[93] HISTORY OF THE MACKEREL FISHERY. 



the oily menhaden under foot with their heavy fishing boots, washing 

 the pulpy mass of flesh and the oil with buckets of water out through 

 the scuppers of the vessel. Another statement, and perhaps the most 

 correct one, is that at first the fishermen made toll bait by boiling a cod- 

 fish or haddock until it was nearly cooked, when it was taken by the 

 t;iil and beaten over the sides of the boat or vessel, causing the fibers 

 of the fish to separate in small jfieces, which, considering their white- 

 ness, made a very attractive bait. This practice was still in vogue 

 among the boat fishermen of Maine as late as 1849 and 1850. 



The process of throwing toll bait, of late in practice, may now be de- 

 scribed. Several buckets of the ground bait arc put into the boxes, 

 the positions of which have already been described, and to it several 

 buckets of water are added, the mass being thus reduced to a proper 

 consistency by stirring it up with the bait heavers, which are scoop- 

 shaped contrivances made of tin on the ends of wooden handles 2 or 

 3 feet in length. The vessel is "hove to" under mainsail and foresail, 

 or sometimes under mainsail, making a square drift to leeward. One 

 man — generally the skipper — stands forward of the main rigging with 

 the bait-heaver and throws out the bait, something in tlie manner of a 

 man sowing seed broadcast, by a sweeping motion of his right arm, 

 scattering it over a space of 15 or 20 feet along the side of the vessel. 

 The oily particles slowly sink and spread out under the influence of the 

 whirling eddies caused by \]ie receding vessel. As the vessel drifts 

 away and one scattering of bait is on the point of disappearing from 

 sight, another lot is thrown, and so a succession of waves of bait is left 

 in the wake of the vessel. In the mean time the man who is throwing 

 the bait puts out two lines and thus ascertains whether the mackerel 

 have been attracted to the sides. As soon as the fish begin to bite, the 

 man sings out, "Here they are!*' or "Here they gnaw!"' and the crew 

 rush to their places and begin fishing. 



When the fish appear, they are sometimes in small numbers and bite 

 daintily, but often they come in immense schools and bite as fast as the 

 hooks touch the water.* 



* "Jigging mackerel." — " Jigging mackerel" is a method peculiar to mackerel-catch- 

 ers that superseded the old way called "trailing," or taking them while the vessel was 

 under headway. The manner of jigging is peculiarly interesting to new beholders. 

 The vessel is kept comparatively motionless; a large quantitv of poor mackerel chopped 

 into mince-meat is thrown upon the water, which brings them to the surface. So 

 much of this has been done that it has, in a great measure, destroyed their appetites, 

 and sharp-pointed hooks of a sufficient length to reach the fish have been resorted to. 



A line of the color of the water, called the jig line, attached to a lead of a finger's 

 length, say one-half inch in diameter, diminished at the end towards the hook which 

 is solid in the lead called a "jig lea,!." Bait of such as is thrown overboard is put on 

 the hook aiiil thrown also among the " floating bait," or more properly the floating fish. 

 Thus prepared, the fisherman has little else to do but to draw in the line and snap off 

 the fish in a tub prepared for that purpose ;i little faster than can be easily imagined 

 by the land fisherman. From 50 to SO barrels have often been taken on a good "fish- 

 ing day" in this way by a crew of (! or 8 hands; oftentimes several boys comprise a 

 portion of the company. — (Barnstable Patriot, Nov. 15, 1S36.) 



