DisGorGER. 
SEA-FISH. 
} various operations, a number of weapons 
have been designed under the name of gags, 
Z.¢.,those employed in opening and fixing the 
jaws, and disgorgers, z.., those used in push- 
ing out the hook. Of gags, there are various 
patterns, and the sca-angler should never 
attempt to unhook a Jarge pollack, conger, 
or dog-fish, without one. A fairly good 
form is shown in the left-hand cut on the 
previous page, its hooks being made to 
diverge by a few turns of the handle, on 
the principle of the Archimedean screw, 
the knob being first used to give the fish a 
quieting tap as a preventive of any sudden 
playfulness ; but a better pattern has been 
designed, the use of which is as simple as 
that of the scissors which it resembles. This 
gag has an arrangement by which the 
jaws can be distended to their full width, 
and it is somewhat less likely to get out of 
order than the last, which, I well remember, 
played me a sad trick with a conger at 
Ramsgate ten years ago, when I had a 
narrow shave with the forefinger of my 
right hand. The old form of disgorger, 
shown in the figure, has also been improved 
upon for sea-fishing ; and there is a pattern 
that cnables the angler to get a good grip 
of the line, when, as is often the case 
with large flat-fish, the hook is taken so far 
down as to be out of sight. 
In few of the implements of his craft does 
the fisherman’s individual taste find 
expression in greater variety than 
in the form of knife which he produces 
when wanted, cither for cutting up the 
Knife 
