430 MODERN SEA FISHING 



moored, unless, indeed, the wind and tide are opposed. A 

 lead of half a pound may be quite sufficient. The exact weight 

 needed is soon ascertained. Below it should be a very long 

 snooding, three fathoms or thereabouts that is, assuming a 

 hand line is the form of tackle. If a rod is used the line will, 

 of course, be finer and the lead lighter. Very strong paternoster 

 tackle will answer every purpose, but only one hook should be 

 used, and the hook link may be eighteen inches in length and 

 should be placed a couple of feet above the lead. 



Ling are often caught by cod fishers, and they particularly 

 favour those rocky localities in which one would expect to find 

 large conger. Speaking generally, it may be said that they 

 may be caught on the same tackle and with the same baits as 

 conger and cod ; but where they abound and are large, stout 

 strong gear is very necessary, for they grow to a great size. 

 Couch 'was told' of one in Scilly weighing 124 Ibs. Others 

 have been reported of about 60 Ibs. Up in the Orkneys these 

 fish are very common, and are also abundant on the West 

 coast of Scotland. A great many are caught off the Yorkshire 

 coast. On the South coast of England they favour Cornwall 

 rather than Devon. They are numerous off the Scilly Isles, 

 and are met with all round the coast of Ireland. Quantities of 

 ling are salted and exported to Spain and Italy. Some people 

 think highly of the flesh of these fish when fresh, particularly if 

 baked with a sufficiency of seasoning. 



The following quotation from a book of accounts dating 

 from the beginning of the sixteenth century is interesting as 

 giving some idea of the value of ling at that period : ' Item. 

 Pd. for half a hundred lynge, xd. Item. For carrying of ye 

 same lynge fr. ye Bulle to ye comon Stath, mjd.' 



The POWER or POOR COD and the TORSK are the only 

 two other members of the Cod family which need be mentioned 

 in a work of this kind. Torsk, by the way, is a name which 



