view, while the turbot, brill, and sole appeal more to the gourmet. 
 Let each now be more particularly described. First, then, 
 
 The HALIBUT (Hippoglossus vulgaris) is the largest, British, 
 side-swimming, flat fish. It is often called turbot in Scotland, 
 old or very dark halibut going by the name of blacksmiths on 
 the East coast. Another pseudonym is workhouse turbot. In 
 
FLAT-SIDED AND FLAT-BACKED FISHES 401 
 
 home waters halibut are most often caught on lines set for 
 other fish a haddock of a couple of pounds or so is hooked, 
 and the huge flat 
 fish engorges the 
 haddock. I have 
 given some ac- 
 count of the gear 
 and baits used in 
 the Faroe waters 
 for this fish on 
 pages 287-9. I n 
 the Moray Firth 
 the bait used is 
 a piece of plaice, 
 but a halibut will 
 take the usual cod 
 and turbot baits. 
 As a rule, when a 
 halibut is hooked 
 on a hand line it 
 breaks away,, and 
 when it seeks to 
 rob a long line it 
 is so large and 
 powerful that it 
 has been known 
 to go off with line, 
 
 HALIBUT HOOK AND SNOOD, FAROE FISHERY 
 (ACTUAL SIZE) 
 
 hooks, stones, and 
 
 buoys. Halibut are 
 
 found on the cod 
 
 grounds in deepish water, and, like the lemon sole, rather 
 
 affect the neighbourhood of rocks. 
 
 One summer, when I was at Rhiconich, on the coast of 
 
 3 F 
 
402 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Sutherlandshire, a man appeared at our evening repast in a 
 most downcast mood, having lost an enormous halibut. He 
 had been fishing for cod, and hooked the big creature, which 
 he played, or rather it played him, for over an hour. At last, 
 he and his men succeeded in bringing it up to the surface, 
 and found themselves unable to get it into the boat. Vainly 
 they tried to stick fishhooks into it so that they might tow 
 it ashore, but the hide of the creature was too tough. Last of 
 all they decided to get a running noose round it, and while all 
 three were on one side of the boat endeavouring to do this, an 
 unexpected wave caused the little craft to give a sudden lurch, 
 which jerked the snooding a man was holding, snapped it, and 
 the big fish slowly sank out of sight. I forget how many 
 hundred pounds the creature weighed. 
 
 Up in the far north of Scotland halibut are fairly plentiful, 
 but are not often caught in the Channel. They are not un- 
 common on the east coast of Scotland. A number of enormous 
 fish of this species have been recorded from time to time. One 
 weighing seven and a half stone, and measuring five and a half 
 feet long, and two and a half feet broad, was brought into 
 Yarmouth in 1873. ^ n ^76 one was caught on the East coast 
 of England which weighed over 300 Ibs., and was more than 
 seven feet in length. In 1829 one seven and a half feet long 
 and weighing 320 Ibs. was caught off the Isle of Man. In 
 more northern seas beyond our shores these fish sometimes 
 attain a weight of 500 Ibs. When the first steamer left Hull 
 with a Grimsby crew on board, to fish the Faroe waters as an 
 experiment, they took with them nine miles of line. They 
 returned with over a thousand halibut, weighing from one to 
 nine stone each. 
 
 The TURBOT (Rhombus maximus) spends several more 
 weeks of its childhood on edge than do the other flat fish. It 
 is found all round our coasts, being particularly plentiful in 
 
FLAT-SIDED AND FLAT-BACKED FISHES 403 
 
 the German Ocean, but large ones are almost unknown on 
 the Scotch coasts. Turbot are caught over big sandbanks, and 
 the Dutch are reputed more skilful in their capture than our 
 own fishermen. Fishing is carried on from March till August. 
 They are found both on sand and mud, and, like the sole, 
 migrate into deep water during the cold weather. They feed 
 largely on Crustacea and molluscs, but the baits used by the 
 fishermen with greatest success are live lamperns and sand-eels. 
 In the Moray Firth herring is used as bait, and turbot are 
 occasionally taken on mussels, sea worms, and limpets. Some- 
 times they appear to feed a little way off the bottom. The 
 name was formerly spelt ' turbolt,' and they are called on the 
 east coast of Scotland king-fleuk, barncock, and roddan or roan 
 fleuk. The Orkney name is rod. Northumbrian fishermen 
 speak of brat, turbrat, and roddams. 
 
 The BRILL Rhombus Icevis of naturalists, the kite of 
 Devonshire and Cornwall, bastard turbot of Moray Firth, and 
 siller fleuk of Aberdeen is not often taken by sportsmen. It 
 is a rare fish in the north of Scotland, but fairly abundant 
 round the coast of England, and more so on the South than 
 on the East coast. Sometimes it is found in sandy bays, but 
 in colder weather it seeks deep water ; in fact, in its habits it 
 closely resembles the turbot, and the methods of capture are 
 much the same. 
 
 Of the SOLE (Solea vulgaris) I am inclined to say little. In 
 the first place, it bids fair to become extinct ; and, on account 
 of its scarcity and night-feeding habits, is not often caught by 
 the angler in salt water. During warm weather soles come into 
 fairly shallow water, retreating into the deep in winter, their 
 migration, if it may be so called, depending in a large measure 
 on the temperature of the air and water. Soles are fairly pro- 
 lific in the matter of eggs, a fish of one pound having been 
 found to contain 134,000 ; but so great a destruction of fish-life 
 
404 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 goes on in the sea, that such vast quantities of eggs even as this 
 are insufficient to counteract the destructive agencies, natural 
 and artificial, human and inhuman. The sole is a fish which is 
 found all round the coast of England in suitable localities, but 
 gets scarcer towards the north of Scotland. It is also common 
 on parts of the Irish coast. A cast of a pair from Ireland 
 which weighed 12 Ibs. was made by Frank Buckland. Yarrell 
 records one of 9 Ibs. which was for sale in the market at 
 Totness. 
 
 If any of my readers are fortunate enough to find a fishing 
 ground where soles are plentiful, they should fish on the 
 bottom with the tackle shown on p. 243, and bait with lug- 
 worms if obtainable ; failing these, mussels, ragworms, and the 
 tails of hermit crabs may be tried. The fishing should be done 
 at night, and a most favourable time will be when there has 
 been sufficient sea to thicken the water. Then the fish may 
 feed in the daytime. 
 
 There are several varieties of sole Solea lascaris, Solea 
 variegata, and Solea lutea. Solea lascaris may be known by a 
 series of spots or blotches over it, while Solea variegata is 
 partially barred, and lutea has a few well-defined black spots 
 placed widely apart. 
 
 LEMON SOLE is a local name applied to three different 
 species of fish. The long rough dab (Hippoglossotdes liman- 
 doides) is so called in Scotland ; the smear dab (Pleuronectes 
 microcephalus) takes the same name in Ireland ; and the term 
 is also applied to Solea lascaris, already referred to. The fish 
 to which I have been in the habit of giving this name is the 
 second of the three mentioned. I have caught a good many 
 when fishing for codling on the edge of rocky reefs. They 
 are fish which are usually found in such localities, and there 
 is no better bait for them than the lugworm. They have a 
 differently shaped mouth from the sole, and are much darker 
 
FLAT-SIDED AND FLAT-BACKED FISHES 405 
 
 coloured, but the colour of all flat fish varies a good deal with 
 the ground on which they lie, so that nothing dependable can 
 be said on that point. 
 
 PLAICE (Pleuronectes platessd) may always be identified by 
 their red spots. They are fairly plentiful all round our coasts, 
 and in places afford really good sport to the sea angler. Like 
 most other flat fish, they haunt sandbanks and muddy bottoms, 
 and may often be found in quantities on sandy patches sur- 
 rounded by rocks. I have caught them in three fathoms of 
 water, or less. 
 
 A very perfect mare's nest was once discovered in con- 
 nection with these fish. The theory was started that they 
 were descended from shrimps, and a naturalist, to test the 
 statement in a praiseworthy practical manner, obtained a few 
 live shrimps and kept them in a tank. At the end of a 
 few days he found in the tank some young plaice, and 
 further investigations tended to show that the eggs of the 
 plaice were sticking to the shrimps when placed in the 
 little aquarium. In the following year he half filled two 
 vessels with salt water, making one the home of a few plaice, 
 devoting the other to plaice and shrimps. In both vessels the 
 plaice spawned, but only in the vessel containing the shrimps 
 did the ova hatch. So the experimenter came to the conclu- 
 sion that in some way the shrimp was essential to the hatching 
 of a plaice egg. Since that day, however, plaice eggs have 
 been hatched in -the laboratory of the Marine Biological Asso- 
 ciation at Plymouth and other places, and this without the 
 assistance of shrimps. 
 
 Plaice are fished for on the bottom with such tackle as 
 that shown on p. 243, and many more will be caught if a rod 
 is used than on a hand line. I prefer a hook about half the 
 size of those used by the fishermen, baited with lugworm, 
 mussel, ragworm, peeled uncooked shrimp, cockle, or any soft 
 
406 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 bait. I have caught not a few of these fish on pieces of sprat, 
 mackerel, and squid. Now and again a plaice as large as 
 seven pounds is captured, and fish of fifteen pounds weight are 
 on record. From three-quarters of a pound to two and a 
 half pounds is the more common size. 
 
 The SAND DAB (Pleuronectes limandd) is likely to be caught 
 wherever there is a sandy shore. Should the run of fish be 
 small the hook may be a size less than that illustrated. As a 
 rule these fish are pale in colour, fairly transparent, and may be 
 distinguished from the flounder by the roughness of their scales. 
 Draw the hand from tail to head along them 
 and they feel like a nutmeg grater. The flounder, 
 on the other hand, is a fish with small scales 
 covered with mucus, and is smooth almost as 
 eel or tench. The sand dab is not sufficiently 
 appreciated. When fresh, unless taken from 
 HOOK FOR muddy waters, it is nearly as good as a sole. 
 It is found all round our coasts, and, so far as 
 
 SIZED 
 
 PLAICE m y experience goes, is particularly plentiful in 
 
 DABS Tenby Bay. Torbay is another noted spot. 
 
 Along with these fish will generally be caught a 
 
 few plaice and flounders. The best baits are those already 
 
 recommended for plaice. 
 
 FLOUNDERS are termed Pleuronectes flesus by naturalists, 
 and flounders, flecks, butts, black backs, and lanterns by com- 
 mon persons. In Norway I noted that the term flyndre was 
 applied to several varieties of flat fish. It has been suggested 
 that the word is derived from the Swedish flundra. They are 
 peculiar among flat fish in ascending rivers for a considerable 
 distance, and even at times adopting a freshwater existence. 
 They seem able to live in highly polluted water, and I have 
 caught them in noxious places where, judging by the colour of 
 their uppermost side, the bottom must have been black mud. 
 
FLAT-SIDED AND FLAT-BACKED FISHES 407 
 
 At one time there were great quantities living in the lower 
 reaches of the Thames, and attempts have been made of late 
 years to reintroduce them, but so far without much success. 
 
 But, though natural history, this is not exactly the natural 
 history of the flounder, to which let us return. Our fish is found 
 principally at the mouths of rivers and muddy creeks ; and 
 that he ascends fresh water for a considerable distance, more 
 particularly in times of flood, is unquestionable. According to 
 Yarrell, flounders pushed up the Thames as far as Sunbury. 
 They abound all round the British coasts in suitable places, 
 and are particularly plentiful in the north. Their number is no 
 marvel, for in a fish of 24} ounces 1,357,400 eggs have been 
 counted. The breeding season is during the spring. 
 
 In some parts of Europe flounders are fattened for the t#ble. 
 A water souchee of them is a celebrated dish, but sometimes 
 they are not worth eating, their condition depending on their 
 food. Thames flounders are, or were, celebrated, and their 
 principal food would be shrimps, baby crabs, and the refuse 
 of a big city. As to size, one of six pounds has been 
 recorded, but half a pound to a pound and a half is the 
 more common weight. In shallow waters, near their spawning 
 grounds, and where they pass the early portions of their exist- 
 ence, the general run of fish caught is even smaller. 
 
 There are very few of the ordinary sea-fish baits which 
 flounders will not take, among the best being soft crab, lug- 
 worms, tail of hermit crab, mussels, pieces of mackerel, and, in 
 fresh or brackish water, earthworms. I have, indeed, used 
 earthworms in the sea for both flounders and sand dabs, 
 but they soon die in salt water. Perhaps the best tackle is 
 that shown on p. 243, but personally I prefer to fish with a 
 two-hook paternoster, with one hook just resting on the bottom ; 
 then the bite can be felt at once, and one is not so much troubled 
 with the fish gorging the hook as in those tackles in which two 
 
408 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 or three hooks attached to rather a long snooding lie on the 
 bottom. 
 
 There is a method of fishing for flounders without a hook. 
 A common pin about an inch long is the substitute. It should 
 be of rather fine wire. To its centre is knotted or whipped a 
 piece of very fine silk line, which corresponds to the hook link 
 of gut in the paternoster tackle. The arrangement is baited by 
 hiding the pin in a piece of a lobworm. When the fish swallows 
 this, and the silk line is pulled tight, the pin takes up a 
 transverse position in its throat. The pin is sufficiently strong 
 to enable the flounder to be brought to the surface and lifted 
 into the boat with or without the assistance of the landing net. 
 To disengage the fish it is only necessary to pull the silk line, 
 when the pin bends in the middle. It has to be bent straight 
 again before being rebaited. To get these pins into the piece 
 of worm is a little difficult. The way of it is to place the pointed 
 end of the pin in the quill feather of some bird, such as a rook, 
 partridge, or fowl. The worm can then be easily slipped over 
 the head of the pin right down over the quill, which is with- 
 drawn, leaving the pin in the centre of the worm. Personally I 
 prefer to use a hook, but this arrangement, which appears to me 
 to give unnecessary pain to the fish, is much favoured by some 
 anglers. In the Thames estuary, on the coast of Essex, thorn 
 hooks are still used. The form of these curious contrivances, 
 which we should expect to find among aborigines rather than in 
 English waters, will be understood from the illustration. Each 
 thorn has about an inch of lugworm twisted round it, and the 
 lines so baited are laid about fifty yards from the shore at 
 low tide. 
 
 With the two-hook paternoster, using hooks of the size 
 shown in the illustration, one can feel a bite and strike at once, 
 as a rule hooking the fish in the mouth. The lead should not 
 be heavier than is required to hold the bottom. A professional 
 
FLAT-SIDED AND FLAT-BACKED FISHES 409 
 
 method of catching flounders is to moor the boat in a tideway, 
 and throw out from it half a dozen lines rather heavily leaded, 
 below the lead being a long snooding bearing three, four, five, 
 or six hooks. This, when lowered, streams out in the current 
 and lies flat along the bottom. The lines are hauled from time 
 to time, the fish taken off, and rebaited. It is in effect a drift- 
 trot on a small scale, and to my mind 
 is less a tackle for the sportsman than ^. 
 
 for the professional fisherman, whose 
 only aim is to catch as many fish as 
 possible in the shortest time. 
 
 This brings me to the end of all the 
 side-swimming flat fish worthy of note 
 for our particular purpose ; but there 
 are, as I have already hinted, other flat 
 fish which have not the remarkable 
 peculiarity of twisting an eye from 
 one side of the head to 
 the other in childhood's 
 days. Neither have they 
 the perpetual sneer of 
 the sole, but, on the 
 other hand, possess fea- 
 tures by no means de- 
 void of expression, and 
 tails which many a dog 
 
 might envy. These are the skates and rays, of the important 
 family named Raiida. 
 
 The sometimes sinister-, sometimes merry-, looking mouths 
 of these fish, as well as their gills, are on their bellies. Nature 
 having found this an inconvenient arrangement, especially as 
 regards the breathing apparatus, added breathing holes on the 
 top of the head, through which water is taken to the gills. In 
 
 HOOK FOR 
 FLOUNDERS 
 
 PIN TACKLE FOR 
 FLOUNDERS AND 
 THORN HOOK 
 (ACTUAL SIZE) 
 
410 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 most other fish water enters by the mouth and is expelled 
 through the gills. The eggs of these fish are as eccentric as 
 their layers, being contained in dark indiarubber-looking purses, 
 in shape something like well, I can think of no better simile 
 than a Spanish priest's hat. Dogfish have similar cases to their 
 eggs, and, as with the skates and rays, the egg is fertilised in the 
 body of the female. In the egg of the dogfish the four points of 
 the egg case are continued in little tendrils. In some places the 
 children call the curious egg cases of the Raiidoe skate barrows, 
 They are frequently picked up along the seashore. 
 
 As food the skates and rays are not everywhere in high 
 repute, though crimped skate is now deemed a luxury by some 
 people. In the Hebrides I found the people eating a pungent 
 and horrible food known as ' sour skate,' the sourness being 
 effected, I understand, by simply keeping the fish until it goes bad. 
 
 The COMMON SKATE the Raia batis of naturalists, blue 
 skate of Scotland, and grey skate of England is common 
 round the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. It grows to an 
 enormous size. There is one in the British Museum which is 
 six and a half feet long, and five and a half feet across from 
 wing to wing. One is recorded from the Faroes which weighed 
 423 Ibs. Skate are immensely strong, and have a way of 
 digging their noses into the bottom, or somehow or other 
 taking grip of a rock, remaining apparently immovable. Like 
 all flat fish, as long as they keep their normal horizontal posi- 
 tion they offer great resistance. The one chance with a big 
 skate is to pull at his head as obliquely as possible (effected by 
 letting out much line) and in varying directions, until he gives 
 way, when the rest, except with very large fish, is easy. It is 
 important to keep a heavy strain on him all the time. 
 
 Some time ago the ' Field ' recorded the capture, by an ama- 
 teur fisherman, of a skate weighing considerably over 100 Ibs. 
 It was taken off Aberystwith. 
 
FLAT-SIDED AND FLAT-BACKED FISHES 411 
 
 One of the most certain means of ascertaining the best bait 
 is to hold an autopsy, and discover on what a fish has been 
 feeding. Couch, who tried this experiment, found in a large 
 skate, two big plaice, two mackerel, a lobster, a ray about 
 eighteen inches long, and half a salmon. This finding 
 certainly indicates a considerable and remarkable range in our 
 choice of baits. 
 
 Mr. Dunn, of Mevagissey, discovered inside one of these fish 
 a stone weighing about a pound. As a matter of fact, the skate 
 is not particular ; place a small whiting, a haddock, a herring, 
 a pilchard, or any kind of fish on a large hook, and he will be 
 pleased to take it. Very often he will hook himself by the 
 wing or fin as he flaps along the bottom. Large numbers are 
 caught in trawls, and not a few on long lines. 
 
 Young skate are termed maids. The largest British fish of 
 this kind is the white skate (Raia alba}. Couch named it the 
 Burton skate or bordered ray, and it is also called May skate, 
 the doctor, friar skate, and sharp-nosed ray. One of nearly 
 500 Ibs. has been recorded. Other varieties are the long-nosed 
 skate (Raiaoxyrhynchus) and the shagreen ray (Raia fullonica}. 
 
 The RAYS are much like the skates, but are shorter or 
 blunter in the snout, and, in addition to certain dangerous 
 thorn-like teeth or claws which project from the tail, have similar 
 weapons of defence and offence along the ridge of the back- 
 bone and sometimes adorning their heads. First comes 
 
 The THORNBACK RAY so called from these said adorn- 
 ments. Raia clavata is the scientific name. Fishermen usually 
 drop the ' ray,' and merely call them ' thornbacks,' which 
 answers every purpose. These fish are found on almost every 
 part of our coast, and are particularly abundant round the 
 north-western islands of Scotland. They are deemed fairly 
 good eating if not too large. In Scotland they are often salted, 
 but some fishermen merely dry them. 
 
412 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 The HOMELYN (Raia maculata), which is also called spotted 
 ray, rough ray, and sandy ray, has much the same habits as 
 the thornback, and is caught with the same baits. It is spotted 
 all over its back, has a triple row of tiger's claws on its tail, a 
 single row up its backbone, and smaller projections of the same 
 kind scattered about its head, nose, and round the fore edges 
 of its fins. Other varieties of this species are the PAINTED 
 RAY (Raia microcellata\ the STARRY RAY (Raia radiata], the 
 CUCKOO RAY or SANDY RAY (Raia circularis). 
 
 There are three fish which in general form much resemble the 
 rays. The first of these is the STING RAY (Trygon pastinaca}, 
 which is worthless as food. The tiger claws are wanting in this 
 family. The tail is something in the nature of a whiplash, but 
 from it projects a poisonous spine which can inflict a fearful 
 wound. The WHIP RAY (Mylobatis aquila) is a somewhat 
 similar fish, with a much larger tail than the trygon, and has 
 on its back very curious markings somewhat resembling a 
 backbone and ribs. It also possesses an extremely poisonous 
 spine near the base of the tail, of which all honest fishermen 
 should beware. Lastly, there is the Ox RAY (Cephaloptera 
 giorncB), which has a long whiplash of a tail, and a body shaped 
 very much like a bat with wings extended. Near the base 
 of the tail is a terrible-looking spine with serrated edges. 
 It is an exceedingly rare fish in British waters, but better 
 known in the Mediterranean, where, I believe, it grows to 
 an enormous size. 
 
4'3 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, CONGER, SHARKS, ETC 
 
 ANY formal introduction of the reader to the Cod family is 
 surely needless, for they are old acquaintances. Round the 
 British Isles and in all northern seas these valuable food fish 
 abound where me depth is not too great, for their favourite 
 feeding grounds lie at a hundred and fifty fathoms and less 
 distance from the surface. Often, indeed, they come close in- 
 shore and may be caught from the beach. 
 
 The Cod family is a large and important one, but for 
 the moment I will only deal with Gadus morrhua, that great 
 lump of a fish which is to be seen almost any day of the year, 
 displaying its noble proportions on the fishmonger's marble 
 slab. Naturalists, and indeed fishermen, record several varie- 
 ties. For instance, the fish of the Doggerbank are somewhat 
 longer in the head than the Scotch cod. Codlings are caught 
 of all kinds of colours (yellow, brown, speckled, red, &c.), which 
 may depend on the rocks and seaweed among which they 
 are living. I took one almost red and sent it to the late Dr. 
 Day, thinking I had discovered a marvel, but that eminent 
 ichthyologist informed me it was an ordinary cod. Off the Isle 
 of Man, however, the red cod are deemed the best. They 
 are often quite bright in colour, and their appearance may 
 after all not be altogether dependent on the nature of their 
 haunts, as they are found in company with brown fish. They 
 are caught weighing as much as 30 Ibs. sometimes more. 
 
414 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 There are few fish more prolific than the cod. Buckland 
 counted nearly two million eggs in a fish of 1 1 \ Ibs. ; and yf Ibs. 
 of cod roe he found to contain 6,867,000 eggs. . Professor Sars 
 said that cod spawn seemed to ' fill the sea ' towards the end of 
 March near the Loffoden Islands, the great cod-fishing grounds 
 of Norway. There the shoals of cod are so numerous that they 
 are called fish mountains, and as the lines are being let down 
 the leads can be felt hitting against fish. It has been calculated 
 that if five million eggs is the average number contained by each 
 female cod, and that about half a shoal consists of females, one 
 of these enormous fish mountains of Norway will deposit in the 
 sea three hundred billion eggs. From such marvellous figures 
 as these one might, and people often have, jumped to the con 
 elusion that, however much we fished for cod, we could never 
 thin them out. A moment's consideration will show us that 
 each pair of cods probably only produces in the end one mature 
 fish, or thereabouts. If it were otherwise if, for instance, 
 every two cod out of their five million eggs produced two fish, 
 the numbers of cod in the sea would be doubled every year. 
 Anyone will soon see for himself, if he works out the figures, 
 that in a few years cod would be packed so thickly between 
 England and the Continent that the Channel could be crossed 
 without boats. 
 
 We in England are far behind the rest of the world in 
 marine fish culture, particularly as regards cod, though the 
 Scotch Fishery Board has of late years taken some steps in 
 that direction. Norway, Newfoundland, and America are the 
 three countries where cod have been successfully reared. In 
 Newfoundland, at Dildo, Trinity Bay, is a very complete 
 hatchery mainly devoted to these fish. The salt water used in 
 it is pumped up from a depth of thirty feet, so that it may be 
 pure. The hatchery can contain about two hundred million 
 eggs. For some years the Newfoundland cod fishery has been 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 415 
 
 deteriorating, and it is hoped that this hatchery will restore 
 it to its former excellence. 
 
 Flodevig, at Arendal in Norway, a very much more im- 
 portant cod hatchery, is under the direction of Captain 
 G. M. Dannevig. Since it was established something like 
 nine hundred million cod fry have been bred there and placed 
 in Norwegian waters, and a matter more to the point there 
 has been a marked increase in the number of small cod found 
 along the coasts. While the returns for other fish have de- 
 creased, the cod fisheries, in which 101,650 fishermen are 
 engaged, appear to be improving. The immensity of the 
 operations may be gathered from the fact that in 1892 Norway 
 exported cod to the value of thirty-three million kroner, a 
 kroner being a little more than a shilling. The hatchery of 
 Flodevig was formerly a private enterprise, but for the last few 
 years it has been endowed by the government. 
 
 Formerly cod used to be stripped of their ova like salmon 
 or trout ; but there is a great difference between the two fish. 
 In salmon and trout the eggs ripen all at one time, and can be 
 removed by pressure on the abdomen in a few seconds ; in 
 cod they ripen by degrees, and are extruded at intervals lasting 
 for a period of six weeks or so. Captain Dannevig now allows 
 his fish to spawn naturally, and the impregnation of the eggs 
 also takes place naturally with very good results, the fish mean- 
 while being kept in ponds supplied with filtered sea water. As 
 the eggs come floating to the surface, the milt following and mix- 
 ing with them, they are collected and placed in hatching boxes. 
 
 Anyone visiting Norway should certainly pay Flodevig a 
 visit, and if a man of wealth, of a patriotic turn of mind and 
 anxious to do his country a service, let him start some such 
 institution on our own coasts. Those who would see cod fish- 
 ing at its best, or shall I say worst, should when paying a visit 
 to the midnight sun, or latitudes slightly less northern, drop 
 
416 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 lines overboard in the neighbourhood of the LofToden Islands. 
 There they will haul up cod after cod until their arms and 
 backs weary, the whole deck running with gore and looking 
 like some hideous shambles. It almost disgusts one of sea 
 fishing, say those who have tried it. 
 
 The energetic Fishery Commission of the United States 
 carries on a great deal of marine fish culture, cod by no means 
 being neglected. And, needless to be said, our American 
 friends deal in millions where we should be satisfied with 
 thousands. Not only cod, but haddocks, pollack, mackerel, 
 Spanish mackerel, and other fish are all artificially reared up to 
 the fry stage. From twenty-two hatching establishments there 
 were distributed in the course of two years 196,409,650 eggs ; 
 525,783,273 fry ; 2,400,094 yearlings and adults a total of 
 724,593,017. These were not all marine fish, a large number 
 of white fish, pike, perch, and shad being included. In the year 
 1890-91, 3,000 selected cod produced over sixty-seven million 
 eggs, from which were reared about thirty-six and a half million 
 fry. It is very satisfactory to find that this planting of fry in 
 the sea has in America, as in Norway, produced good results. 
 Those who would seek further information on the subject I must 
 refer to the Reports of the American Fishery Commissioners. 
 
 Professar Sars, of Norway, who has made a special study of 
 these fish, found that the eggs floated unless the specific gravity 
 of the sea was lessened by river water flowing into it, which 
 would cause them to sink. At Flodevig, for instance, after a 
 long succession of winds from the east or south-east, the brack- 
 ish waters of the Baltic are so mixed with those of that portion 
 of the North Sea that salt has to be added to the breeding 
 ponds. Otherwise the eggs will not float. 
 
 The eggs are from about eighteen to thirty or more days in 
 the hatching, according to the temperature of the water. Like 
 a trout, the little fish when first hatched is furnished with a tiny 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 417 
 
 food supply of its own, contained in an umbilical sac. 1 When 
 this has been exhausted the young cod, now an inch long, come 
 shorewards and feed and are fed on, many millions doubtless 
 being eaten by larger fish and sea birds. When a year old they 
 seek deeper water. Fishermen call anything under twenty 
 inches codling, from twenty to thirty inches sprags, then come 
 half cod, and then cod. They are such voracious feeders, and 
 the sea is such a good feeding ground, that their growth is 
 undoubtedly very rapid. According to Jackson, some cod 
 which were in the Southport Aquarium grew from three-quarters 
 of a pound to six or seven pounds each in a period of about 
 sixteen months, and they would without much doubt grow still 
 faster in the sea. 
 
 In the matter of food the cod is the ostrich of the sea. 
 Whether a tenpenny nail or a soda-water bottle has yet been 
 discovered in one of these fish I do not know ; but if keys, why 
 not tenpenny nails ? For there is a very pleasant story of a 
 certain Captain Hill who dropped a bunch of keys overboard 
 from a trawler in the North Sea, and weeks afterwards found 
 them again in the belly of a codfish captured miles away. 
 Live crabs are not pleasant things to swallow, one would think, 
 but cod take them readily enough, and in a Scotch cod was 
 found an entire Norway lobster. Dr. Day recorded how one 
 Grove took a piece of candle seven inches long from the inside 
 of a cod, and how Mr. Reid, of Wick, saw a black guillemot in 
 perfect feather removed from the stomach of one of these fish 
 in March 1879. Cod often play the marauder, and rival the 
 cuttle-fish by feeding on the herrings which have been meshed 
 
 1 At Dunbar, N.B. , is a hatchery instituted at an expenditure of only i,6oo/. 
 and costing annually about 6oo/. Up to the present its managers have hatched 
 and planted in the sea 69,585,000 fry of various sea fish, of which this year (189 5) 
 nearly three millions were cod. Why does not the Government establish fifteen 
 or twenty such hatcheries ? The comparatively small outlay required would 
 soon be repaid twenty-fold. J. B. 
 
4i 8 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 in the drift nets. It is a common thing for a small fish to be 
 caught on a long line, for a cod to come swimming by and take 
 the small fish, and there is always the chance of a huge halibut 
 absorbing the cod and going off with line and all. Truly the 
 sea is a place of marvels, which is one great charm of it. 
 
 Just such another incident minus the halibut came under 
 my notice in the north of Scotland. Some friends and I were 
 out in a fishing boat moored over a famous haddock ground. On 
 the flood tide boat-loads of crofters came off and laid their short 
 long lines if I may use an Hibernianism all round us, leaving 
 them down about an hour, then taking them up with something 
 like a haddock for every three hooks. Eighteen a shilling these 
 excellent fish were selling for in the clachan. I was fishing 
 with a single gut paternoster, just such a one as I have described 
 on p. 238, but of fairly stout gut. Our bait (mussels) ran short, 
 so, leaving them for the ladies who were on board and anxious 
 to have good sport, I cut up a haddock for myself and fished 
 with the pieces. 
 
 One of our crew at once said that I was not likely to 
 catch haddocks with that bait, but if there was a cod about I 
 should surely have him. But I did catch a haddock or two, 
 and presently there was a heavy weight on the rod which was 
 irresistible. There was no rush such as a lythe or saithe would 
 make, simply a steady march-along motion, which took my line 
 off the reel inch by inch. I played the fish as hard as I dared, 
 and after a while, to my surprise, he suddenly came to the 
 surface a good many yards away, and turned over on his back. 
 It is a way with cod ; whenever they exert themselves something 
 appears to go wrong with their air bladder, and they can no 
 longer keep near the bottom. Perhaps it is a good thing for 
 anglers who fish with fine tackle that this is the case. However, 
 there was the fish, and without difficulty we now reeled him in. 
 The scumma, as Murdo called our landing net, was placed 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 419 
 
 under him, and he was lifted into the boat. He was a fine 
 big, fat cod, and from his mouth dangled a snooding made of 
 six or seven horsehairs twisted. When the cook at the lodge 
 cut him open that night she found on the end of the said 
 snooding a hook, and on the hook a good-sized haddock. This 
 greedy fish had evidently lifted the haddock from one of the 
 crofters' lines, swallowed it, broken off the horsehair snooding, 
 and, thinking nothing of the incident, swam slowly under our 
 boat, saw my piece of haddock, and took it. 
 
 But this is nothing to what cod do sometimes. It has been 
 said nay, more, put in print that a partridge was once taken 
 from the stomach of such a fish, while others have been caught 
 containing hares and white turnips. But the most eccentric 
 cod I ever heard of was one which was brought to the Vice- 
 Chancellor of Cambridge somewhere about Midsummer's Eve 
 in the year 1626. He had been caught in Lynn Deeps, and 
 from his maw was taken ' a booke in three treatises.' To the 
 naturalist the cod is of even greater value than to the bibliophile, 
 rendering up from his capacious stomach an immense variety 
 of rare and sometimes beautiful marine creatures, which the 
 trawl usually maims or destroys. 
 
 Cod are in first-rate condition for the two or three months 
 previous to the time they spawn, the date of which varies 
 in different places from January to late in the spring. On 
 most parts of our coast the longshore cod fishery of the sea 
 angler begins in September or October. On the east coast of 
 England and Scotland immense shoals of small codling make 
 their appearance at the end of summer. These may be only 
 half-pounders or pounders. A fortnight or so later fish of two 
 pounds will be caught, while about Christmas and onwards 
 large cod will be found foraging for food within a hundred 
 yards of the shore. It should be understood that this statement 
 of time and size of fish is to be taken as a very general one, for 
 
420 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 both the size of the fish and the dates of their arrival vary very 
 much in different localities and also at different seasons. This 
 longshore cod fishing is quite an institution on the East coast 
 in the autumn. I have said a good deal about it on pp. 60 
 and 209, to which I would refer the intending cod fisher. 
 
 When we are dealing with fish which will take anything, 
 from a white turnip to ' a booke 
 in three treatises,' it is obvious 
 that we are not likely to go far 
 wrong in choosing a bait ; but I 
 must say that, as in fresh water 
 the same kinds of fish appear to 
 favour different baits in different 
 places, so it is with cod. On the 
 East coast nothing answers better 
 than mussels, unless indeed it is 
 a lugworm or squid. In some 
 places I have found lugworms 
 better than any other bait I could 
 try, including mussels. Then, 
 again, when fishing up in the 
 Hebrides, as I have described, 
 the mussels beloved of haddock 
 were quite disregarded by the 
 cod, which were not attracted 
 
 ^y j ^ covered my hoo k 
 
 with a piece of haddock. A 
 
 composite bait highly thought of by Scotch fishermen is made 
 of lugworm and limpet. Its mode of attachment to the hook 
 is explained by the illustration. Squid is a first-rate bait for 
 cod, and so are pilchards, sprats, sand-eels, herring, and 
 mackerel. The whelk, called buckie in Scotland, is one of 
 the most favourite baits for long lines, not so much because 
 
 LUGWORM AND LIMPET 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 421 
 
 cod are particularly fond of it, but because it is not usually 
 taken off the hook by crabs and similar fish. I have often 
 tried whelk against mussel and lugworm, and always found 
 I caught fewer cod on them than on the more luscious baits. 
 
 With regard to the size of hook, that must, of course, 
 depend on the general run of the fish and the sort of bait which 
 is being used. They may vary between the two sizes shown. 
 The smaller a curved Limerick is particularly suitable for 
 codling fishing with mussel bait. While it is, of course, a very 
 great mistake to put a tiny 
 bait on the point of a big 
 hook, it is an equally big mis- 
 take to cover a small hook 
 with a large- sized bait. Let 
 both be in proportion ; let 
 the point of hook be sharp, 
 and not guarded by a hard 
 bait, and strike sharply as 
 soon as a fish is felt. I have 
 often caught a dozen or more 
 codling without missing one 
 when fishing with good hooks 
 and a rod. In English waters 
 
 cod are mainly caught by professional fishermen on long lines 
 and in the trawl, and in the illustration overleaf are shown 
 the hooks and snoods which are used for this purpose in the 
 North Sea. The tendency among the codmen is to use smaller 
 hooks than formerly. By ' inshore,' as applied to the smaller 
 hook, is meant waters within say forty miles of the coast and 
 from about ten to fourteen fathoms in depth. A sea angler will 
 generally use a paternoster. For fish up to ten pounds single 
 gut is quite strong enough unless the lead required is a heavy 
 one, say over a pound, in which case double or treble gut 
 
 COD AND CODLING HOOKS 
 
422 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 is desirable. Treble gut, of course, varies in thickness ; it 
 may consist of three thicknesses of fine gut or three thick- 
 nesses of stout gut. A very 
 fine paternoster, one which 
 many people have con- 
 sidered to be good for cod 
 fishing, is made by taking 
 two stout salmon casts 
 and lightly twisting them 
 together, swivels being in- 
 serted at intervals to carry 
 the hook links, which may 
 be of twisted gut or gimp 
 slightly less strong than the 
 main length. I fished with 
 one and the same single 
 gut paternoster for three 
 years in succession, and 
 even then did not lose it, 
 but threw it away as it had 
 become very much frayed, 
 though still strong. Cer- 
 tainly salt water does not 
 rot gut. 
 
 The WHITING. Im- 
 portant members of the 
 Gadidce. or Cod family are 
 the pollack and the coal- 
 
 DEEP SEA 
 
 INSHORE 
 
 NORTH SEA HOOKS AND SNOODS 
 (ACTUAL SIZE) USED ON LONG 
 LINES 
 
 fish, but these I have dealt 
 with in a previous chapter. 
 
