HALIBUT, HERRING, AND HORSE MACKEREL. 101 



being to have tlie right weiglit of lead so that the fish may 

 see the bait. Hake feed at various depths, and if not met 

 with near the bottom, the line should be shortened. They 

 are very fair eating, and more generally appreciated than was 

 the case a few years back. They visit all our coasts, but are 

 more abundant off Devon, Cornwall, and the South-west of 

 Ireland than elsewhere. 



The Halibut is an immense, flat fish, which attains the 

 weight of five hundred pounds. It is caught more frequently in 

 the North than off the South coast. As a rule, it takes a large 

 fish, which has previously been hooked, and more often than 

 not it goes oft" with the fisherman's lines. Some friends of 

 mine, fishing for cod in the North of Scotland, got hold of 

 a halibut, which towed the boat about for an hour; but, 

 finally, they brought him to the surface. They then tried to 

 improve their hold by sticking the hooks of other lines into 

 him, but his hide was too hard for that. Finally, while they 

 were endeavouring to get a noose round him — ^their idea being, 

 I suppose, to tow him ashore — the boat lurched, the line broke, 

 and the halibut lived to fight another day. In The Field 

 of July 9, 1881, was recorded the capture of a halibut weighing 

 2cwt. It was caught on a line set for cod, and had taken a 

 cod weighing 21b. If anyone is inclined to fish for these 

 monsters, let him use strong tackle, large hooks, and a whole 

 squid, or any good-sized fish, as bait. 



Herring. — This well-known fish is not often sought 

 after by the angler, but I mention it here because, in some 

 places, it takes a white fly well, and affords excellent sport. 

 In Strangford Lough, Co. Down, Ireland, many herrings are 

 taken in this way. The same thing occurs occasionally in 

 some of the Scotch sea lochs. 



The Horse Mackerel, or Scad, is taken incidentally when 

 angling for other fish, particularly mackerel and pollack. It is 

 poor eating, and has two spines on the belly, near the tail, which 

 it knows how to use to the best advantage. It is sometimes 

 taken when angling from piers or the shore with a paternoster, 

 but is more often caught some distance from the shore. 



