26o The Mackerel 



in the open sea, which hardly seems credible, even in 

 view of our ignorance as to where the Coryphaena and 

 bonito perform this most indispensable function. I 

 have assigned to them the Sargasso weed as a spawning- 

 place for several reasons, chief among which is the 

 vast amount of varied spawn which is to be found in 

 it ; but to credit a fish like the Mackerel, which 

 appears in such illimitable numbers, with casting its 

 ova haphazard upon the ocean with its ever-shifting 

 currents, seems a stretch of the scientific imagination 

 quite unreceivable. Moreover, while it might be 

 imaginable of, say, the Coryphaena, whose numbers 

 are not great as compared with other fish, and who 

 never frequent shallow waters, it is not, it cannot be, 

 so of the Mackerel, which is never seen at any great 

 distance from land, and has its pick of aU the most 

 favourable spawning grounds as near the surface as 

 it needs. 



Unlike the herring, who never comes near the land, 

 except in the multitudinous companionship of the 

 school, the Mackerel are fond of roaming about quite 

 independently, as if at times the restraint of the school 

 galled them, and they needed to run loose for a little 

 while, chasing their prey on their own account. These 

 independent Mackerel give splendid sport, biting 

 readily at a hook baited with a piece of red rag or a 

 strip of the silvery skin of a Mackerel's belly, towed 

 through the water at a brisk rate behind a boat. 

 A fairly heavy lead is necessary to keep the bait 

 sufficiently deep; if towed along the surface, the 

 fish wiU not bite. There is no need for skill in baiting 

 the hook, if the strip of skin be two inches long and 

 half an inch wide, it is sufficient just to hang it on the 

 hook by piercing one end, the fish being so ravenous 

 as to gorge hook and all in its spring. These fish 



