PIEE-HEAD FISHING. 47 



else, tlie first thing to do is to make some inquiries of local 

 anglers, the pier master, old salts, or the fishmonger, and 

 obtain some idea of the fish which are likely to be caught. 

 Knowing this, consult the chapter on Baits, and see what 

 are at your disposal. Do not be misled by being told in 

 winter of the fish which are caught during the summer, and 

 vice versa. For instance, it is little or no use fishing for bass 

 in December. If no reliable information can be obtained, 

 the best thing to do is to use your own judgment, trying all 

 kinds of baits and various methods of using them. Some 

 of the following fish may nearly always be expected: Bass, 

 between April and the end of August, or later; rock-fish, 

 pout, whiting, mackerel, coal-fish, pollack, horse-mackerel, 

 grey mallet, red mullet (rarely), codlings, smelts, congers, 

 flounders, plaice, dabs, chad (small sea bream), and cod 

 occasionally. There are also two prickly little fish, whose spines 

 inflict nasty wounds — the long-spined bullhead and the dragonet. 

 They are not unlike miller's thumbs. They may easily be known 

 by their ugliness and ferocious appearance. I cannot call 

 to mind any one place where all these fish are to be caught, 

 but the list is fairly representative of what may be expected. 

 Some of these fish, such as flounders and dabs, are not found 

 on a rocky bottom ; and others, e.g., wrasse and pout, are rarely 

 taken except on or near rocks. If the angler can discover 

 the nature of the bottom where he is fishing, he can in general 

 form a good idea of the fish he may expect and the best 

 baits to use. A very simple arrangement, used by sailors, 

 and shown in section on page 34, can be used where the 

 water is so deep that the bottom is not visible at dead 

 low water. It is simply a cone-shaped lead plummet, varying 

 in size according to the depth of water to be sounded, in the 

 bottom of which is a hollow space containing tallow; the 

 cord passes through the ring on the top. This weight is 

 let down to the bottom, and, on being hauled up again, 

 whatever is sticking to the tallow — sand, mud, fragments 

 of seaweed, shells, &c. — tells the angler of what the bottom 

 is composed. A little judicious plumbing wiU sometimes 

 determine the exact position of a cluster of rocks, near which 



