94 ROD-FISHING FOR POLLACK FROM SHORE. 



the fish on the coast. This tackle with a snood of increased 

 length, nine feet from lead to hook, may also be used in 

 whiffing from a boat pulling, weight of lead four ounces ; in 

 tide-way or drift-fishing it will also answer well, and if the 

 current be strong a lead of as much as half a pound will be 

 requisite, beyond which weight the use of a sinker is unpleasant 

 on a rod. Let the line be fine, it will then keep down suf- 

 ficiently in a considerable tide, if not beyond ten fathoms 

 depth of water. In connection with this gear I have given 

 these instructions for the benefit of anglers who, not being 

 accustomed to sea-fishing, object to the handling of wet lines. 

 The line had better be marked at distances of three, five, and 

 ten fathoms. In harbour fishing No. 13 hook is generally 

 large enough, but off headlands and the open sea you will 

 require No. 1 1 ; all should be extra strong, as a large Rock- 

 fish, Bass, Bream, or Pollack, will snap off or straighten a 

 weak or brittle hook. (See 'Hooks,' fig. 63, p. 211.) 



Floats. If you are fishing on an open shore where there 

 is much wash, you will find a float useful, but in a strong run 

 of the tide it is of little service. On an open shore the back- 

 wash will take out the float and enable you to keep your line 

 clear of the rocks, which without it would be very difficult of 

 accomplishment. From a pier or breakwater head, off which 

 a stream sets, turning round into an extensive eddy, a float 

 may be used with advantage. The old-fashioned pear shape 

 answers well, length 3 inches, diameter i| inch, or of the 

 elongated form, length 5 inches, diameter i^ inch. I prefer 

 them without either ring or caps, merely with a plug through 

 the hole projecting from either end f of an inch. Over this, 

 both top and bottom, take two half hitches, which will both 

 make the float secure, and can be cast off instantly, when you 

 desire to dispense with it, which a change of tide or any other 

 circumstance may render desirable. A float may be used 

 either with the lead and trace already described, or with the 

 Pater-Noster line, when the water is inconveniently deep to 

 plumb the bottom. For Pollack-fishing from shore I do not 

 find any other bait worth using except the Rag- Worm, to be 

 stuck on through the head, as shown in fig. 21, p. 68; a 



