146 



DEEP-SEA FISHING. 



October. This fishing is mostly carried on at from 10 

 to 30 miles from the coast, as the herrings at that time 

 are approaching the shore, and the cod follow them 

 closely. The same welled-smacks are used for hand- 

 line fishing as for longlining, and they carry the same 

 number of hands ; in fact, the only difference is in the 

 fishing grounds and the kind of line employed. The 

 handline is about 45 fathoms long, having at the end 

 a sinker of lead of from 5^ to 7 pounds weight, with a 



Lead and Sprawl-wire op Cod-line. 



stout iron wire called the " sprawl-wire " fixed in it 

 near the top, at right angles to the body of the 

 sinker, and slightly curved downwards at the ends ; to 

 each of these is fastened a snood of smaller line six feet 

 long, supporting a single large cod-hook twice the size 

 of those used on the longline, as with these handlines 

 no fish but cod are taken. We have seen the hook 

 sometimes fastened to the snood by a number of open 

 strands of soft twine about three inches long, so tliat 

 the fish cannot bite through the line and carry off the 

 hook, the teeth passing between the strands without 

 injuring them. This plan answers all the purpose of 



