344 MODERN SEA FISHING 



can feel by means of the line when anything is in the net, 

 even distinguishing crabs from lobsters. When a fish has taken 

 the bait, the net has to be hauled in at the greatest possible 

 speed. The corks on the hauling line keep the sling lines or 

 bridle steady, which is important, as the lobster is a shy fish. 

 This fishing is a summer pursuit, excepting the months of 

 June or July when the lobsters are changing their outworks or 

 skeletons. 



Finally there are lobster and crab pots, which are familiar 

 to most of us. These can be made of ordinary wickerwork, 

 galvanised wire, or of light framework covered with netting. 

 More elaborate ones made for yachtsmen's use are of netting 

 with collapsible frame. Mr. Hearder made a number for the 

 Challenger Expedition which were arranged in sizes, the bottoms 

 being removable, so that one would fit inside the other, and a 

 quantity could be carried with a very small sacrifice of space. 

 The galvanised iron traps of various kinds are not nearly so 

 successful in taking fish as those of wicker or netting. At 

 Cromer are some of the most clever lobster and crab fishermen 

 round our coasts, and they use a pot with a piece of iron grating 

 at its base. These pots are not round, but in the form of a sec- 

 tion of a tunnel, the lobsters and crabs entering it at either end. 

 Most other pots are of the shape shown on p. 34, and have to 

 be weighted with bricks, stones, lead, or iron. Of whatever 

 kind they are, they must be very carefully buoyed with a 

 sufficiency of line and a sufficiency of cork. 



The following are the dimensions of a Cromer lobster or 

 crab pot, the same pots being used for both kinds of shell fish. 

 Height, ii ins. ; length, 2 3 ins. ; breadth of iron base, 15^ ins.; 

 thickness of iron base, \ in. ; number of iron bars in base, 7 ; 

 mesh of net, i in. ; mouth of the openings (one opening on 

 each side), diameter 8 ins. ; narrow end of openings, diameter 

 5 3 ins. 



