HAND-LINING. gl 
the rod may be a positive nuisance, the hand-line, 
on the other hand, being easy to manipulate at the 
edge of the surf and to lay dcwn in the intervals 
of fishing. There are several methods of swinging 
the lead into position ; one much in vogue among 
beach-fishers being the use of a forked stick, which 
takes firm hold of a button on the line close to the 
hooks. With heavy leads, however, and a little 
practice, it is not difficult to pitch the hooks to a 
considerable distance without any such aid, though 
some care is often necessary on pierheads to avoid 
accidents with others in the neighbourhood. I 
once saw an old lady’s ear caught in this way by a 
hook that was hurtling through the air after a 4-lb 
lead. She was obviously one of a large excursion, 
the members of which were that day gladdening 
the place with their laughter; yet in her few hours 
by the sea she managed to enjoy an experience 
such as falls to the lot of few. I remember with 
regret that, as the landing-stage was very crowded 
at the moment with youthful anglers, there was 
some slight difficulty in fixing upon the owner of 
that hook. 
A plan that has much to commend it from such 
pierheads in the tideway as lend themselves to its 
use is to fasten a wine bottle, half filled with water 
to keep it upright, to the further end of the line, 
and let the ebbing tide carry it out, line and all. 
When the hooks have gone far enough, a smart 
jerk causes the bottle to fill and sink. The obvious 
objections to this plan are the time taken by the 
bottle in travelling out with its burden, and the 
impossibility of fishing when the water is coming 
in, the best time as arule. On the other hand, it 
is possible in this manner to get the hooks much 
