80 FISH. 



mals, particularly the " oniscii," in pursuit o 

 which it ventures among the rocks in the midst 

 of a tempest, as at that time these insects are fre- 

 quently washed from their hiding places ; they are 

 captured at sea by various means, and give most 

 excellent sport to the amateur, especially when 

 whiffing with pilchard gut for bait, or in the dusk 

 of the evening with a fly made of white pigeon 

 feathers, the boat being rowed very fast through 

 the water, and some sixty yards of line out, the fly 

 being near the surface of the water. Good sport 

 can be had by fishing for them from the rocks 

 when there is a little swell coming home, or 

 else by anchoring the boat on the edge of a cur- 

 rent during flood tide. In this way I have, during 

 an evening, caught a dozen fine bass, weighing 

 from five to twelve pounds each ; the struggles of 

 the fish to get away are of the most determined 

 kind, they being nearly as strong as a salmon. At 

 Ramsgate and on the Kentish coast the bass is 

 called the sea dace. They can be taken also with 

 salmon or trolling tackle from the rocks at 

 harbour mouths in the autumn, either with flies 

 or bait. 



