COD, HADDOCKS, WHITING, BREAM, ETC 423 



of the whiting which come to market are caught in trawls, and 

 are towed along for hours in a half-dead condition mixed up 

 with stones, crabs, starfish, &c. Then they are packed in 

 boxes, and later on, as likely as not, kept for some days on 

 ice, particularly if the wholesale price is low. When they 

 come to table they are insipid and either watery or dry. But 

 take your rod and come with me to some big sea loch on the 

 north-west coast of Scotland. Moor the boat over a little bit 

 of sandy marl which Macdonald knows of, and presently we 

 shall begin to pull up, not the miserable little half-pounders 

 of our South coast, but big fellows running from one to two 

 and sometimes three pounds. An hour of this sport will suffice 

 to fill a good-sized basket, and then back we go to the little 

 hotel at the head of the sea loch, give our catch into the hands 

 of the fair-haired Christina of the blue eyes, descendant of the 

 Norse raiders, and presently there will be a noise of fizzling 

 heard through the land, and the delicate, moist, delicious fish 

 will be set before us on the plain but well-stocked board. 



The largest whiting I have ever taken were from those 

 same sea lochs, but it has been in the Downs between Deal and 

 the Goodwins that I have found them most plentiful. There a 

 hundred or more in the course of a few hours is no uncommon 

 catch. 



In summer-time whiting show a preference for the shallows, 

 but, generally speaking, fish of any size are not caught in 

 much less than ten fathoms of water. In winter they retire to 

 the deeps. When the water is very clear, it is best to fish at 

 night, and at all times many more will be caught at sunrise, or 

 thereabouts, than at any other time of the day. 



There is no better tackle than the paternoster, and for 

 whiting perhaps more for him than other sea fish it is a 

 decided advantage to use fine tackle. I should never think of 

 using anything stronger than medium single gut for the hook 



