ROUND THE BRITISH AND IRISH COASTS 57 



steamer traffic has worked evil things for the sea angler here, 

 as in other places ; and though there are still fish to be caught, 

 they are certainly not numerous. A very long rod is required 

 for fishing from this pier, and the best sport is obtained by the 

 favoured few who obtain orders to fish at the extreme end. In 

 the autumn there is fair whiting fishing in the offing. There are 

 various people in the town who sell baits. Ragworms, called 

 locally lugs, are plentiful, and the enlarged ragworm which is 

 found among rocks is also obtainable. 



At Folkestone the fishing in the offing is very much the 

 same as at Dover. There is some railing to be done over the 

 rocky ledge near Cock Point, where, too, a few conger and 

 pout are to be found. In Eastware Bay there is a sandy 

 bottom on which flat fish may be caught, and between that 

 bay and Shakespeare's Cliff is a rocky bottom over which the 

 local men rail persistently, but do not, so far as I know, often 

 meet with very great success. 



Deal is the happy hunting ground of the London sea fisher. 

 I have counted eighteen of them, all fishing with rods from the 

 steamboat stage at the end of the pier. The fishing from the 

 pier in summer would be doubtless better if there were not so 

 many steamers touching at the landing-stage. The fishing in 

 the right season is distinctly good, more particularly for whiting ; 

 but the best sport is usually obtained during spring tides, and 

 when the water is neither too thick from gales, nor too clear 

 from absence of storms. A south-westerly gale, while it does 

 not much affect the Deal coast, stirs up the Goodwin Sands 

 and thickens the water to such an extent that fishing becomes 

 almost impossible. 



A few pollack are caught from the pier in July, sometimes 

 later ; but the best of the fishing from that point of vantage is 

 certainly in October and the early part of November. Herrings 

 come to the place in great numbers in early autumn ; they are 



i 



