178 



THE CONGER. 



made fast another bit of strong line round the waist, secure the 

 end of the snood thereto. Now take some green hemp (ob- 

 tainable at a rope-maker's), middle it, and leaning back to 

 make the snood as rigid as possible, or, as seamen say, ' as taut 

 as a bar,' plait on the hemp tightly over the snood, particularly 



at the beginning of the binding 

 and between the flattened top of 

 the hook and the snooding. To 

 fasten off, when you have nearly 

 plaited on the whole, interlace the 

 hemp between the double snood 

 once or twice, and tie an ordinary 

 knot (fig. 47). I much prefer 

 this plan to wire for trots, and in 

 Guernsey it is always used for 

 hand-lines. A very general way 

 of mounting Conger hooks, as 

 well as Cod hooks, is with ten or 

 a dozen thicknesses of stout twine; 

 you hitch the hook over a nail or 

 other point of attachment, fasten 

 one end of the twine to the hook 

 in the usual manner with a clove- 

 hitch, then pass it round your 

 hand and take another clove- 

 hitch, and continue the process 

 until you have the required num- 

 ber of thicknesses of twine. You 

 complete the job by a succession 

 of marline hitches until you reach 

 within two inches of the bow you 

 have formed by passing the twine 

 round your hand. The strop thus 

 formed should be 7 inches long, and to the eye you can conve- 

 niently bend on the snood. 



The length of snood below the lead should not exceed two 

 fathoms. 



The best bait is undoubtedly Squid or Cuttle-fish, and if the 



FIG. 47. Conger Hook, with 

 snood traced over with green 

 hemp. 