 Of a kin, and next in importance, at any rate to the sports- 
 man, is the whiting (Gadus merlangus}. To taste a whiting at 
 its best one must be a sea angler, for a considerable portion 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 423 
 
 of the whiting which come to market are caught in trawls, and 
 are towed along for hours in a half-dead condition mixed up 
 with stones, crabs, starfish, &c. Then they are packed in 
 boxes, and later on, as likely as not, kept for some days on 
 ice, particularly if the wholesale price is low. When they 
 come to table they are insipid and either watery or dry. But 
 take your rod and come with me to some big sea loch on the 
 north-west coast of Scotland. Moor the boat over a little bit 
 of sandy marl which Macdonald knows of, and presently we 
 shall begin to pull up, not the miserable little half-pounders 
 of our South coast, but big fellows running from one to two 
 and sometimes three pounds. An hour of this sport will suffice 
 to fill a good-sized basket, and then back we go to the little 
 hotel at the head of the sea loch, give our catch into the hands 
 of the fair-haired Christina of the blue eyes, descendant of the 
 Norse raiders, and presently there will be a noise of fizzling 
 heard through the land, and the delicate, moist, delicious fish 
 will be set before us on the plain but well-stocked board. 
 
 The largest whiting I have ever taken were from those 
 same sea lochs, but it has been in the Downs between Deal and 
 the Goodwins that I have found them most plentiful. There a 
 hundred or more in the course of a few hours is no uncommon 
 catch. 
 
 In summer-time whiting show a preference for the shallows, 
 but, generally speaking, fish of any size are not caught in 
 much less than ten fathoms of water. In winter they retire to 
 the deeps. When the water is very clear, it is best to fish at 
 night, and at all times many more will be caught at sunrise, or 
 thereabouts, than at any other time of the day. 
 
 There is no better tackle than the paternoster, and for 
 whiting perhaps more for him than other sea fish it is a 
 decided advantage to use fine tackle. I should never think of 
 using anything stronger than medium single gut for the hook 
 
4^4 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 links, and find that a hook half the size of those commonly 
 seen on the hand lines of the fishermen is the best size, unless 
 the run of fish is exceptionally large. 
 
 Any sizes between the two shown in the illustration may 
 be used, according to the circumstances. When the fish 
 are biting very shyly indeed, I use the very small hook ; not 
 covering it, but hooking on to it a tiny strip of mackerel or 
 herring skin, or a ragworm. Among the best baits are lugs, 
 pilchards or their guts, herrings, squid, mackerel, and ragworms. 
 Whiting spawn about March, after which they are out of 
 condition for a month or two, but 
 have greatly improved by July, and 
 are at their best in the autumn. 
 When the cold weather comes they 
 retire into rather deep water. Ac- 
 cording to Pennant, whiting up to as 
 much as eight pounds in weight have 
 been taken near the Doggerbank. 
 
 Many a cockney goes to Brighton, 
 WHITING HOOKS p ays his half-crown an hour for the 
 
 privilege of dangling a hand line over 
 
 the side of a cockleshell of a boat, and catches a few fish, 
 which he is gravely assured by the longshoreman in attend- 
 ance are whiting. In all probability these will be pout or 
 rock whiting, for the said longshoreman is, as a rule, too 
 lazy to take his customers to the whiting grounds which lie 
 further out. 
 
 The POUT (Gadus luscus) is less silvery than the whiting, 
 and has not its elegance of form, being decidedly pot-bellied. 
 If a vessel has foundered anywhere, and its ribs are still sticking 
 up out of the sand in a few fathoms of water, there will pout 
 be found in numbers. It also loves rocks and seaweeds. In 
 very cold weather it may migrate into the deep water, but is 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 425 
 
 generally caught all through the year at its usual haunts. 
 Being somewhat widely distributed around our coasts, it is 
 surprising it has not more local names, but the only ones I know 
 of are bib, whiting pout, pout, and, in Cornwall, blens or blinds. 
 It does not often run to any size, though rare examples 
 have been taken weighing several pounds. For tackle there 
 is nothing better than a single gut paternoster with a small 
 whiting hook. Where the fish run exceedingly small, the very 
 small hook illustrated may be used. The pout is, as a rule, 
 not particular in the matter of baits ; any of those mentioned 
 for silver whiting will succeed with him. The ground-bait net 
 will attract him and bring him on the feed. 
 When caught he should be eaten the same or, 
 at the latest, the next day, as his flesh rapidly 
 deteriorates. 
 
 The HADDOCK (Gadus ceglejinus} is a fish 
 which has given me many a day's enjoyable sport. 
 It is so well known that description hardly seems HOOK 
 
 FOR 
 
 necessary, though let it be mentioned that fresh SMALL 
 out of the sea it is arrayed in lovely shades of 
 lavender and silvery grey, and presents a very 
 beautiful appearance. In Irish waters haddock have been 
 caught which were somewhat remarkable in colouring. One 
 was shown in Belfast market the upper part of which was 
 salmon colour. Then there was a golden-coloured haddock 
 caught near Strangford, while Dublin Bay produced one which 
 was canary-coloured. In size haddock generally run from one 
 to three pounds, but some very large examples have been 
 recorded. Dublin Bay, a noted place for these fish, produced 
 one weighing 24^ Ibs., and another of 16 Ibs. Couch mentions 
 one of 25 Ibs. 
 
 Haddock are found mostly on our eastern coasts, and in 
 Scotch waters are a very important item in the products of the 
 
 3 i 
 
426 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 fisheries. As a rule they swim in vast shoals, but will suddenly 
 and without apparent reason leave grounds which have been 
 noted for them for many years. Doubtless the explanation is 
 that the food supply has become exhausted. For instance, up 
 to the year 1870 haddock were very plentiful off Mevagissey, 
 in Cornwall, large ones up to twelve pounds in weight sometimes 
 being caught. In that year they left those waters, and are now 
 considered a rare fish. 
 
 There is not much doubt that the trawlers have injured the 
 haddock fisheries in many places. According to Pennant, who 
 wrote in 1776, haddock were then so plentiful 
 within a mile of Scarborough Harbour that 
 three men using long lines could often load 
 their cobble with a ton of fish twice a day. 
 But the trawls have changed all that. Trawled 
 haddock, by the way, are mostly cured, being 
 a good deal knocked about. Fish caught by 
 hook and line are. infinitely the best for the 
 table ; but here I would ask, why in the 
 HOOK FOR name of goodness do English people almost 
 invariably plain boil haddocks and serve them 
 with egg sauce? If there is any sea fish 
 more than another that requires good cooking, it is the one 
 which, according to the legend, St. Peter drew out from the 
 Lake of Genesareth to obtain the tribute money, leaving the 
 mark of his finger and thumb on its shoulders. Parentheti- 
 cally, the same story is told of the John Dory, which has some 
 peculiar markings ; and, also parenthetically, neither of these 
 fish inhabit the lake. 
 
 But, to return to culinary matters, a well-fed haddock 
 freshly caught out of the sea and filleted is by no means bad 
 eating. It may be prepared a la maitre d'hotel, or egged and 
 bread-crumbed and fried in butter. French cooks, I believe, 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 427 
 
 abjure butter because it is not easy to fry a fish a good colour 
 therein ; but this frying medium gives a sweet nutty flavour 
 which is wanting in fish fried in oil or lard. 
 
 Before you can cook your haddock it is necessary to catch 
 him. As to that there is no great difficulty, for he swims in 
 shoals and is exceedingly voracious. Having found him, fish 
 near the bottom with a paternoster, the hook being about the 
 size illustrated. Bait with mussels or lugworms or a piece of 
 pilchard, sprat, mackerel, or herring, and you will surely catch 
 him if he is at all on the feed. A bait which is deemed great 
 medicine consists of a small piece of squid placed on the 
 shank of the hook, the point being covered with a tempting 
 mussel. This is particularly useful on long lines, where the fish 
 have to hook themselves and are apt to draw the mussel off 
 the hook. The squid remains as a forlorn hope, and often 
 leads to the fish being captured. The man with a rod, who 
 can tell immediately the fish bites, and is accustomed to strike 
 sharply and at the right moment, will catch haddock on mussel 
 solus without any difficulty. I have caught a good many 
 haddocks when baiting my hooks with pieces of grey gurnard. 
 
 HAKE (Merluaius vulgaris) and LING (Molva vulgaris} 
 are two fish which are frequently confounded by amateur sea 
 fishermen. Both of them, but more particularly the ling, 
 incline to the appearance of being a cross between a codfish 
 and a conger eel. In both the body is long and thin, and they 
 are furnished with long back and belly fins, starting near 
 the root of the tail and extending beyond the middle of the 
 fish. The hake is the more ferocious-looking fish of the two, 
 the rays of its two dorsal fins being spinous, while its mouth 
 is furnished with quite an ogreish double set of teeth of the 
 orthodox fee-fo-fum variety. Its eye is round. The ling, on 
 the other hand, lacks these prickly points to its back fins ; its 
 teeth, while very formidable, are not so conspicuous ; its eye 
 
428 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 is lozenge-shaped ; and it has a barbule in the centre of its 
 lower jaw, which is altogether wanting in the hake. Those 
 teeth of the hake sometimes get him into trouble. On summer 
 nights, when the sea is phosphorescent and the herring nets and 
 herrings are sparkling with silver light, up comes Master Hake 
 from the bottom, where he rests during the daytime, for he is 
 a night feeder, and calmly sups off the caught herrings, until 
 finally, getting too bold, his teeth are entangled in the meshes 
 of the net, and sooner or later he is dragged on board the fish- 
 ing boat and knocked on the head by the joyful fishermen. 
 
 The hakeing season is principally in the autumn and winter. 
 Large quantities of these fish are caught on hand lines from 
 the herring and pilchard boats while the nets are drifting. A 
 whole pilchard or herring is one of the best baits that can 
 be used. There are important hake fisheries in Irish waters, 
 particularly in the south (in olden times Galway Bay was 
 called the Bay of Hakes), and also off Devon and Cornwall. 
 In two nights the crew of a West-country boat once caught 
 eleven hundred of these fish. I have eaten hake in Ireland 
 and rather liked them. They are fairly good salted, and 
 in the hands of a judicious cook are certainly more than 
 passable. 
 
 Fishing for hake is, as I have indicated, nearly always done 
 at night. A few may be caught during the day if the bait is 
 kept close to the bottom. But during the hours of darkness it 
 should be held at about midwater, various depths being tried 
 until the fish are met with. Sometimes, indeed, they will be 
 found only a fathom or two below the surface. They grow to 
 a large size, and the ogreish teeth necessitate stout tackle and 
 an armoured snooding near the hook, which measures about 
 i \ inch across the bend and 6 inches in length. Such a snood 
 as that used for conger will answer the purpose (see pp. 74 and 
 274), but it is certainly desirable to have it served with wire. 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 429 
 
 Some fishermen, in lieu of having an armoured snooding, use 
 hooks with shanks about eight inches long, with an eye at the 
 end ; the fish then bite on to the hook shank instead of on to 
 the snooding. 
 
 The LING, though perhaps not so fierce as the hake, emu- 
 lates the cod in the matter of voracity. There is certainly no 
 record of a fish of this variety having swallowed ' a booke in 
 three treatises ' or a bunch of keys (afterwards returned to its 
 owner through the medium of a long line), but there is an 
 unusually well-authenticated legend that one was caught off 
 Brandon Head, in the county of Kerry, which contained 
 a flask. Moreover, in the flask was half a pint of spirituous 
 liquor. 1 Another such a story dates from November 17, 1881. 
 A Mr. Boal, of Consett, opened a ling, which weighed twenty- 
 five pounds, and discovered within it a small bottle, pieces of 
 sealing wax, some parchment, a few herrings and a codling. 
 
 Ling grow to a great size. In the 'Field' of March 23, 
 1895, is a record of one weighing 85 Ibs., and of three which 
 together weighed 222 Ibs. They were caught off the Faroes 
 from the steamer fishing line-boat ' Saridus.' 
 
 If ling fishing is being carried on from the pilchard or other 
 drifting boats, not so much lead is required as if the boat were 
 
 1 Here is a certificate of truth culled from the Pall Mall Gazette, being a 
 letter to the editor : ' Sir, In reference to the amusing article of April 8, giving 
 an account of the cobble stones which were found in the stomach of a ling 
 exposed for sale in a fishmonger's shop at Liverpool, it may perhaps be of 
 interest to your readers to know that I have in my possession an example of 
 what I think may be considered as " gross an error on the part of a fish" as 
 has ever been placed on record. On the table before me is a round zinc flask, 
 on which is inscribed the following legend : " Royal Irish Fisheries Company. 
 This flask, containing two glasses of an ardent spirit, was found in the stomach 
 of a ling, taken off Brandon Head, co. Kerry, February 1849. Presented by 
 J. E. Stopford, LL.D. , director, and W. Andrews, manager, to Mr. M. J. 
 Ffennell, in testimony of their esteem and their sense of the services rendered 
 by him as Commissioner of Fisheries." The flask, which was presented to 
 my father, holds four wineglasses. With two glasses the flask weighed just 
 i Ib. Yours, &c. , HENRY FFENNELL.' 
 
430 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 moored, unless, indeed, the wind and tide are opposed. A 
 lead of half a pound may be quite sufficient. The exact weight 
 needed is soon ascertained. Below it should be a very long 
 snooding, three fathoms or thereabouts that is, assuming a 
 hand line is the form of tackle. If a rod is used the line will, 
 of course, be finer and the lead lighter. Very strong paternoster 
 tackle will answer every purpose, but only one hook should be 
 used, and the hook link may be eighteen inches in length and 
 should be placed a couple of feet above the lead. 
 
 Ling are often caught by cod fishers, and they particularly 
 favour those rocky localities in which one would expect to find 
 large conger. Speaking generally, it may be said that they 
 may be caught on the same tackle and with the same baits as 
 conger and cod ; but where they abound and are large, stout 
 strong gear is very necessary, for they grow to a great size. 
 Couch 'was told' of one in Scilly weighing 124 Ibs. Others 
 have been reported of about 60 Ibs. Up in the Orkneys these 
 fish are very common, and are also abundant on the West 
 coast of Scotland. A great many are caught off the Yorkshire 
 coast. On the South coast of England they favour Cornwall 
 rather than Devon. They are numerous off the Scilly Isles, 
 and are met with all round the coast of Ireland. Quantities of 
 ling are salted and exported to Spain and Italy. Some people 
 think highly of the flesh of these fish when fresh, particularly if 
 baked with a sufficiency of seasoning. 
 
 The following quotation from a book of accounts dating 
 from the beginning of the sixteenth century is interesting as 
 giving some idea of the value of ling at that period : ' Item. 
 Pd. for half a hundred lynge, xd. Item. For carrying of ye 
 same lynge fr. ye Bulle to ye comon Stath, mjd.' 
 
 The POWER or POOR COD and the TORSK are the only 
 two other members of the Cod family which need be mentioned 
 in a work of this kind. Torsk, by the way, is a name which 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 431 
 
 in Norway is applied to several varieties of codfish ; in fact, it 
 is the Norwegian for cod. Being once saddled with a man 
 whom I wished to abuse politely at intervals, with the object 
 of keeping him up to his work, I made inquiries locally for 
 the most suitable Norwegian expression. I was told that 
 'gammel torsk,' i.e. old codfish, would probably answer my 
 purpose ; and I may say that I used it with great success. When 
 the old fellow's thoughts went woolgathering and he began to 
 place the boat where my fly ought to be, or let it down on to 
 rocks, a gentle application of ' gammel torsk ' always stimulated 
 him to fresh and more careful exertions on behalf of the creel. 
 The incident is mentioned not as a fisherman's yarn or to raise 
 a smile or to excite wonder, but as a piece of valuable practical 
 information for the benefit of the Englishman in Norway. 
 
 English naturalists apply the name torsk to Brosmius brosme, 
 the tusk of the Shetlands. Off the American coast I believe 
 the same fish is sometimes called cusk. It is not common in 
 English waters, but is very plentiful on the coast of Shetland. 
 In shape these fish somewhat resemble ling, but are blunter in 
 the head and have only one back fin, which extends from the 
 root of the tail to a point level with the edge of the gill covers. 
 It also has the barbule which is common to most of the Cod 
 family. 
 
 The POWER COD (Gadus minutus) is very common on some 
 parts of our coasts, particularly off Cornwall. It possesses 
 various local names, such as white eyes, power, ribben-pout, 
 pouting, and giligant. It is an exceedingly small fish, closely 
 resembling whiting pout, but somewhat longer in body. It 
 is common on the coast of Devonshire and Cornwall, will 
 take the same baits as the whiting pout, and is found in the 
 same localities. It is reckoned of no great value as food, but 
 if eaten the day it is caught is sweet and pleasant to the 
 palate. It is by no means a bad bait for conger. 
 
432 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 CONGER (Conger vulgaris\ for we may now leave the great 
 Gadida family, were insensibly led up to by the consideration 
 of ling. From time immemorial congers have been both the 
 delight and despair of naturalists, particularly in the matter of 
 their breeding habits. The ancients had most curious views 
 on this subject. In Aristotle's ' History of Animals ' it is 
 declared that eels have no sexes, nor eggs, and that they arise 
 yj/i ErrEjoa. Oppian thought that eels embraced, and that the 
 slime from their bodies fell to the bottom and vitalised in the 
 mud ; but those, by the way, were freshwater eels. Pliny 
 declared that these fish rubbed against rocks and a new breed 
 arose from the detritus. One of our most learned professors 
 of biology wrote a paper not long since gravely stating that in 
 all probability congers spawned once and then died, acting 
 in fact like butterflies. It seemed he had been watching over 
 some congers kept in an aquarium, and the females, so far as I 
 could understand his experience, all died from being eggbound. 
 It is a curious fact that before this happened the bones of the 
 head became soft as cheese. I must say I do not see how any 
 absolutely trustworthy data can be obtained as to the breeding 
 habits of fish from observations made in an aquarium, where 
 the fish do not live under natural conditions. Two other 
 points were noticed with regard to these congers kept in 
 captivity when gravid they shed teeth ; and there appeared no 
 fixed season for this interesting condition, one or more females 
 being found gravid during every month of the year except 
 November. 
 
 There are certain small creatures living in the sea called 
 by naturalists Leptocephali, the variety found in British waters 
 being Leptocephali Morrisii. M. Yves Delage observed at 
 Roscoff that one of these little creatures grew into a conger eel ; 
 and I may say here that one of the most recent discoveries 
 connected with freshwater eels is that another of the Lepto- 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 433 
 
 cephali is the silver eel in its larval condition (Leftocephalus 
 brevirostris it has been named), and, curiously enough, it has 
 only been found in the Straits of Messina. The little 
 creatures which grow into conger eels have been known to 
 naturalists for a good many years. 
 
 There are in the commencement of a conger's life- history 
 three stages before the fish takes the form under which it is so 
 familiar to us. The first is a tsenioid form with long and fine 
 teeth ; then these teeth disappear ; and finally we get the third 
 form, in which the ordinary conger's teeth begin to develop. 
 One of the most extraordinary points about the transforma- 
 tion is that the little creature grows smaller as it changes into a 
 conger proper. Mr. J. T. Cunningham, who is one of the 
 naturalists of the Marine Biological Association, states that a 
 larva five inches in length develops into a three-inch conger, 
 and that the transformation may not take more than a month. 
 
 Like trout, conger vary very much in colour, according to 
 the bottom on which they are caught, and they are caught 
 anywhere and everywhere. Generally speaking, their haunts 
 are among rocks, but when feeding at night they leave their 
 cavernous retreats and travel long distances over sandy and 
 muddy bottoms in search of food. Deep water is usually 
 believed to be essential to the capture of big congers, but at 
 night I have caught large ones, and hooked and lost still larger 
 (a common experience), in a couple of fathoms of water. 
 
 If the number of eggs is any criterion, congers must be 
 extremely prolific. In a female which died in the Southport 
 Aquarium were found over six million, the eel weighing only 
 15^ Ibs. The growth rate of congers is extremely rapid, not 
 only in the sea (pure presumption), but also in aquariums (a 
 well-known fact). In the Southport Aquarium these fish have 
 grown from 7 Ibs. or 8 Ibs. to 25 Ibs. or 30 Ibs. in about sixteen 
 months, and one monster attained the weight of 90 Ibs. in five 
 
 3 K 
 
434 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 and a half years. There are many stories of congers being 
 caught weighing over 100 Ibs. One of that size would certainly 
 be an unpleasant customer to have on board any small boat. 
 
 On the edibility of sea eels opinions differ, but most of us 
 who have indulged in 'real turtle' at a London hotel or 
 restaurant have unconsciously imbibed conger extract. In 
 Scotland eels of all kinds are abominated, being regarded in 
 the light of serpents, but in Wales pickled conger is a very 
 favourite dish. Both on the Welsh and Scotch coasts, and 
 round the Channel Islands and Ireland, conger are very 
 plentiful. 
 
 To give an idea of the voracity of these enormous fish, one 
 of 58 1 Ibs. and over six feet in length was caught at Portrush in 
 1876. It was endeavouring to swallow a salmon of 6 Ibs., 
 which had been caught in a net. There is, indeed, hardly any 
 fish which they will not attack, including their own species ; and 
 at the Southport Aquarium the only other remaining inhabitants 
 of the conger tanks were skate, large turbot, sturgeons, and 
 angel fish. 
 
 Conger not only eat, but are eaten. A strange scene 
 occurred upon the beach of Colwyn Bay in April of 1881. A 
 porpoise chased one of these creatures with such effect that 
 the eel ran ashore and began to climb the beach. It was 
 captured by a Captain Davis, who had quite a set-to with his 
 marine visitor. According to Templeton, a very large number 
 of congers were killed by their own greediness on the coast of 
 Rathlin by gorging themselves with salt herrings, of which an 
 all too plentiful supply came sinking through the water from a 
 wrecked vessel. Congers are extremely sensitive to cold, and 
 I have heard once or twice of large numbers having died in 
 frosty weather. This, I think, possibly may have happened 
 during an early frost before the fish had retired to deeper water 
 for the winter. 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 435 
 
 To be very successful with conger, it is usually necessary to 
 fish at night. Then do these great eels leave their fastnesses 
 among rocks and tangle, and roam about seeking what they can 
 devour. It is not necessary at night to be actually fishing over 
 rocks, but it is as well to be near them. The very large conger 
 are mostly caught in deep water, but fish up to 12 Ibs. or more 
 are often numerous close inshore a little below low-water mark, 
 in two or three fathoms of water at the lowest spring tides. 
 
 There are few baits which conger will not take. Among 
 the best are fresh squid ; cuttle treated like a beefsteak that is, 
 well beaten to make it tender ; a piece of mackerel, pilchard, 
 herring, or sprat. Unlike the bass, the conger has a decided 
 preference for a soft fresh bait, a fact which should be remem- 
 bered. It is as well to take the bone out of the bait, for congers 
 are not partial to anything hard ; and if we could do without 
 the hook so much the better, but that seems out of the ques- 
 tion. But I would say as to the hook, for this same reason, that 
 it should be no larger than is required to hold a large conger. 
 When the fish are biting shyly it is a good plan to use a rather 
 smaller hook than ordinary, burying it well in the bait, and 
 giving the fish plenty of time. The hook shown in the illustra- 
 tion on p. 74 is the largest I have ever found necessary, and I 
 have caught many a conger on hooks much smaller than that 
 shown. I had, for instance, a very lively twenty minutes with 
 a conger of 7 Ibs. in a strong tideway when angling for flat fish 
 with a fine gut paternoster and the little hook illustrated on 
 p. 406. A friend of mine was still more fortunate, killing a 
 i4|-lb. conger on a single lake-trout gut. But, all the same, gut 
 is not the right material to use when making up tackle for 
 conger. 
 
 There are two, and very opposite, ways of defeating the 
 attempts of the conger to bite through the line. The snood 
 may be made so hard that it cannot be bitten through, or it 
 
436 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 may be so soft and yielding that the fish's teeth get buried 
 without severing it. The hard or protected snooding may con- 
 sist of stout gimp, or a piece of ordinary hemp snooding bound 
 round with copper wire, which is, after all, little less than home- 
 made gimp. The soft snoodings are made of a number of very 
 fine strands of soft hemp, all tied on to the hook and knotted 
 together at short intervals, or loosely plaited in the manner 
 illustrated on pp. 74 and 274. 
 
 Another conger snooding which is used by professional 
 fishermen is made in the following way : Take a piece of 
 ordinary fishing line as strong as may be required. This 
 may seem rather indefinite ; but what is meant is that the 
 strength must depend upon the size of the conger expected. 
 For fishing in twenty or thirty fathoms of water at night, over a 
 place known to contain a number of very large conger, strong 
 lines must be used ; but if we are fishing close inshore where 
 the fish only run up to as much as 14 Ibs. or 15 Ibs., the majority 
 varying from 2 Ibs. to 5 Ibs., the line may be comparatively fine. 
 In any case the snood should be finer than the line above it. 
 Having decided on the right size for this piece of snooding, 
 which may be about three feet in length, untwist an inch and a 
 half of the end and whip it on the shank of the hook very 
 strongly with well-waxed hemp twine. Then, straining it 
 tight, plait over it (starting at the hook end) strands of green 
 hemp which may be obtained at the ropemaker's. The ends 
 of the green hemp can easily be pushed under the strands of 
 the snooding when a couple of feet have been covered in this 
 manner. 
 
 Amateurs rather favour good new gimp, which is fairly 
 flexible, for conger snoods, but it must be liberally supplied 
 with swivels, and even then I hear that it often comes to grief. 
 The best way of attaching it, is to use a hook with a large 
 turned-down eye. Insert the gimp through the eye, unravel 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 437 
 
 half an inch of the end, wax it well, squeeze it on to the shank, 
 and then bind it round very securely, first with well-waxed 
 thread or fine silk line, secondly with a protective whipping of 
 copper wire. To those who do not believe in eyed hooks used 
 in the ordinary way, that is, with the snooding knotted to them, 
 I strongly recommend this little dodge of inserting the snood 
 through the eye and whipping it to the shank. It is infinitely 
 more lasting than a whipping on the ordinary hook, which 
 always comes undone sooner or later at the end of the shank. 
 
 The last time I was conger fishing I had no gimp nor 
 snoods of the usual kind with me, so prepared some by making a 
 three-plait of ordinary eight-plait tanned hemp pike-line, and 
 that is the actual snood engraved on p. 74. More recently, 
 when I came to see some of the tackle used by Mr. Harms - 
 worth for tarpon fishing, I was much interested to find that 
 one kind of snooding for those gigantic herrings was made in 
 a similar manner. The tackle for conger above the snood is 
 of the simplest kind. If a hand line, it should be a very 
 strong one, terminated with a boat-shaped lead, and, below 
 the lead, a swivel and three feet of snooding ending with the 
 hook. This arrangement is suitable for fishing over rocks, 
 where the bait must not be allowed to lie quite on the bottom, 
 for fear of entanglements. Where there is no likelihood of a 
 foul the lead should lie on the bottom, but in that case the 
 snood should not be fastened to the lead, but six inches above 
 it paternoster fashion ; otherwise, the fish has to move the 
 lead before the bite is felt by the fisherman. 
 
 Over rocks where the fish run large, if a rod and reel 
 are used, the former must be short and very powerful. They 
 certainly enable the fish to be hooked with greater certainty 
 than does the hand line. But for very big eels a stout hand 
 line and snood, with which you can safely play the game of 
 'pull devil, pull baker,' is almost necessary. Outside the 
 
438 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 reef, where the bottom is sandy, there the rod can always be 
 brought into play with advantage. In any case have out a 
 hand line with a big hook and big bait e.g. a whole squid 
 for any chance monster which is passing ; but on the rod use 
 somewhat finer tackle and smaller hooks and baits, and it 
 will be found, I think, that nearly double as many conger will 
 fall to the rod as to the hand line, for congers are shy, cautious 
 fish, and, particularly if there is much moonlight, are prone to 
 observe coarse tackle. 
 
 One of the most important items of tackle which should 
 never be omitted is a strong swivel. In the hand line it 
 should be placed immediately below the lead ; with the rod it 
 will come at the end of the hook link. I am assuming that 
 paternoster tackle is used, such as is illustrated on p. 239, the 
 upper hook being omitted. The main length of the paternoster 
 should consist of three strands of the stoutest salmon gut 
 twisted ; and the hook links should be of plaited line or of gimp, 
 attached to eyed hooks in the manner already described. 
 
 Obviously, if fishing over rocks, great care should be taken 
 not to let the conger get into any nook or cranny, or on the 
 bottom. Once there, it will be very difficult to dislodge him. 
 The only way of doing this is to keep a strong and continuous 
 strain on his mouth. Jerks and irregular pulls are of little avail ; 
 they doubtless give him sudden pangs akin to toothache, which 
 cause him at the end of each to retire deeper still into his fast- 
 ness. But keep a steady strain on his mouth, and, sooner or 
 later, he loses heart and yields. It is, however, very difficult to 
 do this when there is a little lop on. 
 
 On sandy or other clear bottom the conger will play, for 
 the most part, like any other fish ; but both he and the fresh- 
 water eel have a nasty habit, when all other schemes for their 
 deliverance have failed, of twisting round and round in the sea 
 like the propeller of a steamboat ; then it is that the swivel is 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 439 
 
 useful. Many a large conger is caught on a long line laid near 
 the rocks, and the short snoodings of such gear should always 
 be fitted with strong swivels. The lines should be taken up 
 before daylight, as immediately the sun rises the congers re- 
 double their efforts to escape. Both the long line and the 
 snood attached to it, intended for conger, should be sound and 
 strong. The main line should certainly be not less stout than 
 the North Sea line, No. 3, illustrated on p. 288. The snoods 
 should be two or three feet in length and placed seven to nine 
 feet apart. Very heavy stones will be required to weight this 
 line, as the fish it is intended to catch are among the strongest 
 that swim in the sea. The hooks should be the same as those 
 used on the inshore line (see p. 422), and well covered with 
 bait, or the conger may reject them. 
 
 It is no easy matter to get a very large conger on board in 
 the dark. A landing net, unless of enormous dimensions, 
 is hardly any use. A stout gaff on a strong stick is the best 
 thing for the purpose. I say stout, for a 2o-lb. conger would 
 easily twist or break a gaff which would be strong enough for a 
 3o-lb. salmon. It is not a bad plan to have in the centre of the 
 boat a large, basket in which to drop the fish. It is a great 
 mistake to hold them up by the snooding. In a basket on the 
 floor of the boat they are far more quiet than when dangling in 
 the air. A sharp blow on the head with a well-leaded knob- 
 stick, or some such implement as my 'priest' (see p. 190), 
 is very necessary before any attempt is made to dislodge the 
 hook. A sharp blow on the tail of the eel, which is slanting 
 and slippery, and very difficult to hit, is also effective. With 
 an eel of a moderate size it is a good plan to put one's left 
 hand on its neck, the right hand in the middle, wave the tail 
 in the air, and bring down sharply on one of the thwarts. A 
 stout knife with a pointed blade should be stuck through its 
 brain as soon as it has been stunned. 
 
440 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 A sea-fishing friend of mine had a curious experience with 
 a big conger. He had set a small long line or trot for soles in a 
 Manx bay. The snoods were of cotton, and fine. A codling 
 of a pound took one of the baits, and a conger six feet long the 
 codling. For reasons which it is not easy to explain the big 
 fish easily allowed himself to be coaxed by means of a gaff 
 into the small dinghy, which had three men in her, a basket or 
 two, and a lot of lines. Then, and not until then, he awoke to 
 his position and caused confusion unbounded. Indeed, every- 
 one concerned had a lively time. 
 
 For night fishing a lantern is very necessary, both as an 
 indication of our whereabouts to other vessels, and to enable 
 the tackle to be handled with some degree of comfort. Those 
 who handline should be most particular not to allow coils of line 
 to get on the bottom of the boat, otherwise an eel will surely find 
 them out, and save the lives of many of his kindred by placing 
 that line out of the running for one night at least. Those who 
 are used to eels dislodge the hook easily enough ; but the be- 
 ginner should certainly study to kill his prey before attempting 
 the disgorgement, and will be well advised to furnish himself 
 with a fish gag of some kind or other. 
 
 At night and where fishing can only be carried on for a couple 
 of hours during the ease of the tide, and time is extremely im- 
 portant, it is a capital plan to make up a number of snoods, and 
 have on the main length of line a hook swivel, to which they 
 can be quickly attached ; then, immediately an eel is caught, 
 drop him into the basket, unhooking the snood and putting on 
 another one. This in many instances will save a great deal 
 of time. In lieu of the hook swivel, the snood can be made 
 fast to the line by the useful knot which I have explained in 
 Chapter VIII. p. 290. By merely pulling the end the knot 
 instantly comes undone, and the snood is released from the line. 
 
 If a great many congers are caught, there is no cause to 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 441 
 
 waste them. They are not such excellent food as the silver 
 eel of our rivers, but the part next to the head is by no means 
 bad eating if stuffed, and stewed with a good gravy flavoured 
 with port wine. In any case the conger makes an excellent 
 stock for soup, any fishy flavour being absolutely non-existent. 
 I have a pleasant recollection of a very nice dish, something 
 between soup and water souchee, compounded by a Welsh 
 cook. The stock for it was made from conger, and in it was 
 chopped parsley and fragments of sand dabs. I was told that 
 congers kipper well, but have not yet tried the experiment. 
 
 DOGFISH swarm all round our coasts, and their big cousins 
 the sharks, of various species, are less uncommon than is gene- 
 rally supposed. Many a saltwater angler has had his gear 
 carried away by BLUE SHARKS (Carcharias glaucus), which in 
 appearance closely resemble very large dogfish. They doubt- 
 less take their name from their colour, the back and upper 
 sides being a dark blue, shading down to white on the belly. 
 The snout is green. They are quite common off the Cornish 
 and Devon coasts, and are detested by the pilchard fishermen, 
 into whose nets they sometimes plunge and roll themselves up 
 amid the meshes, causing dire destruction of valuable property. 
 I have known them taken on conger lines in the Bristol 
 Channel. They are also caught occasionally on the Scotch 
 coasts, and are more or less common all round Ireland, par- 
 ticularly on the southern shores. 
 
 These voracious beasts sometimes grow to between twenty 
 and thirty feet in .length, but in British waters are very rarely 
 of a size to do injury to human beings, unless, maybe, when 
 brought into a small boat they knock the fishermen overboard 
 by a blow from their powerful tails. Immediately they have 
 been captured they should be knocked on the snout, or other- 
 wise despatched. 
 
 Sharks are as tenacious of life as cats. Couch tells a 
 
 3 L 
 
442 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 delicious story of one which, being returned to the sea after its 
 liver had been cut out, chased a mackerel. This story has 
 been repeated in popular natural histories, but I confess I do 
 not believe it. Doubtless the mackerel and the shark were 
 swimming in the same direction, and there the pursuit began 
 and ended. 
 
 The TOPE (Galeus vulgaris), another shark, variously 
 known as white-hound, penny-dog, and blue hornless dog Jish, 
 is a v.ry similar creature. In an old book, the ' History of 
 Harwich,' by Dale, this fish is termed the Sweet William. 
 Pennant imagines the name was conferred upon it ironically, 
 its flesh being offensive and smelling rankly ; but once, when 
 fishing off Deal, the man with us described a spineless dogfish 
 which I had just caught as a ' Sweet William,' and said it was 
 very good eating. Possibly it was one of these topes I did 
 not take much notice of the fish at the time. In appearance 
 it resembled a small blue dogfish, but was without that sharp 
 spine which inflicts such dangerous wounds. We caught some 
 of the spined dogfish, also some nurse-dogs, as they are termed 
 locally. These also are eaten at Deal, but the spined fish are 
 considered worthless. 
 
 Topes are plentiful off parts of the East coast, and are 
 caught in considerable numbers during the summer months. 
 They are, strictly speaking, sharks, and not dogfish. Off the 
 coast of Devonshire and round Ireland they are common 
 fish, but less numerous in Cornish waters. One of the 
 largest specimens on record was caught in Dublin Bay, and 
 measured seven feet in length. 
 
 The HAMMER-HEADED SHARK is an extraordinary creature 
 which takes its name from the very peculiar shape of its visage, 
 an eye being at each end of the hammer head. These remark- 
 able fish are only occasionally caught in British waters. When 
 large they are fierce and voracious. An enormous specimen, 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 443 
 
 measuring over ten feet in length, was once taken in Carmar- 
 then Bay. 
 
 The SPINOUS SHARK (Echinorhinus spinosus) is another 
 occasional visitor to our coasts. It is easily distinguished 
 from all the others by reason of a number of bony scales, from 
 which grow spines or claws not unlike those found on the 
 thornback. The largest specimen I ever heard of was one 
 measuring nine feet in length, caught off the Eddystone in 
 1869. 
 
 The THRASHER (Alofiias vulpes), also called slasher, sea-fox, 
 fox-shark, and sea-ape, is a shark caught now and again on the 
 Cornish and other parts of our coasts. Its peculiarity is an 
 enormous tail-fin which is sometimes as long as its body. 
 With this it is popularly supposed to thrash the water for such 
 purposes as driving away dolphins, and herding together shoals 
 of fish. In 1865 Mr. Blake- Knox is said to have seen one 
 ' kill a diver with its tail and then swallow it.' (Which, the tail 
 or the diver ?) Many observers have declared that the thrasher 
 uses its enormous tail to flog whales to death, and though 
 this remarkable peculiarity has been doubted, yet evidence in 
 support of the statement is very strong. Very long thrashers 
 have been caught off the coast of England, but their length is 
 misleading, being made up of more than half tail. There is on 
 record a Plymouth thrasher of fourteen feet, and one of a 
 similar length was caught off Dawlish. 
 
 The BASKING SHARK (Selache maxima] is of far greater im- 
 portance commercially than any of the species already men- 
 tioned, but from the angler's standpoint it is a useless creature. 
 It affords sport nevertheless, being easily captured with the 
 whaler's weapons. Its name is probably derived from its habit 
 of lying quietly near the surface of the water. Sometimes it 
 swims about with its dorsal fin well in view, and hence also 
 gets the name of sail-fish. Off the Irish and Welsh coasts 
 
444 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 large numbers are sometimes seen and harpooned. Lowe 
 gives an account of a basking shark which paid a visit to 
 Stromness Harbour one day. It cruised about, from time to 
 time showing its back fin, and occasionally a large portion of 
 its body, above the surface. It seemed to take no heed of the 
 boats which came near it. In the end it was harpooned and 
 lanced. It measured twenty-three feet, and six barrels of oil, 
 which is of considerable value for commercial purposes, were 
 obtained from its liver. Another very large shark was caughi 
 off the Isle of Wight. It measured twenty-eight feet in length, 
 and allowed itself to be dragged ashore. At one time it was 
 an extremely common shark in the seas surrounding the 
 Orkney Islands, but it is now comparatively rare except when 
 some wandering shoal visits the coast. Having regard to the 
 ease with which it is captured, it is a fish likely to be exter- 
 minated in due course. 
 
