SEA FISHING 

 were delightful places to fish from. Great catches of fish were made, and a 

 spirit of bonhomie prevailed that has long since been wanting. I do not 

 want to pose as a grumbling laudator temporis acti, but a passing regret for 

 the pier fishing of the eighteen-seventies and eighties, as I remember 

 it from the days when some one held on to my small clothes to save me from 

 a watery grave, may perhaps be permitted to one who has lived to see the 

 old order change. 



Among the game fishes to be caught on piers in the summer months 

 are bass, pollack, mackerel and grey mullet. More, and larger, bass, in 

 fact, are taken from piers, harbours, bridges and such -like than in boats, 

 and the same may be said of grey mullet. Pollack and mackerel, on the 

 other hand, are best sought out in open water; at the same time, a great 

 many are caught from piers, and the number would be even greater if 

 amateurs studied the conditions intelligently instead of merely copying 

 the often unsuitable tackle and baits of their neighbours. Anglers, par- 

 ticularly in salt water, are slavish imitators, following their leader like 

 sheep, and often failing for want of a little originality. 



Some piers — and under the same head, since the fishing is identical, may 

 be included harbour works, wharves, and the few bridges (as at Poole, 

 Portland, Barmouth, etc.) which give access to salt water — ^are better 

 adapted to the fisherman's requirements than others. Here and there 

 one, like that at muddy Weston, may be too high to fish from in comfort, 

 or, as at Exmouth, too short to reach deep water. The majority afford 

 some sort of facilities for fishing, usually at a small extra charge, though 

 only a very few — and among them may be named those at Brighton, 

 Glacton, Deal, Folkestone, Heme Bay, Lowestoft, Walton, Great Yar- 

 mouth — are of any account beyond amusing schoolboys during their holi- 

 days. Fine bass are taken in summer from the piers at Glacton, Heme 

 Bay and Walton; and those at Lowestoft and Yarmouth give cod and 

 whiting fishing during the last quarter of the year. 



Early morning and late evening are the best times for piers and harbours. 

 Throughout the day, more particularly in the tourist season, there is too 

 constant disturbance of the water by pleasure steamers and other craft, 

 and at all times the fisherman is much more restricted in his methods 

 than if he were in a boat. The rod, it is true, gives a little more choice 

 than the handline, since it enables the angler to keep his lead off the 

 bottom without the risk of getting his line entangled in the ironwork, 

 but float-tackle, the most artistic that can be used from a pier, is 



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