64 SEA FISH; 



describing sinkers : either mud- worms, common earth- 

 worms, or small pieces of fish bait may be used suc- 

 cessfully. The bait should drag the ground. Another 

 plan by which I have taken great numbers, both at 

 home and abroad, is to mount a line of stout prepared 

 water-cord, with eight or ten hooks tied on bits of fine 

 line, gut, or twisted horsehair, each about a foot long, 

 and a split duck-shot on each, mounted two feet and 

 a half apart ; a small- sized sinker or musket-ball, with 

 a hole through it at the end ; hooks and bait as 

 above. Secure the shore end of the line, which 

 should be about five-and-twenty yards long, to a sharp 

 wooden peg thrust into the ground ; or, if too hard to 

 receive the peg, a heavy stone may be used to fasten 

 the line to. Make use of a long naturally-grown 

 stick, forked at the end, or a portion of an old fishing- 

 rod with a forked stick fitted to it, to throw out and 

 take up the line with. Three or four of these lines, 

 as well as the rod, may be made use of when the 

 "pot" is the consideration. Numbers may be taken 

 from the boat by using the chop-sticks, and just keep- 

 ing your sinker clear of the ground, so as to allow the 

 baits to drag a few inches. Considerable numbers of 

 fresh-water eels are often taken when fishing in this 

 way, as- well as numbers of other fish. As a means of 

 enriching the larder when encamped on the banks of 

 large rivers abroad, few plans answer so well. Of 

 course, when the fish run large, the hooks and other 

 gear must be of proportionate strength. 



