88 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



their heads through the meshes beyond their gill openings which precludes their 

 being again retracted. The modes of capture must vary with local circumstances 

 but generally during the spring and autumn drift* nets only are employed, 

 whereas in the summer, as towards the end of May in Cornwall, these fishes come 

 nearer inland and seines are likewise used. The two may be also in operation at the 

 same time, thus in the first week of July, 1880, both drift and seine fishermen 

 were making large captures off the Cornish coast. At this period a man termed a 

 huer is appointed to keep a look out for the appearance of the shoals of these 

 fishes : on perceiving which, he signals to the fishermen who at once depart in the 

 direction of the anticipated captures. Mr. R. Couch remarked in the Zoologist 

 that some of the fishermen believe "that if from any cause the eastward migrations 

 pass up mid-channel, the spring fish first appear on the eastern fishing grounds 

 about Brighton, and spawn before they get so far west as the Cornish or Devonshire 

 coasts : hence the eastern fishery is profitable while the western is a failure. If, 

 on the contrary, they pass up at short distances from the shore, the eastern 

 fishery is a failure and their boats come westwards to take the fish." (p. 1410.) 

 The failure of the fishery, therefore, frequently depends upon the fishermen 

 looking for the fish in a wrong direction, and thus they pass unnoticed. They do 

 not rise to the surface during spring and autumn as they do in summer, so their 

 presence has to be detected by nets and fishing, sometimes there are few near 

 shore while they are abundant in the deep water. In September and October 

 mackerel mostly retire to deeper waters, or separate into small shoals, rendering 

 this mode of fishing useless. This, however, is very liable to vary, thus during 

 the last week in November, 1880, drift nets were still being employed at Penzance 

 and took large, fat, and well-flavoured mackerel by thousands a night, although 

 usually catches of this sort do not occur after the beginning of June or before the 

 end of February. Small mackerel are often captured until Christmas (Cornish). f 



At Rye there is a large mackerel fishery, where fixed nets termed " kettle 

 nets " are employed, each of which is a little over half-a-mile in length : the 

 poles to which they are attached being twelve feet high, while each contains three 

 chambers or bights. They commence being used on April 14th, and are con- 

 tinued until the end of November. 



Droves of sea birds flying above and every now and then swooping down upon 

 the fish, often give a good indication of where they are : the circling, screaming 

 birds acting as detectives. 



When mackerel are in small and divided companies, netting could not be 

 remunerative, but hand-lining might be, and it has been observed that more 

 proportionate success generally attends the employment of several lines used 

 together, while several hooks are best on one line. Those captured by hooks and 

 lines generally command a better price in the market than such as have been 

 netted. Although these fish may be taken from a boat at anchor, the favourite 

 time for fishing for mackerel with a bait is when there is a little ripple on the 

 sea, and a light gale is blowing, termed a "mackerel breeze" by fishermen, which 

 takes the boat along at a fair speed under sail, while should the sky be gloomy, 

 so much the better. The plan adopted is termed whiffing, railing, trailing, or 

 plummeting. Hand-lining may be carried on at any time during the clay, as they 

 appear to feed at all hours, but best in the morning and evening. The line is 

 short but heavily weighted to a cone-shapecl leaden plummet : a small line, termed 

 the snood or snoozing, is attached to near the end of the leaded line on one side 

 and terminates in the hook at the other : the bait or lask is wedge-shaped, the 

 thick end being on the hook, while it should take on an undulating motion to 

 resemble a fish. 



Baits. — When whiffing or hand-lining for these fishes, natural baits may be 

 employed, as a slip from the side of another mackerel's tail termed a lask, a 

 cuttle fish, a thin rind of pork, or mud-worms. But besides the foregoing, any 



* For a description of the various kinds of nets and how employed, see Introduction. 



t The pilchard season of 1879 ran into January, 1880: while the mackerel season of 1880 

 commenced in the latter jart of January, 1880 (T. Cornish). 



