312 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [2] 



throws it overboard. Having removed the skins and viscera (the latter 

 makes an excellent bait) from as many birds as he has at hand, he 

 pounds the bodies with the back of a heavy knife or stick, breaking the 

 bones, or, as he would term it, " mummies them up." This beaten and 

 bruised mass of fl^^sh and bones is then cut up into small pieces of suit- 

 able sizes to be used as bait. At this point the fisherman is influenced 

 by the number of birds he has on hand. Should the supply be bounti- 

 ful, he divides the bodies into comparatively large sections, w hile, on the 

 other hand, if the birds are scarce, he must exercise the strictest econ- 

 omy, and subdivides the material into correspondingly small pieces, 

 large enough only to "point the hooks," while an inferior and less de- 

 sirable bait may be used on the shanks. 



On some parts of the Grand Bank cod are found in great abundance, 

 and the clams taken from the "pokes" (stomachs) often furnish a con- 

 siderable percentage of the requisite amount of bait for the trip. The 

 roes of the cod, when partially developed, are also used as bait, since 

 they make a fairly attractive lure, and if properly attached to the hooks 

 cannot be easily pulled off by the fish. When this bait is used the 

 "pea" is cut into strips in such a manner that they may be turned 

 inside out ; the hook is then passed through and through the mem- 

 braneous covering in several places, a turn being made around the 

 shank each time. 



Shack-fishing differs from other styles of Bank fishing only in the 

 method of obtaining bait supplies. A vessel engaged in shack-fishing 

 remains on the Bank until she has secured her fare, and, as before 

 stated, depends solely upon getting her bait on the ground iustead of — 

 as is the custom of other vessels — leaving the Bank and running into 

 the harbors of Newfoundland and ISTova Scotia to obtain a " baiting" 

 of herring, capelin, or squid. 



The method of shack-fishing has its advantages and disadvantages. 

 One of the advantages, and a very important one, is that no time is 

 lost in seeking bait, and the vessel is enabled to prosecute her fishing 

 on the bank wlienever favorable days occur. Ou the other hand it must 

 be acknowledged that the kind of bait emj^loyed by the shack-fishermen 

 is com])aratively unattractive to the fish, and the sup])ly oftentimes has 

 of late years been inadequate; consequently, it has generally been found 

 more profitable for our bankers to obtain supplies of fresh bait in the 

 provincial ports. At the present shack-fishing is rarely undertaken. 

 It may be worthy of mention, however, to state that fine fares of cod 

 have been obtaiued by this method as late as 1874:-'75, and, indeed, 

 this mode of capture has, since then, sometimes been preferred by the 

 most experienced fishermen, especially when cod have been extremely 

 abundant ou the Banks; for when a huge school of fish is around a 

 vessel a fisheniuin is very reluctant to heave in cable and till away, even 

 for a "fresh baiting." 



As birds were considered as good or better than any other kind of 