 Another shark which is sometimes caught on our coasts is 
 the PORBEAGLE (Lamna cornubiai). In shape it is not unlike 
 the basking shark, being well rounded and portly, but lacks the 
 projecting spotted nose of the basker. In colour it is more 
 often than not a dusky green on the back, lightening to white 
 on the belly. During the summer and autumn porbeagles 
 visit the East coast of England and Wales. They are reputed 
 cunning and fierce, but are occasionally taken on long lines 
 when attempting to rob the hooks of a captured whiting or 
 codling. When one is captured, it is not an uncommon thing 
 to find in its stomach a number of fish-hooks and a spinner or 
 two. In 1 88 1 one of these fish measuring seven and a half 
 feet in length was caught at Wick. A porbeagle of eight and 
 a half feet was once brought into Margate, and one about the 
 same size was captured off Hastings. 
 
 Foreign sharks hardly come within the scope of this portion 
 of the book. How they are taken by the simple method of 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 445 
 
 lowering a huge hook fitted with a chain and swivel and baited 
 with a piece of salt pork is common knowledge. Sailors say 
 that when a vessel is going at any considerable speed it is 
 next to impossible to catch a shark from it. Possibly these 
 cunning creatures know it is not a natural thing for a piece 
 of pork or other bait to be dashing along through the water. 
 They will follow it for some distance, but will not take it until it 
 is eased off to them, when it has the appearance of something 
 which has fallen from the vessel and is being left far astern. 
 Very often sharks are accompanied by two little pilot fish, 
 which appear to be a kind of an advance guard. 
 
 Surgeon-General Paske, in an interesting book relating to 
 sea fish, called 'The Sea and the Rod,' written by himself 
 and Mr. F. G. Aflalo, describes how he once succeeded in 
 catching one of these pilot fish in a bucket let down over the 
 side of the vessel. A peculiarity of sharks and dogfish which 
 I have not mentioned is that they have eyelids, and, on being 
 brought into a boat, open and shut their eyes in most human 
 fashion. 
 
 Sharks and dogfish, though held in detestation by British 
 fishermen, and with good reason, still have their uses. A 
 valuable oil is extracted from their livers and gelatine from 
 their fins, while the skins of some species make excellent sand- 
 paper. In the market of Canton the prices of shark fins, 
 which the Chinese regard as a great delicacy, are regularly 
 quoted ; and extensive shark fisheries are carried on in various 
 parts of the world for the purpose of supplying China. In 
 Sydney shark fins have fetched as much as 28/. per ton. 
 
 Off Iceland a fleet of about a hundred boats is employed in 
 capturing sharks for the sake of their livers only. The bodies, 
 after the livers are extracted, are thrown away. The hooks 
 used by the Icelandic fishermen vary from twelve to eighteen 
 inches in length, the baits being seal blubber and horseflesh. 
 
446 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Between the line, which is an inch and a half in diameter, and 
 the hook is a couple of yards of strong chain. I have heard 
 that the sharks at first appear shy, the fishermen often having 
 to wait long for a bite. But as likely as not this is when the 
 fish are not present, for as soon as one is caught others follow 
 in rapid succession, giving the impression that a shoal has 
 suddenly come up and discovered the bait. The bait is held 
 quietly about two fathoms above the bottom. 
 
 As shark oil is imported into England, and gelatine is not 
 unknown in our islands, it will almost seem as if our fishermen, 
 when harassed by shoals of large dogfish or sharks to such an 
 extent that the fishery is for the time being stopped, might set 
 to work and capture a load of these common nuisances and 
 get some satisfaction out of their livers and skins. There is 
 an instance on record of a long line being raised bearing on 
 its hooks nothing but skeletons, which the fishermen tied to 
 their rigging, and sailed into port with these strange adorn- 
 ments. Dogfish were supposed to be the culprits, but I rather 
 suspect the wormlike fish which annoy the fishermen off the 
 coast of Northumberland by entering the mouths or gills of 
 the fish on the lines and feasting on the interior, eventually 
 leaving little except the bones. 
 
 Of small dogfish the three most commonly caught are 
 the PICKED or SPUR-DOG (Acanthias vulgaris), the NURSE- 
 HOUND (Scyllium catulus\ and the ROUGH-HOUND (Scy Ilium 
 caniculd}. 
 
 The common dogfish can hardly be distinguished from the 
 ' Sweet William ' previously mentioned, except by his defensive 
 and offensive spines. He has several local names, such as 
 bone-dog, sea-dog, and hoe in Orkney, and skittle-dog in Corn- 
 wall, but most common are spur-dog and spiked or picked-dog, 
 these three names evidently having reference to the spines. 
 These spines inflict really dangerous wounds, so that the very 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 447 
 
 best thing to be done with one of these fish is, to lift it in by 
 line, landing net, or gaff, and drop it on the floor of the boat. 
 Then place a foot on it to keep it still, chop off its head, and, 
 taking the carcase gingerly by the tail, cast it overboard as 
 ground-bait. In many places West-country, Ireland, and the 
 Hebrides these fish are eaten either fresh, salted, or merely 
 dried. Oil is extracted from their livers, and their garbage 
 is good manure. They are simply ubiquitous, but are most 
 plentiful in those waters most frequented by pilchards and 
 herrings. Some thirty-seven years ago an enormous shoal of 
 sea-dogs reached from Uig to Aberdeen. 
 
 The ROUGH-HOUND is most common off the Hebrides, 
 Devon, Cornwall, and Ireland. It is variously named row-hound, 
 small or lesser spotted dogfish, curfish, kennett, daggar, huss, 
 hund-fish, land-dog, suss, and morgay. In shape it resembles 
 the other dogs, but has a rough skin, a reddish brown or 
 grey back marked with spots varying in colour black, brown 
 red and grey. This dogfish has no particular use except in 
 respect of its skin, which makes good sandpaper. 
 
 The NURSE-HOUND, which is also called the large spotted 
 dogfish, bull huss, bounce, and catfish, resembles but is not so 
 common as the rough-hound. The principal points of differ- 
 ence are in the skin of the nurse-hound being rougher and the 
 spots larger. The two varieties are often confounded, in both 
 senses of the word, by the fishermen. Its principal use is to 
 bait crab-pots, but its skin makes excellent sandpaper. 
 
 Bream, though not particularly estimable on the table, rank 
 rather highly among the sportsman's sea fish, being plentiful, 
 biting freely and fighting gamely. They have, however, the 
 disadvantage that they feed as a rule at night, except when the 
 water is coloured after storms, therein resembling the fish of 
 the same name found in fresh water, although of different 
 genus. 
 
448 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 The COMMON SEA BREAM (Pagellus centrodontus), to which 
 Pennant incorrectly gave the remarkable name of ' lunulated 
 gilt-head,' is found all round our coasts, but more particularly 
 on the south and west. It is also known as sharp-toothed sea 
 bream, and in Ireland as murranroe, gunner, bar-win, carf, 
 carp, and brazier. I have on an earlier page told how I learnt 
 one of these Irish designations. Bream are warm-weather fish, 
 being mostly caught in summer and autumn. On the approach 
 of cold weather they retire into very deep water. The large 
 eyes with which they are furnished no doubt give them power 
 to see at considerable depths. 
 
 Off Cornwall and Devon one of the most common fish is 
 the CHAD (not to be confounded with the shad, for that is 
 quite another fish), the young of the bream. They afford 
 first-rate sport for the youngsters, being plentiful and bold 
 biters, and are generally available as baits for other fish, such 
 as pollack and bass. When chad are feeding they take baits not 
 intended for them, and are an unmitigated nuisance ; but they 
 do not take so kindly to a strip of their species as to most other 
 baits, therefore, having caught a few, cut them up quickly and 
 use them on the hooks. When they have grown somewhat they 
 are called bogers in Cornwall. 
 
 If a bream must be eaten, the following method suggested 
 by Yarrell is probably as good as any. The process is, indeed, 
 one which may be applied with advantage to any rather dry 
 fish. First catch your bream, clean and wipe dry, but leave the 
 scales intact. Flour it and broil it, and continue flouring if the 
 skin cracks. When it comes to table the skin and scales can 
 be easily removed, and the flesh beneath will be found fairly 
 juicy. A friend tells me that ' baked with veal stuffing bream 
 are excellent,' and I venture to add, ' particularly if well basted, 
 and served with a sauce flavoured with port wine.' The same 
 authority states that the flavour of bream soused in vinegar 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 449 
 
 much resembles that of crab. The fresher bream are eaten the 
 better. 
 
 There is very little difficulty in catching these fish, provided 
 they are sought after at the right place and at the right time. 
 For their haunts we necessarily have to depend upon the local 
 knowledge of professional fishermen. But deep water, over 
 or near rocks and seaweed, is a likely place in which to find 
 them. If, however, the water is discoloured, the fish come on to 
 the shallows, and may sometimes be caught in as little as three 
 fathoms. I have heard of some being taken at a less depth in 
 Carmarthen Bay after rough weather, but these were compara- 
 tively small, not exceeding four pounds in weight. In exceed- 
 ingly deep water fifteen to twenty-five fathoms where there 
 is semi-darkness owing to the depth, bream will feed in the 
 daytime, but not so well as at night. I have heard of daylight 
 catches of fish of about four to five pounds in twelve fathoms 
 of water. 
 
 Bream favour many baits, among their favourites being sand- 
 eels, squid, pilchard, herring, mussels, ragworms, and the soft 
 part of limpets, a small portion of the hard part being retained 
 to help keep the bait in position on the hook. Indeed, they do 
 not seem particular what they eat. Mr. Matthias Dunn has 
 related how, in 1874, a grain vessel came to grief off the Cornish 
 coast. Soon afterwards he caught some bream near the spot, 
 and found them full of wheat. The fish were remarkable for 
 their plumpness and good condition. 
 
 Strong ordinary paternoster tackle, such as that shown on 
 p. 245, is very useful for sea bream ; but perhaps somewhat 
 better is a tackle similar to that shown on p. 386, with eight feet 
 of snooding beyond the lead, and two hooks. The weight of 
 lead must of course depend upon the strength of the tide. 
 The depth at which bream are found is most uncertain. Some- 
 times they are close to the bottom, at others in midwater, and 
 
 3 M 
 
45 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 occasionally they may be seen breaking the surface, when they 
 have even been mistaken for pilchards. Most frequently those 
 of a size shoal together. The size of hook to be used neces- 
 sarily varies very much. For the little chads the smaller of the 
 two hooks given in the illustration should be tried, while 
 for large fish in very deep water the larger hook shown would 
 be about the right size. In the daytime the tackle should be 
 much finer than at night. Be provided with a large landing 
 net. They are a difficult fish to gaff. 
 
 There are several varieties of bream found in salt water, 
 most of them resembling one another in 
 shape. First, perhaps, in importance is 
 the PANDORA, or KING OF THE BREAMS 
 (Pagellus erythrinus}. This is a gorgeous 
 scarlet fish, shaded with orange, and when 
 fresh caught, with purple and silvery 
 sheens glistening about it. Sometimes it 
 has blue spots. Day considers that the 
 fish named BECKER by Couch is a de- 
 BREAM AND CHAD formed or mutilated example of the Pan- 
 dora. It is by no means an uncommon 
 fish in British waters on the south and 
 west coasts of England, but is not often found in the north. 
 It does not swim in such large shoals as the common bream, 
 but otherwise in its habits closely resembles that species. The 
 term GILT-HEAD is often applied to the common bream, but 
 it more properly belongs to Pagrus auratus. Pennant was 
 apparently the first to confuse the two species. The true 
 gilt-head is a silvery fish, the peculiarity from which it derives 
 its name being a crescent-shaped band of gold crossing its 
 head between the eyes. It is more common in. the Mediter- 
 ranean than in British waters. 
 
 The BLACK BREAM, sometimes called old wife and baker 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 451 
 
 (Cantharus lineatus), are caught during July and August in 
 shallow waters, but on the approach of autumn retire to the 
 deeps. They are often taken on drift lines, are a strong, hand- 
 some fish, and feed more boldly by daylight than the common 
 bream. They take much the same baits, but are not found 
 in such large schools, and in far shallower water. 
 
 There are some other varieties of these fish which are more 
 or less uncommon on our coasts. For instance, Couch's SEA 
 BREAM (Pagrus vulgaris), which is anything but vulgar, there 
 being so far only a single undoubted British example ; Pagellus 
 Owem'i, called by Pennant the RED GILT-HEAD ; and Pagellus 
 acarne. Naturalists, by the way, do not class the sea bream in 
 the same family with the bream of rivers, the latter belonging 
 to the carps and the former to the Sparidce. While in general 
 outline the sea bream resembles the freshwater fish, it differs 
 from it in having a formidable dorsal fin extending nearly the 
 whole length of its back, which is well furnished with spines 
 like that of the perch. 
 
 GURNARDS or GURNETS, as they are variously called, have 
 perhaps the most remarkable appearance of any of our marine 
 food fishes. Their characteristics are a square, massive, bony 
 head, with a body rapidly diminishing towards the tail ; on the 
 back two dorsal fins, the one nearer the head spiny and re- 
 sembling that of a perch ; two enormous ventral fins, which in 
 one variety are fringed with a bright metallic blue ; and six 
 leg-like feelers projecting from the throat, with which the fish 
 partially lifts itself from the bottom as it crawls along searching 
 for food. Some varieties of gurnards give vent to strange 
 croaking sounds when first hauled above water line, and for 
 this reason the Italians call them organo and the French 
 grondin. With regard to their breeding habits, they spawn in 
 the spring ; and their eggs, like many others of the food fishes, 
 are pelagic, floating on or near the surface of the sea. 
 
452 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 The two varieties of red gurnard which most commonly fall 
 to the lot of the angler are Trigla cuculus, which is the RED or 
 CUCKOO GURNARD, also called the pine-leaved gurnard, soldier, 
 and elleck ; and Trigla hirundo, the SAPPHIRINE GURNARD, 
 the tubfish, tubbot or latchet of the East coast, also called 
 smooth-sides, red tubs, and sea-crow. These two fishes can be 
 distinguished without difficulty, for the Sapphirine has a very 
 beautiful bright blue margin to its huge pectoral fins, and is of 
 a brighter red than Trigla cuculus, which inclines to be rosy. 
 
 The red gurnard is common on the English coasts, par- 
 ticularly those of the south and west, and on portions of the 
 Scotch and Irish coasts. The Sapphirine or Tubfish is the 
 larger of the two species, attaining a weight, according to 
 Thompson, of about fourteen pounds. 
 
 If gurnard are plentiful there is no difficulty in catching 
 them. They will take the ordinary whiting baits, and are par- 
 ticularly partial to a piece of mackerel ; indeed, when the mac- 
 kerel breeze has died away and our little craft has been barely 
 moving through the water, our leads now and again bumping 
 on the sandy bottom, many a time have I hauled up either 
 the red gurnard or a large tubfish. Though these fish are 
 most distinctly bottom feeders, they are found occasionally at 
 all depths, and have a habit of ascending to the surface and 
 throwing themselves out of the water. 
 
 GREY GURNARD, or HARD-HEADS (Trigla gurnardus\ 
 are very common fish on some parts of the coast in certain 
 seasons. In Scotland they are often called gowdies, girnats, 
 and crooners, and the Irish name for them is knoud. As their 
 name indicates, they are mainly grey in colour. There are 
 very few places round the coast of Great Britain and Ireland 
 where they are not found at times, often appearing on the 
 coast for a month or two and then disappearing for the rest of 
 the year. I remember Filey Bay being full of them for a few 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 453 
 
 weeks in August, as many as a hundred being caught in an hour 
 or two on one paternoster. Very large ones are found in the 
 sea lochs of the west coast of Scotland. Once when engaged 
 in this fishing I hooked a small flat fish, and was bringing it to 
 the surface when I saw a grey gurnard following it and biting 
 at its fins. Having unhooked the dab, I rebaited, began to 
 lower my line, and before the lead reached the bottom caught 
 a gurnard ; whether the same one or not, of course cannot be 
 determined with certainty. 
 
 In the Bait chapter I have pointed out the uses of gurnard 
 skin. Pieces of the fresh grey gurnard are in many places good 
 bait for haddocks and other fish. As food I consider it very 
 superior to the red gurnard, but a clever cook can do much 
 with either of them. Their flesh certainly inclines to dryness. 
 Among the best methods of cooking the grey gurnard is to 
 remove the flesh from the bones, stew in stock, and serve a la 
 maitre d' hotel. 
 
 The red gurnard is by no means bad if stuffed, placed belly 
 uppermost with some ham fat lying within it. The savour and 
 moisture of the ham permeate the fish as baking proceeds. 
 
 There are one or two varieties of gurnard which are com- 
 paratively scarce in British waters. These are the LANTHORN 
 (Trigla obscura) ; the PIPER ( Trigla lyra), which maybe known 
 by its having a forked or divided nose, and being in colour a 
 bright red ; and the STREAKED GURNARD (Trigla lineatd), which 
 is curiously marked with fine red lines running from the back 
 to the belly. It is a deep red colour. 
 
 The WRASSES are among the most beautiful and at the 
 same time most worthless fish found in the sea. No pen can 
 properly describe the beauty of some of these fish when they 
 are first brought out of the water, their marbled sides glistening 
 in all the colours of the rainbow. One of the most common 
 varieties is Labrus lineatus, termed by Couch the GREEN 
 
454 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 WRASSE or GREEN STREAKED WRASSE. It has various local 
 names, such as in Scotland ballan wrasse, sea-swine, and 
 bergle. In Yorkshire it is variously called ancient wife, old ewe, 
 servellan wrasse, and sweet-lips while the Welsh term it givrach 
 or old woman. Old wife, it will be remembered, is a name also 
 given to the black bream. Wrasse are rock fish, and if of any 
 size are commonly found in fairly deep water. In shape they 
 are not unlike the tench. Their colouring is as various as it is 
 beautiful. The background may be brown, green, or blue. On 
 the yellowish fins are orange rings but I find myself quite 
 unable to describe the markings and colourings of these most 
 lovely fish. 
 
 Most people who care to taste wrasse will, I think, take my 
 view as to their worthlessness, for they are watery and insipid. 
 But, according to McCalla, they are esteemed in Galway, and 
 Lowe describes them as being much prized in the Orkneys, 
 where they are eaten fresh. In waters nearer home the chief 
 use of the wrasse is to be cut up and placed as bait in lobster 
 and crab pots. In some places they are made into soup, which 
 has been described to me as the nastiest soup of all soups. 
 At Portland a compound is made occasionally, known as 
 Conner pie Conner being one of the many local names given 
 to wrasse. 
 
 A perhaps still more beautiful wrasse is the Labrus mixtus, 
 which glories in yellow, blue, orange, purple, and black. It 
 differs from the Ballan wrasse in not having the perch-like bars 
 of colour on its sides. In Cornwall it is termed the CUCKOO 
 FISH, and I heard an Isle of Wight fisherman describe one I 
 had caught as a Jerusalem cuckoo. Blue-striped wrasse, cook- 
 conner, livery servant, and livery fish are local names. The 
 female is peculiar in having three dark blotches on its back 
 near the tail, so is sometimes called the three-spotted wrasse, 
 and also red wrasse and flesh-coloured wrasse. It is a common 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 455 
 
 fish off Devon and Cornwall, but comparatively rare further 
 north. 
 
 There is a beautiful little wrasse which also bears the 
 name of the CONNER. It is likewise termed Gilt-head, a name, 
 it may be remembered, also conferred upon one of the sea 
 breams. Golden maid is another alias for it. Naturalists call 
 it Crenilabrus melops. It may be easily known by about eight 
 or nine wide, dark brown, vertical bands which almost com- 
 pletely encircle it. The dorsal fin is for the most part spined 
 with scallop-shaped depressions between each spine, but it 
 terminates with a non-spinous fin on which are a number of 
 round light-coloured markings. On its anal fin are three rows 
 of black spots. Several varieties of this fish have been found 
 having various markings, but all bright and beautiful. It is a 
 small fish, specimens of a greater length than eight or nine 
 inches being rare. It is not found as a rule in such deep water 
 as the larger wrasse, and is often caught by those fishing from 
 the rocks on the Cornish coast. 
 
 To those who would fish specially for wrasse I would 
 recommend paternoster tackle with hooks strong in the wire, 
 sharps as to their points, and not too rank in the barb, baited 
 with lugworms, soft crab, mussels, ragworms, or any of the oily 
 fish baits, such as mackerel and herring. So far as sport is 
 concerned, these fish are to be commended, and as they are 
 usually caught over a rocky and weedy bottom they often have 
 to be given the butt. 
 
 The DORY or JOHN DORY, which is one of the quaintest- 
 looking fish that swim, is not, so far as I know, commonly 
 taken by anglers. Naturalists call it Zeus faber, ' Dory,' no 
 doubt, is derived from the French, and means golden ; John 
 Dory being probably a corruption of jaune doree. It was a 
 dory which, so says one legend, St. Peter took hold of when he 
 was collecting the tribute, in evidence of which are the marks 
 
456 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 on the fish of the Saint's finger and thumb. But, like the 
 haddock, of which the same story has been related, dories are 
 not found in the Lake of Genesareth. 
 
 When a dory is seen cruising round a fishing boat, there is 
 no better plan of capturing it than to pay out an unleaded 
 line, baited with a small live fish. Couch tells a story of 
 having caught with his hand a dory so gorged with food that it 
 could not save itself by flight. He found within it twenty- 
 five flounders, some of which were two and a half inches long, 
 three father lashers not to be confounded with the shark of 
 that name and five small beach stones. 
 
 Being a fish eater, it will of course take slow-moving whiff- 
 ing baits which represent small fish, but a live bait is un- 
 doubtedly better. Chad, the young of the sea bream, should 
 be tried when available. Care should be taken when handling 
 dories, for they are armed with spines close to the dorsal and 
 anal fins with which very nasty and sometimes even dangerous 
 wounds are occasioned. Of the excellence of the John Dory 
 on the table I need say nothing. One high authority ranks it 
 next after the turbot, but I would certainly give it the first 
 place. Sometimes it is boiled in sea water ; in Italy spring 
 water and wine are used. Small ones are occasionally baked, 
 being well basted with butter ; but this method is, I think, 
 a mistake. One of the largest dories caught of late years 
 was mentioned in 'Land and Water,' August 1879, as having 
 been sold at Norwich. It weighed fourteen pounds. Couch 
 records one of eighteen pounds. 
 
 The ANGLER or MONKFISH. A book on sea fishing hardly 
 seems complete without some mention of the remarkably ugly, 
 voracious and nasty-looking creature termed by ichthyologists 
 Lophius piscatorius, which consists mainly of an enormous head 
 with a wide gaping mouth. Behind the head is a body of no 
 consequence and a little tail. From the top of its head pro- 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 457 
 
 ject waving filaments which, if naturalists err not, play an im- 
 portant part in providing it with food. Needless to say, a fish 
 of this build is unable to give chase to any other fish that swims 
 in the sea. As it must eat to live, it has a way of making for 
 itself a depression in the sandy or muddy bottom by vigorous 
 movements of its two powerful pectoral fins. There it rests as 
 if dead, those tendrils from the top of its head, which are really 
 elongated separated spines of the dorsal fin, playing backwards 
 and forwards loosely with each movement of the water, and 
 apparently dead and harmless. Various parts of the rugged and 
 curiously marked body closely resemble common objects not 
 exactly of the seashore, but of the marine pavement, and assist 
 in the deception. On the end of each filament, which it waves 
 with diligence on the approach of its prey, is a piece of fatally 
 attractive shining skin. Sooner or later, little fish swim up to 
 inspect the attractive bait, then wide opes the gaping mouth 
 and the unfortunate ones disappear into that great maw. 
 
 I imagine, however, that the Angler whom I will rather 
 call Monkfish to avoid confusion does not get a very satisfying 
 meal by the both natural and artful means described. Accord- 
 ing to Couch, these fish sometimes come near to the surface. 
 One -laid hold of a hooked codfish which was being drawn up, 
 and only released it on being struck by the fisherman. Some- 
 times they will endeavour to swallow cormorants and gulls, 
 and one graceful sea bird succeeded in choking a monkfish 
 three feet in length. Another fish absorbed a widgeon, but 
 the bird was actually rescued alive. It would seem indeed, 
 from the stories fishermen tell of these strange creatures, that 
 monkfish are not particular. For instance, one swallowed the 
 corks of a crab-pot line, which buoyed it up and led to its being 
 captured. Another monkfish seized hold of the head of a mop 
 which was being stirred about in the sea by some fishermen 
 near Queensferry, and, getting its teeth entangled in the wool, 
 
 3 N 
 
458 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 was brought into the boat. There is another beautiful story 
 told by a Mr. Todhunter. Seeing a monkfish in shallow water 
 near Youghal, he placed the butt of a whip he was carrying 
 near its mouth. The fish grabbed it, held on like a bulldog, 
 and allowed itself to be pulled ashore. 
 
 Among other names which have been given to these 
 monsters are frog-fish, toad-fish, sea-devil, nass-fish, ivide-gab, 
 friar, and briabot. It is surprising that there are not more 
 of them in the sea, for they seem to be most prolific. From a 
 female fish, 4 ft. 6 in. in length, were taken over a million and 
 a half eggs. Devil-fish are fairly common off Cornwall and 
 in the North Sea, and a few are caught every year on most 
 parts of our coasts. I have accounted for one only, of no 
 great size. 
 
 No one is likely to fish specially for a sea-devil, and I 
 know of no special tackle or bait which I can conscientiously 
 recommend. If experience should be our guide, we may with 
 advantage use either a mop-head, the butt of a whip, or the 
 corks of a crab-pot. On the whole, however, I should prefer 
 a herring, pilchard, or mackerel on a large hook fished close to 
 the bottom. Having caught your sea-devil, cut him open and 
 see what he contains. This practice with many sea fish leads 
 to most interesting discoveries. 
 
 The two WEEVERS, the Greater and the Viper Weever, 
 respectively called Trachinus draco and Trachinus vipera, 
 are only mentioned here as fish to be avoided rather than 
 sought after, for they are armed with most dangerous spines 
 on the back, which inflict wounds sometimes necessitating the 
 amputation of a limb. At the same time, to give the sting-fish 
 his due, the greater weever is. good eating, possessing flesh 
 both firm and sweet. The drawings of these fish will, I hope, 
 serve to identify them. It is the small or viper weever which 
 is the more dangerous. The spines at the corners of the gills 
 
COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 459 
 
 and also those in the back fin nearest the head, are grooved 
 and convey poison into wounds which they make. Even 
 after the fish is dead pricks from these spines cause serious 
 injury. The sea fisherman who hooks one of these fish or 
 finds any in his net should have no difficulty in avoiding these 
 spines. The risks run by bathers, and children who paddle 
 without sand shoes, are far greater. According to Couch, the 
 fish are well aware of the weapons they possess, and use them 
 
 THE VIPER WEEVER 
 
 THE GREATER WEEVER 
 
 on the slightest provocation. That naturalist described how 
 from time to time he threw salt water over a greater weever 
 which had been caught and was lying at the bottom of the 
 boat, with the object of keeping it alive, and irritated it by 
 touching it with a stick. Whichever part of the body the stick 
 touched, the weever unerringly struck it with its spine by 
 bending the body and throwing its head back with a rapid 
 jerk. One of the best remedies for the bites of these fish is 
 the application of sweet oil, to which opium may be added to 
 allay the pain. In Whitechapel the greater weevers are sold 
 
460 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 as food, and are there punningly called Spitalfields weavers. 
 In France they are valued as food, for their flesh remains 
 without taint for a considerable time after they have been 
 killed. 
 
 The Little Weever, or sting-fish (Trachinus viperd), is 
 more common than the greater weever. They are not to be 
 confounded with the father lasher or Greenland bull-head 
 (Cottus scorpius), which is also called ' sting-fish,' in addition 
 to the names of sea scorpion and three-spined cottus, and has 
 spines which can inflict nasty wounds. 
 
 This brings to an end all that the space at my disposal will 
 allow me to write of British sea fish, and the more sportsman- 
 like methods of capturing them. I am inclined to apologise 
 for sundry repetitions, but most of these seemed desirable 
 in the interests of lucidity. So far as was possible, I have 
 followed a careful arrangement of matter, but the seeker after 
 information concerning this delightful branch of fishing will 
 be well advised to diligently use the index. 
 
 There only remains for me the expression of a cordial wish 
 that my readers' lines may be cast in pleasant places, that my 
 shortcomings will be regarded with lenient eyes in a book which 
 is in many respects a new departure, and that the information 
 and advice given herein will lead to increased takes of fish and 
 greater enjoyment in their capture than was possible with the 
 clumsy methods of bygone days. Having said this, I make 
 way joyfully for my brother contributors, and so end not with 
 ' Finis,' but Farewell. 
 
461 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 
 By WILLIAM SENIOR ( ' RED SPINNER ' ) 
 
 So very wide a subject as this can only be treated generally. 
 Data are scarce and casual. The traveller to foreign parts, 
 however, may be recommended, in making preparations for 
 possible opportunities of sport, to assume that any salt water 
 in which he may cast anchor will be worth a trial. At 
 Singapore I met a young Englishman who had laid down this 
 theory on the chance of what it would bring, and he declared 
 that the unexpected hours of sport he enjoyed well rewarded 
 him for all the trouble he took ; indeed, he said that the 
 miscellaneous angling he had found in eastern and southern 
 seas gave him materials for a big volume, and I besought him 
 to write it for the encouragement of others. 
 
 The outfit he had prepared in England on setting out for 
 his round-the-world expedition consisted of a variety of com- 
 mon metal spinners ; assorted hooks, some on gimp, others on 
 gut ; indiarubber baits ; a deep-sea line and a light one for 
 harbours ; a telescope gaff, and collapsible landing net. To 
 this, which occupies little space in the baggage, I would suggest, 
 a stiffish ten-foot greenheart rod, in four pieces, making a 
 package of two and a half feet. It should be somewhat like 
 the trolling rod used in pike fishing, of the best workmanship. 
 This might be kept as a reserve ; my Singapore acquaintance 
 
462 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 was very adroit in whipping bare hooks to any sort of snooding, 
 and in extemporising a rod, but he confessed that he often felt 
 the want of some independent armoury. Such a rod might 
 be serviceable for spinning from a boat, for legering on sandy 
 bottoms, and for the too much neglected practice of pater- 
 nostering. Baits are always to be found ; if not molluscs, then 
 bits of fish, or fresh meat ; and there would be the metal 
 spinners and indiarubber worms to fall back upon if small fish 
 were not to be procured. I therefore repeat : instead of wast- 
 ing time in the unsatisfactory endeavour to obtain information 
 about fish and fishing in foreign parts, assume that where the 
 sea is it will be inhabited ; nay, that there are better fish in 
 the sea than ever came out of it. 
 
 The advice just tendered applies to European waters with 
 as much justification as to more distant seas. In the North 
 Sea, or the poor sporting grounds of the Baltic, the angler 
 will find it best to proceed on the broad principles which 
 serve around the English coasts or the Channel Islands. Ex- 
 panses of shallow with sandy bottom, rock-bound promon- 
 tories or inlets, demand their own methods ; but I should 
 imagine no sportsman would visit northern Europe for the ex- 
 press purpose of sea angling. Even the fiords of Norway, as 
 the distance from open water increases, are indifferent grounds 
 for him. 
 
 Nor is it much better in the Mediterranean, save in special 
 parts ; and notwithstanding that this home of the tunny 
 contains about three-fourths of the species (estimated at 650) 
 inhabiting European seas. The native fishermen who use the 
 rod take their tribute everywhere with more or less primitive 
 tackle, though there are few coasts upon which modern im- 
 provements have not begun to supersede the rough-and-ready 
 fashions of past generations. From the fragmentary accounts 
 published in books of travel and the enterprising modern 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 463 
 
 serials, it is evident that the visitor to the seaside resorts of 
 the Continent need not leave his tackle at home. It may be 
 assumed that wherever there are rocks there will be a variety 
 of sporting fish, amongst which must be included mullet, 
 gurnard, wrasses, small conger, and sea breams. The usual 
 fish baits, worms, shell fish, and even paste (the mullet occa- 
 sionally taking this), are never out of season, and the arti- 
 ficial spinner, here as elsewhere, should be an essential of the 
 equipment. 
 
 Though the beautiful line of shore which margins the 
 fashionable Riviera is not a happy hunting ground, the patient 
 sea fisherman with some knowledge of the movements of fish 
 has often opportunities worthy of his attention. The varieties 
 of fish are not as plentiful as they are further east, but even 
 along open shores like that of Nice, fishermen of a humble type 
 may be seen pn the beach, opposite the most fashionable part of 
 the Promenade des Anglais, patiently angling for grey mullet. 
 Where better kinds are scarce, this highly respectable food fish 
 is worth catching, since it always commands a good price in 
 the market. Indeed, a mullet fresh from the sea, dressed with 
 sauce a la Proven$ak, is a coveted dainty in the French, Italian, 
 and even London restaurants when the fish are in season. 
 The native anglers at Nice are a rough and ragged lot, who go 
 to their work bare-legged. They use a stiff two-jointed rod from 
 fifteen to seventeen feet long, a serviceable home-made imple- 
 ment which does not involve them in expenditure at the tackle 
 shop : they have simply to cut the cane almost at their own 
 doors. The bamboo in any part of the world makes an excel- 
 lent rod, and it is all the better when it can be used in a single 
 piece. The Nice men like a butt about an inch and a half in 
 diameter in the thickest part, lessening to three-quarters of 
 an inch, the second joint being fitted from a younger shoot 
 tapering to a point. The bamboo before use ought to be well 
 
464 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 seasoned, and in Italy and all the way east the two joints are 
 sometimes connected by a rough ferrule ; but more frequently 
 the cane sections, as in China and Japan, are made to fit into 
 one another. When this is done the transaction is signed, 
 sealed, and delivered by tight whipping with strong wax thread 
 to avoid splitting. This, of course, would not be a rod fit for 
 salmon fishing, and it is deficient in what the connoisseur 
 would call action. But it answers the purpose for which it is 
 used passing well. From the point of the rod a wire, twisted 
 hair, or spunyard loop is bound, and the stout end of the line, 
 like a hunting thong, is attached. 
 
 The fisherman at Nice has no bother with a winch, and 
 therefore requires no stand-up rings. With his primitive rod 
 he manages his fifteen or twenty yards of horsehair line, taper- 
 ing from seven or eight to two or three strands, with consider- 
 able efficiency. Small round corks, like the pike fisher's pilot 
 floats, are placed along the line, the first two or three yards 
 from the hook, the rest dotted at intervals of four or five feet. 
 An ordinary sea hook is snooded to the line, and the bait is 
 one of the ragworms found near the mouth of the little stream 
 which runs into the sea a few yards east of the pier. The 
 fishermen must obstinately stick to the old plans, or they would 
 have learned by this time that a finer hook, quite, as strong, 
 would be much more suitable for the inconveniently delicate 
 character of the bait. The anglers stand close together, gener- 
 ally near the point where the little river enters the sea, and the 
 fun is considerably increased by the habit of the sea mullet in 
 feeding close to the shore. The angler, having baited, walks 
 into the sea, hook in hand, and line coiled loosely round the 
 rod. By swishes backwards and forwards the line is gradually 
 released, and the man dexterously lets go at the right time, 
 swings the baited line behind him, and with a neat forward sweep 
 sends it out into the water outside the breakers. No lead is 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 465 
 
 required when the fish cruise close to the surface. To the 
 ordinary observer the cork which acts as a float gives no indica- 
 tion of a bite, but the keen-eyed native knows that the slight 
 tremble signals a mullet at the bait. As the fish is slow in 
 sucking the morsel into its mouth, it is allowed to go clean 
 away with the bait, before striking. 
 
 The mullet caught in this way are sometimes as much as five 
 pounds in weight, and the method is practically one of tight-line 
 fishing on a sloping beach. Should the mullet take the fancy 
 of going straight out to sea, as he often does, the angler has to 
 wade in as far as he can, and take his chances of holding on 
 when his limit is reached. It is easier when the fish head for 
 the breakers ; the angler then has merely to retreat up the 
 shingle, keeping a steady strain on the line. The fish is ulti- 
 mately landed, as salmon are often landed in Scotland and 
 Ireland, by sheer haulage. The fisherman walks backwards, 
 leaving one of his companions, who excitedly rushes down to 
 secure the prize at the earliest opportunity. The sport is in- 
 creased a good deal where three or four of the serried rank of 
 anglers are each fastened to a fish, crossing one another, and 
 fouling the lines. 
 
