[87] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 



(c.) The mackerel gaff. — The mackerel gaff is an iron rod a quarter of 

 an inch in diameter, 3J feet long, having' at one end two recurved sharp 

 points about 2 inches long and separated at the extremities by an inter- 

 val of one-halt* to three-quarters of an inch, returning in a liue parallel 

 with the direction of the rod. The mackerel gaff is fastened to a wooden 

 handle about 10 or 12 feet long, and was used when the mackerel were 

 schooling thickly alongside of the vessel and were not inclined to take 

 the hook. The gaff was thrust among the fish and rapidly drawn back, 

 often impaling one and sometimes two mackerel at a time. Tbis im- 

 plement has not been used since the introduction of seines, and but 

 rarely during the last twenty years. 



(d.) The mackerel " bob" or " bobber.'" — This is an instrument resembling 

 the mackerel gaff in the manner of its use. In its rude form the bob 

 was a stick of wood, around the end of which three or four cod-hooks, 

 with their barbs filed off, were fastened. The same idea has since been 

 developed in various ways, the most elaborate form being that illus- 

 trated in our plate. The bob is fastened to a string and drawn through 

 a school of fish, impaling them in the same manner as the gaff. This 

 instrument was discontinued long before the gaff, and, in fact, has never 

 been so popular. These bobs were used only when the mackerel were 

 schooling in great numbers alongside of the vessel and refusing to bite. 



(e.) Bait and apparatus for its preparation. — Bait used in the mackerel 

 fishery is of two kinds, (1) that pnt upon the hooks, and (2) that thrown 

 into the water to attract the fish. 



The method of baiting the jigs which has been adopted by mackerel 

 fishermen is somewhat peculiar, and a description of the process may 

 be of interest in tbis place. 



As a rule, when a mackerel schooner first arrives on the fishing ground 

 and is about to begin fishing with hook and line, the jigs which are to 

 be immediately used are baited with small circular pieces of pork rind, 

 two or three of these being put on each hook. Sometimes, however, 

 no one but the skipper uses pork-rind bait, the other members of the 

 crew preferring to wait until some mackerel are caught from which they 

 can procure a supply of bait for their books. The favorite way of bait- 

 ing mackerel hooks is as follows, namely: Several thin strips about a 

 half inch wide and three to five inches long, are cut either from the 

 belly of the mackerel or from the lower portion of the body on either 

 side of the anal fin.* When a sufficient number of these slices have 

 been obtained they arc cut into sections, each of which is, approximately, 

 a half inch square. A large number of these pieces are put on the hook, 

 completely filling the bend, after which the baits are scraped with the 

 back of a knife in such a manner as to remove everything but the tough 

 white skin, which, when distended in the water, forms a soft pulpy mass 



* Strips for bait cut from near the anal fin are usually preferred, siuce they cannot 

 so easily be torn from the book as can the fatter and tenderer strips taken from the 

 abdomen. 



