AND HOW TO CATCH THEM. 57 



cane is prevented from shifting in the hole by a small 

 brad or fine nail being driven down through the block 

 into it, as at H. i shows the way the line passes and 

 is retained in the split. With this arrangement the 

 fish hook themselves, and the elasticity of the cane 

 preverits the line from being broken ; as on any heavy 

 strain, such as that produced by a large fish, the line 

 is allowed to run out through the split, when it can 

 be instantly seized and veered away to meet the 

 rushes of the fish, which are at times pretty hard ones. 

 Each of the little blocks above described should have 

 a coat of paint given it to preserve the wood. They 

 only cost a few pence each, cane included, and last 

 for many years. Great numbers of pollack are taken 

 when at anchor, by using hand-lines as mounted for 

 mackerel whiffing only, with a heavier sinker ; in fact, 

 of weight sufficient to contend with the run of the 

 tide. It is always well, when fishing in this way, to 

 lay out two or more float-lines over the forked canes 

 already described, with merely the trace and swivels. 

 Hook the same as in whiffing, but no sinker. Put 

 on a large-sized cork float, about eighteen or twenty 

 feet from the trace, and let it drift away with the tide. 

 " Eauning " pollack, or racers, as they are called, are 

 taken in the same way, being often found in the 

 same localities. The young of the Eauning pollack 

 abound in certain localities, and are taken in count- 

 less thousands from every rock and headland by the 

 use of tackle of the most primitive character. 



