338 MODERN SEA FISHING 



of Skye and lobster catcher of repute, one Effie McArthur, 

 informed Mr. Pritchett, to whom we are indebted for the 

 portraits of our shell fish, that when a lobster is in its soft state, 

 changing its shell, it is usually guarded by a large, well-armed 

 lobster which has its abode in the same little cavern. Thus 

 having hooked out one unfortunate she would search further in 

 the same place for his companion. 



There is always the chance of catching a very large conger, 

 and it is just as well to be provided with a club or ' priest ' 

 wherewith to destroy him. 'A Welsh youth who used to fish 

 with me a good deal, hooked a conger of nineteen pounds 

 from under a rock. Before the fish had time to struggle he 

 ran well up the sands with it ; but, recovering its senses, it 

 began to twist rapidly round and round in the extraordinary 

 way common to eels, and finally hit my young friend a blow 

 on the side of the head with his tail which, in his own words, 

 ' knocked him silly.' He killed the great thing, but was ever 

 after shy of handling even a conger of moderate size. 



I hope no young fishermen, reading this chapter, will think 

 it a simple matter to catch dozens of conger, crabs, and 

 lobsters wherever there happen to be rocks along the sea coast. 

 Unfortunately, these fish are not over-plentiful, and there are 

 many rocky shores where they are so scarce as not to be 

 worth the trouble of going after. On some parts of the Welsh, 

 Irish, and Scotch coasts, however, they are very numerous. The 

 most suitable places are very rough and rugged rocky shores 

 where there is a considerable rise and fall of the water at every 

 tide. 



Prawning should certainly be carried on at the same time 

 as lobster and crab hunting. One of the best nets for pushing 

 along a sandy bottom near rocks is shown in the illustration, 

 in company with some prawn pots hailing from Cowes and 

 Plymouth respectively. The latter is shown with its bottom 



