62 SALT-WATER FISHES 



Thirdly, he may set it upright in the waters, letting it drift at 

 right angles to the direction in which he knows the shoal to be 

 moving, and thereby catching the fishes by the gills — i.e. the 

 drift-net. Lastly, he may sweep the sea-bed and snatch up 

 everything, animal, vegetable, and often mineral, that lies in the 

 way of the net — i.e. the trawl. Some attempt will now be 

 made clearly to explain the construction and use of these four 

 types of net in the order given, for it may safely be asserted 

 that between them they account for quite four-fifths of the 

 fish brought to market. 



The trammel is a most ingenious contrivance, a self-acting 

 fish-trap that takes a great variety of fish, such as red mullet, 

 bass, and other fish, as well as large lobsters, the last by no 

 means unfrequently. It consists of three walls of netting set 

 one alongside the other, the middle one about twice the length 

 of the others, but gathered into the same length, so as to leave 

 much slack line. It should further be mentioned that the 

 mesh — i.e. the size of the square hole between the strands — of 

 the two outer nets is much larger than that of the middle one. 

 The net being set up and down with the tide, and not across 

 it (this of the greatest importance, and yachtsmen often ruin 

 their chances at trammelling through their fatal preference for 

 setting the nets across the tide, in some vague hope that the 

 latter may drive the fish against it), it is not difficult to see 

 what happens. A fish strikes against one of the outer nets, 

 and the next forward stroke carries it through the large mesh 

 and against the small-meshed net within. It then dashes 

 forward, carrying the fine net through the larger mesh of the 

 third net the other side, and it is now hopelessly caught in 

 a kind of purse of its own making, every struggle only 

 tightening the coils. Such, roughly, is the principle on which 

 the trammel works, though in practice there are various details 

 to be considered : the nice adjustment of the cork buoys on 

 the upper edge and of the leaden weights on the lower, the 

 choice of spot at which to " shoot " the net — setting a net is 



