LINE FISHING. 



73 



lines, and arranging the hooks in proper order, so as to 

 be all clear for running on the next occasion, cannot 

 be well done in the dark. Method is requisite even 

 in the management of fishing lines, whether they are 

 in use or in preparation for it. The line is always 

 laid across the tide, so that the snoods may drift clear 

 of the main line from which they hang. When a 

 " shot " is to be made, the smack 

 is put under easy sail, and kept 

 with the wind as free as is possi- 

 ble consistently with crossing the 

 tide, so as to make a fair straight 

 course while the line is being 

 paid out. The lines are neatly 

 coiled in trays, and the baited 

 hooks arranged in regular order 

 for going overboard, each tray 

 containing from twelve to sixteen 

 pieces, and they are paid out one 

 after another, until the whole 

 length of line runs out as the 

 vessel goes on her course. No 

 corks or floats are used to raise 

 it off the ground, but the line is 

 kept steady at every forty fathoms 

 by a very small anchor, and its 



Buoy to Long-line. 



position at the two ends, and at every intermediate 

 mile, is marked by a conical hooped buoy, called a 

 " dan," having a pole or staff passing through it, and 

 carrying a small flag. 



The line is usually shot at half-tide, and when the 



