WHIFFING. 79 



The snood as hereafter described for whiffing Cornish fashion 

 (p. 81). Anchor on rocky ground, sound the bottom, and haul 

 up sufficiently to keep the hook clear of the ground. Hook 

 the bait on by the small end, and fish in an easy tide. In the 

 offing the largest Pollack are taken in this manner, from 100 

 to 350 Ibs. in a day's fishing. It is usual to make fast the lines 

 to another boat lead, sufficiently heavy to prevent the line 

 dragging it overboard, which happens only when a fish seizes 

 the bait and draws your attention by the splash of the lead in 

 the water if you are engaged with the other lines. 



WHIFFING 



is the process of towing a line lightly leaded, or without lead, 

 after a boat sailing slowly, or gently pulling, or else sculling 

 with an oar, in a semicircular notch in the stern or transom- 

 board. In lake and river-fishing it is termed trailing. 



Lines for Whiffing. The pipe-lead horse-hair lines are 

 well adapted for whiffing, but as they are so much more ex- 

 pensive than hemp or flax lines, and from constantly passing 

 over rocky ground are liable to hook the bottom, when break- 

 age often results, I advise my readers to reserve them for 

 drift-line fishing, unless in very quiet weather when whiffing 

 under oars. A very useful line for whiffing is a i2-fathom 

 Mackerel line of the double Bridport make, as manufactured 

 for Guernsey, with a 4-fathom snood of the same make, and 

 a 5 oz. lead. These lines being two-stranded rarely become 

 entangled, and are yearly becoming more known and appre- 

 ciated (fig. 1 1, p. 48, No. 4). They are usually of flax, but there 

 is no objection to twisting up the hemp snooding when extra 

 strong lines are required. Always from their twist retaining a 

 considerable amount of stiffness, they may be used either dressed 

 or not. The end of the snood consists of two lengths of 

 double twisted gut with a hook, No. 1 1 in the cut of hooks 

 (fig. 63, p. 2 1 1), the hook being first provided with an eye of fine 

 snooding tied on Nottingham fashion, which gives the gut much 

 better chance in hooking a large fish, than if whipped directly 

 on to the hook. For whiffing under oars near the shore a lead 