 The sea angling in the immediate neighbourhood of Genoa 
 is described by a well-known authority, ' Sarcelle,' as lamentably 
 discouraging. The favourite long bamboo rod is there used 
 both by the man who gets his living by fishing, and the amateur 
 who seeks sport. They use fine tackle, and fish from every 
 rocky point. Though he had often watched them he only wit- 
 nessed the capture of two grey mullet of about one pound each, 
 and sundry small bream. In summer the professionals fish from 
 boats at anchor, in from twenty to forty fathoms of water, and 
 later in the year they use set lines baited with worms, prawns, 
 or tiny squid. The game, however, is hardly worth the trouble, 
 the produce apparently being small quantities of wrasse, bream, 
 
 3 o 
 
466 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 and suchlike haunting the rocks. ' Sarcelle ' himself, as a result 
 of fishing from seven o'clock to two o'clock in the morning, gives 
 three small bogue and five oblade to match as the bag made 
 by four rods. The list of fish compiled by this gentleman in 
 1894, after frequent visits to the Genoa fish market is, as might 
 be expected, headed by the tunny. Then follow the striped 
 bonito, mackerel, the sport-giving lichia family, mullet of two 
 kinds (pink and red), and surmullet, swordfish, the great sea 
 perch, and a number of beautifully marked fish of the serranus 
 tribe, wrasses, dogfish, hake, gropers, flying fish, a variety of 
 breams, sea pike, conger eel, a number of gurnards, flat fishes, 
 including the turbot, prawns, and shrimps. The Scitzna aquila, 
 which is supposed to be universal in the Mediterranean, appears 
 to be scarce in the Gulf of Genoa. 
 
 In the Adriatic it is commonly believed that the hake, 
 whiting, and other fish taken by hook 'are better for. table 
 purposes than those caught by trawling and other forms of 
 netting. The line fishing is very considerable, and is regarded as 
 one of the most popular of summer sports. One form of hand 
 line, with two or three hooks, is baited with worms or smelts, 
 and thrown out from shore with or without a rod for gobies, 
 smooth serranus, and similar species. Mackerel, bass, and 
 garfish are taken by a long line weighted with lead at intervals of 
 four or five yards, and hooks attached to a long collar of copper 
 wire and baited with pieces of fish. This method is trailing 
 pure and simple with hand line. Gilt-head are caught with a 
 horsehair line armed with large hooks, and, south of Dalmatia, 
 the same fish is caught by whiffing under easy sail, the line 
 being not less than fifty fathoms and composed of common cord. 
 Another line for miscellaneous fishing is often 250 fathoms long, 
 and carries snooded hooks to the number of two or three 
 hundred, and this is either sunk and buoyed, or floated near 
 the surface. Spears, prongs, tridents, and harpoons are em- 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 467 
 
 ployed ; and poisonous substances are not unknown for 
 stupefying fish after the manner of the Irish spurge-laurel 
 sportsmen. Indeed, there is a compound used in the Adriatic 
 for this purpose which is extracted from one of the Euphorbias. 
 
 There is excellent bass fishing on the rock-girt islands of 
 the Grecian seas, and Yarrell mentions the Ionian method of 
 catching the garfish, or sea pike : a small dummy raft rigged 
 with masts and sailed like the toy boats on the Serpentine, is 
 employed to carry out a long line which is kept up by floats, 
 and from which depend short hair lines with baited hooks. 
 This is something of the principle of the otter fishing of 
 the British Islands, and in the Mediterranean we may also 
 discover an imitation of the Solway stake nets in the cap- 
 ture of the tunny. This fish begins to afford sport at the 
 latter end of May, and its capture is effected by strong walls 
 and chambers of nets fixed in the subterranean waterways. 
 The unsuspecting fish pass from section to section, and find 
 themselves at last in a death chamber from which escape is 
 impossible, and where the fishermen slaughter right and left at 
 leisure. 
 
 Amongst the curiosities of sea angling, and the novelties of 
 such sport, may be mentioned in passing a long-established 
 practice on the Sea of Azoff when it is frozen. This inland sea 
 freezes quickly on account of its shallowness and the brackish 
 nature of most of its water. As navigation is at once stopped 
 by this annual sealing up from the end of November to the 
 end of March, the fishermen are driven to make their livelihood 
 by fishing through the ice. This is done by both nets and 
 lines. An adapted seine is used for the former, and the net is 
 brought into operation by being ingeniously passed along under 
 the ice by means of a number of small holes, twenty feet apart. 
 Valuable hauls of fish are sometimes made by this style. In 
 the open water the fishermen submerge a long line some two 
 
468 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 or three feet under water, with large hooks fastened about a 
 foot apart. This, however, is not sport, but deliberate stroke- 
 hauling ; the hooks are never baited, and the sturgeon in 
 swimming along are hooked foul. There are four kinds of 
 sturgeon in the Sea of Azoff, and residents in the country 
 swear to having seen a specimen of the largest variety 
 weighing 2,700 Ibs. This was, of course, a very exceptional 
 event, for fish of a thousand pounds and upwards are not 
 of common occurrence. The other fish in the Sea of Azoff 
 include carp, bream, perch, roach (Cyprinus vimbd), razor-fish, 
 and other smaller varieties. With regard to the commercially 
 important sturgeon, it is perhaps scarcely necessary to remind 
 the reader that they are never brisk bait-feeders, and the above 
 method of capture in southern Russia is successful only 
 because the sturgeon there swim in shoals near the surface. 
 
 What is possible in distant and unknown waters in the matter 
 of sport has been admirably shown by 'Sarcelle,' to whom 
 reference has already been made. When he was appointed 
 to the consulship on the out-of-the-way bulge of North-West 
 Africa at Mogador no one had thought of mentioning it as 
 offering any sort of piscatorial attractions. Mr. Payton, how- 
 ever, by persevering trials found it all that he could desire 
 in that respect, and his contributions to current journalism, 
 based on those Moorish experiences, have proved an invaluable 
 exposition of sea angling at large. The strange fish which 
 periodically appeared on that open coast may be found, how- 
 ever, in many other countries, and the methods he proved 
 best for dealing with the powerful and formidable sea fish he 
 encountered might be adopted whenever similar conditions 
 occur. But for the capricious behaviour of the fish on their 
 annual visits, and the uncertainty as to their appearance, 
 Mogador might have been a sea angler's Paradise. 
 
 The native Moors, whose characteristics are so pleasantly 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 469 
 
 sketched by ' Sarcelle ' in his descriptions of sport with fishes and 
 birds, were keen fishermen with the rod. Invoking Allah for 
 prosperity, they watch the times and the seasons, go afloat with 
 their rough tackle, and come back sometimes with from one 
 hundred to two hundred fish in their boat tasargelt, or what 
 not, averaging seven pounds in weight. ' We did not come in 
 till we had not a hook left,' naively said one of them after a 
 hot day among the shoals. The tackle used by these fisher- 
 men is a short stumpy piece of bamboo, about eight or nine 
 feet long, to which is attached on a strong cord line a couple 
 of yards of stout wire. The hook is often barbless, and of the 
 butchers' meathook order in size. Among the baits, whose 
 name is legion, there is used, especially for the tasargelt, an 
 attractive strip of octopus arm, threaded upon the shank of the 
 hook, and fastened to the wire above. Curiously enough no 
 care is taken to extend the bait beyond the bend, so that the 
 point, and the barb if any, together with a good deal of the 
 wire, are left bare. 
 
 With his lifelong experience of sea angling ' Sarcelle ' 
 naturally improved upon these primitive methods, using proper 
 rods and tackle and trying a variety of the baits and flies of 
 civilisation, even a combination of white rag and red wool here, 
 as in every clime, proving efficacious. But the most expert fisher- 
 men with the best appliances are frequently smashed up by the 
 monsters of the deep. A boat must be used. The natives have 
 four or five rowers, the boats go out in fleets, and the fishermen 
 move amongst the immense shoal singing, shouting, yelling, and 
 flailing the water with their rods, lines, and hooks. When sport 
 is ' on ' no attempt is made to play the fish ; it is lifted bodily 
 in by sheer weight of pole and cord if not too big for such 
 summary jurisdiction, with the result of fishermen making it a 
 boast that they do not come in until they have lost every hook. 
 The experienced sportsmen who pursue the rules of the game 
 
470 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 are compelled to use stout hempen lines and snooding of fine 
 white wire, and even these prove insufficient against the strong 
 sharp teeth of the tasargelt. The fish which visit the Mogador 
 coast come by instinct to prey upon the small silver) 7 fish of 
 the sardine and anchovy type, and any artificial bait should be 
 in imitation of them. Sole-skin, minnows, or any of the dainty 
 phantom productions, would be useless. A simple bit of tin, 
 slightly curved like the common baby-spinner used at home, is 
 enough for sport when the fish are feeding. 
 
 The azlimzah is another of the great ocean fish taken in 
 these parts, and it advances towards the shore in battalions 
 during July and August. There is always some drawback, 
 however, and the sport is often hindered by obstreperous north- 
 easterly winds, which make a rough sea and dirty water, fatal 
 to successful angling from boats. The baits are the same as 
 for tasargelt a piece of octopus, small sardines, or a bit of 
 silver side, locally called ' aghulim,' cut from a freshly caught 
 fish. The azlimzah run from 30 to 40 Ibs., and naturally give 
 magnificent sport. In 1885 a young visitor to Mogador killed 
 an azlimzah of 54 Ibs. in weight. It was 54^ inches long and 
 30 inches in girth, and on the same day ' Sarcelle,' who had 
 taken the young gentleman out, himself caught one of 50 Ibs. 
 
 The aourah comes into the water in shoals at the same 
 time. These are beautiful fish, with gold and silvery hues, and 
 blue grey markings on the side. They will follow the boat 
 close to the rudder, and dash in the wake of it at the spinner, 
 which is generally of the smaller kind, and used with gut traces 
 and light rods. The aourah averages 4 Ibs., and as it is a 
 surface feeder the bait must be kept moving pretty swiftly. The 
 arrivals of these gamesome fish during the summer months 
 amount to an annual carnival for the inhabitants, who forsake 
 the duties of home for the remunerative pastime. The fish sell 
 well in the market, except when a glut is caused by the angling 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 471 
 
 amounting to slaughter rather than sport ; at such times you 
 may purchase for a penny or twopence each, fish of 20 Ibs. to 
 30 Ibs. 
 
 In the spring bass fishing begins at Mogador, and 'Sarcelle,' 
 one May day, after a fierce struggle killed a grand specimen of 
 10} Ibs. on single gut. The fish twice emptied the winch, and 
 the second time it was necessary to throw the rod overboard 
 and allow the whole concern to take its own way. The fun 
 among the bass is intensified by an odd azlimzah, which makes 
 short work of the finer tackle used for the shyer sea perch. 
 When bass or other fish are playing about in shoals pursuing 
 the anchovies, the commotion in the water is called by the 
 natives ' tiferdeen.' For bass fishing a tin spinner, with a strip 
 of octopus arm on the bend of a single hook, and at the end of 
 a long snooding of sinnet a length of single gut, is trailed with 
 a bamboo rod over the stern. At the cry of ' tiferdeen ' cas- 
 cades of anchovies are seen tumbling into the air in all direc- 
 tions, and the face of the water is disturbed with the mighty 
 splashes of heavy fish, chiefly bass. As the shoals of anchovies 
 hasten seawards the boats follow, and in their bolder moments 
 the bass take the bait close alongside. On one of his good days 
 ' Sarcelle ' caught ten bass and a few other fish, the grand total 
 being about 140 Ibs. It was a great bag, for though the biggest 
 fish was not more than eight and a half pounds, the majority were 
 three- and two-pounders. The bass leave the coast in July, 
 and there is then business with the maigres. The azlimzah is 
 described as a thick-built, large-headed, coarse-scaled fish, with 
 percoid front dorsals, grey-golden in hue, four or five feet long 
 and weighing 25 Ibs. to 60 Ibs. each. 
 
 The bonito is ready-found game on all the Atlantic stations, 
 and at St. Helena the officers obtain good baskets by using 
 bamboo rods about fourteen feet long, Nottingham winches, 
 and about one hundred and twenty yards of line. The bait is 
 
472 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 the small fry of any silvery sea fish. The bonito is an old 
 friend, of course, of the sea angler, and his sporting qualities 
 are well known. Indeed, a fish of about 10 Ibs. is as lively 
 as a salmon. A basket of dead fry to use for casting out in 
 handfuls as a surface rather than a ground bait is one of 
 the tricks of this excitement, and a hook baited with a live 
 fish is thrown out into the boil created by the attracted fish. 
 The bonito is one of the few sea fishes that leap continually 
 out of the water. I have heard of a bonito of 40 \ Ibs. killed 
 in this way at St. Helena. 
 
 The flamingo-haunted lakes, and the Suez Canal which skirts 
 or is part of them, abound with fish, and the sphinx-like Egyptian 
 is a most patient rod-angler along that famous waterway. A 
 beautiful bass is found at Ismai'lia, but it is fished for with the 
 clumsiest appliances, though the ' Bitter lake Trout,' as it is 
 designated, is a highly marketable commodity. The local fisher- 
 men lay night lines and are well content with the eight- or nine- 
 pounders which the morning brings them ignominiously hooked. 
 With a light bamboo rod, and shellfish bait which the donkey 
 boys of Lake Timsah readily procure for you, a basket of what 
 the Americans term ' pan fish ' can easily be caught, and it is 
 these young mullet and bream which haunt the woodwork of 
 the jetties that are used as bait for the bigger bass. The sailors 
 of ships lying at anchor get fish as long as their arm on the 
 most primitive of night lines. 
 
 South of the tropics there is also sea angling of various sorts 
 for the resourceful sportsman. The colony to which men of 
 enterprise are now turning is in that direction, and at the Cape 
 there is rare sport in Simon's Bay. A fish represented as a 
 'Cape salmon 'of 26!* Ibs. was killed in November 1894 by 
 a learned professor (James Cameron, registrar of the University 
 of the Cape of Good Hope, and formerly classical professor in 
 the South African College). As such local names are often 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 473 
 
 very misleading, on reading the account of this exciting piece 
 of sport, I wrote to the captor, asking for precise information as 
 to the species. The anglers, it may be premised, were fishing 
 with rods from a little platform near the stern of one of her 
 Majesty's ships, and the fight became perilous as well as in- 
 spiriting when the fish darted under the keel of the ship. After 
 an hour's hard fighting, a welcome break in the monotony of 
 life on the quarter-deck, the prize was landed from a boat. 
 From the communication received I am able to state that this 
 particular Cape salmon is the Otolithus aquidens of Cuvier, and 
 it is called at the Cape 'geelbeck,' or yellow mouth. There 
 are other fish in these waters also called Cape salmon ; one of 
 them, which runs from 30 to 40 Ibs., and gives splendid sport, 
 is the ' Kabeljauw,' Sciczna hololepidota of Cuvier. The best 
 fish in Cape waters is the ' Steenbrasem,' Lithognathus capensis 
 of Cuvier, but it is somewhat lethargic when hooked. 
 
 My correspondent, subsequent to the fight with the Cape 
 salmon, which went the round of the papers, went out fishing 
 between a late breakfast and an early lunch with a friend, and 
 the two rods accounted for five fish, of a total weight of one 
 hundredweight. The largest individual in this fine bit of salt- 
 water angling was a ' Steenbrasem ' of 48 Ibs. The other four 
 were what is called by the Cape men ' seventy-fours,' the same 
 being the Dentex rupestris of science. It is described as a 
 particularly handsome fish with large bright scales, silvery as a 
 clean run salmon, and ranging from 10 to 25 Ibs. Here, 
 as elsewhere in foreign sea fishing, not the least charm is the 
 variety of fish taken. The professor has caught as many as 
 thirteen distinct species in one morning in False Bay. 
 
 In dealing with Simon's Bay it may be mentioned that the 
 Bank of Agulhas is the Dogger Bank of Cape of Good Hope 
 fishing men. From boats running about five knots an hour a 
 little less for choice fishing lines with copper wire traces, and 
 
 3 ? 
 
474 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 baits often rudely cut out of a sheet of tin, or a piece of scarlet 
 or white bunting wrapped round the hook, are taken by the 
 locally called ' snook,' a large fish of a copper colour, with fierce 
 jaws and a formidable array of teeth, closely resembling the 
 barracouta of the West Indies. Sometimes the thick lines are 
 snapped like packthread by bonito or albicore. The Agulhas 
 Bank extends from the Cape of Good Hope along the eastern 
 coast of Africa, a distance of some hundreds of miles, and being 
 formed by the ocean current, is the haunt of every variety of 
 sea fish. It was here that Sir Edward Belcher caught forty-two 
 fish, ranging from 6 Ibs. to 32 Ibs. in weight, in six hours ; and 
 the almost incredible story is told of the lead being actually 
 stopped in its descent by the packed shoal below. This, however, 
 would mean deep-sea fishing, and, indeed, the best of the fish 
 are found at a depth of seventy-six fathoms. 
 
 On the eastern coast of Africa, those who make the attempt 
 generally find abundant sport with sea fish. A few years ago a 
 native employed on board H.M.S. Agamemnon, lying in Zanzibar 
 Harbour, caught a monster which outdoes even the American 
 tarpon. The man was fishing with gut tackle on an ordinary 
 hand line, and, hooking a fish which was obviously something 
 out of the common, he jumped into a punt to see the incident 
 out. The fish sulked for the first half-hour, and then, at no 
 great speed, made down the harbour, easily towing the punt 
 after it. Some of the officers of the ship went off to assist the 
 fisherman, and eventually contrived to run a line through the 
 monster's gills. By this time, however, decisive action had been 
 forced by the tactics of the enemy a good half-mile away, 
 and the punt with the fish astern was towed back. Hoisted 
 in, the latter measured 6 ft. 2 in. long, 4 ft. 4 in. in girth, and 
 weighed 360 Ibs. Lieutenant Harston Eagles, who is an enthu- 
 siastic sea fisherman, states that his lines have been frequently 
 broken at Zanzibar, where large tunny, and the fish known as 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 475 
 
 seer-fish, afford real sport from March to June, trolling with a 
 salmon rod. 
 
 The Antipodes provide much amusement for the sea-angling 
 colonists, and, save in New Zealand, Tasmania, and, to a limited 
 degree, Victoria, it is to the salt rather than to the fresh water 
 that they must look for sport. So far as Australia proper is 
 concerned, there is nothing more thoroughly enjoyed, and more 
 enjoyable, than that to which the schnapper party addresses itself. 
 It comes in the cool months, when the days and nights are 
 cloudless, and there are no mosquitos. Under these circum- 
 stances, and with sport to be reckoned in gross weight, if the 
 fates are propitious, by the ton, your schnapper party is generally 
 hopeful certainly hopeful at the start. These excursions have 
 a family likeness in all the colonies, for the schnapper will not 
 come up the river to be taken by a mere picnic gathering of 
 ladies and gentlemen, but has to be sought on his rocky sea 
 haunts. In the case of Queensland, where I had my best ex- 
 perience, it meant a voyage to the Flat Rock in Moreton Bay, 
 and many a delightful expedition did we make in the govern- 
 ment steamer Kate. 
 
 A sketch of a schnapper excursion, as we made them in 
 those parts, may be given as in general features typical of those 
 in other colonies. You start early on the afternoon of a kind 
 of day when a man must indeed be bad in mind and body not 
 to feel that, spite of hard times, it is something after all to be 
 alive ; something to possess lungs that will drink deep draughts 
 of an exhilarating atmosphere. The true type of a Queensland 
 winter day is a keen morning, that smells of frost but bites not, 
 cloudless hours of warm sunshine, a radiant and rapid sunset 
 over purple-tinted mountains and woods, and, with eventide, a 
 return of the scent and feeling of incipient frost. Every object 
 of the river trip is a greeting ; the white paint of the houses is 
 bright as the light, and the dingiest gum tree, bathed in the 
 
476 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 universal effulgence, becomes almost a thing of beauty. The 
 grassy heights, the undergrowths that dot them, the fenced-in 
 allotments whose sward has never yet been upturned, the land 
 under cultivation, the patches of untouched bush, the clumps 
 of banana around the cottages or large suburban residences, 
 the numerous reaches in the river with their profusion of 
 hill and wood all these are at such a time freshly welcome, 
 though to most of the party they have been for years familiar 
 enough. 
 
 There is no fishing generally the first night. Flat Rock is 
 sixty miles and more from Brisbane, and, with darkness setting 
 in by six o'clock, it is as much as we can do to reach Amity 
 Point in time to cast anchor for the night. The excursionists 
 in the comfortable saloon well know how to spend a pleasant 
 evening : cards, conversation, and books but chiefly cards 
 help to pass away the time. 
 
 Soon after casting anchor we discharge a few rockets and 
 burn blue lights a bit of pleasantry on our own part that is at 
 once answered by shouts of applause and laughter from the shore. 
 Amity Point is inhabited by blacks who assist in the oyster and 
 dugong fishing conducted there ; and our pyrotechnic display 
 appears to have brought them out of their bark huts and down 
 to the beach. Half a dozen of us accordingly go ashore in the 
 captain's gig to procure what is very practically the sinews of 
 war for the coming campaign to wit, baits ; to see the blacks 
 around their own camp fires ; and to enjoy a quiet stroll upon 
 the white sand, under the wonderful stars of the Antipodean 
 hemisphere. We are carried through the surf on the shoulders 
 of good-humoured natives, whose teeth literally gleam through 
 the darkness when no other part of their faces can be discerned. 
 
 We find three newly-caught dugong being skinned and cut 
 up for their hides, oil, and flesh. These curious creatures in 
 the early days of the colony could be procured by whaleboats 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 477 
 
 and harpooned, but they have been gradually driven to more 
 remote waters. Dugong are now principally taken in a net with 
 immensely wide meshes. The nets are laid in subaqueous 
 thoroughfares through which the experienced fisherman knows 
 the creatures will pass on their search for marine grasses ; the 
 animal becomes entangled, struggles himself into inextricable 
 toils, and, being unable to rise to the surface to breathe, 
 drowns. The dugong is well named the sea cow, for its head 
 is not unlike that of a polled bullock, though its nose is con- 
 siderably broader, and furnished with a sensitive terminal, by 
 which it may discover and crop the herbage of the submarine 
 pastures to which it flocks. The body roughly resembles that 
 of a gigantic seal, and dugong are sometimes taken weighing 
 a ton and a quarter. The animal is very shy, however, and has 
 to a great extent deserted the old haunts, and must now be 
 sought north of Torres Straits. 
 
 Now let us return to our party on board the Kate. We 
 sleep, some on deck, some below in the saloon, some in the 
 hold ; and though under the sunshine we might dispense with 
 any description of coat, at midnight the thickest is not too 
 heavy. At dawn next morning there are signs of movement 
 on board ; the early sportsmen are preparing for action. Day 
 is awaiting the signal to rush impetuously upon the heels 
 of night, and in these latitudes night has to be pretty sharp if 
 it would clear away before the full-orbed sun is close upon it. 
 
 We are soon under weigh. The Kate, once out of the 
 shelter of Amity Point, proves herself a remarkably frisky lass, 
 much given to dancing to the piping of the wind, and familiarly 
 responsive to any wave that chooses to flourish its arms around 
 her waist. Then it begins to rain, and the sea begins to rise, 
 and the prophets begin to prognosticate an unpleasant day, 
 and we are, in short, doomed to fishing under considerable 
 difficulties. 
 
478 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 The obdurate nature of the ocean bed at Flat Rock renders 
 it impossible to anchor near the fishing ground. The Kate, as 
 fast as she is brought near the desired spot, drifts back again, 
 and as the fish are only to be had near the rocks, the moral 
 enforced upon us is that we must make the most of our time. 
 And this is how we do it. Each man takes up a position, and 
 clings to it. At his feet, if he be a deft fisherman disposed so 
 that there shall never be a hitch, lies a coiled line, thirty 
 fathoms long if ii is to be of any service, about the thickness of 
 a codline, and weighted with three egg-shaped pieces of lead, 
 each a pound in weight, and so bored that the line will run 
 freely through The hook is of the largest dimensions, and 
 it is best to have it attached with a length of overgrown gimp, 
 or three pieces of ordinary gimp twisted. The bait is a lump 
 of fish or meat the size of a walnut. Slowly the steamer 
 advances to the charge, until you can hear the green water 
 streaming off the protuding rocks. Look well to the thick 
 leather shields on your hand, else presently your fingers will 
 pay the penalty. It is comical to see twenty gentlemen 
 cabinet ministers and what not waiting at the bulwarks, line 
 in hand, in all kinds of expectant attitudes, eager to heave the 
 tackle overboard the moment the way of the stopped steamer 
 slackens. 
 
 With splash and shout, at length twenty heavily-weighted 
 lines are speeding through the beautifully clear depths twenty 
 lines racing through finger and thumb at a rate that renders 
 either a glove or a canvas sheath an absolute necessity. Do 
 your best in ten minutes, for no longer can we remain in the 
 neighbourhood. If we are in luck, in a few minutes there 
 is a loud and long-sustained rub-a-dub on the deck. Is it 
 a heavy-footed man dancing a breakdown? Nay, it is the 
 first schnapper announcing his release from the nasty, wet, salt 
 sea, and heralding his kith and kin, so that within a couple of 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 479 
 
 minutes the entire deck echoes with the rub-a-dub of fresh 
 arrivals. 
 
 It is scarcely sport it is a piscatorial battue. You are 
 hauling up from the bottom, fathoms down, a burden which 
 taxes all the strength and makes the perspiration ooze from 
 every pore ; yet it is grand fun for a while. The fish bite 
 fast and furious. As your line, after yielding its captive, is 
 recast, it throws out coruscations of silver in its rapid descent. 
 Soon your eye discerns, fathoms deep, an almost impalpable 
 flashing to and fro, as if a burnished platter were gyrating 
 in an eddy ; it assumes a lovely pink hue as you bring it 
 nearer the surface, and then, in a twinkling, a burly schnapper 
 of seven or eight pounds is flapping vigorously and noisily on 
 deck. Sometimes it is a fish at every haul, and, under those 
 circumstances, not the least amusing feature of the sport is the 
 spectacle of a score of excited men jumping round a score of 
 big fish which are doing their best to convey their amazement 
 and indignation to an unfeeling world. 
 
 The schnapper is, like nearly all the fishes of these waters, 
 beautifully tinted, and the prevailing colour is rose pink, 
 speckled with turquoise blue. It is a thick, broad-sided fellow, 
 as if originally intended for one of the bream tribe. The 
 resemblance to the bream, however, ceases at the top of the 
 shoulders, where there is a bony hump and a sharply sloping, 
 undulating ridge of bone down to the mouth, which is horny 
 and well furnished with teeth. You deposit your game, not in 
 the familiar creel, but in a sack bag, knowing full well that at 
 the wharf at Brisbane by-and-bye there will be an astonishing 
 number of acquaintances, who happen to be passing just 
 by accident of course and who will somehow walk away 
 with a brace of fish dangling from a bit of spun yarn. The 
 schnapper is, in fact, excellent eating. It does not come amiss 
 in any shape boiled and served with shrimp sauce ; fried 
 
480 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 with egg and breadcrumb ; soused ; and, better still, as 
 mayonnaise. 
 
 The best of schnapper fishing is that you leave off con- 
 tented. It is hard work : the fish range between five and twelve 
 pounds, and it will be a very bad visit indeed to the Flat Rock if 
 the poorest fisherman does not get ten or a dozen schnappers. 
 The best of the fishing lasts not more than two hours, and 
 much of the time is occupied in steaming, after the drifts, up 
 to the rock again. Yet we return with two hundred and fifty 
 schnappers on board besides other fish, making a total weight 
 of not much less than 2,000 Ibs. It is no uncommon thing 
 for six hundred large schnappers to be taken on one of these 
 excursions. 
 
 It is not, however, schnapper alone we take. At one of our 
 halts we catch a very strange collection of fish indeed. First 
 there are three varieties of the parrot fish, shaped something 
 like a carp, coloured a brilliant scarlet, and armed with four 
 ivory teeth, protruding like those of a rabbit. A small fish, the 
 exact image of a thick-set trout in bodily form, and about half 
 a pound in weight, falls to my share. How it could have taken 
 the schnapper hook is a mystery to this day ; but there it is in the 
 Brisbane Museum, admirably set up and preserved, and taking 
 its place among the natural history specimens, with its scientific 
 classification, and my own name as the distinguished donor, 
 duly set forth in intelligible characters. The fish is designated 
 ' Diacope octolineata ; family Peresidei? The colours fade 
 somewhat after death, but I make a memorandum with fishy 
 fingers before it gives up the ghost, and thus it reads : ' In 
 shape not unlike a Wandle trout ; fins and tail bright gamboge ; 
 belly ditto with vermilion spots ; sides deep yellow, with 
 four lateral stripes of bright blue rows of turquoise on cloth 
 of gold.' A king fish is also taken, a blue and white gentleman 
 apparently of the bonito persuasion. A perch, own brother in 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 481 
 
 shape to our English friend of that ilk, only a magnificent 
 vermilion with black spots, is another celebrity. 
 
 On the trip I am here recalling we had during the last half- 
 hour a succession of surprises. A member of Parliament, since 
 a cabinet minister, called lustily for help, and we rushed to his 
 aid. He had hooked a shark, and after a tremendous tussle 
 the beast was landed by means of a couple of boathooks thrust 
 into his hideous mouth. It was about five feet long, and as it 
 betrayed an uneasy conscience and was far too lively to be safe, 
 it was conciliated with a well-sharpened axe. Another member 
 of the Legislative Assembly, not to be outdone, set up a wild 
 hullabaloo ; he too, so he averred, had a shark. You could see 
 it was a big fish, there were strong men (all parliament men) 
 engaged in bringing it in ; but, instead of darting hither and 
 thither, it came up a dead weight, no -more like a shark than the 
 chub is like a pike. Its sheer weight unfortunately severed the 
 line, and there were blank lamenting faces near the sponson, 
 and general laughter from the rest of the company. 
 
 The lion of the collection was taken by a member of the 
 Government, since known to fame as a statesman ; it was a 
 groper of 60 Ibs. weight. It did not show an ounce of pluck 
 from first to last, but allowed itself to be hauled in as if it were 
 its fate, against which it were useless to contend ; and the 
 only protest it made on deck was to open its jaws, but in a 
 manner more indicative of an ill-mannered gape than a decided 
 exhibition of defiance. The naturalists are quite right in saying 
 that this fish is distinguished by its large mouth ; a medium- 
 sized portmanteau might be stowed away in it without the 
 slightest inconvenience to the fish. After the engagement is 
 over, the combatants clear the decks, remove the slain, put 
 away their weapons, and resume attitudes and pursuits of peace. 
 
 Fishing excursions like that which is sketched in some 
 detail in the foregoing pages are, however, only occasional. 
 
 3Q 
 
482 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 The everyday sea angling is of a more simple kind, and can 
 be indulged in without a chart and the victualling of a ship. 
 Round the Australian coasts there are always sea breams, and 
 on sandy beaches three or four kinds of whiting. Jew-fish and 
 many other species come into the rivers at given seasons, and 
 among them sea mullet in prodigious numbers. These, as 
 under the Great Bear, are not free biting, but the smaller sizes 
 are often taken when angling for other species with rod and 
 line, either from the moored boat, or from rocks and banks. 
 
 At Brisbane our little property, with its buffalo grass sward, 
 was protected from the tide by a ridge of rocks and mangroves, 
 and all we had to do when fancy prompted us was to walk 
 down past the orange trees, seat ourselves on the bank or in 
 the punt, and let the float make its allotted swims. Some- 
 times there were only obnoxious catfish ; sometimes small 
 mullet appeared ; but our common stock were bream, which, 
 when they were foraging near, loved to grope about the roots 
 of the mangroves, and we could catch them either with prawns 
 (of which we took quantities off the garden by sinking a minnow 
 net made of muslin) or by lumps of paste covering the hook. 
 It would be a very good specimen which ran to i^ Ib. ; and the 
 fish was worthy of respect, being game to the death, and out of 
 the water no disgrace to the best frying-pan ever imported. 
 
 In these waters you never quite know what you are going 
 to hook. Sometimes the tidal rivers appear to be in undis- 
 turbed possession of a queer little fellow that is called a perch 
 because, I suppose, it has little of the perch about it except its 
 bars, and its boldness in the matter of biting. It has a blunt 
 head, and square mouth overhung by a thick bony snout ; and 
 there are at least two kinds, the gold and the silver. A sea fish 
 that comes into notice when the water is thoroughly salt, and 
 sharks are reported amongst the shipping, is the flathead. 
 He is a peculiarly artful or lazy fish, that seems to do business at 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 483 
 
 
 leisure, for instead of seizing the bait with appetite and rushing 
 off with it, as any healthy-minded fish should do, it quietly 
 sucks in the morsel as it lies, so that you have no suspicion of 
 being engaged with a customer until you haul upon your line, 
 and find the creature well hooked. Some of these fish require 
 very cautious treatment, and it is always wise to conclude that 
 the stranger has knives and daggers concealed about his per- 
 son. The flathead has an unconscionable quantity of spines, 
 and demands very careful handling. I have known them 
 caught from fourteen pounds downwards, and their value at 
 dinner-time makes us anxious to basket them, although it is 
 always best to pin the victim to the ground with your foot 
 before removing the hook. 
 
 The jew-fish, common in all the colonies, is the Sciana 
 antarctica of Castelnau, and is allied to the maigre of the 
 Mediterranean. The fish is better for appearance and sport than 
 for edible qualities ; is a rough outline of the salmon in shape, 
 almost as silvery as that royal fish, but with opaline tints over 
 the head and sides when the sun catches it. On its first appear- 
 ance out of the water it reflects the most beautiful colours, but 
 they soon fade, and the silvery sides rapidly become tarnished. 
 With appearance, however, any resemblance to the salmon ends, 
 for the flesh is white and soft, except in large specimens, when 
 a block cut out of the middle serves as a far-away reminder of 
 boiled cod and oyster sauce. As objects of the angler's desire 
 jew-fish are very capricious in their movements, appearing 
 sometimes in shoals, and at other times playing the truant for 
 weeks or months together. These fish run up to sixty pounds 
 in weight. 
 
 The quiet bays of the Pacific, on the whole, furnish the best 
 sport with rod and line. We used to get capital angling by 
 wading in to meet the tide flowing shorewards over the clean 
 sandy flats, and the fish we used principally to basket was the 
 
484 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 sand-whiting, in shape and colour not unlike our own grayling, 
 and for which we could fish with fine tackle, rod, and creel 
 regularly slung. New Zealand and Tasmania are equally good 
 for the sea angler. 
 
 In the old days in New Zealand, before there were any trout, 
 the military officers varied their routine duty among the war- 
 like Maori with such sports as they could obtain, and those who 
 were near the coast soon learned the game qualities of the kawai, 
 locally termed New Zealand salmon, at the mouth of the Waikato, 
 which is now one of the best of New Zealand trout streams, 
 tenanted by huge Salmonidae introduced from Tasmania, and 
 descendants of some of our British strains. An officer of 
 the 68th Light Infantry as far back as the fifties gained quite 
 a reputation by his prowess in fishing for the kawai with large 
 salmon flies. Even up the river itself he took the smaller fish, 
 which are locally called ' shoal kawai,' and which seem to be 
 the grilse of the larger fish. Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty, is 
 probably the best place on the coast for kawai. They come in 
 from the sea in numbers, and run to large size. They may 
 be taken best with spinning bait, natural or artificial, and are a 
 stock means of sport to white and brown man alike. 
 
 The Maoris themselves are keen and clever fishermen, and 
 have from time immemorial used the rude hooks of charred 
 wood or bone found amongst all eastern peoples. When the use 
 of metal became known, and long before our modern barbed 
 hooks were invented, barbless hooks were made from nails and 
 other iron scraps. In fishing for kawai there were long shanks 
 slightly bent to accommodate the shell baits which were lashed 
 on with native flax, the flashing of the pearl being evidently the 
 attraction to the fish. The spoon used in civilised countries 
 for pike and salmon is but a development of this style. Even 
 when barbed hooks were introduced the Maoris cut them off 
 on the plea that they were too much bother to extract when 
 
THE SEA FISHER IN FOREIGN PARTS 485 
 
 fish were feeding briskly. The bone hooks are universal 
 among savage peoples in all latitudes. 
 
 The South Sea Islanders, like the Maoris, are skilful and 
 most persevering fishermen, and adopt a variety of methods to add 
 to their simple diet the fish which cruise around the reefs and 
 rocks. Some of their wholesale methods of capture are very 
 ingenious. The spears have barbed prongs, or they bristle with 
 sharp fishbones, and most hunters of curios will probably have 
 found in native huts carefully preserved specimens as much 
 prized as war implements, and as worthy of collection. The 
 natives in many of the islands are adroit in fishing the reefs 
 with stake nets, and a kind of shrimp net stretched on poles is 
 used for the fry resembling whitebait. Traps are manufactured 
 of plaited cane, and artistically designed with something like a 
 pattern. The general idea is to produce a basket into which the 
 fish can enter but not return. In one of the islands I heard of 
 another trap made of prickly palm branches, which answers the 
 same purpose as the basket, though it is a much simpler affair, 
 and is placed on the edge of the reef by the fisherman diving 
 and putting a stone on the tether, leaving its whereabouts to be 
 indicated by a float. The natives have rudely understood the 
 art of spinning for ages, and their bait is a pearl shell shaped 
 like a fish, with a tortoiseshell hook attached. The point of this 
 is sometimes bent inwards like a shepherd's crook, and some- 
 times only slightly curved. One pattern is fashioned bodily out 
 of a clam shell, but to this a bait is fixed. Iron hooks are made 
 from nails, and by never allowing the fish a chance of turning, 
 the natives become adepts in dragging out fish with their 
 barbless and primitive contrivances. On many of the smaller 
 islands which find no place on maps, there are temporary 
 fishing stations visited by the natives at the seasons when they 
 know by long tradition payable fishing is to be had. Turtles 
 are caught by lassoing. 
 
485 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 The Polynesians have an ingenious form of sport some- 
 thing in the nature of a battue. A number of rafts are joined 
 together to form a water compound on some shallow beach 
 frequented by fish. A couple of men, working from a small 
 canoe in the centre, thrash the water and drive the fish to- 
 wards the boundaries. Numbers of fish in their terror leap, 
 strike against the outer fence of the raft, and so quickly find 
 their way to the baskets. On the reefs, spearing by throwing 
 with one or both hands is practised. The hooks are made of 
 shell and bone, and answer the double purpose of hook and 
 bait, some of the small ones being circular and twisted into 
 rough resemblance of a worm. The rod used in sea fishing 
 from the canoes is of bamboo cane twelve or fifteen feet long, 
 and this enables the fisherman to attract the surface feeders 
 by dangling on the water an ingenious tuft of bristles or hairs 
 attached as a tail to the shell bait. 
 
