THE COD AND COD-FISHERY 303 



are useful, but not the best, and cost the fishermen fifteen 

 to fifty cents per hundred. They are tough, and hold well 

 on a hook. Mussels would be used if they would hold on 

 the hooks: Bits of sea-gulls that the men shoot for the 

 purpose are also employed. Even artificial bait has been 

 tried with modified success, rubber fish with hooks at- 

 tached. Little net bags enclosing baits of mussels and 

 gelatine an invention of Mr. John Hay ward have been 

 used with some success. 



But the bait question is ever the hook-and-liner's worst 

 difficulty. The tendency is to give up the puzzle and use 

 what is known as a jigger, a piece of lead the shape of a 

 fish, with two enormous hooks projecting from the bottom. 

 This is " jigged" up and down about a fathom from the 

 bottom , and sometimes hooks fish very quickly . It naturally 

 sticks into the fish anywhere it strikes him, and the result 

 is that many fish get away with bellies ripped open, eyes 

 pulled out, etc. The shoals seem to follow these injured 

 fish off the ground, though rather for the purpose of eating 

 them than from fear of a similar fate. In some districts 

 the use of the jigger is forbidden, as it is believed to be 

 detrimental to the fishery. 



The first advance in methods seems to have been putting 

 more than one hook on a line, till the present system of long 

 lines, called "bultows" or " trawls," with as many as three 

 thousand hooks on a line, was developed. Lines up to seven 

 miles in length have been used. This is still a very favour- 

 ite method, and is practically within reach of the poorest. 

 Many large cargoes are now "made" on the inshore grounds 

 in this way, as they have been made for many years on the 

 Grand Banks far out at sea. But even this method has its 



