[95] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 185 



tlie barrel announces to the men that the fish have struck. The men 

 rush to their positions, and a scene of great activity and excitement 

 begins. The fish are now within four or five fathoms of the side of the 

 vessel, but they soon come much nearer; looking over the rail we see 

 their mottled backs as they swim to and fro alongside the vessel. 

 The lines are shortened up as the mackerel rise, and now the time re- 

 quired for throwing over the jig and jerking it back with a mackerel 

 fast to it is only a few seconds. The men throw out their lines, pull 

 them in, and, without glancing at the fish, dexterously "slat" them into 

 the barrels, the jigs being torn out of their mouths by the same motion 

 which casts the line back into the water; two twists of the wrist are 

 sufficient to accomplish this feat. The mackerel are large — "No. I's" — 

 and in fifteen or twenty minutes the best fishermen have their barrels- 

 full. When a man's barrel is filled he springs from the rail, rolls it back 

 towards the center of the deck, and puts an empty barrel in its place. 

 The fish may continue actively biting for ten minutes or for several 

 hours, but usually the sharp biting is over very soon, and the mackerel 

 begin to "pick." Now the work is less exciting, though much more ex- 

 acting upon the skill of the fishermen. When the fish are "picking,"^ 

 a high-line fisherman will catch quantities, and the greenhorn will catch 

 none, and even among the most skillful fishermen there is a great dif- 

 ference in their success at this time. 



It should be stated that all the time mackerel have been biting, four 

 men have been actively employed in throwing bait over the side, at the 

 same time attending to their lines like the remainder of the crew. The 

 cook heaves bait in the position farthest forward, and one of the boys 

 in the position farthest aft, while amidships the skipper and one of the 

 most experienced of the crew are similarly engaged.* 



When the fish begin to "pick," the skipper reconnoiters for a better 

 position, and finding that other vessels are having good fishing, orders 

 the crew to coil in their lines and to make sail ; away we go in search of 

 another "spurt of mackerel." 



The excitement among the crew, when the mackerel are biting fast, 

 can hardly be described. When the fishing begins, the drumming of 

 the mackerel in the empty barrels is inexpressibly cheering to the fish- 

 ermen, especially if they have been unsuccessfully hunting for fish on 

 previous days, and adds to their excitement. This sound ceases as the 

 barrels begin to fill up, the resonance of the wood being deadened by 

 the accumulation of fish ; it is, however, from time to time repeated, as 

 empty barrels are substituted for those which have been filled. Every 

 man is striving to the top of his bent to catch as many mackerel as pos- 

 sible while the "spurt" continues, and, if possible, to catch a larger 



* Ou the mackerel " hookers" the cook stood to fish just aft of the forerigging. The 

 large schooners sometimes had a boy forward of the forerigging, but this was not the 

 rule by any means. Each man or boy had a certain number of inches measured on 

 the rail and assigned him as his berth. The length of a berth at the rail varied from 

 2^ to 3 feet. 



