164 



DEEP-SEA FISHING. 



then got in amidships by a long-handled iron hook 

 called the " net-hook," and overhauled till the cod is 

 reached ; the end of this is hauled in 

 by the pinion, which is then cast off, 

 and the fish are measured into the 

 vessel's hold in quantities of about 

 three bushels at a time ; the master 

 using a wooden instrument called a 

 " mingle " to hold the net so that 

 only a certain quantity of fish shall 

 pass out at once. In this manner the 

 whole catch is worked through the 

 end of the cod or wash-hose into the 

 vessel's hold, the body of the net 

 being at the time secured alongside 

 by means of ropes called " girdlines." 

 Such a net will cost between 301. 

 and 4:01. 



" Stow-boating "is carried on both by day and night, 

 and, as might be expected, the state of the weather 

 makes very little difference in the catch if the sprats 

 are on the coast. The fishing generally begins early in 

 November, and is carried on with more or less success 

 till about the middle of February. At the early part 

 of the season the fish are mostly small, but towards the 

 end of December they vary a good deal in size, and 

 include a great many full-grown fish nearly or quite 

 ready to spawn ; at the later part of the sprat season 

 fewer large fish are caught. When the shoals are of 

 considerable size, and the captures are joroportionately 

 great, very few fish besides sprats are taken ; but at 

 other times young herrings and other small fishes of 

 many kinds are frequently mixed with them. Sf)rats 

 are sold wholesale by the bushel, and are generally 



Mingle. 



