FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 

 of storm. At such times, when the water is thick, these bass are to be found 

 playing and feeding on the sandflats between the rocks. There are no live 

 sand-eels to be had at Mevagissey, and it is not even certain whether these 

 demoralized scavengers would appreciate them even if there were. Dead 

 pilchards, in varying stages of staleness, may, on the other hand, be had 

 for the asking. This is not a very glorified form of sport, being, in fact, 

 identical with the so-called "still -fishing" for tarpon, or gorge -fishing 

 for pike, and it is legitimate only when the bass cannot be taken in more 

 sportsmanlike fashion, with live bait, or by railing, as described below. 

 At Mevagissey, under the lee of Chapel Point, it has a further recom- 

 mendation, as the seas run high on the outer pollack grounds for several 

 days after bad weather, and this bass ground lies in calm water and within 

 a short sail of the quay. 



In this mode of fishing the boat is moored fore and aft in a position 

 which allows of the bait lying quite still on a sand '* splat " among the 

 rocks. The native fishermen know to an inch the exact position of every 

 patch of rock or sand in the bay. For the matter of that, the water inside 

 Chapel Point is so clear and so shallow that even a stranger may see them 

 for himself by standing up in the boat. The tackle used is the same as 

 for drifting, as no lead is required, the pilchard being heavy enough to 

 carry the line out and keep it on the bottom. The method of baiting is 

 somewhat peculiar and is more easily demonstrated than described. 

 An incision is made with a sharp knife on either side of the pilchard's 

 neck, and the head is pulled off and thrown out, for groundbait, close 

 to the spot on which the hook is to lie. (It must be deliberately pulled, 

 not screwed, off. In the latter case, it would come away clean, whereas 

 the fisherman's object should be to leave some of the pilchard's inside 

 protruding in a manner very disgusting to the fastidious eye, but doubt' 

 less alluring to a hungry bass). The hook is put through the tail-end 

 and the gut drawn after it, and then stuck in the side, close to the neck. 

 The operation of baiting is now completed by taking two hitches with 

 the gut round the tail and removing the tail fin with a knife. The next 

 stage of the proceedings is to pull twenty or thirty yards of Line through 

 the top ring, coil it on the thwart, and, standing up in the bow, pitch 

 it, with a swinging movement, well out on the sand. The Cornish fisher- 

 men are very clever at this, swinging the bait only once round their head, 

 and then sending the line out to its full tether, and exactly where they want 

 it to alight. This, however, takes learning, and the beginner may think 

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