230 
THE BOOK OF FISHES 
A PEN OF CODFISH ON A SCHOONER’S DECK 
At the end of the day in the dories the work of “dressing down” the catch begins. 
long line, ranging from 2,100 to 2,400 
feet in length, and is made of thin, but 
incredibly strong, tarred cotton. 
Into this “back line,” or “ground line,” 
are spliced thinner lines, called “snoods” 
or “gangens,” at thirty- to forty-inch in¬ 
tervals. These snoods are usually from 
twenty to thirty inches long, and a strong 
steel hook is bent to each. Thus, on each 
long-line there are from 600 to 800 
snoods and hooks. 
Each long-line is coiled down in a 
wooden tub—often made by the fisher¬ 
men themselves by cutting down a flour 
barrel—and every hook has to be baited 
before the “gear” is set. 
In halibut fishing a much heavier line 
and hook are used, and as the snoods are 
spliced or bent into the ground-line at 
lengthier intervals, there is consequently 
a lesser number of hooks affixed to a coil 
of halibut gear. 
Halibut line is not coiled down in tubs, 
but secured, when not in use, by a small 
square of canvas from which four pieces 
of short rope depend. The coil is placed 
upon the canvas and the ropes are used 
to lash the gear up in a compact bun¬ 
dle, the whole being called by fisher¬ 
men “a ska^e of halibut gear” in contra¬ 
distinction to “a tub of cod or haddock 
trawl.” 
THE ACTUAL FISHING IS FROM THE DORIES 
On every Banks fishing-schooner, ex¬ 
cept hand-liners, on which the fishing is 
done from the deck, a number of fiat- 
bottomed, high-sided boats, called “do¬ 
ries,” are carried. These dories are from 
18 to 22 feet over all and their thwarts 
are removable, so as to permit their being 
“nested” one within the other upon the 
schooner’s decks when not in use. From 
six to twelve of these dories are carried 
by fishing schooners, and it is from the 
dory that the actual fishing is done. 
The modern Banks fishing-schooners 
are undoubtedly the handsomest com¬ 
mercial sailing craft afloat. They are 
built of wood and range from 100 to 150 
feet in length, with a tonnage of from 
80 to 175 tons. Their lines are fine and 
designed for speed, but weatherliness has 
been so well combined in the model that 
neither quality has been sacrificed. True, 
they are terrible craft for jumping about 
in a breeze and sea, but they seldom ship 
any heavy water on deck during a blow, 
unless “knocked down” or “tripped up” 
by squall or irregular wave. 