487 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 
 
 By ALFRED C. HARMSWORTH 
 
 TAKE a reasonably large map of the United States, cast your 
 eye down to the south-west of Florida, and you will be looking 
 at the coast outline of one of the best of sporting countries. 
 If you are an angler, you can kill a dozen varieties of game 
 fish of from i Ib. up to 200 Ibs. 
 
 Florida sounds such a long way off, it is so usually 
 associated with tropical flowers, oranges, and ne'er-do-weels, 
 that the leisured angler, in searching for fresh spheres of 
 sport, fails to give one of the best fishing countries in the 
 world due attention. As a matter of fact, all but the most 
 remote portions of Florida can be reached in nine days from 
 London, and when one arrives at one's destination there is a 
 capital assortment of outdoor amusements open. Had I been 
 an all-round sportsman of the pot-hunting variety I doubt 
 not but that with three months of rod, rifle, and gun I could 
 have brought back a shipload of trophies. The quality of 
 the sport in Florida is of the best. Great kills of fish or 
 game are often the result of unsportsmanlike methods, but 
 such Florida sportsmen as I encountered fished and shot irre- 
 proachably. 
 
 In glancing again at your map of the United States you 
 will find that Florida is snugly ensconced away down to the 
 
488 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 south of that vast Republic. From New York one travels for 
 little more than a day and a half to Jacksonville, the chief 
 town of this great, straggling, unpopulated State. 
 
 We drove to the railway station in New York in a sleigh ; 
 next day we left the train at- Jacksonville, and found our- 
 selves in a climate exactly similar to that of Cairo at the 
 beginning of March. Journeying is pleasant in America. 
 There may be delays ; one may be ' side-tracked ' for three or 
 four hours or more ; the speed in the remoter parts of the 
 country is not such as a Briton, or the man of the Eastern 
 States, is accustomed to ; but the people who come and 
 go from town to town are amusing and delightful and, 
 like all provincials, wonderfully inquisitive. They do not 
 seem to be able to understand that there is a kind of man 
 who will go on long journeys with any other object than that 
 of money-making, and regard the sportsman as a good deal of 
 a fool. 
 
 I had first been led to think of tarpon fishing by occasional 
 references in the ' Field ' and the ' Fishing Gazette,' and on 
 seeking for information Mr. Marston referred me to one of 
 the best- known American anglers, Mr. A. N. Cheney, Glens 
 Fall, N.Y. 
 
 There are so many kinds of fishing in the United States ; 
 the country, or rather the aggregation of counties, is so 
 enormous, that it was not unnatural to find that Mr. Cheney 
 himself had never made an expedition in search of what can 
 unhesitatingly be claimed as the king of game fish, salmon 
 not excepted. Mr. Cheney, however, supplied me with an 
 amount of information that enabled me to go to Florida and 
 back with as much ease and considerably more comfort than 
 would be experienced in a trip to the Black Forest. 
 
 First let me ask and answer the question, What is the 
 tarpon ? According to the United States Fish Commission 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 489 
 
 he is Megalops atlanticus and Megalops thrissoides, a branch 
 of the Clupea family. His official description is : 
 
 An immense herring-like fish, which occurs in the western 
 Atlantic and in the Gulf of Mexico, ranging north to Cape Cod, 
 and south at least to western Brazil. The sailors' name for this 
 fish, by which name it is also known at Key West, Bermuda, 
 Brunswick, Georgia, and elsewhere, is 'Tarpum' or 'Tarpon.' It 
 is also known as the ' Silver King,' ' Silver Fish,' or ' Grand 
 Ecaille.' 
 
 One leading authority describes it as : 
 
 An immense and active fish, preying eagerly upon schools of 
 young fry or any small fish that it is able to receive into its mouth, 
 and in pursuit of which it ascends freshwater rivers quite a long 
 distance. They go up the Homosassa River in Florida, and several 
 of the Texas rivers. Fishermen dread it while dragging their nets, 
 for they have known of persons having been killed or severely 
 injured by its leaping against them from the seine in which it was 
 enclosed. 
 
 So much for the official account of the fish. A mounted 
 specimen of my own capture before me is indeed something 
 like a mammoth herring, and the herring, mind you, is a re- 
 markably handsome little fellow. The scales of the tarpon 
 belie description. The largest tarpon scale I have ever seen 
 was eight times the size of a two-shilling piece, more than one- 
 third of it covered with what looks like an artificial painting 
 of burnished silver. The first time I saw a tarpon scale I 
 imagined that it had been improved by artificial means. 
 
 There are, indeed, many matters in connection with tarpon 
 fishing so surprising as to incline the Briton to a belief that 
 they are the offsprings of the imagination and enthusiasm of 
 his American kinsmen. 
 
 Until I had killed a tarpon I regarded the statement that 
 he was a stronger, more active and clever fish than the salmon 
 as rank heresy. Born on the brink of a salmon river, I could 
 
 3 R 
 
490 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 not imagine that there was anything finer in the world than our 
 friend Salmo salar ; and yet it is a fact that, taking the maximum 
 weight of salmon as about 60 Ibs., the largest tarpon killed up 
 to date is three and a half times that weight, and, in more than 
 one particular, of better build for fighting. 
 
 I can imagine nothing more powerful than the tail of a 
 tarpon. Accustomed to battle out his life among the storms 
 on the Gulf of Mexico, he is naturally able to tire a human 
 being, and it is a fact that many a man has been obliged to cut 
 himself loose from his fish after a fight of three or four hours. 
 The tarpon fights all the time. He rarely sulks. Indeed, but 
 for the fact that he helps to kill himself by his terrific and 
 frequent leaps from the water, it would be rarely possible to 
 capture him at all. 
 
 Among the most successful tarpon anglers are the Lord 
 and Lady Orford. Lady Orford is probably the only woman 
 in the world who has killed two in one day. Her best fish 
 was 128 Ibs. Lord Orford has killed one weighing 183 Ibs., the 
 fifth largest known tarpon at the time of writing. 
 
 He has kindly furnished me with some notes of his experi- 
 ences during his visit in 1894. He says, after remarking that 
 few tarpon fishers agree as to the details of the sport, and that 
 every man has his own theory on the subject : 
 
 Our first attempts at tarpon fishing were at Punta Gorda, but 
 we had no luck, and I do not think well of the place from an 
 angling point of view. About the middle of April we went to Fort 
 Myers, and there my wife and I killed seventeen fish, my best 
 183 Ibs., smallest 75 Ibs. I have presented one weighing 150 Ibs. 
 to the Norwich Museum, and am keeping my i83-pounder and 
 Lady Orford's io6-pounder. There can be no doubt in my opinion 
 that the tarpon, as a fish, is quite as game as the salmon. 
 
 Of course there is not the pretty scenery, the casting, and the 
 same amount of knowledge of where fish are to be found that makes 
 salmon angling so delightful. Nevertheless, tarpon fishing is a 
 
A.N ANGLER AND HER CATCH 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 491 
 
 magnificent sport, and I wonder that more Englishmen do not take 
 to it. 
 
 My largest fish took one hour and forty-five minutes to kill. It 
 should not be forgotten that they are heavily handicapped by being 
 hooked so near a vital part, and, as every tarpon man will know, 
 they bleed very much. As to the well-known leaping of the tarpon, 
 I have counted over twenty distinct jumps of some feet in the air. 
 Occasionally one meets a fish that is sulky and continually coming 
 to the surface of the water to ' blow,' as it is called ; but as a rule 
 their activity is marvellous. I shall not readily forget one particular 
 fish. It leaped right over our boat. 
 
 Two hundred yards of line is none too much on a reel, for I have 
 had a fish take the full six hundred feet without stopping, and then 
 break me. 
 
 One has many slips when tarpon fishing, and it should never be 
 forgotten that the slightest check is fatal to one's chance of killing. 
 One of my fish (it had only fouled the trace by getting it under his 
 scissor jaw) took three hours to kill. 
 
 As to whether the fish can be taken with fly or trolling a much- 
 debated point it should not be forgotten that the fully-grown tarpon 
 has a very hard mouth, too hard for penetration by hook. An 
 American in a small yacht tried trolling, but though they took 
 the spinner the fish always broke away. I think something might 
 be invented that would hold them. They would be very difficult 
 to kill in this fashion. 
 
 The time of year is a most important matter. The hotter it is, 
 the better the fishing becomes. I cannot think that it would be 
 good after the second week in May, as the tarpon are then going 
 up to spawn, and though they take readily, according to accounts 
 I heard, have lost their gameness. 
 
 Apropos of Lord Orford's comparison of tarpon with salmon 
 angling, it will no doubt adversely prejudice those who have 
 never killed a tarpon to learn that the sport is partly fishing with 
 a dead gorge bait. Up to the present no other means have been 
 devised of killing Master Tarpon when he gets large. When 
 small, a fly or phantom minnow is effective. When large he is 
 so sly and cunning that he is rarely ever to be tempted by this 
 
492 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 means. And yet, despite the dead gorge, tarpon fishing requires 
 as much skill of its own kind as any branch of sport with which 
 I am acquainted, as is proved by the fact that expert anglers 
 have failed to kill for the whole of their first season. 
 
 There is another reason why tarpon cannot be killed when 
 hooked in the mouth. In its way, though from an entirely 
 different cause, the mouth of the tarpon is more difficult than 
 that of the grayling, as Lord Orford has pointed out ; and it is 
 for this reason that the old tarpon fishers, though they slaved 
 away for years, were never able to kill. Up till March 1885 no 
 large tarpon had ever been captured with rod and reel, but in 
 that year an American gentleman, Mr. Wood, of New York 
 City, was successful in bringing to gaff a fish weighing consider- 
 ably over 100 Ibs. 
 
 Among my angling treasures is a scale from this very tarpon, 
 presented to me by Mr. A. N. Cheney. 
 
 To recount my own experiences in Florida. We left Liver- 
 pool one Wednesday afternoon, and were in New York on the 
 following Tuesday night ; and, though we made the passage in 
 midwinter, the io,ooo-ton Teutonic, most comfortable of float- 
 ing hotels, enabled us to cross the Atlantic with but little 
 physical agitation. Were I going again, as I hope to do, I would 
 as soon cross in winter as at midsummer. 
 
 Early next day I replenished my store of tarpon literature, 
 and purchased my tackle. 
 
 There are still those in England, and in the United States 
 also, who hardly believe that it is possible to kill with very frail 
 tackle a 2oo-lb. fish a fish so strong that it can tow a boat for 
 miles ; so active that it can leap out of the water from four to 
 seven feet over and over again ; so fierce that, once hooked, it 
 regards its captor as a personal enemy, and fights him with 
 courage and activity not given to any other fish. The finest gut 
 cast with which a four-pound trout can be captured is very coarse 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 493 
 
 by comparison with (fish for fish, weight for weight) a 
 tarpon line. 
 
 At Conroys, 310 Broadway, New York City, I 
 spent io/. and a very pleasant couple of hours dis- 
 cussing the gear and chances of sport. For my rod I 
 paid 245-., for my reel 6/., and the rest of the money 
 went on hooks and lines. 
 
 Take several rods, lines, and plenty of hooks. 
 Tarpon fishing is such a new sport that all its tackle 
 is in process of evolution. The kind of rod in vogue 
 at the time of writing (1895) ls some seven feet 
 long, made in one piece, the butt bound like the 
 handle of a cricket bat. Some men use jointed rods, 
 an abomination from my point of view in a sport 
 where the strain is often such as to tire the strongest 
 man. When I fit out again, I shall not forget the 
 wholesale breaking of reels, lines, and hooks that I 
 witnessed during my first campaign. 
 
 ' When you buy tarpon tackle, young man,' re- 
 marked an old Southern gentleman to me, ' you have 
 got to remember that you may expect to hook 
 something like a thirty-knot torpedo boat.' 
 
 Personally I did not suffer. I broke a borrowed 
 rod and I kindly split a friend's reel, but, having im- 
 plicitly followed the advice of the New York dealer 
 I have mentioned, I returned with all my gear intact. 
 A charm of tarpon fishing is the simplicity of the 
 outfit. There is no vexed question of flies. Baby 
 tarpon have been caught with flies. I myself cap- 
 tured one with a phantom minnow ; but, so far as I 
 am aware, there is but one method of battling with 
 a big tarpon, and the sole requirements of the sport 
 are the lightest kind of line, compatible with strength, 
 
494 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 a short stiff rod, and a reel that runs on ball bearings. 67. is 
 a good deal to pay for a reel, and I blinked at the price, but 
 I do not think a good tarpon reel could be made and sold at 
 a profit for less. 
 
 It would be well, I think, if tarpon lines could be made 
 with a distinct colouring for each fifty yards, so that one might 
 know how much line is out. After prolonged immersion in 
 the water the line swells, thus making it very difficult to tell 
 how much one has left on the reel. Overrunning one's reel 
 with a tarpon is, of course, fatal, and it very often occurs. At 
 present one's only plan is to give steadily as little line as 
 possible, but in the excitement of the moment it is not always 
 easy to carry out careful theories. I would suggest that part of 
 a tarpon reel line be coloured blue and the last twenty-five 
 yards red. One would then know exactly where one was. 
 Six hundred feet of line require a good deal more manage- 
 ment than most people imagine. A good deal could be done 
 to improve tarpon reel lines. Their expansion when wet is an 
 objectionable feature. Manufacturers should remember that 
 the great essential is lightness. Lord Orford uses a new kind 
 of silk line which he gets from Chicago. 
 
 I would advise all who have some care for their personal 
 safety to wear a belt when tarpon fishing. For a dollar one can 
 purchase a leather belt in the front of which is a deep cup. Into 
 this cup, when playing one's fish, the butt of the rod is rammed. 
 The strength of the fish is so tremendous that, but for this simple 
 device, many more i5o-pounders would be lost than is the case 
 at present. 
 
 See that there is fixed to your reel a leather guard, so that 
 when the line is running out rapidly you can press your thumb 
 upon it, and thereby form a sort of brake ; but, in putting on 
 the brake, note that the guard is between you and the rapidly 
 whirling spindle of the reel. I omitted this precaution on one 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 495 
 
 occasion, and my thumb was in hospital for some weeks in 
 consequence. There are reasons, as will presently be seen, why 
 it is absolutely essential that a tarpon reel should run as freely 
 as the wheel of a bicycle. 
 
 I am often asked, by the increasing number of people from 
 Great Britain who are thinking of going to Florida for angling 
 during the spring, whether it is advisable to take any English 
 tackle, and I would say ' Yes.' I had good sport among many 
 kinds of fish with a light greenheart and an eight-ounce built 
 cane rod. A salmon rod is useful, with a moderate assortment 
 
 LEATHER BELT AND ROD 
 
 of gaudy flies, .spoon baits, and phantom minnows. Dry-fly 
 fishing is practically out of the question in such parts of Florida 
 as I visited. I did occasionally kill when fishing dry, but the 
 banks and rivers and creeks are not as a rule conducive to 
 drying the lure in the orthodox way. Most of my fly fishing 
 was done in the evening from a boat, and it was just as easy to 
 kill with a wet as with a dry fly. Occasionally, indeed, the 
 fish were so ravenous that one could kill quite easily with a 
 bare hook. The jack fish, a particularly game specimen, of 
 which more anon, were often so numerous as to become a 
 nuisance. Sometimes one could kill at every cast. 
 
496 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 One of the most important parts of the tarpon equipment 
 is the snell (anglice snood), or trace, to which the hook is 
 
 attached. Piano wire 
 and circular lamp- 
 wick bound with wire 
 are seen here and 
 there. There are 
 several other kinds 
 of snells in use, but, 
 though it is unwise 
 to prophesy, I ima- 
 gine that all of them 
 will give way to those 
 made of thin raw 
 hide. The strength 
 of this material is 
 undeniable ; and it 
 has this advantage, 
 that the shark, whose 
 teeth are extremely 
 sharp, can cut through 
 it easily. 
 
 Sharks are one of 
 the nuisances of tar- 
 pon fishing. They 
 are for ever stealing 
 one's bait and giving 
 false runs. Having 
 hooked a shark, one 
 RAW HIDE TRACE AND HOOK has either to play 
 
 him and kill him, 
 
 or cut him loose. Playing him may mean vast loss of time 
 and temper. He may tow one a mile from one's position. 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 497 
 
 On the other hand, to cut him loose is probably to waste the 
 greater portion of one's line. 
 
 For a proper understanding of the subject let me describe a 
 day's tarpon fishing, remembering always that there are slight 
 variations in the sport in different parts of Florida. In some 
 places no one thinks of fishing before eleven o'clock in the 
 day. In others three fish have been killed before six o'clock in 
 the morning. I will describe a day I spent at Marco, a small 
 settlement a long way down the Gulf of Mexico, which may 
 be visited by those who prefer camp life to the comparatively 
 civilised existence at Punta Gorda or ' Myers ' (Fort Myers). 
 
 We travelled to Marco, a little settlement fringed round 
 with cocoanut palms, one stormy afternoon in a small boat, 
 and we spent that night at a little store, a rough shanty, but 
 well equipped nevertheless. One could purchase all the needs 
 of a rude civilisation at this place. The Seminole Indians obtain 
 many of their goods there, and give in exchange skins of their 
 own tanning, some most admirably prepared. 
 
 Our company was rough and much of the type so well 
 described by Bret Harte and other Western authors. Still, our 
 host did his best to make us comfortable, and his little daughter, 
 a dainty specimen of Florida womanhood, rose. early to prepare 
 us a breakfast. Afterwards we proceeded with our guide, 
 Tom Hart, a man who can always be heard of at Marco, 
 who knows the whole coast well and is an admirable fellow, to 
 a spot at which, the previous year, he assisted to gaff three fish 
 in a single day. Our lunch consisted of green cocoanuts, a 
 small sackful of Florida oranges, cold venison (venison is the 
 staple diet of this part of Florida), biscuits, together with many 
 bottles of ginger ale which we had brought with us ; for this 
 part of Florida is under what is known as the 'Prohibition 
 Law,' the sale of alcohol being (nominally) forbidden. 
 
 The morning opened grandly. It was perfectly calm, the 
 
 3 s 
 
498 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 sunshine was brilliant, and I was strongly reminded of the Nile 
 on a March day, yet Hart was dissatisfied. As we made our 
 way up the beautiful creek, I looked at as much of the horizon 
 as I could see, but there was not so much as a cloud ' of the size 
 of a man's hand.' We proceeded leisurely, stopping now and 
 then to dip our great palmetto hats into the water, in order that 
 they might keep our heads a little cool, for the heat even at 
 ten o'clock was almost too much for endurance. Among the 
 other contents of our boat were four dozen bottles of British 
 beer which I had obtained with great difficulty for a party of 
 young Englishmen who, I had heard, had formed a small 
 settlement in this very creek. They had taken up their resi- 
 dence on an island there, and were endeavouring to earn a 
 living by growing vegetables for the northern markets. I fear 
 they fared but ill. One of them had the appointment as post- 
 man, worth 6o/. a year. His duty was to convey the mail some 
 hundreds of miles in a sailing boat, and out of this 6o/. he had 
 to provide himself with a boat and new sails. 
 
 I should like to say ' right here,' as the Americans have it, 
 that the custom of shipping off young men to Florida is one 
 that cannot be too severely deprecated. 
 
 The country is not rich ; orange-growing sounds well enough 
 on paper, but is in nine cases out of ten a most disastrous 
 pursuit, infinitely more of a lottery, indeed, than growing hops 
 at home. The 1895 crop, for example, has, according to the 
 Press, been ruined by the frost. It is true that many young 
 Englishmen who have been sent to Florida are scamps, but 
 others are thoroughly hard-working fellows, and it is sad to see 
 them living lives of semi-starvation. After seven or eight years' 
 residence it is almost impossible to recognise the young public 
 school or 'Varsity man. He has acquired the strange sallow 
 Florida complexion, he has grown long and thin, his accent is 
 infinitely more Transatlantic than that of the Eastern or Western 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 499 
 
 American. He has lost all hope, and has almost forgotten the 
 old country. Probably he marries some girl of humble origin 
 there, settles down to a life of ' plume hunting ' (shooting rare 
 birds for their feathers), button-wood cutting, or some other 
 precarious and arduous existence. 
 
 By way of experiment, I brought home one of these young 
 Florida Englishmen, who was never able to earn more than a 
 bare pittance during his five years there. He obtained active 
 employment here immediately on his arrival, and is now on a 
 fair way to a competency. His employer describes him as 
 ' one of the hardest-working lads he has ever met.' 
 
 Many young Britons in these far-away settlements are com- 
 pletely forgotten by those at home. Some of them have not re- 
 ceived an English letter, or seen an English newspaper, for years. 
 The particular youth I have in my mind was an orphan, whose 
 guardian had neglected him ; and it was strange to find that 
 the boy had at one time occupied a leading position at one of 
 our great public schools. His four or five years of semi-savage 
 life caused him to completely forget for a time his spelling and 
 writing. 
 
 This has nothing to do with fishing, but it is curious to note 
 that in the famous Tichborne trial a great point was made of the 
 fact that ' the claimant,' as Orton was called, had completely for- 
 gotten his French in his wild life in Australia. I found that 
 numbers of these young Englishmen of good birth, breeding, and 
 education had become uncouth and ignorant, and the monotonous 
 and semi-barbarous existence had the curious effect of almost 
 destroying their memory of home things. It is impossible to 
 imagine the isolated existence they lead. In the northern part 
 of Florida, though the English do not appear to flourish, they 
 have, at any rate, decent surroundings. There I met with a re- 
 tired colonel in the army who was driving a milkcart, while his 
 wife an extremely refined woman, who had been accustomed 
 
500 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 to the society of her station at home was helping to eke out 
 their existence as a washerwoman, working at the same tub 
 with black women. The gardener at one of the hotels we 
 stayed at was a public school boy. A rough man, who earned 
 his living by carrying fruit up and down the coast in a boat, 
 was a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, had almost com- 
 pletely forgotten his native country, and had not the least desire 
 for any other kind of existence than the adventurous life he 
 was leading. 
 
 But to hark back to my day at Marco. We had gone about 
 a mile, and Hart was resting on his oars for a moment, when 
 on a sudden, within three feet of the boat, there was a huge 
 swish and swirl a miniature maelstrom for a moment and 
 there appeared a great black back and huge projecting fin. 
 
 ' Tarpon,' said Hart. 
 
 It was my first sight of a big fish, and I must frankly con- 
 fess that I felt nervous when I looked at my comparatively 
 small rod and its frail line. He must have been a daring fellow 
 who first thought of the idea of killing a tarpon with rod and 
 reel. Presently the excitement of the sport was upon me. We 
 proceeded as rapidly as possible up the creek, and anchored 
 under the lee of an island. During the night Hart had gone 
 out with his casting net and captured a couple of dozen mullet, 
 varying in size from twelve to eighteen inches. In a moment 
 he had his knife out, and off came the head of a mullet. Then 
 he threaded the hook through it with a large skewer, attached 
 the leather trace to the line, and cast for me not a long cast, 
 under the circumstances perhaps twenty-five or thirty yards. 
 The bait sank to the bottom, and I sat with the check off 
 the reel, and some loose line gathered in the boat, awaiting 
 events. 
 
 Every kind of fishing has its drawbacks, and tarpon is not 
 without them. What wind and trees are to the fly fisherman, 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 501 
 
 catfish, sharks, seaweed, and the tide are to the tarpon fisher. 
 At Marco there are few catfish, but there were lots of sharks 
 and seaweed. I have heard that the tarpon is such a shy and 
 sensitive creature that, as it travels along the bottom of the 
 river in search of food, it would immediately drop the mullet 
 if it felt the least drag attached to it. The tide causes the 
 seaweed to form round the sagged line, the tarpon lifts the 
 bait, finds it suspiciously heavy, and is off like lightning. 
 During my experience the water was never clear enough to see 
 a tarpon take a bait, but I was assured by one guide that it 
 picks it up in a most gingerly manner, travels about eighty or 
 a hundred yards with it, and then stops to swallow it leisurely. 
 Another man, however, denied that the fish stopped. 
 
 Our trouble at Marco was principally seaweed. The rough 
 weather of the day before had brought it heavily to the mouth 
 of the pass. It was early yet. Now and then, in the distance, 
 you could see a great swirl in the water, and a tarpon rose, but 
 they kept very clear of our boat. We sat leisurely smoking in 
 the brilliant sunlight, and at the end of twenty minutes I reeled 
 in and found that my bait had been swallowed by a huge shell 
 fish, a conch. It weighed between seven and eight pounds, and 
 we had to cut it open before we could get the hook out of it. 
 In appearance it was not unlike a gigantic whelk. From 
 time immemorial a hole has been cut through the top of this 
 shell, and it has been formed into a kind of signal horn. 
 This was an amusing, though not a brilliant, beginning. We 
 put on fresh bait, moved forty or fifty yards, and cast in again. 
 The day was getting hotter. The great fish began to rise (for 
 air) very numerously. After a time we took to counting the rises, 
 and I am not exaggerating when I say that within sight of my 
 field-glasses (we could see close upon a mile in one direction) 
 there were over fifty distinct black fins showed during that 
 morning. 
 
502 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 Another cigar (Havannah is very close to Florida, and there 
 is a good deal of smuggling going on), the decapitation of 
 another mullet, a fresh cast, and we settled down to watch the 
 dial of my reel. I found Hart a pleasant and remarkably well- 
 informed person. There were few modern books of adventure 
 with which he was not acquainted, though not many authors 
 could have produced a more exciting tale than the history of 
 this man's life,spent as it was in exploring the vast, unknown 
 recesses of the Everglades in search of the egret's plumes, with 
 which fashionable ladies adorn their hats and hair. His 
 existence had been hard and solitary, and, though he is now 
 attaining a certain prosperity, he has spent some thousands of 
 nights camping out alone in that strange snake- and panther- 
 ridden country. 
 
 Our chat is cut short, however, by a sudden disappearance 
 of the loose line over the side of the boat. Then the reel began 
 to run out like lightning. The excitement of the moment was 
 terrific. One's first salmon, one's first tarpon, one's first tiger, 
 are, I should imagine, the most tremendous moments in a 
 career of sport. 
 
 To strike or not to strike is a question that greatly agitates 
 the tarpon fisher. There be those who say that the fish will 
 hook himself. On the other hand, many consider it imperative 
 to strike, and strike hard. Both have equally good arguments. 
 I struck, and within some fifty yards from the boat, but quite 
 in a contrary direction from that in which the line was running 
 out, a monster fish leapt from the water. Immediately at the 
 beginning of the run Hart had pulled up the anchor and we 
 were drifting. When he saw the direction in which the fish 
 had leapt he looked grave. The line covered with seaweed 
 had sagged tremendously ; he feared that the fish had dropped 
 the bait, and he was right. I wound up and found that my 
 intended victim had seized the mullet, and, in that curious way 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 503 
 
 fish have, had ejected it some feet up the line. This power of 
 fash is one I cannot understand, but I have noticed it with almost 
 every kind of game and coarse fish I have captured. In tarpon 
 fishing this action is a source of danger. Occasionally a man will 
 get a tarpon well hooked, the bait will be ejected a considerable 
 way up the line, and taken by a shark, who makes very short 
 work of the reel line and is off. The shark, by the way, is said, 
 though probably not in good truth, to be the mortal enemy of 
 the tarpon. A nigger sang me a quaint old song about the 
 shark and the tarpon and their midnight fights. 
 
 We were gloomy and disappointed. Still the day was 
 young and the fish were rising numerously, though it is by 
 some guides not considered a good sign when they are on the 
 top of the water. I cast in again, and almost before the bait 
 had got to the bottom it was taken. 
 
 There are guides who say they can tell in a moment if it is 
 the ' bite ' of a shark, tarpon, or jew-fish. The Florida jew- 
 fish is a huge monster who moves slowly when hooked, but 
 I am bound to say that I did not find any guide who was 
 absolutely infallible in detecting the respective runs of sharks 
 and tarpons. A shark is said to swallow the bait, swim rapidly 
 for a few yards, stop, go on again, and so on. Now, on two 
 occasions during my visit to Florida I found that Master Shark 
 did nothing of the sort, and I had ample opportunity of prov- 
 ing that these fish were sharks in both cases. In the particular 
 ' run ' I am describing, the shark went off quite as fast as a 
 tarpon and did not pause. Perhaps, as Hart afterwards sug- 
 gested, he was being chased by some other shark. When the 
 correct one hundred yards of the reel had run out I struck. 
 There was the usual commotion at the top of the water, though 
 not exactly a leap, and we both thought that I was in for a 
 tarpon. The fish, whatever it was, swam hither and thither at 
 lightning speed, and then on a sudden it stopped. I struck again, 
 
504 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 knowing that if it were a tarpon the pain would cause it to rise 
 to the top and leap. It did not do so. 
 
 ' I am afraid it is a shark, sir,' remarked my guide. 
 
 There are many people who think that shark fishing is done 
 over the side of a ship with a huge piece of pork attached to a 
 hook about twenty times as large as that used for any kind of 
 fishing. From the days of our youth we have heard of this 
 kind of thing, and no doubt they can be caught in this way ; 
 but with the aid of a revolver, or a long spear, a short stout 
 rod, and fine tackle, shark can be killed like any other fish. 
 
 I can assure those who have never killed a shark on a line 
 that this particular fish gave me any amount of excitement. Hart 
 rowed as fast as he could, and I reeled in rapidly to gain line, 
 for woe betide the tarpon or shark fisher if his line is overrun. 
 I got within probably thirty yards of the fish, when he was off 
 again, and he ran down a branch creek for close upon half a 
 mile. A big shark can tow a boat a very considerable distance ; 
 but there seems to be one way of tiring him, and that is, to 
 get to one side of him, and then, using one's rod as a lever, 
 swing round and pull against him with all one's force. In 
 course of time that seems to exhaust him, and, revolver ready, 
 one can reel him in, shoot him through the nose, and let him 
 go down with the current, to be torn to pieces by his voracious 
 brothers. My shark was evidently tired when we got up to him, 
 and I could see his great seven-foot body looming green and 
 hideous beneath the water. What a loathsome-looking monster 
 a shark is ! It is said that he has the cruellest teeth and eyes 
 and the smallest heart of anything that swims. As I drew 
 him up I thought he was practically dead. I made a shot, but, 
 owing to the rocking boat and the excitement of the moment, 
 was not sufficiently accurate. I hit him in the back of the neck. 
 For a moment I thought the boat was upset. He lashed the 
 blood-stained water furiously, and the reel, upon which I had 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 505 
 
 put the check, gave such a screech as I have never heard from 
 any reel before. He ran out some hundred and fifty yards of 
 reel, but as I drew up to him again he was obviously getting 
 tired. There is a mental process in angling which enables one 
 to know when one has at last gained mastery of one's fish, and 
 so it was with this shark. 
 
 I got him to the top of the water again. He made a violent 
 struggle when he saw the boat, but this time my aim was truer, 
 and I put three shots through his nose. It is usual to cut loose 
 one's shark, and I should not have taken such trouble with 
 this one, but that I had given a good many of my hooks to 
 some brother anglers who had not come well provided, and I 
 was therefore really short of them. To Hart was accorded the 
 unpleasant task of disgorging this hook from the monster. 
 The creature's backbone with a wire down it has made an 
 excellent walking-stick, I may observe, and a portion of his 
 skin has been turned into pocket matchboxes. 
 
 We had wandered completely out of our course. No tarpon 
 were known to be in the water near us, and we were think- 
 ing of returning; but, despite the bright sunshine, a change 
 had come over the weather, and I know of no part of the world 
 in which the weather alters more rapidly than in Southern 
 Florida. The wind was sighing in the mangrove trees, and, 
 though the sun shone as brightly as ever, the air grew strangely 
 chilly. By the time we had gone back the mile we had lost 
 Hart was despondent. There were no tarpon rising. All we 
 could see was a great porpoise, which rose within a few yards of 
 us, blowing as emphatically as a steam engine. 
 
 ' I am afraid we shall get no more sport to-day,' remarked 
 Hart. 
 
 And he was right. We fished for another hour until the 
 storm had come upon us, and then we turned back to Marco. 
 
 On our way we met a small sailing boat in which there were 
 
 3 T 
 
5o6 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 the very young Englishmen for whom we had brought our in- 
 formal introduction in the shape of bottles of beer. They had 
 not tasted Bass's ale for some years, and were delighted. 
 
 It is obvious that one of the most important things in tarpon 
 fishing is a good guide and boatman. Just as a bad gaffer can 
 and does lose any number of salmon, so does a bad boatman 
 who does not know how to gaff bring about endless disappoint- 
 ment to a tarpon fisher. A good many of the Florida fishing 
 guides are coloured men ; but with one exception, Fulton Ma- 
 guire at Punta Gorda, I would not recommend them. Maguire 
 looks to me like a negro with a good deal of Indian blood in 
 him. I found him an excellent and most intelligent companion 
 and most anxious to kill. The ordinary niggers seemed to me 
 to be very lazy, inclined to be extremely impertinent if one 
 treated them with the same familiarity one would adopt with an 
 ordinary gillie, and altogether without presence of mind. 
 
 A special kind of boat is used in some places, the peculiarity 
 of which is that it has a revolving seat in the centre, with a 
 small cup in front, in which to place the rod when playing a 
 fish. In the course of a long fight it might be necessary to sit 
 down, but the ordinary boats seem quite suitable. In case any- 
 one thinks of taking a folding boat to Florida, I would say that 
 it must be flat-bottomed, for in travelling one had to pass over 
 many shoals. I do not fancy an ordinary canvas collapsible 
 boat would be much use. The shoals are, as a rule, covered 
 with oysters, which, though excellent to eat, have extremely 
 sharp shells. They play havoc with even a stout canoe. 
 
 Capturing a tarpon though only a ten-pounder on one 
 of Farlow's light greenheart trout rods is a feat upon which I 
 pride myself. According to Colonel Haldeman, of Louisville, 
 Kentucky whose contribution on tarpon fishing to the well- 
 known volume, ' American Game Fish,' is most admirably 
 done small tarpon are but rarely taken. One day I had been 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 507 
 
 for some hours trying with a phantom minnow in the Gordon 
 River. Neither rod nor line was suitable for the task, and I 
 had been cheerfully informed that spinning for young tarpon 
 was hopeless work ; that one American gentleman, indeed, had 
 been steadily essaying the feat for three seasons without result. 
 However, I was weary of killing the various fish described at 
 the end of this paper, and thirsted for something difficult. 
 
 Several hours of angling in the blaze of the Florida sun are 
 sufficient for most of us, and I felt weary and dispirited. There 
 were several young tarpon about ; we had seen them. I re- 
 solved on a final try. The waters met at the end of a long 
 island, and I cast into the swirling ripples on either side of me. 
 The line tightened, the reel screeched, and I was into some- 
 thing big. That day I had brought to net and gaff some 
 seventy pounds of various fish, and for a moment I imagined 
 that my prey was a big ' channel bass.' I thrilled a moment 
 later when, with a magnificent leap, a ' silver king,' an unmistak- 
 able tarpon, sprang up fiercely and came down again ready for 
 another rush. 
 
 We were off after him without a second's delay. He took us 
 hither and thither at a speed that made us despair of getting 
 him. It is perhaps the uncertainty, the nervous fears as to the 
 strength of one's cast, one's line, and one's rod that help to 
 make angling what it is, and I had my fill of all these sensa- 
 tions on that occasion, for none of my tackle was suited to its 
 work. 
 
 One great danger of the episode was the attempt of my friend 
 to get to ' weed ' to the roots of the mangrove trees. This 
 had to be avoided at all cost, and, with many a foreboding of 
 disaster, I strained my little rod to the utmost and turned the 
 fish's head down stream. Up he came again into the sunlight, 
 shaking his head savagely, off to the other side of the pool, up 
 again and again and again. Presently he slackened, and I 
 
5o3 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 reeled him in a bit. Heavily handicapped by the shortness of 
 my line, I was obliged to be after him during the whole of the 
 contest, and the sturdy frame of my most skilful of boatmen 
 was showing signs of a breakdown. He had been up and down 
 stream all the morning, and the afternoon sun was at its fiercest. 
 
 It is stated that every time a tarpon ' blows ' he gains another 
 ten minutes' strength. My fish came up for the purpose often 
 enough, but, fortunately, he counteracted his breathing by an 
 extra number of jumps. How one holds one's breath at the 
 sight of these magnificent leaps for liberty ! They form the 
 most anxious moments of all for the man who knows that at 
 best his fish is but slightly hooked. I knew this only too well, 
 for my minnow was practically worn out when I began my 
 afternoon's work. 
 
 Master Tarpon tried a new move. He made straight down 
 stream, and I kept as much strain on him as I dared. I think he 
 helped to drown himself by his last manoeuvre, for his next leap 
 was a feeble one. The last moment was approaching, the most 
 anxious one of all. There's many a slip 'twixt fish and creel. 
 The awful thought, ' will my gaffer fail me ? ' has occurred to 
 all of us. Fortunately my friend I could have embraced him 
 at the moment got the little beauty he scaled just over ten 
 pounds some time afterwards safely into the boat, and that 
 night the fish, the first of the season at Naples-on-the-Gulf, was 
 laid out at the pleasant little hostelry in that most charming of 
 spring resorts and duly admired and toasted. 
 
 All this is purely personal and much too egotistic, and the 
 intending tarponeer, if I may make a new word, is anxious for 
 practical advice. Having killed your tarpon, what should you 
 do with him ? You wish to preserve him, of course, and to 
 get him home. If you are on the Gulf of Mexico side of 
 Florida, you cannot do better than send to Frederick Steens- 
 gaard, taxidermist, Fort Myers, Florida. Lay the fish with its 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 509 
 
 best side downward (one side is sure to be injured by the gaff) 
 on some sacking, or other soft material. Make a cut in the 
 side of the fish, about three inches from the belly and in 
 the middle, removing the entrails. Put in four or five hand- 
 fuls of salt, and fill the opening with moss or grass. Now 
 turn the fish with its best side up, and forward to the taxider- 
 mist, carefully covering it with sacking or canvas, and mark 
 it ' This side up.' 
 
