BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 313 
pattern. The size and weight varies considerably, depending chiefly 
ij on the dimensions of the net, but somewhat on the judgment of the 
skippers using them, some believing that a heavy head-iron is prefera- 
ble, while others may think one of medium weight will fish as well and 
is easier to handle. On the larger class of North Sea sailing trawlers 
they range from about 300 to 460 pounds weight for the two heads. 
| Holdsworth says : “The weight of the two irons ranges on different 
parts of the coast from 230 to 360 pounds, and varies generally with 
the size of the net and beam, as they do with the size of the vessel; but 
in some parts of the North Sea, where the tides are very strong, mod- 
erate-sized trawls require a great deal of weight in the head irons to 
keep them on the ground. It is not to the interest of the fisherman, 
however, to weight his trawl-beam more than enough to keep his gear 
at the bottom under the ordinary conditions of working.” 
The trawl-heads of the smack Willie and Ada , of Grimsby, 73.68 
tons, weighed 180 pounds each, were 4 feet high, 2 feet 10 inches wide, 
in the broadest part, the iron of which they were made being 4 inches 
wide and three-fourths of an inch thick. The head-irons used on the 
cutter Sobriety , 75.29 tons, of the same port, each weighed 230 pounds. 
As the North Sea trawlers catch large quantities of haddock, and 
more or less of other species of free-swimming fishes, it is desirable to 
have the beam farther from the ground than if flat-fishes were the only 
or chief object of pursuit ; therefore the sockets into which the ends of 
the beam fit are placed on top of the trawl-head. Essentially the same 
form of head is used by the Brixham and Plymouth trawlers as that 
above described, these of course being somewhat lighter, as the vessels 
are generally smaller than those of the east coast ports ; while the heavy 
head irons on the large vessels are perhaps generally lighter in pro- 
portion to their width than those commonly employed on the south 
coast. The trawl-heads are all made of wrought iron, the lower part — 
generally called the “sole” or the “shoe” — being of extra thickness, 
since this is exposed to the most wear as it slides over the bottom. 
The peculiar stirrup- shaped head iron, Fig. 2, known as the “ Bark- 
ing pattern,” with its beam socket beneath instead of above the upper 
Fig. 2. Barking pattern. 
Fig. 3. Trawl-head for inshore. 
