156 Artificial otter. Chapt. xn. 



a fish on, and to pull the line in so as to have it and 

 the fish on deck. This style of fishing wants a good breeze. 

 "It's the pace that kills" fish. This I give from hearsay, 

 not personal trial, for my "soul does sicken o'er the 

 heaving wave." 



I should think that business might be done with a 

 large artificial otter, and a long and strong tow line with 

 some fifty spinning baits, and white flies alternately, if 

 tried in the estuary, and in smooth weather all along 

 the seacoast. I have an otter of 4 feet long, and some 

 friends with more leisure than myself are going to fit it 

 up and try it. If it answers well, the native fishermen 

 may take to it, and there are too many fish in the sea 

 to mind this poaching. 



Sea-fish are to be caught in India, as elsewhere, by 

 bottom fishing from a boat, and for those who fancy this 

 style of fishing, good sport may sometimes be had. With 

 a view to tell them about it, I collected the information 

 from the native fishermen, but it strikes me there will 

 be very little practical use in my swelling my book with 

 what any one can learn just as well direct from them. 

 Moreover it is difficult for any book to make^a man in- 

 dependent of local aid in sea-fishing ; for there are cer- 

 tain places in the sea that hold certain fish, while other 

 places hold none, and he will still want the local fisher- 

 men, who know the spots, and the guiding landmarks, 

 to anchor him immediately over these favored spots. 

 Being perforce reliant therefore on the native fishermen 