 Mr. Steensgaard is a good sportsman, as well as a fish 
 mounter. He will fix your tarpon for you at what we should 
 consider a very moderate price (2/. to 5/.), and he forwards 
 it to England for about i/. 
 
 As a rule tarpon are mounted on a board, and not usually 
 kept in a glass case. Do not hang your fish where the sun 
 shines on it, or the scales will become discoloured ; and be care- 
 ful not to hang it over a fireplace. If it should become dusty it 
 should be carefully rubbed with a duster; if stained or fly-specked 
 a very small quantity of spirits of wine should be applied. 
 
 BRIEF SUMMARY OF INFORMATION FOR INTENDING 
 TARPON FISHERS 
 
 WHERE TO Go. Book to Punta Gorda, in Florida, via 
 New York and Jacksonville. From Punta Gorda access to 
 Fort Myers, Punta Rassa, Naples, St. James City, or Marco is 
 easy. Fort Myers is the most popular resort, and records most 
 ' kills.' Access by steamer. 
 
 BEST TIME TO ARRIVE. March, April, and May. It is 
 often too cold earlier, and much too hot to be pleasant later. 
 
 COST OF THE TRIP. The cost of a trip to Florida, including 
 return ticket from Liverpool to New York by a White Star 
 steamer, train or steamboat from Jacksonville to New York 
 City, train from Jacksonville to Punta Gorda, and then by boat, 
 
510 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 including a month's stay in Florida and hire of guide (ten 
 shillings daily), should not exceed from ioo/. to i2O/. 
 
 Living is not dear at the hotels. The kind of people who 
 go for tarpon fishing are not those of the objectionable type 
 who wish to make a splash with their money. If one is going 
 to remain at a place for a time, it is well to make an arrange- 
 ment with the hotel proprietor, as a considerable reduction can 
 be effected thereby. 
 
 Food, as a rule, is reasonably good, fish and game being 
 so abundant, and the American system of transporting beef 
 from Chicago to all parts of the Union enables remote districts 
 to get a good supply. 
 
 THINGS WHICH MIGHT BE USEFUL FOR A GENERAL 
 SPORTING TOUR IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA 
 
 Nearly all the items in the following list are, in my opinion, 
 absolutely essential if proceeding to the wild parts of the 
 country. The most frequented parts of Florida are as civilised 
 as any other fashionable winter resort. 
 
 Four tarpon rods (many anglers use this number at one 
 time), four reels, six to ten dozen hooks and snells, three cotton 
 reel lines, tarpon belt, very wide-brimmed hat, mosquito nets, 
 very large light hat, revolver, rifle, hunting knife, gaff, light sal- 
 mon rod, trout rod, large gaudy flies, phantom minnows, spoon 
 baits, ordinary trout and salmon tackle, waist belt for carrying 
 money, waders, ammunition, tent, hammock, camp cooking 
 apparatus, folding flat-bottomed boat, hand camera (it is the 
 best possible climate for photography), light summer clothing, 
 and warm clothing also, small medicine chest, wines and spirits. 
 
 If the reader takes a map of Florida, he will find a great 
 portion of it is unexplored. In such districts one can get 
 nothing and should be prepared for any kind of emergency. 
 Mule waggons can usually be hired. 
 
TARPON FISHING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 511 
 
 OTHER FISH IN FLORIDA 
 
 There is, of course, any amount of other fishing in Florida, 
 though it is naturally not thought much of by tarpon anglers. 
 The ' lady ' or ' bone ' fish is a game specimen, but, not being an 
 ichthyologist, I am unable to class it scientifically. It is long and 
 slender, and such as I caught ran from four to eight pounds, 
 though I heard of much heavier fish. It is usually got by spin- 
 ning from a boat at the mouth of a river or creek with phantom 
 minnow or spoon. When struck it leaps in a very remarkable 
 manner. Its brilliant silver colour reminds one forcibly of 
 the tarpon. I killed seven or eight on one particularly warm 
 morning, and found that they tried a single-handed built cane 
 to the utmost. 
 
 The jack fish, or ' horse fish ' as some people call it, is 
 very plentiful in Florida waters. It is not pretty to look 
 upon, hog-backed in shape, parchment in colour, but it will 
 take almost any kind of bait, fly, or small spoon. It was so 
 numerous occasionally that it became a nuisance, taking a fly 
 immediately it touched the water, time after time. At another 
 time it could not be killed with either fly or spoon. 
 
 The catfish, that vermin of the ocean which one finds in all 
 parts of the world, abounds in these southern waters. If one 
 tried to see how many fish one could kill with a fly in a day, I 
 think the record would be made by the man who went for these 
 unpleasant creatures, though a good deal of time would be 
 wasted in getting them off the hook and avoiding their 
 poisonous spine. 
 
 The rovallio is a fine sporting fish, not altogether unlike 
 our pike in appearance. One morning in the Gordon River I 
 started spinning from a boat. The first five fish I killed all 
 belonged to different varieties. After I had brought to creel six 
 jack-fish, there came at my minnow something that looked 
 
512 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 remarkably like a pike, and a big one. I guessed him as 
 weighing at least twenty pounds, and gave up in despair 
 the idea of killing him with a light greenheart rod. He fought 
 doggedly and brilliantly. Many times in my tussle with him 
 did I tremble for my tackle ; many times was my American 
 guide, whose admiration for English rods was not of the great- 
 est, prepared for the 'I told you so,' as the frail greenheart 
 doubled and strained. After a time he came in easily and 
 stupidly, as a grayling occasionally will. When I thought I had 
 him, he, like a grayling, made his best rush of all. He was off 
 and away, and I thought it best to let him work his wicked 
 will. As he slowed down I wound the line against him, and 
 gave him all the butt I could. The guide backed the boat 
 towards him. I reeled up rapidly, and before he knew where 
 he was he was gaffed. 
 
 As a rule, I do not think it fair to gaff a fish under ten 
 pounds, and this gentleman weighed barely eight. He was a 
 rovallio, and I was lucky in killing many another before I left 
 Florida. 
 
 The red or channel bass is a most beautiful fish, and game 
 as one could desire. In colour he is a dark coppery red. He 
 is usually killed at the mouth of a river. My first channel 
 bass was caught some three miles from the sea. Like the 
 tarpon I caught in the Gordon River, he was the first of the 
 season. Channel bass go to forty pounds. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 WHALING 
 
 By SIR H. W. GORE-BOOTH, BART. 
 
 GREENLAND WHALE BAIwENA MYSTICETUS 
 
 ' A FA A A ALL ! ' A fa a a all ! ' No man with the 
 
 true British instinct of sport running in his veins will ever 
 
 1 A ' fall ' three derivations 
 are given to this word : ist. Dutch 
 word ' val,' signifying man the 
 boats ; 2nd. Dutch word 'wall' 
 pronounced ' val ' a whale ; 3rd. 
 English word 'falls,' viz. stand by 
 the ' falls ' or tackles by which the 
 boats are lowered. 
 
514 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 forget the first time he heard this old whaling cry ; indeed, 
 for anyone to thoroughly realise the excitement this yell pro- 
 duces on board of a whaler, he must have been present and 
 have assisted at the capture of a fish. 
 
 Let the reader imagine a whaler with her maintopsail aback 
 more or less surrounded by ice, and two boats on the ' bran ' 
 (an expression used for a boat on the look-out for fish when 
 none are in sight), the oars in the men's hands but care- 
 fully kept out of the water, placed at such points along a floe 
 or near a heavy piece of ice as from long experience the old 
 skipper considers the most likely point for a whale to appear. 
 
 A fish suddenly rises near at hand, and the boat-steerer, 
 sweeping the boat round gently with his long oar, sculls 
 noiselessly towards the monster. The skipper in the ' crow's 
 nest' (a barrel placed at the highest feasible point on the 
 mast, from which the captain or one of the mates keeps a look- 
 out for fish or leads through the ice) has made out the whale 
 nearly as soon as those in the boat, and bringing his power- 
 ful glass to bear, discovers she is of no ordinary size, and that 
 her bone will probably measure between ten and eleven feet, 
 which generally realises about a ton of whalebone a valuable 
 prize in these days. 
 
 The harpooneer rises to his gun, there is a puff of smoke as 
 the missile buries itself deeply in the fish, and, swinging the dis- 
 charged weapon out of his way, he thrusts or throws the hand 
 harpoon in also. Promptly the boat-steerer sweeps the boat clear 
 of the fish, runs his oar out of the way, and tearing off the 
 line cover, assisted by the line manager (who pulls stroke oar), 
 carefully tends the line as it runs rapidly down the centre of 
 the boat. The rest of the unoccupied crew place seal clubs, 
 boathooks, or anything else that will answer the purpose, in such 
 ways as will prevent the line getting foul of anything in the 
 boat. 
 
WHALING 5 1 5 
 
 Owing to the position of the boat and a heavy piece of ice 
 which obstructs his view, the skipper cannot see what has 
 happened ; but hardly has the dull report of the harpoon gun 
 caught his ear than he sees over the ice the fast flag ' rise, and 
 a faint cry of ' A fall ! a fall ! ' comes over the water, taken up 
 by those on deck, and, rumbling down into the officers' quarters 
 and forecastle, gathers volume as the men bursting up from 
 below, many of them half dressed with their clothes tied in a 
 bundle snatched hastily from a hook especially provided for the 
 purpose alongside their bunks, rush to the five or six remaining 
 boats. Each man, as he reaches the deck, makes for the nearest 
 unoccupied seat or thwart, except the harpooneers, boat-steerers, 
 and line managers, who retain their position in any boat. 
 
 In the meantime a harpooneer at the falls forward and a 
 boat steerer aft lower the boat into the water, dropping into 
 it the quickest way they can, often by sliding down the falls. 
 The falls are unhooked, and pulling two or three oars the scantily 
 dressed members of her crew struggle rapidly into their clothes. 
 Indeed, in an incredibly short time, probably less than three 
 minutes, every boat will be clear of the ship, and rowing to the 
 position assigned to it by the skipper in the crow's nest, who, 
 observing which way the fish is heading, will endeavour to so 
 place his boats that one of them shall be near the fish when 
 she rises. 
 
 If there is any danger of the fish taking the whole of the 
 fast boat's lines (600 fathoms or 1,200 yards), which is not at all 
 an uncommon event, a signal is made by holding up an oar 
 
 1 Each boat is supplied with a jack or fishing flag, which is kept flying until 
 the fish is either lost or killed. The ship has a similar flag, so that when a 
 number of ships are in company the crews can distinguish which ship's boats 
 are fast to the whale. As long as your harpoon is fast to the fish and you 
 have hold of the line it is your fish. If another ship's boat fastens your fish 
 under these circumstances, even though your harpoon draw afterwards, it is 
 still your fish. 
 
Si6 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 with a bucket on it, and should the line in the boat be rapidly 
 decreasing, two, three, or more oars will be added according to 
 the emergency of the case ; then the nearest boat will race 
 up, and detaching her harpoons bend on the end of her lines to 
 the look or eye which is spliced at the end of the ' stray line ' 
 of the fast boat. 
 
 In the meantime the whale, whose speed on being first fas- 
 tened is estimated to be from eight to ten miles an hour by that 
 careful observer and scientific whaling skipper, Scoresby, has 
 taken from a line and a half to two lines ; but the harpooneer, 
 watching his opportunity, has got a turn or two of the line round 
 the bollard head, which considerably depresses the bows of the 
 boat, and cutting into the hard wood produces smoke, on which 
 No. 2 is pouring water to prevent it from catching fire. 
 
 In about thirty minutes ' the fish rises, if all goes well, near 
 one of the loose boats, which, racing up to her, places harpoons 
 as circumstances best allow, and if the boat happens to be very 
 near and the fish much blown, there may be time to get in a 
 thrust or two of the lance. These tactics are repeated until 
 the victim has received sufficient harpoons to insure her capture, 
 then each time she rises and a boat can approach her the lance 
 alone is used, till at length she spouts blood, dyeing the water 
 and boats red, and finally rolls over on her side or back, dead, 
 when all hands cheer frantically. 
 
 Her death is sometimes preceded by a violent struggle, in 
 which she lashes the water into foam with her head, flukes, and 
 tail. The foregores are detached, and the lines coiled back 
 into the boats. The whale is then prepared for towing along- 
 side the ship, which is done by cutting a hole through the two 
 fins, passing a line called a ' fin tow ' through these holes, and 
 
 1 Scoresby says the average stay of a fast fish under water is thirty minutes ; 
 the longest he observed was fifty-six minutes ; but he adds that he has heard of 
 fish in shallow water remaining an hour and a half. 
 
WHALING 
 
 517 
 
 lashing the ends together on the belly of the fish. The tail is 
 then roused up to the bows of the boat, and the men pro- 
 ceed to tow their capture towards the ship. Unfortunately 
 there is no space in this short chapter to describe flensing 
 (pronounced flinching), i.e. the process of securing the valuable 
 portions of the whale from the carcass. 
 
 The old fisherman's eyes sparkle as he describes the death 
 of a forty-pound salmon, or a huge tarpon in Florida ; the old 
 hunter yarns about that thirty minutes across the stiffest country 
 in the kingdom ; the stalker buttonholes you about that 
 monster stag ; but the writer, who has been fortunate enough to 
 participate in all these sports besides others, must here record 
 that nothing, even his biggest salmon in Norway, ever surpassed 
 the rush of his first whale. Just imagine a fish weighing 
 seventy tons, 1 worth over 3,ooo/., at the other end of a two and 
 a half or three-inch line ! 
 
 In 1892 whalebone was valued at over 3,ooo/. per ton, but 
 sold only for i,3oo/. a ton last March, owing, in all probability, 
 to a big catch the Americans had in Behring Straits. Whaling 
 may be cruel, but as long as these fish remain so valuable 
 they will be hunted : and, if so, why may anyone not get 
 his share of the sport, particularly as it is pursued at con- 
 siderable risk ? Indeed, the fairest, gentlest, most philanthropic 
 ladies of the land are one's aiders and abettors ; for is not 
 whalebone used in the construction of their wearing apparel ? 
 Whale oil is also largely employed in the manufacture of jute 
 and Indian fibre used in making cheap carpets ; so we are all 
 more or less implicated. 
 
 As a profession it is a healthy life, but a hard one. Wages 
 from the captain downwards depend in a great measure on the 
 success of the fishing, each man receiving, according to his 
 
 1 Scoiesby calculates the weight of a full-grown whale at seventy tons, and 
 believes the largest specimens would weigh about a hundred tons. 
 
5i8 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 rating, so much bone and oil money in addition to the low rate 
 of pay he signs articles for, and the voyage often ends in 
 disappointment ; indeed, 'clean 'ships (as unsuccessful whalers 
 are termed) have become much more frequent of late years, 
 and this fishing industry seems to be declining. 
 
 By referring to Martin's 'Voyage to Spitzbergen' (Hak- 
 luyt Society, 1855), it will be seen that formerly whales 
 abounded along the ice at various points from Jan Mayen to 
 Spitzbergen, and in the bays of the latter island ; but even in 
 Scoresby's time they had deserted many of their former haunts, 
 and every year they retire for protection from their greatest 
 enemy, man, further and further into the ice. The writer has, 
 however, heard whalers assert that there are as many fish as 
 ever, if you can only find them, and the conditions of the ice 
 will allow of their capture. 
 
 That there are as many as ever is very doubtful ; but if the 
 ice is suitably placed as it is in some years, with a good ship 
 and crew, a very prosperous voyage might still be made. Old 
 hands also say that, owing to the bad catches of late years, a 
 much inferior class of seaman follow this calling, which results 
 in whales being scared by jealousy, misses, and bad manage- 
 ment when a fish is fastened. The vessels employed in this 
 fishing run from about 250 to 500 tons, and are built as strong 
 as wood and iron can make them. Wood is found to bear the 
 pressure of ice better than iron ; for although a wooden ship 
 may be almost squeezed out of shape, provided nothing gives 
 way when the nip eases off, she will regain her lines. 
 
 In 1857 the Innuit, the first steamer ever employed in 
 this fishing, an iron vessel, made a good voyage to Davis 
 Strait ; but she was lost in 1859, together with the iron 
 steamers Empress of India and the Recruit, in rough weather, 
 by striking the ice. Since this, only one other iron whaler ap- 
 pears to have been employed, viz. the River Tay which shared 
 
WHALING 
 
 5'9 
 
 the same fate as the above vessels, and was crushed by the 
 ice in Davis Strait in 1868. Iron is principally used as ' hang- 
 ing knees ' to strengthen and fasten beam ends together, &c. ; 
 but as readers may not understand the meaning of the term, a 
 sketch of a section of the Arctic yacht Kara is given, showing 
 how these hanging knees are used to assist in fortifying the ship. 
 
 SECTION OF ARCTIC YACHT ' KARA ' 
 
 To further protect them from the ice, they are double for a 
 considerable distance above and below water-line, with a wood 
 called iron bark so heavy that it sinks in water. If this is not 
 procurable teak and sometimes oak are used as substitutes. Their 
 bows are protected also with steel plates. These precautions are 
 very necessary, for a whaler in the pursuit of her calling has often 
 to bore her way through ice, charging it repeatedly, and may be 
 beset any time, receiving great pressure. Indeed the epitaph 
 
520 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 on many a fine vessel engaged in this fishing is, ' crushed by the 
 ice.' In these days ships are all provided with steam, but at 
 the same time they carry plenty of sail power, as on the fishing 
 grounds, or if fish appear, the screw is immediately stopped. 
 
 All whalers assert that the black fish, as the Scotch fishermen 
 term the Greenland whale, is an extremely timid animal, and any 
 noise will alarm her ; indeed, a harpooneer declared to me that 
 once when approaching a fish he saw her apparently listen and 
 then tremble as if she were aware danger was near. Formerly 
 the blubber was put into barrels, but now the ships are fitted 
 with tanks in which coal is stowed on the outward voyage. 
 
 Each ship usually carries from seven to eight whaleboats, 
 from 26 to 30 feet long, about 5 ft. 9 in. beam over all, and 
 depth amidships from 28 to 30 inches. These boats have very 
 little keel, and curve slightly up to the stem and stern-post, 
 which, as they rise from the keel, slope outwards. The object 
 of this peculiar build is that the boat may turn quickly to the 
 motions of the whale, and enable the boat-steerer with his long 
 oar to sweep clear of the fish when fastened. On the bows two 
 sheets of copper or zinc are nailed to protect the wood from 
 the ice. In the stem-head is cut a score or notch about three 
 and a half inches deep, by about two and a half inches wide (in 
 fact, sufficiently wide to allow the line, be it two and a half or 
 three-inch stuff, to run freely). From the stem-head a small 
 salvage deck is carried aft for about three feet, and through this 
 two bollard heads (pronounced ' bullet heads ' by the Scotch 
 whalers) project. 
 
 A bollard head is a piece of round upright lignum vitse, 
 or other suitable hardwood, from about three inches to, at 
 the outside, five and a half inches diameter. In the foremost 
 bollard head a hole ' is bored to take the crutch on which the 
 
 1 Round the top of the gun bollard head is placed a light iron strop or 
 ring to prevent the wood from splitting when the hole is bored. This ring is 
 
WHALING 521 
 
 harpoon gun rests. On the port side of the stem a small eye- 
 bolt is screwed, and to this is carried a preventer stay from the 
 crutch of the gun to take some of the recoil of the shot, which, 
 considering that the harpoon and shackle for the attachment of 
 the foregore weighs from eight to twelve pounds, and is driven 
 by from five to six drams of coarse powder, must be very severe. 
 In addition to this, for fear of losing the gun if the crutch 
 and preventer stay give way, there is another line, fastened to 
 the bend of the crutch and carried down through the salvage 
 deck, where it is belayed. This is a very necessary precaution. 
 Crutches do sometimes break, as the writer knows to his own 
 cost. 
 
 The other bollard head is placed about fourteen inches aft 
 of the gun bollard head in the centre of the boat, leaving suffi- 
 cient space to take round it one, two, and sometimes three 
 turns of the line ; so that as much strain as is safe can be 
 brought to bear on the fish. The line cuts deeply into the 
 bollard head, often leaving a mark as if a red-hot iron had 
 been applied ; indeed, to prevent the wood from catching fire, 
 water has to be poured on it. 
 
 On the port side, close to the gun, the foregore tub is bolted. 
 This is simply a wooden tub, about one foot in diameter and six 
 or eight inches in height, containing from ten to twelve fathoms 
 of beautifully made Manila line, which is spliced to the gun har- 
 poon shackle at one end, and either spliced or hitched (according 
 to the ideas of the skipper or harpooneer) to the whale line just 
 outside the score. The bight of the foregore is carefully coiled 
 down Flemish fashion in the tub, so that it will run freely when 
 the harpoon is fired. A whale line measures 120 fathoms, and 
 varies from two and a half to three inches of beautifully made 
 
 put on warm and contracts when it is cold. In the boat which the writer 
 measured when writing this chapter the gun bollard head is placed a little on 
 the port side, i ft. 3 in. from outside the score. Boats vary, it is right to say. 
 
 3 X 
 
522 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 soft laid Europe (or tarred rope), especially manufactured for 
 the purpose. Manila hemp is used, and, I believe, the Americans 
 employ little else. The writer has used both sorts, but de- 
 cidedly prefers the tarred rope. In a cold climate Manila gets 
 very hard, and takes such turns and twists that it is very 
 troublesome to coil down after you have killed a fish ; indeed, 
 sometimes it has to go overboard and be towed to take the 
 turns out. A great deal of the American whaling is done in 
 warm climates, and it is also quite possible that we cannot get 
 the best Manila over here. Manila has one great advantage 
 viz. it is much lighter ; a two and a half inch tarred line 
 weighs about i cwt. i qr., whereas a Manila two and a half inch 
 weighs a little over i cwt. The writer does not know whether 
 there is any difference in strength between the two sorts. 
 
 Each boat carries five lines, which are spliced together 
 either by a long or a short splice, whichever the skipper approves 
 of most. The advantage of a long splice is that it runs freer, 
 but some harpooneers maintain that it is more likely to draw, 
 and if it becomes necessary to cut lines, or separate them at 
 the end of the voyage, there is a great deal more waste. On 
 the whole, probably the short splice is the best, provided care 
 be taken that it is not left too big to run freely through the 
 score. In the centre of the boat is placed a box to hold part of 
 the lines and the remainder are flaked down in the stern sheets, 
 in a spot prepared for their reception with a painted canvas 
 cover to preserve them from the weather. 
 
 We will now proceed to coil the lines in the boat. An eye 
 or loop is spliced on the first line, and a few fathoms of 
 the end of the line are left out of the box. This is called the 
 ' stray line,' and in the frequent event of a fish taking all the 
 lines from the boat to which she is fast, it is passed to another 
 boat, when the harpooneer of the loose boat, detaching his 
 harpoons, bends on the end of his lines to this eye. The har- 
 
WHALING 523 
 
 pooneer of the fast boat, when his lines are nearly out, casts 
 the remaining few fathoms overboard, the fast flag is struck on 
 the first boat (which then becomes a loose boat), raised on the 
 second boat, and the harpooneers change boats. 
 
 The harpooneer who first fastened the fish changes from 
 boat to boat as the different boats' lines are attached and 
 taken out, until the fish is either killed or lost. Whales some- 
 
 COILING LINE 
 
 times run out a great quantity of line, particularly if they take 
 to the ice, where the boat is unable to follow them, in which 
 case the vessel will perhaps come up and the lines will be 
 brought on board. Fish have been known to tow the ship 
 and boats at the rate of two or three miles an hour. 
 
 Having set aside the five or six fathoms of stray line, and 
 been very careful to take all turns out of the lines, you begin 
 
524 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 to coil from right to left (when facing the box), or in other 
 words with the sun (see illustration, p. 523), close up to the 
 woodwork of the box until the line has covered the bottom. 
 The part in your hands will then lead from the centre of 
 the box, and to proceed, you bring this out to the side of the 
 box again and coil as before. As you fill the box you preserve 
 the formation of the spokes of a wheel from right to left 
 (i.e. with the sun) with the part you bring to the side from 
 time to time. 
 
 When the box is full you carry the line down the centre of 
 the boat to the place prepared for its reception in the stern 
 sheets, where you proceed as before, splicing on a line as re- 
 quired, until the full complement of lines are coiled, when you 
 carry the end down the centre of the boat through the score 
 and make fast to the foregore of the gun harpoon. 
 
 The foregore of the hand harpoon is about three fathoms in 
 length, one end of it being spliced to the harpoon which has 
 been previously served (wrapped) with spun yarn round the 
 socket to prevent it from chafing, and in the other end an eye 
 is spliced to form a loop through which the whale line is 
 passed. Thus, if there is only time to put in the gun harpoon, 
 the line can run freely through the loop ; but if the hand is 
 used as well, and holds, the loop runs down the line and jambs. 
 On the starboard side, well forward, is placed a wooden rest 
 called a ' mik,' on which rests the harpoon shaft usually a stout 
 piece of ash from five to six feet long, tapering towards the top 
 from the harpoon the barb of the harpoon being on the salvage 
 deck forward. 
 
 To keep the points of the harpoons and lances sharp when 
 not in use, they are greased and wrapped round with old canvas 
 or flannel and placed in painted canvas covers made for the 
 purpose. On the starboard side there is a small locker or 
 receptacle, open towards the bow of the boat, to further protect 
 
WHALING 
 
 525 
 
 the points of the lances and hand harpoons. On the port side 
 there is a similar locker. 
 
 The full equipment of the largest size boats will be : 
 
 One harpooneer, who pulls 
 bow oar and is in charge of the 
 boat. 
 
 One boat-steerer. 
 
 One line manager, who pulls 
 stroke. 
 
 Three seamen. 
 
 One gun bollard head fixed 
 firm in the bow. 
 
 One line bollard head, some- 
 times made to unship. 
 
 One harpoon gun. 
 
 One gun harpoon (the name 
 of the ship stamped on it), with 
 foregore spliced on. 
 
 One hand harpoon, the name 
 of ship stamped on it, with fore- 
 gore spliced on. 
 
 One mik. 
 
 Four lances. 
 
 Five lines, two and a half to 
 three inches. 
 
 One hatchet (be careful to 
 keep this sharp, and place it 
 where it can be seized in a 
 moment to cut the line). 
 
 One 'tail knife,' used for 
 
 Mast and sail (occasionally). 
 
 Five pulling oars, from four- 
 teen to sixteen feet. 
 
 One steerer oar, from 
 eighteen to twenty feet. 
 
 Spare tholepins, grummets 
 for each thwart, and thrum mats 
 for the oars. 
 
 One jack or fast flag, with 
 staff. 
 
 Two balers or small buckets. 
 
 Two seal clubs or boat- 
 hooks. 
 
 One marlingspike. 
 
 One splicing fid. 
 
 One file. 
 
 One foghorn. 
 
 One telescope (occasionally). 
 
 One compass. 
 
 Ball of spun yarn. 
 
 One ' tow rope ' for towing 
 dead whales. 
 
 One ' fin tow.' A rope used 
 for lashing the fins together 
 across the belly of the whale. 
 
 Snow shovels and knives. 
 
 One ice anchor or grapnel. 
 
 Small ice saw. 
 
 cutting holes in the fins and tail. 
 
 In addition to this it is well to take a rifle with ammunition, 
 and a tin of hard biscuits. When you lower away after a fish, 
 you never can be sure, owing to fog and other circumstances, 
 when you will see the ship again. 
 
 The oars are worked with a single tholepin and a rope 
 grummet (or grommet) on a small thrum mat to prevent 
 
526 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 noise. Just clear of where the hands clutch the oar either a 
 grummet is tacked on or a Turk's head is worked, which, 
 when the oar is shoved out, will prevent its escape from 
 the side of the boat. The object of working oars in this way 
 is twofold : viz. (i) they are very easy to ship ; (2) when shoved 
 out they will follow of their own accord the motions of the 
 boat, and not impede her progress. Scoresby says that Green- 
 land whales are sharp sighted, but dull of hearing ; hence they 
 are best approached diagonally from behind, keeping well clear 
 of the tail, and struck, if possible, well forward towards the fins. 
 Frequently the boat is urged to her utmost speed, and at 
 the proper moment the boat-steerer will tell the harpooneer to 
 rise. The harpooneer will let go his oar, which swings along- 
 side, fire his gun, either throw or thrust the hand if there is 
 time, and the boat-steerer will sweep the boat clear of the fish. 
 This is a critical moment, as a fish on the receipt of the 
 harpoon will often in her agony lash out with her head, fins, 
 and tail, striking the boat in many instances. A rather smart 
 thing was done by a harpooneer from Peterhead in a ship 
 sailing from that port. He was in the crow's nest when, a fish 
 being sighted, several boats were sent in pursuit. One of the 
 harpooneers got a shot, but missed ; and the fish, being ex- 
 tremely scared, made straight for the ship, away from all the 
 boats in pursuit. The Peterhead man, grasping the situation, 
 dashed through the bottom of the crow's nest, seized the main 
 backstay, and slid down on deck with such velocity that his 
 clothes nearly caught fire. Getting together a scratch crew, 
 he jumped into a boat alongside and made for the fish, which, 
 at the moment he reached her, was preparing for a ' header ' 
 (a term used by whalers when a fish is about to sound), and was 
 already partly submerged. Letting the boat run almost on to 
 the back of the fish, he depressed the muzzle of the gun and 
 fastened her. The boat was smartly backed, and got clear out of 
 
WHALING 527 
 
 an awkward position with no injury. One of the ' loose ' boats 
 got a second harpoon into her the first time she rose, and she 
 was soon despatched by lances. 
 
 There is a very good story told of an old Scotch harpooneer 
 racing for a fish against a ' Dutchman ' as Scotch whalers call 
 all foreigners. Finding that the ' Dutchman,' who was leading 
 slightly, was likely to get first up to the fish, he jumped up, 
 seized his harpoon, and yelling out ' A whaul ! ' or ' A Dutch- 
 man ! ' hurled it slightly in front of the other boat, indeed so 
 near that, to avoid the iron striking the boat or one of its 
 occupants, the boat-steerer was forced to take the boat out of 
 the way. It is probable that the ' Dutchmen ' did not under- 
 stand a word of what was shouted, but a harpoon so near them 
 they did understand, and left the old Scotchman to secure his 
 fish in peace. 
 
 Here is one instance of many to show how necessary it is to 
 keep away from a fish's tail. In the year 1862 the Lady franklin 
 was fishing in Cumberland Gulf. One day, two fish appearing, 
 a couple of boats were sent off in pursuit, when the skipper 
 got fast to a fish which sounded, taking sixty fathoms of 
 line. When she rose the ' loose ' boat fastened her with a 
 second harpoon, but as the weapon struck her she sounded 
 (an expression used when the fish dives to the bottom), 
 and with her tail upset the boat, throwing the crew into the 
 water. 
 
 The crew of the other boat begged the skipper to cut the 
 line and rescue the men in the water ; but whilst he was hesitat- 
 ing what to do, not liking to lose so valuable a prize, the fish 
 made in the direction of the men, and when the boat reached 
 their vicinity a considerable portion of the slack of the line was 
 thrown overboard, which arrested the boat's way sufficiently 
 long to save all but the boat-steerer, who could not swim, and 
 for the moment was thought to be drowned, until some one 
 
528 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 observed him hanging on by the iron ring on the stem of the 
 rescuing boat in an exhausted state. He was picked up, and 
 the whale eventually secured. 
 
 Unlike the sperm whale, the black fish seldom charges a boat, 
 indeed the writer only remembers one instance when a fast fish 
 made for a loose boat, and she was turned by the receipt of a 
 gun harpoon in her head. Plenty of accidents to life and limb 
 are recorded in whaling books. My friend Admiral Mark- 
 ham had two narrow escapes. On one occasion he and the 
 boat's crew were nearly carried down by the harpooneer taking 
 three turns round the bollard head when the fish sounded 
 without any warning, and the line, owing to the friction, would 
 not run ; but fortunately the water rushing over the bow lubri- 
 cated it, and it rendered just in time to save them. Another 
 time he was knocked out of the dinghy when helping to kill 
 a fish. 
 
 If readers want further information on the subject of the 
 Greenland whale, they cannot do better than read the following 
 books : 'An Account of the Arctic Regions,' 1820, and 
 'Journal of a Voyage to the Northern Whale Fishery,' 1823, 
 by William Scoresby, jun. ; also ' A Whaling Cruise to Baffin's 
 Bay,' by Albert Hastings Markham, 1875. 
 
 Little appears to be known as to the length of the life of a 
 whale, but it is said some people profess to tell the age up to a 
 certain date, beyond which they do not pretend to be able to 
 arrive at it. In 1894 the Balcena was fishing in Davis Strait, 
 and killed a fish, out of which was cut a harpoon stamped with 
 the name of the ship Jean, of Bowness (Firth of Forth). Now 
 the Jean was lost in 1861, so that, unless it fell into other hands, 
 this harpoon must have been placed in the fish either in the 
 year 1861 or previously to it. If we are to judge by other large 
 animals, as, for instance, the elephant, whales must be extremely 
 long-lived. 
 
WHALING 
 
 529 
 
 The above remarks apply to the Greenland Whale (Bakena 
 inysticetus), the ' Black Fish ' of the Scotch whalers, ' Bowhead ' 
 of the Americans. 
 
 THE BOTTLENOSE (Hyperoodon restrains}. 
 
 The name Bottlenose given to these whales is derived from 
 the peculiar shape of their head and mouth, which is extremely 
 like that of a huge bird. They generally go either singly, in 
 pairs, or in bunches of from three to seven, and, unlike the 
 Greenland whale, are extremely inquisitive, rising close to a ship, 
 even a steamer when her screw is in motion, and playing all 
 round her. On a calm day, from the ' crow's nest ' or the 
 rigging, you can sometimes see them under water, lying on 
 their backs gazing up at the ship. They run from twenty to 
 thirty feet long, and on an average yield about a ton of blubber, 
 which is called ' Arctic Sperm.' It is said that the valuable 
 part is the refuse of the blubber after the oil has been extracted. 
 Out of the heads of the fish we caught in 1884, when 'flensing,' 
 we took several bottles of pure oil which we found extremely 
 good for burns. 
 
 There would appear to be two sorts one a larger and light- 
 coloured, nicknamed by the whalers ' Chaney Johns ' ; the other, 
 smaller in size and darker in colour. The Scotch whalers 
 were the first to capture these fish, in the year 1877 ; but not 
 many were taken until 1881, when in were brought home, 
 and in 1883 the number increased to 403. They are princi- 
 pally found from Cape Farewell in Greenland, to Iceland, Jan 
 Mayen, and Bear Island, and they seem to keep on certain 
 banks where jelly fish abound. Some whalers assert that these 
 constitute their food. They are said never to enter the ice ; so 
 that any year in which the pack lies very far to the east, 
 covering their usual feeding grounds, will generally turn out a 
 good season for them, as a ship lying off and on to the ice will 
 
 3 Y 
 
53 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 be in a good position to meet them going north along the 
 edge of the pack. The end of April, May and June appear to 
 be the months when most fish are taken, as they are rarely 
 seen after the first days of July. 
 
 In 1883 the price of the oil was about 657. per ton, and 
 this, paying very well, induced the Scotch whaling ports and the 
 Norwegians to fit out a number of ships for the ensuing 
 year, consisting of vessels of all sizes, from schooners to the 
 ordinary whaler. To give an idea of the number employed, we, 
 leaving Lerwick on May 7, 1884, in my yacht Kara, took out 
 letters for about twenty British ships to North Greenland, as 
 the fishing grounds from Iceland to Spitzbergen are termed by 
 the whalers. These fish are taken much in the same way as the 
 Greenland whale, except that the gun harpoon is alone used, 
 their motions, as a rule, being too quick for a hand harpoon. 
 
 There is not the same risk attached to their capture, for 
 their tails are not the formidable weapons wielded by the former 
 fish, indeed the writer does not recollect a single instance in 
 which a fish injured the boat with her tail ; but they take line 
 rapidly, and care must be used that the boat is not dragged 
 down. Smaller boats, containing five men and four lines, are 
 also employed for their capture. They generally roll something 
 like porpoises, head, back fin, and tail appearing in succession, 
 though at times they will play on the top of the water, and 
 occasionally sail majestically round the ship. The writer once 
 saw seven ' Chancy Johns ' pass round the ship nearly in line, 
 at a slow pace, blowing like so many locomotives leaving an 
 engine shed. 
 
 The usual mode of capture is either to dodge slowly about 
 where the water is the proper colour (a darkish blue, almost 
 black in appearance), and the moment fish are seen, heave to 
 and drop a couple of -boats, placing one somewhere ahead of 
 the ship, and the other astern ; or heave to, and leave a boat 
 
WHALING 
 
 or two on the bran ; if fish are detected at a distance the boats 
 row off in their direction and remain perfectly still about the 
 spot where they last appeared. 
 
 If a fish is fastened, all the boats are sent away and placed 
 
 round the ' fast boat,' as 
 at first, at any rate, the 
 other fish do not seem to 
 take alarm, which often 
 gives the chance of 
 fastening two or three 
 
 THE BOATS ROW OFF 
 
 more. For a day or two after you have killed a fish they even 
 seem to come more frequently near the ship than at other 
 times. We always saw more fish before a breeze of wind 
 and as it moderated than at other times. This was most 
 
532 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 aggravating to us, for, being a small ship, the swell used often 
 to be too heavy for us to lower away. They take line with 
 extreme rapidity at times ; indeed, two of the fish the writer 
 fastened took three lines in what appeared to be about three 
 minutes. The first, a fish of about twenty-three feet, eventu- 
 ally took out 5^ lines (1,280 yards), and was hauled up dead 
 in two hours and a half; the second, about twenty-six feet 
 long, took 6 \ lines (1,560 yards), and, receiving a second 
 harpoon, was lanced in about two hours and three-quarters. 
 
