SALT-WATER LOCHS. 187 



they catch at all. They are sold for a mere trifle at any 

 of the shops in the sea-port towns, and tied on with a wax 

 end, but sometimes only with a knot of the twine itself : a 

 turn of the wire on the shank enables you to do this. A 

 baiting basket is required, one end for the line, the other 

 for the baited hooks, which are placed in regular rows. 

 My line had only three hundred hooks, but some have 

 double that number. Herring, cut into small pieces, are 

 the best bait : I required about a dozen for one setting, 

 provided I eked out with mussels, but eighteen or twenty 

 were necessary if the line was baited exclusively with 

 herring. Mussels, however, drop off the hook so easily, 

 that when herring can be procured they are seldom used. 

 Seeing the long-line baited, set, and drawn, will thoroughly 

 teach any one who has an idea of fishing writing how to 

 do so never will. It generally took me about an hour and 

 a half to bait mine ; so I taught a boy, who, after two or 

 three lessons, could bait as well as myself. 



The best time to set the long-line is after low water, 

 when the tide has flowed a little, and brought the fish with 

 it. To know the different " hauls"* is most important, as 

 your success in a great measure depends upon the selection 

 of a good one. After the line is set, it should be left exactly 

 one hour ; and, if you have hit upon a shoal, you will most 

 likely half fill the boat. I have several times killed about a 

 dozen, from twenty to fifty pounds weight, besides quantities 

 of smaller. The fish for the most part taken are cod, ling, 

 haddock, skate, large flounders, and enormous conger-eels, 



* Banks, and parts of the loch, where the shoals of fish congregate. 



