THE MACKEREL-HOOK FISHERY. 287 
of success. Sometimes the mackerel, however abundant, will not rise to bait; they are very 
capricious; at other times in the same day they will be exceedingly voracious. One of the com- 
mon tactics of the mackerel fishermen was that of running roind a school; when the fish could 
be seen, the vessel would rites: a complete circle, surrounding them at the same time with the line 
of toll bait. The effect of this maneuver was to keep the fish from moving away by placing the 
bait in such a manner that whichever course they took the fish must invariably meet with and be 
attracted by it to the vessel’s side. It frequently happened, however, that the schooling fish took 
no notice whatever of the toll bait, either because they were not hungry, or were engaged in feed- 
ing upon some form of crustacea, of which they are exceedingly fond. 
The practice of “lee-bowing,” the method of which, so far as the management of the vessel is 
concerned, has been described in another place, was simply to “heave to” to the leeward of 
another vessel which was lying to and had a school of fish alongside, and, while so doing, to throw 
a quantity of bait overboard; this bait passing under the bottom of the first vessel would attract 
the fish, which would then follow the course of the new bait, passing to leeward under the first 
vessel and appearing alongside and close to the vessel which was executing the maneuver of lee- 
bowing. The success of this maneuver is sometimes thwarted by the crew of the first vessel 
throwing over such a quantity of bait that the bait thrown by the second vessel is not noticed by 
the fish. In this act it is frequently the custom to use a considerable quantity of chopped clams, 
these being. considered better to “hold” the fish alongside than the menhaden bait. The clam 
bait is also used on other occasions to “hold” the fish, or induce them to bite more rapidly when 
they are supposed to be tired of the ordinary bait. 
A maneuver sometimes executed by the mackerel schooner is called “springing up.” This is 
done when the mackerel are so close to the shore that the vessel cannot lie to and drift for them. 
It is accomplished by bringing the vessel to anchor and then putting a “spring” on the cable, the 
latter, which is a stout rope, being taken to the port quarter, and the cable veered out so t that the 
vessel lies with her port side to the wind. The fishing is then carried on on the starboard side in 
the same manner as with vessels lying to. 
In former years, when an extensive mackerel fishery was prosecuted in the vicinity of the 
Seven Islands and at the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, much jig fishing was carried on by 
small boats sent out from the vessels. Each of the boats carried a small quantity of ground bait, 
which was used in the same manner as on the vessels. This method of fishing has also been 
practiced to some extent on the coast of Maine even as late as 1879. 
Vessels occasionally returned home from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to land their catch, 
leaving a portion of their crew to fish from small boats until their return.* 
The above description of jigging mackerel has been written with special reference to the 
fishery in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, since it was there that the jig fishing was most extensively 
prosecuted. The methods are the same, however, as those practiced on the New England coast. 
5. THE CARE OF THE FISH. 
CLEANING AND SALTING.—The manner of caring for the fish is essentially the same as that 
described in the preceding chapter, except that (the quantity of fish taken being much smaller, 
there was, of course, much more time for handling them) greater care was taken, and the fish were 
*Schooner B, D. Haskins lately arrived from Bay Saint Lawrence with mackerel; left five of her crew to con- 
tinue the fishery in dories until her return on her second trip. (Cape Ann Advertiser, August 17, 1860.) Instances 
of this kind were rare.—AUTHORS, 
