170 A YEAR OF SPORT AND NATURAL HISTORY. 



pleases, or as there is room for, but he will find three sufficiently 

 troublesome to manage. The lowest of all should be very near 

 the bottom, for the benefit of the flat-fish, and the others only so 

 far apart as to clear one another. For paternostering at sea 

 the tackle shops supply an arrangement consisting of a short 

 length of brass wire, swivelled, and with a loop at either end. 

 From the centre extends an arm of stout brass wire, with a ring at 

 the end to which the gut hook length is attached. The con- 

 trivance is inserted in the line where required, and it has the effect 

 of causing the baited hook to swing out with the tide, whilst it 

 also prevents any fouling or kinking of the line when a fish is 

 hooked, no matter how many times it may circle round. 



The lead of the paternoster lies upon the bottom, and the least 

 attempt to molest any of the baits is felt by the angler. The lead 

 is thrown some distance out, and in this way far more ground is 

 covered than can be managed with the " chop-stick " arrange- 

 ment, which is confined to the immediate vicinity of the piles of 

 the pier. On a bite being felt, the angler should strike, and strike 

 hard, whatever be the tackle that he is using. 



In conjunction with the paternoster, a leger bait may be used 

 that is to say, an extra hook below the lead which lies upon the 

 ground. In this case a pipe-shaped or flat lead, with a hole 

 through it from end to end, must be employed. The line passes 

 through the hole, a knpt preventing it coming too far, and when a 

 fish seizes the bait lying upon the ground the line is drawn 

 through the lead and the fact communicated to the angler. 



If the water is still, float tackle, such as is used in rivers for 

 perch, may be employed, and whiting will be caught. Grey 

 mullet, which are a very shy fish, frequenting still places such as 



