102 ANGLING IN SALT WATER. 



The Lingf is an ugly, badly-proportioned fish, wHcli, to 

 the casual observer, has the appearance of being a cross 

 between a cod and a conger. It will take any good-sized 

 bait, and is by no means difficult of capture. Ling are caught 

 on conger and cod lines, take the same baits, and are fished 

 for in the same manner. They prefer a rocky bottom to any 

 other, are found all round our coasts, and abound off Corn- 

 wall, the Scilly Isles, and some parts of Ireland. 



Plaice. — Small specimens of this well-known flat fish are 

 often taken by the dab or flounder fisher, but the larger fish 

 are found at some distance from the coast. They like a sandy 

 or muddy bottom, and the usual baits are ragworms, lugworms, 

 or shrimps raw or boiled. I have caught several large ones 

 when baiting with mussels. Plaice of three pounds give 

 fine sport on light tackle. When plentiful, they are well worth 

 fishing for. Leger tackle should be used, with No. 12 hooks. 



Power, Poor Cod, Pouting', White Eyes, or Gilli- 

 gaut. — A small member of the cod family, only a few inches 

 in length. It abounds off the coast of Devonshire, and large 

 numbers are taken by persons fishing for whiting and pout. 

 The best bait is the ragworm. 



The Red Slullet, or Surmnllet, is not often caught by 

 the angler. It is found principally on the South and South- 

 east coasts of England during the summer, and is taken on 

 lines, in much the same places as smelts, and with the same 

 baits. The large majority of the limited number which fall 

 victims to hooks and lines are taken on trots, or spillers— 

 the sea fisherman's equivalent of the poacher's night-line. I 

 imagine that few salt-water anglers ever fish specially for 

 red mullet, they are so rarely caught. Among the baits which 

 they are recorded to have taken are lugworms, varm — the sea 

 tapeworm, found in the Channel Islands by digging under rocks, 

 close to low water mark — slips of fresh sardine or bits of 

 squid (in the Mediterranean), a slip from the tail of a cavally 

 (at St. Yincent, Cape de Yerde), and ragworms. As red 

 mullet are not often taken over 14in. or 15in. in length, fine 

 gut tackle should be used, the same as I have advised for 



