HAND-LINE FISHING. 71 



valuable fish, conger. This fisli, contrary to the general 

 opinion, appears to be a very particular feeder. It will take 

 into its mouth and bite, but as a rule ultimately reject, any 

 but fresh bait. 



Whelks {Buccinum undatum). — Whelks are not found here 

 in abundance and do not occupy the important position 

 among bulter baits here that they do among the North 

 Sea cod fishermen. They are tough and make excellent 

 bait for bulters. It must be recollected that, owing to the 

 length of time the bulter is under water, quite a different 

 kind of bait is required for this fishery to that required 

 for the hand- line fishery. Mussels {Mytilus edulis), "queens'^ 

 [Pecten) , and such soft bait is only of use on hooks that are 

 let down into the water and pulled up again in a few minutes ; 

 a prolonged immersion would render them too soft for the 

 hook to hold them, and even a comparatively short time on a 

 bulter-hook is enough to render them unattractive as bait. 



Condition of Fishery. — With regard to the condition of the 

 bulter fishery the men consider they do not catch as 

 much fish now as they used to do twenty or even eight 

 years ago, although their gear is eight times as long as it 

 used to be, and the boats are larger, better, and more 

 numerous. It is their opinion this is due to over-fishing, 

 and as a proof of this they point out that very much smaller 

 conger are exposed for sale on the Quay now than used to 

 be the case. It is said that Plymouth is more deeply inter- 

 ested in this fishery than is any other port in the west 

 country. 



6. Hand-line Fishing.'^ 



Boats. — There are, say, 110 small boats, most of them 

 under five tons, and 100 small rowing boats under one ton, 

 engaged in this fishing. 



As a rule they fish for particular kinds of fish, going to 

 particular grounds for the various kinds of fish according to 

 the time of year, tide, weather, and so forth. 



Hand Lines, Bottom Fishing, Railing or Whiffing. — The 



* Besides the information derived from practical fishermen included in this 

 section of my report, I have freely used the publications of Bellamy (No. 33, b), 

 Loid (No. 17), Young (No. 25), Wilcocks (No. 2i), and Brooks (No. 5). 



