210 MODERN SEA FISHING 



which to fix the hooks. The two side pieces of the winder are 

 eighteen inches in length, and they are placed eight inches 

 apart. 



This tackle is used in the following way. The line is 

 uncoiled and spread out in S-shaped curves on the beach, the 

 landward end of it being fastened firmly to the winder, which 

 is stuck into the sand. The hooks are then baited, and if 

 mussels are used these are often tied on by means of a piece of 

 yarn, thread, cotton, &c. Scotch fishermen use a fragment of 

 wool for the same purpose. Lugs are perhaps the best bait ; 

 mackerel and squid are also good. The line being baited, the 

 button on the end of the whipcord is placed in the cleft of the 

 stick. The exact position of the lead on the whipcord must 

 depend on the height of the caster and the length of the pole, 

 a short man having to slip it up rather nearer the button than 

 a tall man. 



By means of the pole the lead is now swung backwards and 

 then pitched forwards, not too straight, but rather up in the 

 air, for the weight and the line has to be raised. It is not 

 always necessary to cast out a great distance, for sometimes fish 

 will be feeding close along shore. 



If only one line is used the fisherman will, of course, hold 

 it in his hand, and immediately he feels a bite haul it in. If 

 he has two lines, it is a common practice to fasten the end of 

 one to a supple wand six or seven feet long, which has been 

 s.uck upright in the sand. By watching this wand the fisher- 

 man can at once see if he has a bite from a fish of any size. 

 The method by which this tackle is pitched out is decidedly 

 clever, and I have no doubt the baits can be projected a 

 greater distance than can a paternoster. But after all it is a 

 very rough-and-ready kind of fishing, much akin to the laying 

 of long lines, for either the fish hook themselves or escape with 

 the bait more often the latter. If mussels are used as baits 



