82 SEA-FISH. 
the fine brown snooding, a fathom in length, to 
which is attached the hook by its link of single 
gut. The plummet, the weight of which varies 
according to circumstances, from 1 lb. to 3 lbs., is 
furnished with two loops of stiffened cord, to one 
of which is fastened the mainline, to the other the 
fine hook-snood. The hook is then baited with a 
“Jast’”’—a name well merited by its powers of en- 
durance, as one bait often suffices for a score of 
fish—cut neatly from the side of the mackerel’s 
tail, and allowed to hang from the bend of the 
hook without any attempt at concealing the point, 
and the whole is cast astern. As the strain is very 
considerable in anything of a breeze, those with 
tender fingers will do well to ease the tension by 
the use of a toggle of wood, nothing more than a 
tapered plug fastened crosswise, which should be 
held between the first and second fingers of the 
closed hand. The lines are kept in motion with a 
give-and-take action of the arm ; and the fish, as a 
rule, hook themselves. As the dip of the gun- 
wale, especially off a broken coast, is often sudden, 
the amateur will find that he has quite enough to 
do in managing one such line and maintaining his 
balance; but the Cornishman will go out in a 
spanking breeze single-handed, manage three lines, 
and, pressing his bare feet into the service, handle 
his lugger with a skill that would take some 
beating. I have heard a good many complaints 
against the simple plummet-tackle described above, 
and have tricd a number of “sensitive” leads and 
what not, designed to improve the fisherman’s 
chances ; but, truth to tell, these are not as a rule 
in need of betterment ; and we only catch mackerel 
in this way down in Cornwall on our way out to 