 There is a story of a harpooneer fastening a fish alongside 
 the ship. Before a boat could be lowered to his assistance the 
 whole of his lines disappeared over the bow, and were never 
 seen again. Sometimes a ' Bottley,' as the whalers term them, 
 gives a good deal of trouble in course of capture. We once 
 saw a ship with all her boats from six in the morning until long 
 after noon killing one fish. 
 
 Fog, which is very prevalent in North Greenland, is one 
 of the great dangers in this fishing, as the following anec- 
 dote will show. The boats of the Chieftain, a three-masted 
 schooner, fastened a very strong fish when the fog came down 
 thick, enveloping the four boats that were killing the fish. The 
 ship lost the boats, and, a sudden breeze springing up, the men 
 cut the lines and made for the ice, which was not far off. Three 
 of them were fortunately picked up by other vessels ; but the 
 fourth reached the ' pack,' and, remaining there until the 
 gale abated, made for Iceland along the cant of the ice, 
 reaching it in a pitiable state, one or two of the crew having 
 died of exposure, and others having to suffer amputation for 
 frostbites. It was a bitter cold gale, ropes and everything were 
 frozen. As well as we could make out this all happened within 
 ten miles from where we were at the time. 
 
 We had a rather amusing episode on our voyage home to 
 Lerwick when about a hundred miles from Shetland. About 
 
WHALING 533 
 
 6 A.M. I was awakened by the mate coming into the main 
 cabin, and from my berth I hailed to know what was the matter. 
 The mate reported the ship was running, with a light breeze 
 on her quarter, under all plain sail and a balloon jib ; also 
 that ' three of them Bottleys had come along ' ; and as I had 
 arranged to try to drop a hand harpoon into any fish that 
 might be near enough, he had come down to pass the end 
 of the lines up from the line room to attach to a line which had 
 been coiled in a tub on deck for this purpose. When we started 
 for Lerwick the lines had been coiled down, as they came out 
 of the boats, in the line room, which stands just forward of the 
 stove in the main cabin. 
 
 I jumped out of bed and helped the mate to tie up the two 
 skylights and pass the end of the line on deck ; but, thinking 
 Bottleys down in these latitudes a myth, I returned to my 
 bunk, and was almost asleep, when I was aroused by the 
 noise of the line running, and a yell of ' A fall ! a fall ! ' 
 
 The position was extremely ludicrous, for my friend and 
 companion Mr. Grant in the berth opposite was shut in by the 
 line-room door, which, being made of bars of wood, gave him 
 the appearance of a wild beast at the Zoo, as, aroused by the 
 cry, he jumped hastily out of his bunk ; but I was in no better 
 position, for there was not time to put on any clothes, and owing 
 to the weather being extremely fine, there having seemed little 
 chance of my services as skipper being required suddenly on 
 deck, I had retired to rest undressed. 
 
 In the meantime the line on deck was running merrily, and 
 any moment we might expect the lines to begin to run from 
 the line room ; however, by this time, the steward, Kilgallon, 
 appeared out of the pantry, much more respectable than his 
 master, and the mate had rejoined us ; so, directing them where 
 to stand, I took up a position in the door of my berth, and pre- 
 pared to do my best to keep the line clear of the cabin furniture. 
 
534 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 There was not long to wait before the line started, and the 
 fish still running at a considerable pace, the line flew out in 
 great coils, the utmost activity being required to prevent the 
 stove or some other useful article of furniture from being 
 caught and carried out through the skylight. 
 
 The fish did not run much over two lines, and when she 
 slacked a bit I got into some clothes, and, leaving one hand to 
 watch the line, moved on deck, where I found Mr. Crowther 
 (who is now away in the Windward with the Jackson- Harms- 
 worth expedition to Franz Joseph's Land as ice-master) holding 
 the line with one hand and putting on his trousers with the other. 
 
 It appeared that Valentine, the second harpooneer, had got 
 out to the end of the bowsprit and cleverly dropped the 
 harpoon into the fish as she passed under him. Jimmy 
 Macmillan, one of the boat-steerers, had run the line with two 
 turns at first, but finding it was likely to take fire, he had to 
 take one turn off and as the line was going a great pace, he 
 kept looking aft to see whether it would fetch anything out of 
 the cabin. 
 
 The ship was all aback, so, having lowered down the sails, 
 we hoisted out a boat, and, putting a line and a hand harpoon 
 in her, soon got up to the fish. A second harpoon was put 
 into her when hanging her up to the bows of the boat ; I then 
 despatched her with a lance, but very nearly got a ducking, as 
 I somehow held the lance awkwardly, and was swung clean out 
 of the boat by the struggles of the fish ; however, maintaining 
 the grasp of the lance, and allowing myself to swing like a 
 pendulum, the return swing brought me safely back into the boat. 
 
 The cook had the greatest difficulty in rousing the watch 
 below when a fall was called ; he could not make them believe 
 a fish was fastened, we were so many miles from the fishing 
 grounds. It is doubtful if a fish has ever been killed so near 
 our shores. 
 
WHALING 535 
 
 Bottlenose oil fell to 257. per ton that year, and now hardly 
 any but Norwegians follow this fishing. The fish also have 
 become very scarce. 
 
 Before concluding this part of the chapter on Whaling, 
 the writer wishes to thank Messrs. Robert Kidd & Co., of 
 Peterhead, for their assistance. If any readers care to try 
 whaling, they cannot do better than get the advice and aid of 
 these gentlemen. 
 
 AMERICAN WHALERS 
 
 For Arctic fishing Americans generally employ strongly 
 protected steamers, much like the Scotch whaling vessels ; but 
 a good deal of ocean fishing is done by boats from the shore 
 and ships of all descriptions, from schooners upwards. These 
 vessels are generally provided with an apparatus to boil the 
 blubber on board. The harpoon gun does not seem to be in 
 general use except with some kinds of whales which, owing to 
 the rapidity of their movements through the water, can only 
 be fastened successfully with this uncertain weapon ; but 
 rockets and bomb lances, which are practically shells ignited 
 by a time fuse either by the flash of the gun or concussion, are 
 employed with great success. When a fish is fastened, one of 
 these rockets fired into the right spot will soon kill it, and 
 as they can be fired at a distance, a great part of the danger of 
 whaling is obviated, viz. running the boat up close enough to 
 put in a hand lance. 
 
 The average length of the whaleboats now in use is from 
 28 feet to 29 feet, with a beam of from 6 ft. 2 in. to 6 ft. 5 in., 
 and they are provided with a centre-board. They carry 300 
 fathoms of very soft laid Manila line, which, during the process 
 of manufacture, is sprinkled with whale oil as a preservative. 
 The line is coiled down in two tubs, the largest containing 
 225 fathoms and the smallest 75. The big tub stands on the 
 
536 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 port side just forward the thwart for the stroke oar, and the 
 small tub on the starboard side against the centre-board cover 
 between Nos. 3 and 4 thwarts. 
 
 The loggerhead (i.e. bollard head) is placed right aft slightly 
 on the starboard side of the boat, round which the line from 
 the big tub is led, and down the boat through the score to the 
 harpoon. They carry two harpoons on a ' mik ' on the starboard 
 side, and if the second harpoon is not used, it is thrown over- 
 board and hangs on the line. There are other slight differences 
 between British and American methods which space will not 
 admit of noticing. The main one seems to be running the line 
 from right aft, which would appear to be an advantage where 
 one boat alone is employed to kill a fish, as it must be much 
 easier to recover line and haul up to the fish to lance her. 
 However, in the case of a foul line, the Scotch plan would 
 appear to have advantages, as a harpooneer has been known, 
 on the cry of foul line, to take the turns off the bollard head 
 and throw the foul part of the line overboard, saving the boat 
 and eventually securing the fish. 
 
 The officer in charge steers the boat, and the moment a fish 
 is struck shifts ends with the man who has harpooned the fish. 
 He comes aft and runs the line. The officer uses the bomb 
 gun and lances. There may be other descriptions of boats and 
 ways of fitting them, but this is a summary of the information 
 the writer has been able to obtain from personal observation 
 and research. 
 
 The whales taken by American fishermen with harpoons, 
 &c., are as follows : The Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus), 
 Right Whale (Eubalcena), Pacific Right Whale (Balcena 
 japonica)\\. may be noted that there are said to be several 
 species of the Right Whale Bowhead, Greenland Whale 
 (Mysticetus), Humpback Whale (Megaptera), Californian Grey 
 Whale or Devil Fish (Rhachianectes glaucus), the Sulphur- 
 
WHALING 
 
 537 
 
 bottom Whale (Sibbaldius sulfurus), the Fin-back (Balanoptera 
 ve lifer a}. 
 
 The Sperm Whale is an extremely awkward fish to approach, 
 for at times she uses her mouth (the lower jaw of which is 
 armed with a formidable row of teeth), flukes and tail with 
 terrible effect. There is an instance of a fish destroying three 
 boats and injuring the ship herself, and the ship Essex was 
 actually sunk by a Sperm deliberately charging her twice. A 
 most interesting account of this catastrophe will be found in 
 the ' Century Magazine' for August 1890. 
 
 The best way to approach this fish is head on, under sail 
 if possible, as, owing to the position of her eyes, she cannot 
 see well ahead. The other alternative recommended is to 
 approach the whale from behind on the starboard side, so as 
 to give a right-handed dart. The boat, ranging alongside, pro- 
 ceeds parallel to the fish about one to two fathoms, or possibly 
 three or four from her, until far enough forward, when the 
 harpoon is thrown into the back. 
 
 The Right Whale is provided with powerful flukes, from 
 twelve to fifteen and sometimes twenty feet in length, and five 
 to six feet deep, and the fish occasionally uses them with dis- 
 astrous effect on her pursuers. The most approved mode of 
 fastening this species appears to be to sail right over the centre 
 of the fish and dart the harpoon as the boat strikes her. These 
 whales have the power of settling like a lump of lead when an 
 offensive object comes in contact with them, so that the boat 
 passes over in safety. The Californian Grey Whales are not 
 large, but are reported to be the most dangerous species of the 
 whale tribe to take. Harpoon guns, rockets, or bomb guns are 
 said to be a necessity in their capture. 
 
 The same method of capture appears to apply to the 
 Sulphur-bottom and Fin-back, though in shoal water it 
 seems that the bomb gun is frequently fired first, and if there 
 
 3 z 
 
538 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 be time the harpoon is put in. If the fish sinks dead, she 
 will rise after a certain number of hours or days, and is usually 
 recovered. 
 
 In the space at disposal it is impossible to say much on 
 this widespread and varied fishing industry, extending as it does 
 over thousands of miles of the ocean, from the Arctics to the 
 Antarctics ; but if the reader wishes for further information, 
 he may be advised to read ' The Fisheries and Fisheries Indus- 
 tries of the United States,' 1887, by George Brown Goode. 
 
 HARPOON GUNS 
 
 The American fishermen do not look on harpoon guns with 
 much favour, and the writer, from his own observations, is very 
 greatly inclined to agree with them. The harpoon at times flies 
 very true, but, again, it is most erratic in its flight, even striking 
 sideways and failing to fasten the fish. This is probably due 
 to the. momentary check the shackle ! and foregore give when 
 the former reaches the end of the harpoon. It takes a very 
 quick eye and some one well accustomed to the use of firearms 
 to observe this deflection of the flight of a harpoon, and 
 probably that is the reason why the Scotch fishermen seem 
 quite satisfied with the gun at present in use ; but it is more than 
 likely some of the misses which one hears of, and which are put 
 down to bad shooting, are caused by the harpoon not flying 
 true. The mark is big and the distance short, so, although a 
 harpooneer may be bothered a little by the lop of the sea, 
 provided he is cool and can hold straight, a miss ought hardly, 
 if ever, to occur. 
 
 In these days of electricity and other inventions, surely 
 some better motive power than powder might be invented. 
 Compressed air might do, or some power, such as a strong 
 
 1 ' Shackle ' some harpooneers put a small piece of cork between the bars 
 of the harpoon at the end that goes into the gun, to deaden the shock. 
 
WHALING 539 
 
 spring, that would give a more continuous steady propelling 
 force. 
 
 With a view probably to get over the difficulties enumerated 
 above, Messrs. Mason & Cunningham, the American makers, 
 brought out a gun with a very ingenious contrivance by which 
 the butt is allowed to recoil against rubber cushions, thus con- 
 verting the blow of the recoil into a push. The writer is not 
 aware what success attended this gun. 
 
 The Americans have other most ingenious inventions in 
 the way of explosives, both as harpoons and lances, but there 
 is no space to notice them here. A description of most 
 of them will be found in the ' Fisheries of the United States,' 
 previously quoted in this chapter. 
 
 The gun that appears to be most in use is one made by 
 Messrs. Greener, a muzzle-loader weighing from seventy to 
 seventy-five pounds. Messrs. Bland brought out a double- 
 barrel breechloading gun in 1885, one barrel to take a har- 
 poon and the other to discharge a shell which explodes by 
 concussion. By a neat arrangement of the barrels the shell 
 hits thirty inches from the spot the harpoon strikes. Peterhead 
 people know the gun, but they cannot give any instance of its 
 being tried on a fish. 
 
 In 1884 the Norwegian ships had a very neat-looking breech- 
 loading gun, mounted on a carriage which, as well as the writer 
 recollects, was intended to take the recoil of the gun much in 
 the same plan as the American rubber cushions described 
 above. Their harpoons were much lighter than, and of different 
 make from, the Scotch irons. They are fitted with a single double- 
 ended movable barb, like two spoons joined together by the 
 handles, and attached in the centre to the end of the harpoon. 
 To prepare them for firing, one of the spoons is turned over 
 and lightly lashed with spun yarn to the harpoon, leaving the 
 other like an arrow-head to enter the fish. The moment 
 
540 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 the strain of the line comes on the harpoon, the spun 
 yarn breaks and releases the barb, which explodes a shell in 
 
 7 
 HARPOONS 
 
WHALING 541 
 
 the front part of the. harpoon. The barb jams in the fish at 
 a right angle to the shank of the harpoon, and if it once gets 
 a good hold, there ought to be little fear of its drawing. 
 They seemed to do well for Bottlenosing, and one Norwegian 
 skipper told us it was not an uncommon thing for them to kill 
 a fish dead. 
 
 Scotch whalers had at that time an objection to this gun on 
 the grounds, as far as the writer could make out, that there was 
 no ' Proof House ' in Norway to test guns, and in consequence 
 no guarantee against their bursting. 
 
 Harpoons are made of soft Swedish iron, which will bend 
 into any shape and not break. Great care must be taken in 
 their construction, as the fish twists them into the most extra- 
 ordinary shapes, and any flaw or bad piece of work might 
 result in a fracture entailing the loss of a valuable fish. The 
 shapes and patterns of the barbs are innumerable, and the 
 writer has only been able to give diagrams of a few of the 
 principal at present in use. 
 
 WHALE FISHERIES OF FINMARKEN, NORWAY 
 
 The whales on these stations are too strong and rapid in 
 their movements to be successfully captured in the ordinary 
 way, and not much appears to have been done with them until 
 Captain Svend Foyn, of Tonsberg, invented and patented in 
 1860 a particular kind of harpoon which is fired from a swivel 
 gun in the bows of a small steamer. 
 
 The guns are steel muzzle-loaders, and the gun harpoon 
 contains a shell which bursts when the fish is fastened. For 
 this purpose the barbs of the harpoon are made movable, and 
 secured by a piece of rope yarn which either slips off in passing 
 through the flesh, or breaks when the strain of the line comes 
 on the harpoon. The opening of the barbs, four in number, 
 breaks a glass tube of sulphuric acid, which runs down into 
 
542 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 the powder and explodes the shell. The harpooneer tries to 
 fasten the fish in the ribs, or as near as possible to the spinal 
 column. 
 
 As the whale is generally killed dead by the shell and 
 almost always sinks, it is necessary that the line should be long 
 enough to reach the bottom where you are fishing ; the usual 
 length is five hundred fathoms of five-inch, with a foregore of 
 thirty fathoms of four and a half inch stuff. 
 
 The vessels are rigged as fore and aft schooners, and carry 
 a crow's nest on their foremast. They are also supplied with 
 a very ingenious apparatus for raising the dead whale from 
 the bottom. If the harpooneer fails to strike the fish dead, it 
 often takes hours to kill, necessitating the use of a bomb gun 
 or a lance from a whaleboat carried for the purpose. 
 
 The whales are not flensed at sea, but lashed alongside the 
 steamer and towed to the station on shore, where the oil is 
 boiled. 
 
 Captain Foyn established his fishery at Vad^o in 1884, 
 and was successful from the first. The number of stations 
 gradually grew until there were five in 1881 and eight in 
 1882, when Captain Foyn's patent expired. Since then the 
 number has continued to increase. 
 
 The species of whales said to be taken are : Blaahvalen 
 (Balcznoptera Sibbaldi, Gray), Finhvalen (Balanoptera mus- 
 culus), Seivalen (possibly Baltznoptera laticeps], Knolhvalen 
 (Megaptera boops, Fabricius). The first of these is the largest, 
 reaching sometimes ninety feet. 
 
 Owing to the kindness of Captain Thomas Bech, of 
 Christiania, I am enabled to give the dimensions of two of 
 these whalers. Ingebong: Length 81 ft. ; beam 16 ft. 8 in. ; 
 depth 10 ft. 7 in. Gross tonnage 86. Register 25. Price 
 60,000 kroner (about 3,333/.). Plan of whale steamer Captain 
 Bech : Length 90 ft. ; beam 17 ft. 6 in. ; depth 10 ft. 8 in. 
 
WHALING 543 
 
 They usually steam from nine to ten knots, and carry a crew of 
 nine men all told. 
 
 The Emperor of Germany has visited these fishing grounds, 
 and by his skill in fastening fish proved himself in this, as in 
 so many other things, quite an expert. 
 
 In 1873 the King of Norway and Sweden gave me a 
 description of the capture of a fish in Varanger Fjord, which 
 his Majesty witnessed a day or two before from his own 
 vessel. Two vessels went out in company, and when the fish 
 were sighted the whaler started in pursuit, the vessel with his 
 Majesty on board following, but keeping in such a position as 
 to be able to see the shot and not to interfere with the sport. 
 After a little manoeuvring the harpooneer got a chance and 
 killed the whale dead, when, as usual, the fish sunk to the 
 bottom ; but, the water being shoal, she was soon raised to the 
 surface and brought alongside. Everything was extremely well 
 managed, as his Majesty had a complete view of the whole 
 proceedings. 
 
 The Arctics seem to have an extraordinary and incompre- 
 hensible attraction for some people ; and when it is coupled 
 with whaling, to the author it becomes almost irresistible. 
 Indeed, writing this chapter brings back vividly to his imagina- 
 tion the pleasant days he has spent in the ice and on the fishing 
 grounds, until he longs once more to hear the old cry ' A fall ! ' 
 and seems drawn by some magnetic power towards the north. 
 
INDEX 
 
 ABE 
 
 ABERDEEN Rock Anglers' Asso- 
 ciation, 38 
 Aberffraw Bay, 44 
 Aberystwith, 410 
 Acanthias vulgaris, 446 
 Adriatic, fishing in the, 466 
 Africa, fishing off, 325 
 Agulhas Bank, South Africa, 473, 
 
 474 
 
 Albicore and albicore fishing, 
 324, 326, 327 
 
 Aldeburgh, 60 
 
 Alderney, 64 
 
 Alexandra fly, 159 
 
 Alopiasvulpes, 443 
 
 American fishermen in Norway, 
 381 
 
 American whale fisheries, 535, 
 536, 539 
 
 Amity Point, Queensland, 476 
 
 Anchor, instructions concerning, 
 228 
 
 Ancient wife, 454 
 
 Anemones, 94 
 
 Angler, 456 
 
 Anglesea, fishing off, 349 
 
 ' Angling in Salt Water,' 2 
 
 Angling outfit for a round-the- 
 world expedition, 461 
 
 Aourah, 470 
 
 Archer spinner, 106, 109 
 
 Architeuthis dux, 127 
 
 BAT. 
 
 'Arctic sperm,' 529 
 Ardglass, 43 
 Argonaut, 122 
 Arklow, 42 
 Artificial baits, 136 
 Arun River, 55 
 Atherine, 396 
 
 Australia, sport on the coasts of, 
 482-484. See a/so Queensland 
 Auxis rochet, 328 
 Azlimzah, 470, 471 
 Azoff, the Sea of, fishing in, 467 
 
 BABY spinner, 138 
 
 Bacon-skin baits, 91 
 
 Baddock, 371 
 
 Bait board, 90 
 
 Bait box, 89 
 
 Bait knife, 50 
 
 Bait stores, 87 
 
 Baits, 87-146 ; chemically pre- 
 pared, 89 ; artificial, 136 ; 
 made of feathers, 144 ; ready to 
 hand, 144 ; best kinds for 
 small boat fishing, 248 ; for 
 ocean fishing, 318-320 ; for 
 foreign fishing, 461, 462, 465, 
 469-472, 478, 482, 484, 491, 
 500 
 
 Baker, 450 
 
 ' Balaena' (whaling vessel), 528 
 
546 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 BAL 
 
 Balcena japonica, 536 
 
 Balcena mysticetus, 513, 529, 536 
 
 Balanoptera laticeps, 542 
 
 Balcenoptera musculus, 542 
 
 Balcenoptera Sibbaldi, 542 
 
 Balcenoptera velifera, 537 
 
 Balbriggan, 43 
 
 Ballan wrasse, 454 
 
 Ballycottin Bay, 42 
 
 Baltic, the, 462 
 
 Baltimore, 42 
 
 Bamboo rod, 463, 465, 472 
 
 Band bait, the, 137 
 
 Banff, 39 
 
 Bantry Bay, 42 
 
 Barncock, 403 
 
 Barracuda fishing, 315, 325 
 
 Barwin, 448 
 
 Basking shark, 443 
 
 Bass, fishing for, 22, 24, 190, 198, 
 205, 206, 215, 252, 285; scarcity 
 of, in northern waters, 37 ; large, 
 caught on squid, 130 ; habits of, 
 161, 183 ; fly fishing for, 162 ; 
 flies for, 163 ; how to work the 
 bait when fishing for, 164 ; 
 how to play, 165 ; fishing for, 
 in small boats, 261 ; other 
 particulars concerning, 347-355 ; 
 rod and line fishing for, in 
 foreign waters, 467, 471, 472 
 
 Bass-skin baits, 92 
 
 Bastard turbot, 403 
 
 Bay of Biscay, 315 
 
 Beachy Head, 56 
 
 Beam trawl, 299-301 
 
 Bearings, how to take, 10 
 
 Beaumaris, 45 
 
 Bech, Captain Thomas, dimen- 
 sions of his whale steamer, 542 
 
 Bedford spinner, 108 
 
 Beer (Devonshire), 52 
 
 Belcher, Sir Edward, 474 
 
 Belfast Lough, 43, 348, 357 
 
 Belgian grub, 138, 139, 168, 369 
 
 Belmullet, 43 
 
 BOA 
 
 Belone vulgaris, 388 
 
 Belt, leathern, for tarpon fishing 
 
 494- 495 
 
 Bergle, 454 
 
 Berry Point, 354 
 
 Bexhill, 56 
 
 Bib, 425 
 
 Bickerdyke end ring, 186 
 
 Bil, 371 
 
 Billet. 62, 172, 371, 372 
 
 Billiard, 371, 372 
 
 Bindings, how to finish off, 68- 
 70 
 
 ' Bitter Lake trout,' the, 472 
 
 Black backs, 406 
 
 Black bream, 450 
 
 ' Black fish ' (Scotch name for 
 Greenland whale), 520, 529 
 
 Black herring, 390 
 
 Black jack, 371 
 
 Black pollack, 371 
 
 Black Sea, fishing in the, 327 
 
 Blacksmith, 400 
 
 Blacksod Bay, 43 
 
 Bl ickstone, the, 51 
 
 Blackwater, estuary of the, 60 
 
 Blains, 53 
 
 Bland, Messrs., their breech- 
 loading harpoon gun, 539 
 
 Bleck, 371 
 
 Blenny, used for bait, 121 
 
 Blens, 425 
 
 Blinds, 425 
 
 Blinns, 53 
 
 Bloater as bait, 92 
 
 Blockan, 372 
 
 Blockin, 44 
 
 Blue-backs, 371 
 
 Blue doctor, 159 ; small, sea trout 
 caught on, 160 
 
 Blue hornless dogfish, 442 
 
 Blue shark, 441 
 
 Blue skate, 410 
 
 Blue-striped wrasse, 454 
 
 Boat, choice of, 222 ; rig for, 
 223 ; how to moor a, 229 ; re- 
 
INDEX 
 
 547 
 
 BOA 
 
 volving seat, for tarpon fishing, 
 5o'j 
 
 Boatmen, 25 ; charges-of, 49, 225 
 
 Boats, small, fishing from, 221- 
 268 
 
 Bogers, 448 
 
 Bognor, 55 
 
 Bollen, 44 
 
 Bone clog, 446 
 
 1 Bone' fish, 511 
 
 Bone hooks, 484 
 
 Bonito, 326, 328, 466, 471, 472 
 
 Boots for sea fishing, 85 
 
 Bottlenose whale, the, 529-533 
 
 ' Bottleys,' 532, 533 
 
 Bottom, how to tell the, 21 ; fish- 
 ing on the, 231 
 
 Bounce, 447 
 
 Bournemouth, 54 
 
 Bowhead whale, 529, 536 
 
 Brambles Shoal, 54 
 
 Brandon, 42 
 
 Brandon Head, 429 
 
 Branksea Island, 54 
 
 Brat, 403 
 
 Brazier, 448 
 
 Bream, 41, 104 ; common sea, 448 
 
 Breydon Water, 61, 395 
 
 Briabot, 458 
 
 Bridlington Quay, 62 
 
 Bridport, 53 
 
 Brighton, 55, 183, 424 
 
 Brill, 403 
 
 Brimming, 381 
 
 Brisbane, fishing from the coast 
 at, 482 
 
 Bristol Channel, the, 16, 45 
 
 British Sea Anglers' Society, 7, 
 48, 63, 226 
 
 Brixharn, 51, 353 
 
 Brosmius brosme, 431 
 
 Buckhaven, 39 
 
 Buckie, 39, 420 
 
 Buckland and sea fishing, 29 
 
 Buclleigh Salterton, 52 
 
 Buffer in line, 283 
 
 CHE 
 
 Buffer knot, improved, 76 
 Bull-huss, 447 
 Bulter, 217, 285 
 Bundoran, 43 
 Buoying of long lines, 290 
 Burton skate, 411 
 Butterfish, 121, 36-) 
 Butts, 406 
 
 CABBAGE, 364 
 
 Cadan, 372 
 
 Caermarthen Bay, 47, 449 
 
 Calamary, 122 ; large, 126 
 
 Caldy Island, 45 
 
 Californian grey whale, or devil 
 fish, 536, 537 
 
 Callig, 44 
 
 Cameron, James, 472 
 
 Cantharus lineatus, 45 1 
 
 Cape, the, sport at, 472-474 
 
 Cape de Verde, fishing off, 326 
 
 ' Cape salmon,' 472, 473 
 
 Carangidae, 388 
 
 Carcharias glaucus, 441 
 
 Carf, 448 
 
 Carlingford, 43 
 
 Carnarvon, 45 
 
 Carp, Irish, 41, 448 ; in Sea of 
 Azoff, 468 
 
 Cartman spinner, 142 
 
 Cast for fly fishing, 151 
 
 Casting, Thames and Notting- 
 ham styles of, 191-198 
 
 Catfish, 447, 482, 501, 511 
 
 Cefni River, 44 
 
 Ceithnach, 372 
 
 Cephaloptera giornce, 412 
 
 Chad, 93, 448, 456 ; used as bait, 
 
 93 
 
 ' Chancy Johns,' 529, 550 
 Channel bass, 512 
 Channel Islands, 64, 252, 386 
 Chapman spinner, improved, 108 
 Charts, 13 
 Cheney, Mr. A. N. , 488, 492 
 
548 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 CHE 
 
 Chervin, 64, 364 
 
 Cbichester Harbour, 55, 355 
 
 ' Chieftain,' the (whaling vessel), 
 
 532 
 'Clean' ships (unsuccessful 
 
 whalers), 518 
 Cleethorpes, 61 
 Clipper, 141, 142 
 Clyde, mullet caught in the, with 
 
 flies, 174 
 
 Coalfish, 4, 168, 172, 371-375 
 Coalman, 372 
 Coalsey, 371 
 Coal whiting, 371 
 Cobbles, 222 
 Cockles, 92 
 Cocoanut crab, 331 
 Cod and cod fishing, 3, 150, 
 
 413-422 
 
 Codling fishing, 200, 209-212, 238 
 Colemie, 371 
 Colmey, 371 
 Colwyn Bay, 434 
 Coly, 387 
 
 Conch, bait swallowed by a, 501 
 Con6e, 64 
 Conger, and conger fishing, 124, 
 
 247, 248, 276, 358, 432-441, 463, 
 
 466 
 
 Conger snood, plaited, 74 
 Conner, 455 
 Connor pie, 454 
 Cook-connor, 454 
 Cooth, 371 
 Cornwall, 47, 252, 327, 349, 428, 
 
 431, 448, 454 
 Coryphene fishing, 314 
 Coitus scorpius, 460 
 Courge for sand-eels, 119, 252 
 Cove, 39 
 Crabs as bait, 93 ; natural history 
 
 of. 330-332 
 Crass, 94 
 Crawfish, 333 
 Crenilabrus melops, 455 
 Crigyll River, 44 
 
 DOW 
 
 Crocodile spinner, 108 
 
 Cromarty, 39 
 
 Cromer, 60, 61, 173, 344, 391 
 
 Crooners, 452 
 
 Crowther, Mr. , 534 
 
 Cuckoo-fish; the, 454 
 
 Cuckoo gurnard, 452 
 
 Cuckoo ray, 412 
 
 Cucumber smelts, 394. 
 
 Cudden, 372 
 
 Cuddies, 171, 371, 372 
 
 Cullercoats, 63 
 
 Curbchain bait, 143 
 
 Curbchain spinner, 349 
 
 Curfish, 447 
 
 Curraghs, 42 
 
 Cusk, 431 
 
 Cuttle, 122-124, 12 ^> 129 
 
 Cyprinus vimba, 468 
 
 DAGGAR, 447 
 
 Dandy-line, 175, 392 
 
 Dargie, 371 
 
 Dartmouth, 51, 176 
 
 Dawlish, 52, 443 
 
 Deal, 2, 57, 58, 223, 241, 369, 
 
 442 
 
 Delphinus, 326 
 Dentex rupestris, 473 
 Devil fish, 124, 536 
 Devonshire, 47, 252, 349, 428, 
 
 43i 
 
 Diacope octolineata, 480 
 Dingle, 42 
 Doctor, 411 
 Dogfish, 410, 441, 466 
 Dogfish-tail fly, 170 
 Dolachan, 379 
 Dolphins, 56, 315, 326 
 Donegal Bay, 43 
 Dory, the, 455 
 
 Douglas, Isle of Man, 43, 44 
 Dover, 56, 362 
 Dovercourt, 177 
 Downs, the, 3, 58, 423 
 
INDEX 
 
 549 
 
 DRE 
 
 Dress for sea fishing, 84 
 
 Dressing for lines, 81 
 
 Drift lines, 250, 256, 352, 369, 
 
 335 
 Drift net, 308 ; for mackerel, 
 
 383 
 
 Drift paternoster, the, 252 
 Drift trot, 201, 285 
 Dropper, attachment of, to cast, 
 
 78 
 Dublin, and Dublin Bay, 41, 42, 
 
 i7 6 . 3 2 7. 4 2 S. 44 2 
 Dugong or sea co*, 476 ; method 
 
 of capture, 477 
 
 Dunbar, 39 ; hatchery at, 417 
 Dungarvan, 42 
 Dunmore, 42 
 Durham ranger, 158, 159 
 Durness, 38 
 
 EAGLES, Lieut. Harston, 474 
 Earth worms, 94; how to catch, 
 
 95 
 
 Eastbourne, 56, 173 
 East coast, fishing on the, 209 
 Echinorhinus spinosus, 443 
 Eddystone, the, 49, 443 
 Eel, artificial, 139 
 Eel, as bait, 96-99 ; conger, 124, 
 
 247, 276, 338, 432-441, 463, 466 
 Egyptian herring, 390 
 Elleck, 452 
 ' Empress of India,' the (iron 
 
 steam whaler), loss of, 518 
 ' Essex,' the, charged and sunk by 
 
 a sperm whale, 537 
 F.ubalcena, 536 
 Euphorbia, an extract from, used 
 
 for stupefying fish, in the 
 
 Adriatic, 467 
 Exmouth, 52 
 Exoccetus evolans, 328 
 Exocatus voli/ans, 329 
 Eyed hooks, knots for, 71-73 
 Eyemouth, 39 
 
 FLE 
 
 ' FALL,' a (whaling cry), deriva- 
 tion of, 513 
 
 Falmouth, 48 
 
 Farlow's greenheart trout rod, 
 capturing a tarpon with a, 506 
 
 Faroe fishery, 287-289, 298, 401, 
 402, 410, 429 
 
 Father lasher, 460 
 
 Feather baits, 144, 369 
 
 Ferrules, 'suction, 151 
 
 Ffraw River, 44 
 
 Files for hooks, 71, 370 
 
 Filey, 20, 33, 62, 177, 296, 3^7 
 
 fr in-back whale, 537 
 
 Findhorn, 39 ; Bay of, mussel 
 beds in, 114 
 
 Findon, 38 
 
 Finmarken whale fishery, 541- 
 
 543 
 
 ' Finnan haddies,' 39 
 
 Firth of Forth, 39, 392 
 
 Fish cookery, 6, 426, 441, 448, 
 453. 456 
 
 Fish culture, 414-416 
 
 Fisheries, British, importance of, 
 64 
 
 Fishguard, 45 
 
 Fishing guides of Florida, 506 
 
 Fish-skin baits, 138 
 
 Fjord, sea fishing in a, 173 
 
 Flamborough Head, 62 
 
 Flat fish, 30; angling for, 201, 
 208, 215, 238, 243 ; particulars 
 concerning, 398-412 
 
 Flathead, 482 
 
 Flat Rock, Moreton Bay, Queens- 
 land, schnapper-fishing excur- 
 sion to, 475-481 
 
 Flecks, 406 
 
 Fleet (Dorsetshire), mullet fishing 
 
 in- 53. 359 
 Fleet (Sutherlandshire), fly fishing 
 
 for salmon in, 154 
 Flensing process in whaling, 517, 
 
 529. 542 
 Flesh-coloured wrasse, 454 
 
55 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 FLE 
 
 Fleuk, 403 
 
 Flies with loops, knot for, 73, 74 ; 
 how to tie, 83 
 
 Floating trot, 292 
 
 Floats, 199, 200, 253-255 
 
 Float tackle, 199, 207, 264, 352 
 
 Flodevig hatchery, 415 
 
 Florida as a sporting country, 
 487 ; ease of access to, from 
 London, 487 ; advisability of 
 taking English fishing tackle, 
 495 ; rly fishing in, 495, 511 ; 
 a tarpon fishing expedition, 
 497-505 ; hardships of young 
 English emigrants in, 498 ; the 
 fishing guides of, 506 ; boats 
 suited to the shoals of, 506 ; 
 cost of a trip to, and when and 
 where to go, 509 ; angler's 
 outfit for the wild parts of, 
 510 ; varieties of sporting fish 
 in, 511 
 
 Flounder, 99, 406 
 
 P'lundra, 406 
 
 Fly, the 'whitebait,' 147; for 
 sea trout off Orkney, 156; how 
 to cast the, 164 ; for pollack, 
 Mr. Moodie Reddle's, 168 ; 
 made from dogfish tail, 170 ; 
 for cuddies, 171, 172 ; with 
 shrimp paste, 174 
 
 Fly fishing in the sea, 4, 147-179 ; 
 advantages of fly fishing, 149 ; 
 tackle for, 151 ; line for, 151 ; 
 for salmon, 152 ; for bass, 161 ; 
 for pollack, 167 ; for coalfish, 
 167, 371 ; for herrings, 175, 
 176 ; for mackerel, 175 ; in Flo- 
 rida, 495, 511 
 
 Flying fish, 328, 466 ; imitation, 
 3i8 
 
 Flyndre, 406 
 
 Fly rod, 151 
 
 Folding boat for Florida waters, 
 506 
 
 Folkestone, 57 
 
 GLA 
 
 Fort Myers, Florida, tarpon libh- 
 ing at, 490, 497, 509 
 
 Fowey, 48 
 
 Fox-shark, 443 
 
 Foyn, Captain Svend, harpoon 
 gun invented by, 541 ; whale 
 fishery established by at Vadsij, 
 
 542 
 
 Fraserburg, 39 
 Friar, 458 
 Friar skate, 411 
 Frog-fish, 458 
 
 Gadus (Eglefinus, 425 
 
 Gadus carbonarius, 365 
 
 Gadus luscus, 424 
 
 Gadus merlangus, 422 
 
 Gadus mimitus, 431 
 
 Gadus morrhua, 413 
 
 Gadus pollachi us, 365 
 
 Gaff, 152, 166, 167, 188, 247, 323 
 
 Gape mouths, 348 
 
 Garfish as bait, 100 ; caught with 
 flies, 175 ; characteristics and 
 habits of, 388 ; fishing for in 
 foreign waters, 466 ; Ionian 
 method of catching, 467 
 
