FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 



There is one other style of catching mackerel which calls for passing 

 mention, and that is with rod and float tackle off piers and breakwaters 

 when, in the autumn months, the fish come close enough inshore. A slider 

 float (as described for catching grey mullet) may be an advantage if the 

 fish are feeding deep, as they do on some days, but is not usually necessary. 

 Various baits are used with success. The *' float " is as good as any, but 

 there are times when a very small living sand-eel gives better results, 

 and even a mussel is readily taken. It may be found necessary to let the 

 float travel twenty or thirty yards away from the pier with the tide before 

 the mackerel will take it under, and some difficulty will then be found 

 in striking such quick fish. This is, however, a matter of practice, and 

 in any case the line between the fioat and rod top should be kept as tight 

 as possible. As the pull from such a height overhead is a great strain on 

 the fish, it yields much less sport, and gives in much sooner, than when 

 caught from the lower level of a boat. For the same reason the angler 

 should tire the mackerel out before attempting to lift it out of the water, 

 as a single kick in mid -air is likely to break the light tackle. 



Large mackerel are caught in August off Filey Brigg, where, in common 

 with cod and coal -fish (locally known as " billet ") they take a salmon- 

 fly thrown from the rocks. Some of the gigantic flies specially tied for the 

 Brigg, and sold at Scarborough, are terrific objects such as might have 

 been looted from ju-ju temples in West Africa, but the fish of the York- 

 shire coast seize them with avidity. What they take them for, they alone 

 know. The ordinary " mackerel fiy," used on whiffing lines, is a much 

 simpler affair, consisting merely of two red, white, or green feathers 

 lashed to a tinned hook with a head of red sealing wax. 



After the break-up of the shoals, usually late in August, the mackerel 

 generally go to the bottom, and numbers are caught on ground-tackle 

 from October to Christmas, along with whiting and codling. 



It will thus be seen that the mackerel may be caught in almost as many 

 different ways as the bass, and there is not, in fact, a more sporting fish 

 in the sea. Its only drawback is its small size. 



376 



