60 SEA FISH ; 



far north. It is taken all the year round by one mode 

 of fishing or another ; but for those who pursue fish- 

 ing as a pleasant pastime, a winter's night on the 

 whiting ground would not, perhaps, be particularly 

 pleasant or enjoyable. 



Particular marks are known to fishermen as showing 

 the ground frequented by the whiting at particular 

 seasons, which almost any boatman you employ can 

 find out from his associates, if not himself a fisherman. 

 Night is by far the best time for whiting fishing, and 

 parties are frequently made up during the summer to 

 visit the whiting ground, which will be generally found 

 some little distance off the land. A good pea-coat 

 will be found a valuable companion on such expedi- 

 tions, and the commissariat department should be 

 placed in efficient hands. The lines should be round 

 plait, either No. 9 or 10 ; the sinkers from 2 to 4 Ib. 

 weight, and hooks No. 3 or 4, long shank, Portsmouth 

 pattern, fastened on stout pieces of gimp, looped to 

 the boom arrangement described in the woodcut 

 under the head " Mackerel." The trace for whiting 

 fishing should not be more than two feet beyond the 

 boom, and three or four booms may be used at a 

 convenient distance apart above the sinker. Bait with 

 mussels, cuttlefish, pilchard, or mackerel. 



Professional fishermen on the coasts of Kent and 

 Sussex take considerable numbers of whiting during 

 the winter months by laying out a light description of 

 bolter line with between one and two hundred hooks 



