48 



BUIvLETlN OP THE BUREAU OI^ FISHERIES. 



wire is first cut into lengths of about 10.5 or 1 1 inches, or up to 14 inches for extra long 

 hooks (fig. 3). The "needles" thus made are then bent into "hairpins" or loops, with the 

 sides parallel or nearly so. Two loops are placed diagonally into the small holes of the 

 square and are forced down to the face of the plate, leaving just room enough for the 

 turning pin. The twisting is done by hand and continued until there is about i inch of 

 straight wire remaining in the plate. The hook is withdrawn and is complete, excepting 

 that the ends must be cut off at even lengths and bent to the desired angle with pliers 

 or with a piece of hollow umbrella tube. In making the single-eye hook one loop is 

 placed half an inch in advance of the other, when they are introduced into the iron 

 strap. In order to obtain the best results in making hooks, the holes in the plate should 

 be kept well greased. The process is well illustrated by figure 2, while some of the 

 various patterns of hooks made by the mussel fishermen are shown in figure i . 



mHJIi^iiWIHW! 



Fig. 3. — Stages in the process of making crowfoot hook; "needles," "hairpins, " and nearly completed hooks. 



Bar and lines. — The bar, or brail, consists of a black or galvanized iron gas pipe 

 from 12 to 20 feet in length and with a diameter of from 0.75 to i inch (PI. XXVII, 

 fig. i). Caps are used or wooden pegs are driven into the open ends of the pipe to keep 

 out the water; otherwise the bar would fill with water and cause an undesirable slop 

 when raised to the standards of the boat. The bars are occasionally supported by 

 small wheels at the ends, to prevent the bar from disturbing the mussels before the 

 hooks have reached them. This is generally unnecessary, because, while the boat is in 

 motion, the bar is slightly raised from the river bottom, and only the hooks can touch 

 the mussels. On a few rivers a wooden bar is used by some mussel fishermen, but it 

 does not appear to be so popular or to give as satisfactory results as the iron bar. 



The strings or lines for carrying the hooks consist usually of soft trot-lines of No. 96 

 or 120 size, and are about 3 feet in length. They are attached to the bar at intervals of 

 from 4 to 6 inches by a half -hitch knot, which is easily tied and readily loosened if a new 



