HORSE-HAIR LINES, AND HOW TO MAKE THEM. 69 



it out of the sun if possible and on a slant, as the worms like 

 to crawl out of the water for a change. 



How to Bait with living Shrimps. The Shrimps or 

 Prawns are to be kept afloat in a box with holes, or, better still, 

 in a Sand-Eel basket. The hook should be baited, as shown 

 fig. 22, by passing the hook up through the tail. Dead baits 

 are not of much account generally in drift-line fishing : their 

 description under ' Whining ' will suffice. 



HORSE-HAIR LINES, AND HOW TO MAKE THEM. 



These lines with pipe-leads at intervals of 12 feet are the 

 best that can be used for Pollack-fishing, Mackerel, Bass, or 

 Bream, when moored, and may also be used when whiffing 

 under oars, but not under sail, as, being valuable lines, the risk 

 of hooking the bottom and consequent breakage is too great. 

 They are more used in the Channel Islands than any other 

 locality I have visited, but I have met with them at Portsmouth, 

 they are well known at Weymouth, and a variety with the lead 

 at the end is used at Plymouth, and another with hemp at the 

 upper end in the Isle of Man ; there are, however, very large 

 districts where they are quite unknown or unused, and here 

 they might be introduced with great advantage. The following 

 is the method of manufacture. 



You must provide yourself with a small jack or twisting- 

 engine, also two circular pieces of lead, one of i Ib. weight for 

 hair, and another of ^ Ib. weight for gut, each with a wire hook 

 in the centre. (See fig. 23, p. 70.) 



Procure a good long tail (of a horse, not of a mare for 

 obvious reasons), wash and dry it in the open air, and Cut a 

 few inches off the end, as it is usually rotten from dirt, &c. ; 

 then tie the hair round with twine at the root, in the middle, 

 and at 8 inches from the tail end, place it on a table before 

 you with a heavy book on it or a piece of board, the tail end 

 towards you, and drawing out the longest hairs as they present 

 themselves to the number of twelve or fourteen, according to 

 the thickness of the hair, whether it be coarse or fine, attach 

 three twelves or three fourteens, as the case may be, to the 



