BOAT-FISHING. 167 
hook well above the first ring or joint ; for the back- 
ward leap of the prawn at any rate is effected, as 
already mentioned in Chapter I, by the fan-shaped 
tail, and it is of the utmost importance that the 
hook should not interfere with this operation, 
on the perfectly natural performance of which so 
much depends. A rock-worm of large size, 
or a bunch of the small harbour ragworms, 
hooked through the head, will also be found a good 
bait, though, personally, I prefer mussel. 
Down in Cornwall again, where drift-lining for 
pollack gives great sport, and where, off the Tom 
Ash ground outside Fowey, I have taken a dozen 
pollack within the hour, none of which weighed 
under 8 lbs., the best of all baits isa slab of 
pilchard, which is cut in the following 
manner: the knife is inserted at the shoulder of 
the fish, the edge of the blade pointing to the tail, 
and the entire side of the pilchard is cut away from 
the backbone till just before reaching the tail, when 
the blade is turned downwards and the spine severed. 
Next, the tail-fin is neatly cut away, and we have 
left a long slab of pilchard thicker at the end next 
the tail. The hook is then passed through the thick 
end, the gut being drawn after it, and then passed 
once again through the middle. For bass, this is 
slightly varied: an incision is made on either side 
of the neck, and the head is drawn out with the 
trail attached, part of the latter being left with 
the trunk. The hook is then passed twice through 
the body, and a double hitch of the gut is taken 
round the narrow part above the tail-fin. Finally, 
the latter is removed, and the bait hangs neck 
downwards. A more killing bait than this, large, 
silvery and leaving a trail of oil, could scarcely be 
orms 
Pilchard 
