THE MACKEREL-HOOK FISHERY. 279 



seven to twelve fishing cleats in his berth at the rail. On these cleats are fastened an assortment 

 of lines with jigs of various sizes, the heaviest being used when the mackerel are biting fast or 

 when the wind is blowing fresh; the lightest, when the water is very smooth, or when the mackerel 

 are "picking," or nibbling daintily. 



The fishermen always made their jigs in molds of metal or soap-stone, this operation being 

 similar to the old-fashioned method of making bullets. In former days these molds were made of 

 iron, but many of the fishermen, being dissatisfied with the shape, constructed them for their own 

 use of lead. At present the soap-stone jig molds and the lead and pewter constitute a part of the 

 outfit of a vessel. 



When jigs were first introduced, however, it was customary for fishermen to cast them for 

 themselves in molds improvised in buckets of sand or ashes, afterwards beating into shape the 

 rough castings, and boring the hole for the line. This custom was prevalent on some vessels as 

 late as 1850. In the later years of this fishery the fishermen became very critical in the matter of 

 jigs, and were not satisfied unless they were elegantly shaped and brilliantly polished. The lines 

 were six or eight fathoms in length, of cotton, being either hawser or shroud laid. Of later years 

 these have always been of cotton. In early days, when the heavier jigs were in vogue, much larger 

 lines were used than at a later period. Since 1860 it has been customary to use a kind of snood, 

 called "snapper-line," made of strong linen thread, and usually colored blue. The "snapper-lines" 

 are from 15 to 18 inches long, one end being bent to the jig, and the other fastened to the fishing- 

 line with what is called a " water-knot." During the voyage the lines are generally coiled up and 

 hung upon the fishing-cleats on the waist when not in use. Besides each man's stock of lines, with 

 jigs of different sizes, fastened to the cleats at his berth, a quantity of extra lines and hooks are 

 carried by the vessel. 



THE MACKEREL FLY-HOOK. The mackerel fly-hook, formerly very popular and introduced 

 before 1850, has been discontinued since 1860. This is an extra hook, on a ganging from 12 to 15 

 inches long, fastened to the jig-line 8 or 10 inches above the jig. Not being weighted, this hook 

 floats at an angle when the jig is sinking, and by usiug it two mackerel are sometimes caught at 

 once, one biting at the jig and one on the fly-hook. The fly-hook went out of favor because it was 

 liable to become entangled with the other fishing gear. 



THE MACKEREL- GAFF. The mackerel-gaff is an iron rod a quarter of an inch in diameter, 3J 

 feet long, having at oue end two recurved sharp points about 2 inches long, and separated at the 

 extremities by an interval of one-half to three-quarters of an inch, returning in a line parallel with 

 the direction of the rod. The mackerel-gaff is fastened to a wooden handle about 10 or 12 feet 

 long, and was used when the mackerel were schooling thickly alongside of the vessel and were not 

 inclined to take the hook. The gaff was thrust among the fish and rapidly drawn back, often 

 impaling one and sometimes two mackerel at a time. This implement has not been used since the 

 introduction of seines and but rarely during the last twenty years. 



THE MACKEREL "BOB" OR "BOBBER." This is an instrument resembling the mackerel-gaff 

 in the manner of its use. In its rude form the bob was a stick of wood, around the end of which 

 three or four cod hooks, with their barbs filed off, were fastened. The same idea has since been 

 developed in various ways. The bob is fastened to a string and drawn through a school of fish, 

 impaling them in the same manner as the gaff. This instrument was discontinued long before the 

 gaff, and, in fact, has never been so popular. These bobs were used only when the mackerel were 

 schooling in great numbers alongside of the vessel and refusing to bite. 



BAIT AND APPARATUS FOR ITS PREPARATION. Bait used in the mackerel fishery is of two 

 kinds, (1) that put upon the hooks and (2) that thrown into the water to attract the fish. 