 ' Garland,' cruise of the, 295 
 
 Gar-pipe, 388 
 
 Garrocher, as bait, 174 
 
 ' Geelbeck,' 473 
 
 Geen's spiral bait, 142, 143 
 
 Genoa, Gulf of, rod fishing in, 
 465 ; varieties of fish in, 466 
 
 Gentles as bait, 100, 364 
 
 Gerrocks, 372 
 
 Giligant, 431 
 
 Gilpin, 371, 372 
 
 Gilt-head, 450, 455 ; line fishing 
 for, in the Adriatic, 466 
 
 Girnats, 452 
 
 Glasan, 372 
 
 Glashan, 371, 372 
 
 Glassin, 372 
 
 Glassock, 371 
 
INDEX 
 
 55' 
 
 OLE 
 
 Glengarrif, 42 
 
 Glissaun, 41, 371 
 
 Glossan, 371 
 
 Glossin, 371 
 
 Gobbock, 44 
 
 Golden maid, 455 
 
 Goldfinch, the, 351 
 
 Goodwin Sands, the, 57, 59 
 
 Gordon River, Florida, 507, 511, 
 
 5'2 
 
 Gorebill, 388 
 Gosnick, 390 
 Gowdies, 452 
 Gowdnock, 390 
 Gradots, 64 
 ' Grand Ecaille,' 489 
 Grant, Mr. 533 
 Grapnell, use of, 274 
 Gravesend, 59 
 Graylord, 372 
 Great lant, 118 
 Grecian Seas, 467 
 Green-back, 388 
 Green-bane, 388 
 Green-ben, 388 
 Green-bone, 388 
 Greencastle, 43 
 Green cod, 371 
 Greener, Messrs. , harpoon gun 
 
 made by, 539 
 Greenfish, 368 
 Green-herring, 390 
 Greenland bull-head, 460 
 Greenland whale, the, fishing for, 
 
 513-529, 536 ; weight of, 517 ; 
 
 growing scarcity of, 518 ; its 
 
 timidity, 520; length of life, 528 
 Greenling, 368 
 Green pollack, 371 
 Green wrasse, 453, 454 
 Grey gurnard, 452 
 Grey mullet, 205, 355-364 
 Grey skate, 410 
 Grimsby, 61 
 Grondin, 451 
 Groper, 466, 481 
 
 HAY 
 
 Groundbait, of pounded herrings, 
 101 ; in the sea, 131-136, 182, 
 352, 358, 363, 425 
 
 Groundbait net, 132, 202, 249 
 
 Guard-fish, 388 
 
 Guernsey, 64 
 
 Gulf of Aden, fishing in the, 325 
 
 Gull-fish, 371 
 
 Gunnel, spotted, 369 
 
 Gunner, 448 
 
 Gurnard, used for bait, 100; fish- 
 ing for, 150, 451, 463, 466 
 
 Gurnet, 451 
 
 Gut, how to twist, 80 
 
 Gut knots, 75-77 
 
 Gut-pock herring, 390 
 
 Gwrach, 454 
 
 HADDOCK fishing, 39, 40, 150, 
 
 418, 425-427 
 Hake, 275, 427, 466 
 Hake hook used as a gaff, 167 
 Haldeman, Col., 506 
 Halibut, 287, 400 
 Halion, 389 
 
 Hammer-headed shark, 442 
 Handa Island, 367 
 Hand lines, 265, 273, 466 
 Hand lining, 265 
 ' Hanging knees,' 519 
 Harbine, 371 
 Harbour, fishing in, 204 
 Hard-head, 452 
 Harling, 263, 284 
 Harpoon gun, 521, 525, 535, 537, 
 
 538-541 
 Harpoons, 466 ; gun, 524, 525, 
 
 538, 539- 54i : hand, 524, 525 
 Harris, 40 
 Hart, Tom (a Florida fishing 
 
 guide), 497-505 
 Harvest mackerel, 380 
 Harwich, 60 
 Hastings, 56, 183, 444 
 Hayburn Wyke, 290 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 HAY 
 
 Hayle, 47 
 
 Hebrides, 410, 420, 447 
 
 Helmsdale, 39 
 
 Hermit c>abs, 93, 332 
 
 Herne Bay, 349 
 
 Herring, 390-394 ; used for bait, 
 101 ; ground bait of, 101 ; fishing, 
 175, 179, 308, 428 ; and fleas, 391 
 
 Herring-hake, 372 
 
 Hippoglossoides limandoidet, 404 
 
 Hippoglossus vulgaris, 400 
 
 Hoe, 446 
 
 Holyhead, 45 
 
 Homelyn, 412 
 
 Hone for hooks, 371 
 
 Hookers, 42 
 
 Hooks, various kinds of, 70, 424, 
 425, 462, 466, 469, 478 ; attach- 
 ment of snoods, 71 ; the Salmo 
 irritans, 154, 155; for North Sea 
 hand line and yachting fisher- 
 men, 274, 275; for ocean fishing, 
 318 ; for crab, lobster and 
 conger, 335, 435 ; for halibut, 
 401 ; for cod, 421 ; for North 
 Sea fisheries, 422; for haddock, 
 426; of Maori fishermen, 484; 
 of South Sea and Pacific 
 Islanders, 485, 486 ; fo.- tarpon 
 fishing, 496 
 
 Horn-eel, 118, 388 
 
 Homer, 118 
 
 Horn-fish, 388 
 
 ' Horse' fish, 511 
 
 Horse mackerel used for bait, 
 102 ; natural history of, 388 
 
 Howth, 42 
 
 Humpback whale, 536 
 
 Hund-fish, 447 
 
 Huss, 447 
 
 Hyperoodon rostra tus, 529 
 
 ICELAND fisheries, 287-289, 298, 
 
 445 
 Ilfracombe, 47 
 
 KNO 
 
 Indian Ocean, fishing in the, 324 
 ' In^ebong,' the (Norwegian 
 
 whaler), 5,42 
 ' Innuit,' the (iron steam whaler), 
 
 loss of, 518 
 Ionian Isles, 467 
 Ireland, 40, 349, 428, 447 
 Irish mackerel, 380 
 Isle of Man, 43, 365, 392, 398, 
 
 402, 413 
 Ismailia, bass fishing at, 472 
 
 JACK fish, or ' horse fish,' 495, 
 
 5 11 
 
 Jamaica, fishing off, 325 
 Japan, cuttlefish of, 129 
 ' Jean,' the (whaling vessel), 528 
 Jerusalem cuckoo, 454 
 Jew-fish, 482, 483, 503 
 Jock Scott, 159 
 ' Joeys,' young mackerel, used as 
 
 bait, 106, 380 
 John Dory, the, 426, 455 
 
 KABEI.JAUW, 473 
 
 ' Kara,' the (Arctic yacht), 519, 
 
 530 
 Kawai (' New Zealand salmon '), 
 
 484 
 
 Kenmare Bay, 42 
 Kennett, 447 
 Kentish rig, 238, 265-267 
 Kidd & Co., Messrs., 535 
 King crabs, 330 
 King-fish, 480 
 King-fleuk, 403 
 King of the breams, 450 
 King of the mullets, 348 
 Kings and queens, 390 
 Kinsale, 42 
 Kippers, 374 
 Kite, 403 
 
 Knife for baits, 90 
 Knots on log lines explained, 18 
 
INDEX 
 
 553 
 
 K.XO 
 
 Knots for eyed hooks, 71 ; for flies 
 with loops, 73 ; for gut, 75, 76 ; 
 buffer, 76-78 ; for end of reel 
 line, 79, 80; for ropes, 226; 
 detachable, for long lines, 289 
 
 Knoud, 452 
 
 Kuth, 371 
 
 Kylesque, 37 
 
 Labrax lupus, 347-355 
 
 Lalirus lineatus, 453 
 
 Lair us mixlus, 454 
 
 1 Lady" or ' bone' fish, 511 
 
 ' Lady Franklin,' the (whaling 
 vessel), 527 
 
 Laithe, 368 
 
 Lamna cornubica, 444 
 
 Lamperns used for bait, 102 
 
 Lampreys used for bait, 102 
 
 Land crabs 331 
 
 Land-dog, 447 
 
 Landing net, 246 
 
 Land's End, 47, 358, 365 
 
 Langstone Harbour, 54 
 
 Lanterns, 406 
 
 Lanthorn, 453 
 
 La Plata Isle, fishing off, 325 
 
 Large spotted dogfish, 447 
 
 Laske, 105, 384 
 
 Last, 105, 107 
 
 Latchet, 452 
 
 Launce used for bait, 117 
 
 Leads, 28, 230, 238-242, 244-246, 
 249, 250, 253, 256, 258-261, 272, 
 280, 282 ; changeable, 242, 246, 
 
 259 
 Leather belt, for tarpon fishing, 
 
 494. 495 
 Leeat, 368 
 Leet, 368 
 Leger, 215, 353 
 Leger lead, Williams', 217 
 Leghorn Harbour, octopods in, 
 
 124 
 Leigh, 59, 342 
 
 LON 
 
 Lemon sole, 404 
 
 Leptocephali Morissii, 432 
 
 Leptocephalus brevirostris, 433 
 
 Lerwick Harbour, 176 
 
 Less3r spotted dogfish, 447 
 
 Lewis, Island of, 40 
 
 Lews, anecdote of the, 373 
 
 Limpets, 102-104, 4 2 
 
 Line, how to splice, 80 ; dressing 
 
 for, 81, 237; how to wind on 
 
 reel, 81 ; for fly fishing, 151 ; 
 
 various, 188, 237, 265-267, 281, 
 
 282, 285, 287-293, 318 
 Line guard, 187 
 Ling, 427, 429 ; swallowing whisky 
 
 flask, 429 
 Lion, the, 158 
 Liskeard, 48 
 
 Lithognathus capensis, 473 
 Littlehampton, 55, 355 
 Little Loch Broom, 37 
 Liver of the ray used for bait, 117 
 Livery-fish, 454 
 Livery-servant, 454 
 Lizard, the, 47 
 Lizard bait, 118 
 Lob, 371 
 Lob-keeling, 371 
 Lobster nets, 342 
 Lobster pots, 344 
 Lobsters and lobster culture, 332, 
 
 33. 345 
 
 Lobworm as railing bait, 95 
 Loch Foyle, 43 
 Loch Inchard, 29, 37, 176 
 Loch Inver, 37 
 Loch Leven trout, 377 
 Loch Roag, salmon rising to the 
 
 fly in, 153 
 Loch Swilly, 43 
 Loffoden Islands, 414 
 Log-line, 18 
 Loligo vulgaris, 126 
 Long lines, 285 
 Long-nose, 388 
 Long-nosed skate, 411 
 
554 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 I.ON 
 
 I ,ong rough dab, 404 
 
 Looe, 49 
 
 Lophius piscatorius, 456 
 
 Lowestoft, 60, 214 
 
 Lugworm and limpet bait, 420 
 
 Lug worms, 104 
 
 Lul worth, 53 
 
 Lundy Island, 47 
 
 Lybster, 39 
 
 Lyme Regis, 53 
 
 Lythe, 36, 171, 368 
 
 MACARONI as bait, 89, 358 
 
 McArthur, Effie, 338 
 
 Mackerel and mackerel fishing, 
 
 43, 45, 61, 149, 175, 205, 257, 
 
 260, 277-282, 308, 379-387 ; 
 
 used for bait, 105, 370 ; hooks 
 
 for, 106 ; in America, 381 ; in 
 
 Genoa, 466 ; in the Adriatic, 
 
 466 
 
 Mackerel gear, 29 
 Mackerel guide, 388 
 Mackerel scout, 388 
 Maguire, Fulton (Florida fishing 
 
 guide), 506 
 Maids, 411 
 Maigre, the, 471 
 Malldraeth Bay, 44 
 Malloch reel, 197, 198 
 Manacle Rocks, 48 
 Manila hemp, advantages of, for 
 
 whale lines, 522 
 Man, Isle of, 43 
 Maori fishermen, hooks used by, 
 
 484 
 Marco, on the Gulf of Mexico, 
 
 tarpon fishing at, 497, 502-509 
 Margate, 327, 357, 444 
 Marine Biological Association, 49, 
 
 88, 294, 297, 313, 358, 433 
 Marine Laboratory at Cleethorpes, 
 
 61 
 
 Markham, Admiral, 528 
 Marks, how to take, 10 
 
 MUS 
 
 Marston, Mr. R. B., 488 
 
 Mason & Cunningham, Messrs., 
 
 their harpoon gun, 539 
 Maties, 390 
 May skate, 41 1 
 Mazy herrings, 391 
 Mediterranean, fishing in the, 26, 
 
 324- 357- 462, 467 
 Megalvps atlanticus, 489 
 Megalops thrissoides, 489 
 Megaptera, 536 
 Megaptera hoops, 542 
 Melbourne, adventure of a diver 
 
 at, 124 
 
 Menai Straits, 44 
 Merluccius vulgaris, 427 
 Mevagissey, 48, 366, 426 
 Mewstone, the, 51 
 Mexico, Gulf of, tarpon fishing in 
 
 the, 487-510 
 
 Migration of sea-fish, 23, 36 
 Milford, 45 
 Mogador, tackle and methods of 
 
 the native fishermen, 468 ; rod- 
 fishing for bass at, 471 
 Molva vulgaris, 427 
 Monaco, Prince of, 269 
 Monkfish, 456 
 Moodie-Heddle, Mr., sea trout 
 
 caught by, 158 
 
 Moray Firth, 39, 327, 401, 403 
 Morecambe Bay, 44 
 Morgay, 447 
 Moulrush, 371 
 Mouse-tail bait, 156 
 Muchalls, 39 
 Mudworm, 109, 116 
 Mugil capita, 355 
 Mugil chelo, 355 
 Mullet and mullet fishing, 173, 
 
 355-364, 463-465, 482 ; used as 
 
 bait, 500 
 Murranroe, 448 
 
 Mussels imported from Germany 
 for bait, 63, no; as bait, 109, 
 112, 113, 214; how cultivated, 
 
INDEX 
 
 555 
 
 MYA 
 
 114 ; used in oyster sauce, 114 ; 
 
 anecdote of poisoning by, 114 
 Afya arenaria, 174 
 Mylobatis aquila, 412 
 
 NAIRN, 114 
 
 Naked bait, 118 
 
 Naples, fishing at, 357 
 
 Nass-fish, 458 
 
 Nautilus, paper and pearly, 122 
 
 Needle-fish, 388 
 
 Nets, for flying fish, 329; for 
 
 lobsters, 342 ; for fishing under 
 
 ice, 467 ; of South Sea Islanders, 
 
 485 
 
 Newfoundland, large calamary 
 
 caught off, 127 ; cod rearing in, 
 
 414 
 
 Newhaven, 39 
 New Zealand, 475 ; sport at, 484 ; 
 
 the Maori fishermen, 484 
 New Zealand salmon, 484 
 New Zealand trout, 378 
 Nice, rod-fishing for mullet at, 
 
 463-465 
 
 Night fishing, 440 
 Nine eyes, 369 
 North Berwick, 39 
 North Sea, devil fish in, 458; 
 
 angling in, 462 
 North Sea fisheries, 287-289, 
 
 393 ; mission, 289 
 North Sea gear, 273-275, 287-289 
 North Sea hook, 274, 422 
 Northumberland, sea fishing on 
 
 the i oast of, 64 
 Norway, sea trout in, 160, 379 ; 
 
 sea fishing in, 166, 173 ; cod 
 
 rearing in, 414; the fiords of, 
 
 462 
 Norwegian groundbait apparatus, 
 
 134 
 
 Norwegian lead, 282, 283 
 Norwegian whale fisheries, wea- 
 pons employed, 539, 541 ; Fin- 
 
 PAG 
 
 marken fishery, 541 ; the vessels, 
 542 ; Vadso fishery, 542 ; species 
 of whale captured, and Nor- 
 wegian names of, 542 
 Nurse-hound, 446, 447 
 
 OCKAN fishing rod, the, 9, 3^- 
 
 325 
 
 Octopods, how caught, 125 
 
 Octopus, 122 ; destroyed by con- 
 gers, 125 ; caught in Wales, 
 125 ; used for bait, 469, 470, 471 
 
 Oilskin coats, 85 
 
 Old ewe, 454 
 
 Old wife, 450, 454 
 
 Old woman, 454 
 
 Ommastrephes sagittal us, 126 
 
 Orcynus germo, 327 
 
 Ortynus thynnus, 327 
 
 Orford, Lord and Lady, 490-492 
 
 Organo, 451 
 
 Orkney, 36, 38, 40, 156, 170, 444 
 
 Orkneys and Zetland, 357, 430, 
 
 454 
 
 Oscar II., King of Norway and 
 Sweden, witnesses capture of a 
 whale in Varanger Fjord, 543 
 
 Osmerus esperlanus , 394 
 
 Otolithus aquidens, 473 
 
 Otter River, 52 
 
 Otter trawl, 301-304 
 
 Oulton Broad, 61, 355 
 
 Out-haul bulter, 217-219 
 
 Over-day tart, 390 
 
 Ox ray, 412 
 
 Oysters used for bait, 115 
 
 PACIFIC Ocean, fishing in the, 
 
 325 
 
 Pacific right whale, 536 
 Pagellus acarne, 451 
 Pagellus centrodontus , 448 
 Pagellus erythrinus, 450 
 Pagellus Owenii, 451 
 
556 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 PAG 
 
 Pagrus auratus, 450 
 
 Pagrus vulgaris, 451 
 
 Paignton, 52 
 
 Painted ray, 412 
 
 Pandora, 450 
 
 Parr, 371 
 
 Parrot-fish, 480 
 
 Paternoster, and paternostering, 
 
 32, 238-246, 248, 272, 409 
 Paternoster-trot, 209, 243 
 Pay ton, Mr., 468 
 Peel, Isle of Man, 43 
 Pelamys sarda, 328 
 Pellic, 44 
 
 Pennell and sea fishing, 29 
 Penny-dog, 442 
 Perch, 468, 480, 482 
 Peterhead, 175, 392 
 Phantom minnow, 140, 141, 171 
 Physeter macrocephalus, 536 
 Picked-dog, 446 
 Pickey, 372 
 
 Pierhead fishing, 3, 182, 201, 202 
 Piers, fishing from, 198 
 Pieuvre, 64 
 Pilchards and pilchard fishing, 
 
 310, 364, 441 ; pilchards used 
 
 for bait, 115, 182, 364 
 Pilot-fish, 445 
 Piltock, 371 
 Pincher, 396 
 Pine-leaved gurnard, 452 
 Pin-tackle, 408, 409 
 Piper, 453 
 Plaice and plaice fishing, 4, 295, 
 
 398- 405 
 
 Plain bonito, 328 
 Playing the fish, 262 
 Pleuronectes flesiis, 406 
 Pleuronectes limanda, 406 
 Pleuronectes microcephalus , 404 
 Pleuronectes plalessa, 405 
 Pleuronectidas, 400 
 Pliny on mullet, 173 
 Plummeting, 281, 384 
 Plymouth, 49, 278, 281, 355, 443 
 
 QUI 
 
 Podlie, 371 
 
 Podling, 371 
 
 Pollack and pollack fishing, 48, 
 115, 138, 167, 171, 191, 198, 
 252, 258, 262, 263, ^82, 365-370 
 
 Pollack worm, 116 
 
 Polperro, 48 
 
 Polynesia, native methods of fish- 
 ing, 486 
 
 Poodler, 372 
 
 Poole Harbour, 53 
 
 Poor cod , 430 
 
 Porbeagle, 444 
 
 Pork, and pork-skin baits, 91, 
 
 364 
 
 Portaferry chicken?, 396 
 Port Erin, 44 
 Portland breakwater, 53 
 Portlethen, 39 
 Portrush, 434. 
 Port St. Mary, 44 
 Portsmouth, 54 
 Poulpe, 124 
 Pout, 424 
 Pouting, 431 
 Power cod, 430, 431 
 Prawning, 338-341 
 Prawn nets, 339, 340, 341 
 Prawn pots, 338, 339, 341 
 Prawns, 115, 338, 466 
 Preservation of sea fish, 294 
 ' Priest," 189, 439 
 Prinkle, 371 
 Prongs, 466 
 Punta Gorda, Florida, 490, 497, 
 
 59. 509 
 
 QUEENSLAND, a schnapper-fish- 
 ing excursion to Flat Rock, 
 Moreton Bay, 475-481 ; dugong 
 catching at Amity Point, 476 ; 
 fishing from the coast at Bris- 
 bane, 482 
 
 Queenstown, 42 
 
 Quid, 396 
 
INDEX 
 
 557 
 
 KAI; 
 
 RAGWORMS, 117, 364, 369 
 
 Rain alba, 411 
 
 A'/t/'ii luitis, 410 
 
 Raia circularis, 412 
 
 Raia clavata, 411 
 
 Raia fullon ica, 411 
 
 Ruia maculata, 412 
 
 Raia microcellata, 412 
 
 j*?az<z oxyrhynchus, 411 
 
 Raia radiata, 412 
 
 Raiidcs, 409 
 
 Railing, 256-263, 282, 384 
 
 Ramsey, Isle of Man, 43 
 
 Ramsgate, 59 
 
 Rauning pollack, 370 
 
 Ravenous pollack, 371 
 
 Ray's liver and skin used for bait, 
 
 117 
 
 Razor-fish, 468 
 ' Recruit,' the (iron steam whaler), 
 
 loss of, 518 
 
 Red or channel bass, 512 
 Red cod, 413 
 Red gurnard, 452 
 Red-herring, 390 
 Red mullet, 355 
 Red phantom, 369 
 Red Sea, fishing in the, 314, 325 
 Red tubs, 452 
 Red wrasse, 454 
 
 Reel, for tarpon fishing, 493-495 
 Reels, 187, 197, 234-236 
 Revolving-seat boat, for tarpon 
 
 fishing, 506 
 
 Rhachianectes glaucus, 536 
 Rhiconich, 29, 37, 401 
 Rhombus Icevis, 403 
 Rhombus maximus, 402 
 Rhosneigr, 45 
 Ribben-pout, 431 
 Right whale, 536, 537 
 Ring, Ireland, 42 
 Rings for rod, 185 
 ' River Tay,' the (iron whaler), 
 
 loss of, 518 
 Riviera, the, 463 
 
 SAL 
 
 Roach, 468 
 
 Roan fleuk, 403 
 
 Rockling, 121 
 
 Rock salmon, 371 
 
 Rock tench, 55 
 
 Rocks, fishing from, 19, 199 
 
 Rod, Orkney name for turbot, 
 
 403 
 
 Rod, the : coast rod fishing, origin 
 of, i, 180; advantages of the 
 rod, 26, 231 ; rod fishing in the 
 Mediterranean, 26 ; care of and 
 varnish for the rod, 82 ; for 
 shore work, 183 ; for land and 
 pier fishing, 193 ; for boat 
 work, 231, 272; for a round- 
 the-world expedition, 461 ; 
 bamboo, 463, 465, 471 ; for 
 tarpon fishing, 493, 506 
 Rod fittings, 232-234 
 Roddams, 403 
 Roddan, 403 
 Rottingdean, 56 
 Rough-hound, 446, 447 
 Rough ray, 412 
 Rovallio, the, 511, 512 
 Row-hound, 447 
 
 Rubber eel, as bait, 139, 368, 369 
 Rush, 43 
 
 SAGITTATED calamary, 126 
 
 Saidhean, 372 
 
 Sailing precautions, 20, 21 
 
 St. Clement's Reach, 59 
 
 St. Helena, rod fishing for bonito 
 
 at, 471, 472 
 St. Ives, 47 
 St. Just, 47, 358 
 St. Mawes, 48 
 Saithe, 36, 370, 372 
 Salcombe, 50 
 Salmo estuarius, 161 
 Saltnofontinalis, 378 
 ' Salmo irritans ' hooks, 154 
 Salmo salar, 490 
 
MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 SAL 
 
 Salmon, fly fishing for, in the 
 sea, 152 ; taking a worm in the 
 sea, 154 ; in salt water, 375 
 
 Sand dabs, 4, 406 
 
 Sand-eels, as bait, 64, 117 ; 
 seine, 118 ; artificial, 138, 157; 
 fly fishing for sand-eels, 177 
 
 Sand smelt, 396 
 
 Sand whiting, 484 
 
 Sandy ray, 412 
 
 San Sebastian, groundbait mix- 
 ture used at, 135, 136 
 
 Sapphirine gurnard, 452 
 
 ' Sarcelle,' his whiffing bait, 136 ; 
 on sea angling at Genoa, 465 ; 
 at Mogador, 468, 471 
 
 Sardines, imitation, 122 ; used as 
 bait, 363, 470 
 
 Saundersfoot, 45, 47 
 
 Saury, 389 
 
 Saury-pike, 389 
 
 Scad, 388 
 
 Scadder, 44 
 
 Scarborough, 8, 62, 295,371, 385, 
 426 
 
 Schnapper-fishing in Moreton 
 Bay, Queensland, 475-481 
 
 School bass, 162 
 
 Sciosna antarctica, 483 
 
 Scicena aquila, 466 
 
 Sciana hololepidota, 473 
 
 Scilly lales, 430 
 
 Scomber colias, 387 
 
 Scomber punctatus, 387 
 
 Scomber scomber, 380, 388 
 
 Scombresocidce, 388 
 
 Scoresby, Captain, quoted, 516, 
 517. S 2 ^ 
 
 Scotch herring fisheries, the, 393 
 
 Scotch luggers, 39 
 
 Scotch whale fisheries, 530 
 
 Scotland, east coast of, 38, 402 
 
 Scourie, 367 
 
 Scringe, 311, 312 
 
 Scyllium canicula, 446 
 
 Scyllium catulus, 446 
 
 SHA 
 
 ' Sea and the Rod, the,' 445 
 
 Sea-ape, 443 
 
 Sei arrow, 126 
 
 Sea-bream, 448 ; Couch's 451 ; in 
 
 foreign waters, 463, 465, 482 
 Sea-cat, 44 
 Sea-cow, 477 
 Sea-crow, 452 
 Sea-dace, 348 
 Sea-devil, 458 
 Sea-dog, 446 
 Sea fire, 383 
 'Sea fishing on the English 
 
 coasts,' 7 
 Sea-fox, 443 
 Sea-loach, 121 
 Sea-needle, 388 
 Sean net, 310 
 Sea-perch, 466 
 Sea-pike, 466, 467 
 Sea-scorpion, 460 
 Sea-swine, 454 
 Seaton, 52 
 Sea-trout, fly fishing for, in the 
 
 sea, 154-161 ; flies for, 158, 
 
 160 ; in Norway, 161 ; landing 
 
 a thirteen-pounder, 166 ; in salt 
 
 water, 375-379 
 Seaweed, trouble caused by, in 
 
 tarpon fishing, 501, 503 
 Scene, 64 
 Seer-fish, 315, 475 
 Seine net, 310 
 Selache maxima, 443 
 Sennen Cove, 47, 358 
 Sepia, 122 
 Sepia officinalis, 128 
 Servellan wrasse, 454 
 Servings, materials for, 66 ; how 
 
 to finish off, 68-70 
 Sethe, 372 
 Sey pollack, 372 
 Shagreen ray, 411 
 Shaldon shiner, 163, 351 
 Sharks and shark fishing, 56, 276, 
 
 324, 441-447. 481, 496, 5 OI > 53 
 
INDEX 
 
 559 
 
 SHA 
 
 Sharp-nosed ray, 411 
 
 Sharp-toothed sea-bream, 448 
 
 Sheets, how to make fast, 224 
 
 Shellfish shops, 87 
 
 Shetlands, 36, 38, 40, 176, 431 
 
 Shiners, 380 
 
 Shore, fishing from, 180-220, 352 
 
 Shoreham, 55 
 
 Shrimp bylaw, 342 
 
 Shrimp nets, 339 
 
 Shrimp trawlers, 341 
 
 Shrimps used for bait, 121 ; and 
 
 plaice eggs, 405 ; at Genoa, 
 
 466 
 
 Sidmouth, 52 
 Silk twist, 67 
 Silkweed, 364 
 Siller fleuk, 403 
 Sillocks, 371 
 Silver doctor, 159 
 ' Silver king' or ' silver fish,' 489 
 Silver-sides, 396 
 Simon's Bay, 472, 473 
 Skate barrows, 410 
 Skate, common, 410 
 Skeet, 368 
 Skerries, 42 
 Skipjack, 388 
 Skipper, 388 
 Skittle-dog, 446 
 Skopster, 388 
 Skrae-fish, 372 
 Slapton Ley, 51 
 Slasher, 443 
 Sligo, 43 
 
 Slob trout, 161, 379 
 Small spotted dogfish, 447 
 Smear dab, 404 
 Smelt and smelt fishing, 121, 179, 
 
 206, 207, 394 
 Smerwick Harbour, 42 
 Smolts, salmon, caught in the sea 
 
 by fly-fishers, 154 ; the local 
 
 name of, 394 
 Smooth-sides, 452 
 Snails used for bait, 121 
 
 SPU 
 
 Snake bait, 118 
 
 Snake ring, 151, 185, 233 
 
 Snedden, 118 
 
 Snells, 496 
 
 Snoods, how to protect, 70 ; 
 attachment of hooks to, 71 ; for 
 conger, 74, 433-437 ; how to 
 twist, 80 ; plaited, 274 ; for 
 pollack or bass, 284 ; for tarpon 
 fishing, 496 
 
 ' Snook,' the, 474 
 
 Socotra, fishing off, 325 
 
 Sodger, 390 
 
 Soft crab, 93 
 
 Soil, 372 
 
 Soldier, 390, 452 
 
 Sole, 296, 403 
 
 Solea lascaris, 404 
 
 Solea lutea, 404 
 
 Solea variegata, 404 
 
 Solea vulgaris, 403 
 
 Solent, 17, 54, 207 
 
 Soleskin bait, 369 
 
 Soundings, 244 
 
 Southampton Water, 54 
 
 Southport Aquarium, 417, 433, 
 434 
 
 South Sea Islanders, their methods 
 of fishing, 485 
 
 Spanish mackerel, 387 
 
 Sparidce, 451 
 
 Spearling, 388 
 
 Spears, 466, 485 
 
 Sperm whale, the, 528, 536 ; boats 
 and ships charged by, 537 
 
 Spider crab, 331 
 
 Spiked-dog, 446 
 
 Spinning, for bass and pollack, 
 190 ; in Florida waters, 511 
 
 Spinous shark, 443 
 
 Spitalfields weavers, 460 
 
 Splicing reel lines, 80 
 
 Spotted gunnel, 121 
 
 Spotted ray, 412 
 
 Sprats, 122, 308 
 
 Spur-dog, 446 
 
560 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 SQU 
 
 Squid, imitation, gi ; described, 
 122 ; used as bait, 122, 129 ; 
 flying, 126 
 
 Staithes, 63 
 
 Starry ray, 412 
 
 Start, groundbait used off the, 134 
 
 Statistics, 294 
 
 Steenbrasem, the, 473 
 
 Steensgaard, Frederick, taxider- 
 mist, 508, 509 
 
 Stenlock, 372 
 
 Sting-fish, 460 
 
 Sting ray, 412 
 
 Sthikfisch, 395 
 
 Stonehaven, 39 
 
 Stornoway, 40 
 
 Strangford, 43, 425 
 
 Streaked gurnard, 453 
 
 Striped bonito, 466 
 
 Stromness, 444 
 
 Sturgeon, in the Sea of Azoff, 468 
 
 Suez Canal, rod fishing in the, 
 472 
 
 Sulphur-bottom whale, 536, 537 
 
 Surmullet, 355, 466 
 
 Suss, 447 
 
 Suyeen, 372 
 
 Sweet-lips, 454 
 
 Sweet William, 442, 446 
 
 Swivels, 238-240, 287, 438 
 
 Sword-fish, 388, 466 
 
 Swordick, 121, 369 
 
 TARBERT, 392 
 
 Tarpon, fishing for the, in the 
 
 Gulf of Mexico, 5, 487-510; 
 
 official description of, 489 ; 
 
 scales of, 489 ; size and power 
 
 of, 489, 494 ; suitable tackle 
 
 for, 492-496 ; wariness of, 501 ; 
 
 preserving a, 508, 509 
 Tasargelt, 469, 470 
 Tasmania, 475, 484 
 Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, kawai 
 
 fishing at, 484 
 
 TUB 
 
 Teify River, 45 
 
 Teignmouth, 52, 354 
 
 Tell-tales, 251 
 
 Tenby, 18, 29, 45, 205, 224, 278, 
 
 385 
 
 Thames estuary, the, 59, 408 
 Thornback ray, 411 
 Thorn hooks, 408, 409 
 Thrasher, 443 
 Three-spined cottus, 460 
 Three-spotted wrasse, 454 
 Throw-out line, 31, 209 
 Thunder and lightning, 159, 161 
 Thynnus pelamys, 328 
 Tibrie, 372 
 
 Tides, 15, 20, 58, 182, 219 
 Toad-fish, 458 
 
 Tobacco pipe stem as bait, 3^4 
 Tongue, 38 
 Tope, 442 
 Tor Bay, 4, 51 
 Torcross, 51 
 Torquay, 51 
 Torres Straits, 477 
 Torsk, 430 
 Torvyn, 45 
 
 Trace for spinning, 191 
 Trachinus draco, 458, 459 
 Trachinus vipera, 458, 460 
 Trailing, 256-263, 384 
 Tralee, 42 
 
 Trammel net, 308, 358 
 Trawling, 46, 293-307, 426 
 Tridents, 466 
 Trigla cuculus, 452 
 Trigla gurnardus, 452 
 Trigla hirundo, 452 
 Trigla lineata, 453 
 Trigla lyra, 453 
 Trigla obscura, 453 
 Tripe used for bait, 130, 364 
 Trolling, 256-263 
 Trot, 201, 285 
 Trout, origin of, 377 
 Trygon pastinaca, 412 
 Tubbot, 452 
 
561 
 
 Tubfish, 452 
 
 Tunny, the, and tunny fishing, 
 315, 325-328, 462, 466 ; mode 
 of capture, 467 ; at Zanzibar, 
 
 474 
 
 Turbot, 400, 402, 466 
 Turbrat, 403 
 Turtles, 485 
 Twisted gut, 80 
 Twisted snoods, 80 
 Two-hook tackle, 117 
 TV ( 'roes, 45 
 
 UNITED STATES, 416, 488 
 
 VADSO whale fishery, 542 
 
 Valentia Island, 41 
 
 Varanger Fjord, w-hnling in, 543 
 
 Varm, 131 
 
 Victoria, 475 
 
 Viper weever, 458, 460 
 
 WAGES, in the whale fisheries, 517 
 Waikato River, New Zealand, 484 
 Wales, fishing off, 349 
 Walton-on-the-Naze, 60, 342 
 Wash, the, 61 
 Wasp grubs, 364 
 Waterburn, 383 
 Waterville Bay, Kerry, 41 
 Wax, 66 
 
 Weevers, 458-460 
 Weights, 28, 230, 249 
 West coast of Scotland, sea fish- 
 ing on, 37 
 Wexford, 42 
 Weymouth, 53, 355, 359 
 Whaleboats, 520-526 ; American, 
 
 535 
 
 Whalebone, value of, 517 
 Whale lines, 521, 525, 532, 535, 
 
 542 ; splicing, 522 ; coiling, 
 
 522 
 
 WH1 
 
 Whale oil, 517 ; price of, 530, 
 
 535 
 
 Whalers, curious custom of, 391 
 
 Whales and thrasher, 443 ; Green- 
 land, 513 ; bottlenose, 529 ; 
 other varieties, 536, 542 
 
 Whaling, 513 ; derivation of the 
 word 'fall,' 51372. ; capturing 
 a Greenland whale, 514-517 ; 
 profits and risks of, 517 ; grow- 
 ing scarcity of whaler, 518 ; the 
 vessels employed, 518 ; timidity 
 of the Greenland whale, 520 ; 
 build and fittings of the whale- 
 boats, 520 ; lines, and harpoons, 
 521, 538-541 ; full equipment of 
 a large-sized boat , 525 ; method 
 of working the oars, 525 ; 
 dangers of the pursuit, 526-528, 
 532 ; books on, 528, 538 ; the 
 bottlenose whale fishery, 529 ; 
 the mode of capture, 530 ; an 
 amusing episode, 532 ; Ameri- 
 can whalers, 535 ; harpoon 
 guns, 538 ; the Finmarken 
 fisheries, 541 
 
 Whaling vessels, 518, 519, 527, 
 528, 530, 542 
 
 Wheat taken by sea bream, 449 
 
 Whelks used for bait, 130, 289, 
 420 
 
 Whiffing, 256-263, 282, 369, 375, 
 
 384 
 Whippings, materials for, 66 ; 
 
 how to finish off, 68, 70 
 Whip ray, 412 
 Whitby, 63 
 
 Whitebait, 130, 150, 208 
 Whitebait fly, 147, 149, 162, 
 
 351 
 
 White-eye, 431 
 White-herring, 390 
 White-hound, 442 
 White-mullet, 348 
 White salmon, 348 
 Whitesand Bay, Land's End, 358 
 
562 
 
 MODERN SEA FISHING 
 
 WHI 
 
 Whiting, 3, 150, 200, 422-424, 
 
 466, 482 
 
 Whiting pollack, 368 
 Whiting pout, 208, 425 
 Wick, 392, 444 
 Wide-gab, 458 
 William II., Emperor of Ger- 
 
 many, visits the Finmarken 
 
 whale fisheries, 543 
 Winch fittings, 151, 184 
 ' Windward,' the, 534 
 Wood, Mr. (New York), 492 
 Workhouse turbot, 400 
 Worthing, 55 
 
 ZEU 
 
 Wrasse, 453, 463, 465 
 Wriggle, 55, 118 
 
 YACHT rail protector, 270, 271 
 Yachts, fishing from, 269-313 
 Yarmouth, Great, 3, 8, 61, 395,402 
 Yarrell, cited, 404, 407, 467 
 Yorkshire coast, sea-fishing off 
 the, 61 
 
 ZANZIBAR Harbour, sport in, 474 
 '/.ens fabcr, 455 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 SPOTT1SWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE 
 
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