THE IRISH FISHERIES 



Irishman was no fandi Jictor who said that he had seen 

 the jaws of a bodiless head prised open with a chisel and 

 pincers before the arm which they had bitten could be set 

 free. 



The South Ireland conger-fishing is done by hand-lines, 

 with a pilchard or a small herring as bait. The fish are 

 caught at night, generally from luggers or rowing-boats, 

 and a knife is driven through their heads before they can 

 get into mischief. 



The west and south coasts are only good in certain 

 places for trawling ; here and there a beautiful sand-bed 

 will offer itself, where the trawl-heads can glide along as if 

 they were going over a ballroom floor. Then up come 

 the mullet and turbot and plaice as fast as you like, and 

 our Irishman rubs his hands as he reflects that at least a 

 fortnight's immunity from work will accrue from to-day's 

 catch. Sometimes a small mountain of plaice only is shot 

 out of the trawl ; good, honest seven-pounders a reason- 

 able weight for such fish, though they sometimes reach 

 fifteen pounds. 



The reason why plaice appear more often in the trawl 

 than the majority of other fish, is because they are such 

 poor swimmers ; they have no swimming-bladders, and 

 consequently keep pretty much along the bottom, where 

 they find their food molluscs chiefly, and baby skate 

 and so are swept in by the foot-rope of the trawl where 

 swifter fish would escape. 



Another fish frequently taken in Irish waters is the 

 " mackerel-guide," more properly known as the gar-fish. 

 This is really a kind of salt-water pike, but it tastes 



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