392 MODERN SEA FISHING 



which haunted the herring fisheries and brought storms. 

 Assuming the form of a wren it would fly away, carrying with it, 

 let us hope, all bad weather and misfortune. 



Many curious theories have been put forward with respect 

 to the migrations of herrings, but the generally accepted opinion 

 now is that these fish simply retire to deeper water, returning 

 to the coast at various seasons which differ with the locality. 

 At the same time, they appear to forsake districts and parts 

 of the coast for years together. The periods at which they 

 spawn are very uncertain, and, like their movements, vary 

 with the locality. From winter to late spring is the usual 

 time, but it is quite possible that in some places they spawn 

 twice during the year. From 10,000 to 30,000 eggs have been 

 counted in a single herring. These when shed, unlike the eggs 

 of most of our food fishes, sink to the bottom of the sea and 

 attach themselves to the seaweed, rocks, and stones. In the 

 Baltic herrings have been known to spawn in two or three feet 

 of brackish water. 



These fish feed variously at the surface, midwater, and on 

 the bottom, many having been caught in trawl nets. From 

 some very interesting observations made by the Scotch Meteoro- 

 logical Society it was proved that the weather had an important 

 bearing on the movements of the herrings and the success of the 

 fishermen. When there were thunderstorms about, the catches 

 were small. Most fish were taken when the temperature of the 

 sea was about 5 5 '5. 



I have included the herring within the scope of this book 

 because of the undoubted sport they give to the fly fisher on 

 occasions (see p. 175). The herring also takes bait, and at Peter- 

 head, Wick, at the entrance to the Firth of Forth, and at 

 Tarbert on the west coast, is caught on a dandy-line during the 

 spring. The gear is nothing more nor less than a paternoster 

 with little booms made of whalebone or stout wire about nine 



