TRAWL FISUING. 73 



Channel between Devonshire and Sussex. The largest specimen. . known was caught off' Totnes, and 

 was twenty-six inches long and eleven inches and a half wide, and weighed nine pounds. 



Soles feed at night, and hence are not often taken with the line, since that kind of fishing is 

 chiefly carried on by day. When they are caught with the line worms are used as bait. The Sole 

 spawns in the spring ; and though out of condition while depositing the eggs, recovers in a few weeks. 

 The flesh is remarkably firm, white, and well flavoured, and .the variety of ways in which it is cooked 

 is an evidence of the esteem in which it is held as one of the best of British fishes. The height of the 

 body is contained twice and five-sixths in the total length. The colour is dark brown. 



The Lemon Sole (Solea aurantiaca) is distinguished by its yellowish or lemon colour, marbled 

 with brown and speckled with black, and there is a remarkable large black spot on its hinder half. 

 It is rather wider in proportion to its length than the Common Sole, has a smaller head, and is rather 

 thicker ; the under side of the head is nearly smooth, and the nostril there projects in a little tube. 

 The upper jaw projects beyond the lower jaw, but its extremity is rounded. It attains a length of 

 eight or nine inches, and is taken on the shores of Ireland and in the British Channel, but ranges 

 southward as far as Portugal. 



The Variegated Sole (Solea varieyatci) is rarely more than eight or nine inches long, and closely 

 resembles the Common Sole. The pectoral fins, however, on both sides are extremely small. The 

 colour is brownish-grey, with dark irregular bands extending between the dorsal and anal fins. It 

 is tliick in the body. It is plentiful at Plymouth, is met with in the stomachs of fishes caught at a 

 depth of forty or fifty fathoms, is excellent eating, and has been taken in the Mediterranean. 



The Solenette (Solea minuta) attains a length of five inches ; it has a reddish-brown colour. The 

 pectoral fins are rudimentary, and the lower half of the right pectoral is black. It is often found in 

 the stomachs of larger fishes, and is taken freely with the trawl in Cornwall and Devonshire, but 

 from its small size does not often come to market. 



All these fishes, like many others which live naturally either upon or near to the ground, are 

 captured with the trawl. This is a net in the form of a bag, which is trailed from the boat. It is 

 usually of a triangular shape, and is so made that the mouth of the net is kept always open. The 

 simple trawl, with the mouth distended by ropes extending from the netting to poles projecting from 

 the sides of the vessel, is still used in the fisheries of some parts of Ireland. The favourite form of 

 trawl is that called the beain-trawl, in. which the mouth of the net is extended by a horizontal wooden 

 beam which is raised a little above the ground by two iron supports, one placed at each side. In the 

 large smacks the beam may be from thirty to fifty feet in length. The timber is usually elm, ash, or 

 beech. It is considered important that the wood should have grown naturally to the proper thickness 

 and length, though sometimes several pieces are fitted together and secured by binding. At ordinary 

 times the beam is carried hoisted up at the side of the vessel, with one end made fast to the stern. 

 The head irons, as they are called, carry in the top the beam, to the back of which the net 

 is fastened. In front the rope is attached by which the trawl is hauled along, but the head irons 

 to which it is made fast vary in shape and weight on different coasts and in different countries. 

 The weight of the two irons as a rule varies between 230 Ibs. and 360 Ibs., and depends 

 chiefly on the force of the tides in the district which is fished. These irons keep the beam 

 nearly three feet above the ground. The net has been compared to an old-fashioned bed watch- 

 pocket laid on its face. Care is taken to have the ground rope, which extends in front of the 

 net round its curved outline, made of old material, so that it may break in case it should 

 become entangled among jutting rocks or other obstacles on the bottom. The net tapers towards 

 its hinder extremity, which is called the cod-end, and as the fish usually press upon this end 

 when the net is full it is protected by pieces of old netting, which are named rubbing-pieces. At 

 the entrance to the narrow part called the cod, the back and belly of the net are laced together 

 from the outer edge inward and backward, so as to narrow the entrance through which the 

 fish pass inward, and to form pockets at the sides in which they can swim. The entrance between 

 the pockets is guarded by a veil of netting which hangs downward from the back of the net. This 

 is called the flapper ; fish pass under it easily, but do not readily make their \yay back again. The 

 pockets are chiefly useful by taking the pressure off the sides of the net, so that the Sole, which loves 

 quiet, naturally makes its way into the pocket, and thus, by distributing the weight over a larger space, 

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