18 MODERN SEA FISHING 



handling. It is always desirable to use as light leads as pos- 

 sible, and as the tide is at one time not running at all and a 

 few hours later may be racing four or five knots, 1 the sea angler 

 should provide himself with leads of different weights which 

 he can change from time to time. The professional usually 

 neglects this refinement, and you may see him fishing with a 

 three-pound weight in perfectly still water, where an ounce 

 lead would suffice. The lighter the lead, within certain limits, 

 the easier it is to feel the bite of the fish and to strike him ; 

 and the amateur sea fisherman will often catch very many more 

 fish than the professional, simply and solely because he uses 

 the lightest lead possible under the circumstances. 



When visiting a new place it is most desirable to learn the 

 local peculiarities, especially with regard to the tidal currents, 

 as soon as possible. One good fishing ground may be only 

 approachable during neap tides ; on another very few fish will 

 be caught except during the full run of the highest spring tides. 

 Again, certain places may be absolutely dangerous during 

 spring tides. For instance, the race off Caldy Island is by no 

 means a safe place for a small boat when the tide is ebbing 

 fast down the Bristol Channel. I was once caught there my- 

 self when fishing for mackerel. There was a very slight breeze 

 blowing, and we were half sailing, half drifting along with the 

 tide. I was paying little attention to the land, but, looking up, 

 saw that we were passing it at an amazing rate, and that in front 

 of me were moving hills of water. .Before I could alter the 

 course of our little craft we were among these said hills, and a 

 very lively time I and a little Welsh boy who was with me had 



1 A nautical mile is about 260 yards longer than a land mile. The knots 

 on the log line are 50$ feet apart. That is to say, there would be 120 of them 

 in a mile of line. Thus, as there are 120 half-minutes in an hour, the distance 

 between two knots is in the same proportion to a mile as half a minute is to an 

 hour. Therefore, the number of knots which run off the reel in half a minute 

 is equivalent to the number of miles per hour the vessel is running. Patent 

 logs are superseding the old knotted log line. 



