404 MODERN SEA FISHING 



goes on in the sea, that such vast quantities of eggs even as this 

 are insufficient to counteract the destructive agencies, natural 

 and artificial, human and inhuman. The sole is a fish which is 

 found all round the coast of England in suitable localities, but 

 gets scarcer towards the north of Scotland. It is also common 

 on parts of the Irish coast. A cast of a pair from Ireland 

 which weighed 12 Ibs. was made by Frank Buckland. Yarrell 

 records one of 9 Ibs. which was for sale in the market at 

 Totness. 



If any of my readers are fortunate enough to find a fishing 

 ground where soles are plentiful, they should fish on the 

 bottom with the tackle shown on p. 243, and bait with lug- 

 worms if obtainable ; failing these, mussels, ragworms, and the 

 tails of hermit crabs may be tried. The fishing should be done 

 at night, and a most favourable time will be when there has 

 been sufficient sea to thicken the water. Then the fish may 

 feed in the daytime. 



There are several varieties of sole Solea lascaris, Solea 

 variegata, and Solea lutea. Solea lascaris may be known by a 

 series of spots or blotches over it, while Solea variegata is 

 partially barred, and lutea has a few well-defined black spots 

 placed widely apart. 



LEMON SOLE is a local name applied to three different 

 species of fish. The long rough dab (Hippoglossotdes liman- 

 doides) is so called in Scotland ; the smear dab (Pleuronectes 

 microcephalus) takes the same name in Ireland ; and the term 

 is also applied to Solea lascaris, already referred to. The fish 

 to which I have been in the habit of giving this name is the 

 second of the three mentioned. I have caught a good many 

 when fishing for codling on the edge of rocky reefs. They 

 are fish which are usually found in such localities, and there 

 is no better bait for them than the lugworm. They have a 

 differently shaped mouth from the sole, and are much darker 



