2 ANGLING IN SALT WATEB. 



he follows the recreation of the contemplative man only during 

 the hours which he can spare from the time devoted to the more 

 serious business of life. Angling books are written to make 

 those hours pleasant ones. 



Now as to tackle. It is a popular delusion that sea fish 

 can be caught on anything. As the cunning trout is often 

 — alas ! too often — taken on the thick, hempen night-line of the 

 poacher, so are sea fish caught in deep water, at night, by the 

 fisherman, on the coarsest lines. But in the daytime, more 

 especially in shallow water, moderately fine tackle becomes 

 absolutely essential, and then it is that the angler has the 

 great advantage. When the fish are biting fast at night, or, 

 during the day, in the gloomy depths of the sea, the fisher- 

 man will bring into the boat three fish for every one 

 caught by the angler, the simple reason being, that the 

 fish can be hauled up faster on coarse tackle than on 

 fine. The following little anecdote illustrates the advan- 

 tages of fine tackle in the daytime. Self, friend, and 

 gillie were about stepping into a boat on the shores of a sea- 

 loch in Scotland. I had a cane rod and a paternoster, and 

 advised my friend to bring the same; but, the giUie laugh- 

 ing at my tackle, and exclaiming that sea fish were never 

 caught on a rod, he decided to fish with hand-lines provided 

 by the man. I stuck to my paternoster, and he used two 

 hand-lines, the gillie holding a third. The result of the after- 

 noon's fishing was a fair take of fish, two-thirds of which fell 

 to the paternoster, the remaining third to the three hand-lines. 

 It was not a matter of superior skill, but merely of gut tackle 

 as opposed to hempen hand-lines. !N'ot only had I most sport, 

 but it was certainly far more enjoyable playing the fish, and 

 lifting them into the boat in a landing-net, than hauling up 

 several fathoms of wet line, and dragging the fish on board 

 willy nilly. 



The angler should not consider sea fish as unworthy his 

 notice by reason of the ease with which they are sometimes 

 to be caught. If he has that idea, let him spend a week 

 attempting to catch grey mullet. He will be completely cured 

 at the end of that time. 



