50 THE SEA SHOBE 



the necessary proficiency in casting ought to be acquired without 

 much difficulty. 



In some of the sandy bays of the south-west, long lines with a 

 heavy lead at both ends and baited hooks at short intervals 

 throughout the whole length, are placed on the sand at low tide 

 close to the water's edge, and left unwatched until the next tide is 

 out. As far as our observations go this primitive mode of fishing 

 is usually anything but successful, the receding of the tide generally 

 revealing a long row of clean hooks, with, perhaps, one or two 

 dead or half-dead fish ; and it is probable that most of the bait is 

 devoured by crabs and other crustaceans before the water becomes 

 sufficiently deep to allow the desired fishes to reach it. 



There is one other method of fishing on which we may make a 

 few remarks, although it hardly comes under the heading of 

 shore fishing. We refer to a method of catching surface fishes 

 from a moving boat, which method is known as whiffing. The line 

 is weighted with a lead which must be regulated according to the 

 speed of the boat. If the boat is an ordinary rowing-boat, kept 

 going at only a moderate speed, a few ounces of lead will be 

 sufficient, but a whiffing line trailing behind a sailing boat 

 travelling in a good breeze will require a pound or two of lead to 

 keep the bait only a little below the surface. 



Beyond the lead we have three or four yards of gimp or strong 

 gut, at the end of which is a single hook fitted with a spinner, or 

 baited with some attractive natural or artificial bait. Whatever be 

 the bait used, there will certainly be more or less spinning caused 

 by the resistance offered by the water, hence it will be necessary to 

 have a swivel beyond the lead. 



When whiffing near the shore, care must be taken to avoid 

 outlying rocks that approach the surface of the water, or a sudden 

 snapping of the line will give you an unwelcome warning of their 

 existence. Further, we should note that the fishes which are to be 

 caught when whiffing do not always swim at the same depth, thus 

 it will be advisable to fish at different distances from the surface 

 by varying either the weight of the lead or the speed of the boat. 



