any kind of hand-line ground-fishing, and if two pairs of lines be diligently worked, the result will generally be fully equal and often greater than if more hooks were used, which are often a positive hindrance, from the increased liability to entanglement, and loss of time incurred in clearing away before the gear is again in working order. If from the strength of the tide you are compelled to use two lines only with the 'Grapnel or Creeper Sinker,' the number of hooks may be doubled, but six on each I consider quite sufficient, even under these circumstances. At Plymouth three form the complement of hooks on one line ; at Salterton, Sidmouth, and Beer, two only; yet these fishermen will take as many fish on the average as those at Dartmouth, and have often made catches of from thirty to seventy dozen Whiting in a day's fishing, facts the reader will coincide, I think, with myself in esteeming pretty conclusive. The Grapnel or Creeper Sinker (fig. 5) is much used off FIG. 5.-The Grapnel or Creeper Sinker. Dartmouth and Start Bay, on account of the strength of the tidal currents in the offing, at and about spring tides. These creepers have five claws, are about 18 inches long, and are provided with a conical piece of lead of two or three pounds' weight, cast on to the shank as close to the eye as possible, in order that the ring end may not rise from the bottom, and the claws thereby break out of the ground. A thimble of the kind used by sailmakers to insert in the bolt-rope of sails is closed on the eye of the grapnel, and a piece of three-eighths galvanised wire is slung to the thimble by passing a piece of Cod-line through the ring and round the circumference of the thimble, when both ends of the piece of Cod-line, on each of which an eye has been spliced, are lashed close to the ends of the wire. The snood and hooks, sometimes amounting to more than a dozen, and the line, are bent on as in the ordinary Dartmouth Rig. The weight of the Creepers complete is about eight pounds each, and by their aid bottom can be kept in a considerable tide when at anchor. They are of course only used on ground known to be free of rocks. I have only met with them at Dartmouth, but they would answer anywhere under similar circumstances. The whole affair should be galvanised. The Newfoundland or Banker's Lead (fig. 6) is a favourite sinker in the Cod fishery, of a sugar-loaf form, with the base cut off at an angle. It works with a long snood like the Dartmouth Dip, and in Cod-fishing with two hooks only. At each end holes are made to receive a ganging or stiffening of served yarn, and the line being bent on to the ganging of the sharp end the snood is attached to the other. It is the favourite rig with the Teignmouth men for Whiting and general ground-fishing. By thrusting a sugar-loaf piece of wood on a slant into moulders' sand the angular base is readily formed. FIG. 6. The Mould for Dip-Leads is easily made for conical sinkers by sharpening a piece of wood and pressing it into a pot of sand the required depth. Use moulders' sand from a foundry if procurable. A cone 2 inches wide at the base and 3 high will weigh about 3 pounds; one of 2 inches at the base and 2 high about 2 pounds. A mould for a ship's hand-lead shape is made by planing a piece of wood with 1 inch to each side of a square, and then taking off the angles until you have eight equal sides. One inch at the top should be reduced to thickness, which when pressed into the sand will form the top for boring the hole to sling it, for which a bit of stout upper leather is most durable. The wooden model should taper slightly. Moulds may also be made in freestone or chalk. The Boat-shaped Rig (fig. 7). This lead derives its name from its form, that of a whaleboat or canoe, and is much used on the south-west coast of England and elsewhere. The boatshaped sinker has probably descended to us from our Scandinavian ancestors, for varieties of it were numerous in the Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish departments of the International Fisheries Exhibition of 1883, held at South Kensington. This form has not been chosen without design. A boat at anchor is liable to be moved to the right or left of a right line by force of wind or stream of tide, and when a lead is cast overboard it is always likely from this cause to get foul of the lines already down, which hang under the boat at an angle when the boat is thus deflected from the line of her anchor. The boat-shaped lead, when cast overboard, as it strikes the water, sheers out FIG. 7.-Boat-shaped Rig. Lead and Section with brass wire, and Cross Section showing form of cavity. from the side of the boat from which it is thrown, and consequently has a better chance of avoiding the lines on the other side of the boat than if it descended perpendicularly. In the woodcut, fig. 7, a represents the lead with a brass wire cast into it projecting from both ends and answering to the bow-sprit and mizen-boom of a boat, which serve to keep snood and line apart in descending, as in the Dartmouth Rig, and thereby to prevent fouling. A swivel is shown at b (two-thirds length) of sufficient strength for offing Whiting-fishing, and a section of the lead to show its form, whilst in d we have lead, brass wire, snood or sid-strap, brass swivel, and the snood itself with three hooks looped on over the knot below the swivel, wanting only the line to be bent on to the upper eye of the brass wire. This is on a smaller scale in order to show it entire on the same page. The fishermen dispense with wire, and use served rope yarn instead, worked in through holes in the ends of the lead. Wire is the simplest and most speedy method. This wire or ganging is absolutely necessary, or snood and line would twist together. The knot at the end of the sid-strap is most useful, as you can immediately detach the hooks, either if you have the ill-luck to get foul by a fish sheering across the other lines, or from any other cause; this removal of the hooks of course facilitates greatly the clearing of an entanglement, and I recommend it for all ground-fishing gear for hand-lining. In fig. 7, d the lead is represented in the position it would occupy when in use (holding the book sideways), and as it is drawn to the surface in the same position, the wire of course offers little or no resistance in passing through the water, and the tackle is drawn up with comparative ease; but in the Southampton Rig, the wire or whalebone spreader running through the lead at right angles to its upward course, nearly doubles the labour, a matter of no small moment in offing-fishing, although alongshore, using light leads, it does not matter so much. To use this gear, the boat having been anchored, first sound the bottom, and if a good stream of tide is running lift the lead just off the ground; if moderate, a little higher; if dead slack, the height of the whole length of the trace, by which I mean all the tackle below the lead. The sid-strap should never be quite as strong as the line, in order that it may break first, by which you will save your lead if you get fast in the bottom. For offing work use twelve feet from lead to lowest hook, alongshore four or five feet. Moulds for Boat-Leads can be made in wood, freestone, and ordinary, or moulders' sand from a foundry. The dimensions of a mould for a lead of one pound weight will be 4 inches long, 1 wide, by 1 deep; for one and a half pound, 5 inches long, 1 wide, and 14 deep, and others in proportion of greater weight. Here are three illustrations of the mould for boat-shaped leads in wood; first, the mould screwed together (fig. 8); second, half e FIG. 8.-Mould for Boat-shaped Leads. the mould showing the position of the brass wire (fig. 9); third, a cross section, showing the form of the cavity (fig. 10). The moulds may be made of wood, as follows: take a piece of fir or deal, three inches square and a foot long, saw it through the middle, and with a spokeshave take out of the inner edges half the dimen FIG. 9.-Longitudinal Section with brass wire. sions for the lead, and screw the two pieces tightly together. If of freestone, rule a straight line on it, and, marking the shape of the lead, scoop out the mould with a knife and gouge, or get a stonemason to prepare it for you. You may cast twenty to thirty leads in the wooden mould, but that of freestone will never wear out, although it may break through the heat of the molten metal, to prevent which fill it with hot ashes previously. The charring of wood moulds may be hindered by oiling them, but when they begin to burn they should be lined with thin sheet iron, which when first put on should be painted with FIG. 10.--Cross Section, showing form of cavity. |