252 MODERN SEA FISHING 



There is a good deal of this sort of fishing carried on off 

 the coasts of Devonshire, Cornwall, and the Channel Islands, 

 the favourite bait being living sand-eels, contained in peculiar 

 baskets called ' courges,' which are towed behind the boat. 

 This method of drift lining is, of course, hand-line fishing pure 

 and simple, though if the snood is long and fine it is as killing 

 as any newer method. Still^ I infinitely prefer to use a rod 

 either the boat rod already described or one about eleven feet, 

 which is a convenient length for large pollack and bass. It 

 must be strong, but may very well be made of East India cane 

 with a greenheart top. The same line and reel may be used as 

 for paternoster fishing. In fact our old friend the paternoster, 

 with a very slight modification, will answer the purpose very 

 well indeed if fitted with a lead so light that it will be carried 

 out by the current. On the last loop of the paternoster fasten 

 a swivel, and to this swivel attach three or four yards of gut, at 

 the end of it being the hook. When I say ' gut ' it must be 

 understood that if the fish run large, the gut must be double or 

 treble and of good quality. 



For bass of size salmon gut is necessary. The largest of 

 them may be caught on single salmon gut, provided it is new 

 and sound and there is an abundance of running line on the 

 reel. In the case of big pollack it is absolutely necessary to 

 have tackle strong enough to give them the butt ; for these fish 

 have a nasty habit, as I will explain later on, of diving down 

 to the bottom among rocks and seaweed unless they are firmly 

 held. The first rush of a pollack, hooked over a weedy rocky 

 bottom in water of little or moderate depth, must always be 

 restrained. I have nearly had a rod dragged out of my hand 

 by a pollack of only ten pounds ; and even smaller fish have 

 pulled the point of the rod under water. 



The weight of the lead on the drift paternoster must 

 depend on the speed of the current. A good average weight 



