314 APPARATUS FOR FISHING. 



twenty on each snood, and the whelks, which are carnivo- 

 rous in their habits, seize and keep as firm hold whilst 

 devouring the crabs, as if they were hooked, and when the 

 line is hauled up the snoods are found covered with whelks. 

 This fishing for whelks, besides contributing so largely to 

 the capture of cod and other fish, results in the diminution 

 of one of the most inveterate enemies of the oyster and 

 mussel, and thus performs a double service. The bait, 

 however, of all others the most in request for general 

 fishing, is the common mussel ; but it requires some care 

 in putting it on the hook to make sure of its remaining 

 there ; it is therefore generally used when the fishing boat 

 is at anchor, or when the line itself is fixed. For this 

 reason also it is frequently employed on long-lines, and in 

 such cases may attract good-sized fish, or if only small ones, 

 the latter may themselves become converted into living 

 bait for their larger brethren. It is a curious circumstance 

 that the two baits which appear to be specially attractive to 

 fish are to be found in the mussel and the whelk animals 

 which are naturally so well protected by their shells that 

 they can rarely become the prey of cod and other kinds of 

 fish. Of baits made of portions of fish there is not a great 

 variety in use. Pilchards in the west of England are often 

 used as bait for whiting, and prove attractive to several 

 other kinds of fish. For mackerel of course everyone who 

 has had an opportunity of fishing for them is familiar with 

 the " lask " or slip cut from near the tail of that fish, and so 

 excellent a bait. Its attractiveness is evidently due to its 

 resemblance to a small silvery fish glistening in its passage 

 through the water. A mackerel strikes across the line of 

 the bait, hence anything that readily catches the light and 

 attracts attention, even for a moment, is likely to be 

 effective. There is no other explanation of the success 



