LINE FISHING. 



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six feet long, bearing a single large cod-hook twice the 

 size of those used on the long-lines, as nothing but cod 

 is now fished for. When the cod are numerous, five 



Sprawl Wire. 



or six hooks are put on each snood, but usually there is 

 only one to each. Whelk-bait is used, and the welled- 

 smacks with their regular complement of men are 

 employed as before. Whilst hand-lining, the smack is 

 hove-to, and each of the men works one line, keeping 

 the bait at such a distance from the ground as proves 

 most successful, sometimes close to the bottom, or at 

 other times, perhaps, within a fathom or two of the 

 surface. The best fishing is generally towards the end 

 of the day, and tlien all hands are kept busily at work. 

 The fish caught near the coast are commonly smaller 

 than those* taken on the Dogger Bank ; but after two 

 or three months, when the herring fishery is coming to 

 an end, the cod become scarce inshore, and the smacks 



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