CHAPTER II 

 THE FISHERMAN'S TOOLS 



Various means of obtaining fish The push-net Rod and line Bait 

 Means of getting nearer to the fish The raft The open boat 

 The smack Tackle used in boat-fishing Long lines and hand 

 lines Trawls drift-nets, seines, moored nets, and dredges Pots 

 Another important item: experience The fascination of the 

 fisherman's calling. 



BEFORE dealing with special fisheries it may be 

 well to give a brief description in outline of the 

 " plant," so to speak, which constitutes the fisher- 

 man's capital ; the means most generally in use for trans- 

 porting the fish from their home in the sea or river 

 to the storehouse or the market. Less commonly used 

 appliances will receive separate mention later. 



Obviously the simplest method of procuring fish is by 

 picking them off the beach at low water. It is in this 

 way that millions of cockles, mussels, and periwinkles 

 are obtained every year; in many parts of the world 

 oysters are obtained in the same way. Such creatures 

 as these offer no resistance; make no attempt to escape 

 their captors ; but as soon as we come to the more lively 

 fish that may be caught at low tide or in very shallow 

 water shrimps, for instance some mechanical con- 

 trivance for securing them at once becomes necessary. 



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