178 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [88] 



about the size of the end of one's forefinger; but this can be contracted 

 into a very small space, and thus afford the eager fish ample opportunity 

 to secure a good hold of the hook while seeking the tempting but yielding 

 morsel upon it. A bait of this kind will last more than an hour without 

 being renewed, even when mackerel are biting sharply. When the fish 

 are "picking" or less inclined to take the hook, a fisherman is often not 

 obliged to bait his jigs more than once in a whole day. Sometimes the 

 fishermen cut out a small circular piece from the throat of the mackerel, 

 which they place on their hook above the scraped bait. This throat 

 piece is quite firm and for awhile prevents the soft skins composing the 

 bait below it from being entangled on the point of the hook and thus 

 preventing the latter from easily catching the biting fish. 



In the early days of the mackerel hook fishery the toll bait chiefly 

 used was made of small mackerel, and sometimes of large ones too when 

 small fish could not be obtained. The viscera of the mackerel were also 

 frequently used in the absence of better. From 1835 to 1840 menhaden 

 came into general use, and?»were subsequently always in high favor. They 

 had, however, been in common use by Gloucester fishermen at the very 

 commencement of the century. They were caught in gill nets. It was 

 the custom of the Gloucester people to leave home a little after tea, set 

 their nets ofi' Kettle Island, and lie there till about midnight. They 

 would then haul their nets, pick out the fish, and start off to the mack- 

 erel grounds.* 



There can be no question that the custom of chopping up small 

 mackerel for bait was detrimental to the mackerel fishery in succeeding 

 years, and that the introduction of menhaden was a benefit to the fishery 

 in more ways than one. As a " toll " bait for the mackerel, menhaden 

 is believed to be better than any other fish ; the mackerel seem to prefer 

 it ; and the presence in its flesh of a quantity of oil renders it especially 

 convenient for tho use of fishermen, since in the process of " chumming- 

 up," presently to be described, a small quantity of ground menhaden 

 bait will spread over a large area of water. In the Eeport of the Com- 

 missioner of Fisheries, Part V, pp. 143 to 147, may be found a discussion 

 of the comparative merits of herring and menhaden as a bait for 

 mackerel. 



The quantity of menhaden bait carried by a mackerel schooner on a 

 trip of two and a half to three months to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence 

 vanes, according to the size of the vessel, from 25 to 40 barrels. In 

 addition to this tbey were accustomed to carry 5 to 10 barrels of clams. 

 Capt. Sylvanus Smith, of Gloucester, stated to the Halifax Commis- 

 sion that a vessel fitting out for a four months' trip to the Gulf of Saint 

 Lawrence would need to be supplied with 40 barrels of pogie bait, worth 



* Mr. Earll writes : " Daniel Cameron, of Southport, states that pogies were first 

 used in Maine about 1844, and by 1846 had come into general use. People of this sec- 

 tion claim to have introduced the pogy, Brevoortia tyrannus, as mackerel bait, but with 

 whom the practice originated I was unable to learn." 



