36 THE GUERNSEY RIG. THE PORTSMOUTH RIG. 



however, a very poor form of tackle, both cumbrous to use and 

 troublesome to stow, the long wire or whalebone spreader being 

 much in the way, as it is longer than the reel can accommodate 

 either along the sides or diagonally. 



The Guernsey Rig (fig. 2, b\ for ground-fishing, consists of 

 a dip-lead with long snoods, a portion of line known as the sid- 

 strap, brass swivel and two hooks, the whole attached to a 

 5 -inch elder- wood revolving chopstick, having one end dart- 

 shaped, and the other wider and flatter to admit of a hole being 

 burned out with a hot wire, Ten inches of the end of the line 

 should be served over with waxed thread or tarred sail-twine, to 

 prevent chafing, and the piece of line being put through the 

 hole, a knot is made both above and below to keep the chop- 

 stick in its place. A loop is also shown in the cut, useful for 

 bending or unbending the line. Sometimes a sling of stout 

 upper leather is used in lieu of a piece of line. For offing- 

 fishing in 20 fathoms and upwards, 9 feet of sid-strap and 

 3 feet of snood will be a good length ; but for Whiting, Dab, 

 Pout, or other ground-fishing near the shore, both snood and 

 sid-strap together should not exceed 5 feet in length. This 

 form of gear, fitted with snoods, swivels, and hooks of pro- 

 portionate strength, is used in Guernsey for Congering. For 

 Whiting-fishing, the bottom being sounded, haul up equal to 

 the length of the snood if the tide is slack, but only just clear 

 of the bottom if much current. 



The Portsmouth Rig consists of from two to three chop- 

 sticks revolving on the line at intervals of one, two, or three 

 feet, and sometimes less, above the dip-lead, the chopsticks 

 of whalebone, about 8 inches long. The chopsticks are often 

 fixed and not revolving, being attached to the line by a clove 

 hitch only, over a notch at one end. Two chopsticks are 

 better than more, and the snoods should not be longer than 

 the chopsticks, or much fouling will ensue. Let a swivel be 

 fastened to each, to which loop on the hook-link. On clean 

 ground, with this gear, the lead is allowed to rest on the bottom. 

 A neat way of fitting is to make the chopsticks of brass wire, 

 taking four turns at one end to make a spiral coil through 

 which to reeve the line, answering to the hole in the wooden 



