SEA ANGLING 35 



extended by the occasional employment of rod and line from 

 rocks and piers, or from a small boat in close proximity to the 

 shore. 



The appliances required are of a very simple nature, and not at 

 all costly. The long, heavy rod and strong tackle of the sea angler 

 and professional fisherman are not at all essential to our purpose, 

 for our work will be confined almost exclusively to shallow water, 

 and the fish to be caught will be chiefly of small size. True it is 

 that one may occasionally find his light tackle snapped and carried 

 away by the unexpected run of a large fish, for cod and other large 

 species often approach close to the shore, and bite at baits intended 

 for the smaller fish that make their home among the partly 

 submerged rocks of the coast ; but such surprises will not frequently 

 occur, and the young naturalist may learn all he wants to know of 

 the fishes of our shallow waters with the aid of a light rod of about 

 nine or ten feet and one or two light lines of no great length. 



It must not be understood, however, that we assume the 

 reader's disinclination to know anything of the inhabitants of deep 

 water, but rather that we consider the whole subject of deep-sea 

 fishing quite beyond the scope of this work. It is a fact that quite a 

 large number of species, the forms and habits of which are extremely 

 interesting, live exclusively on deep bottoms. These should 

 undoubtedly be studied by all who are interested in the various 

 phases of marine life ; but unless the reader is prepared to 

 practise sea fishing in all its branches to put his trust in the 

 restless sea, supplied with all the necessary heavy gear, and to 

 risk those internal qualms that arise from the incessant swaying of 

 the boat on open waters, he should make arrangements with the 

 professional deep-sea fisher preferably a trawler for the supply of 

 those disreputable species that invariably form part of the haul, 

 while the better-known food fishes can always be obtained from 

 dealers for purposes of study. 



On one occasion we had a rather unique and very successful inter- 

 view with a friendly trawler. She was sailing slowly towards her 

 station in a south-western fishing port, while two of her crew were 

 clearing her nets, and throwing all refuse into the sea. We rowed be- 

 hind her in order to see the nature of the rejected portion of the haul, 

 and finding that it included specimens of interesting fishes of ill re- 

 pute, dead but perfectly fresh, we followed her track, and collected a 

 few for future examination. Presently our movements were watched 

 from aboard, and we were invited to pull up to larboard, where a short 



