adopt fly-fishing at sea. It is a kind of imitation of the dragonfly. The body is as thin as possible, being nothing but flattened silver wire, a small brush of scarlet feather for the tail, a little green, blue, and red dubbing out of an old turkey carpet for the shoulders, and bright blue wings, to which add half a dozen fibres of goose feather in front. With this, fishing at the mouth of a river-harbour, or in the pools just inside, you will probably take a Sea Trout or two, or even a Salmon, particularly if you fish at the beginning of the ebb tide. Make it on a 9, 10, or II hook (fig. 63, p. 211). In the Taw and Torridge estuary at Instow, N. Devon, the fly in use is made with white and grey feathers and a silver body, and with this great sport is frequently obtained.

A rough but useful fly may be made out of white goat'shair, with a body of red wool. The beard on account of its length is preferred, but that from the body if long enough will also answer.

Two flies will be quite as many as you can conveniently cast, and more will only embarrass you ; but if not accustomed to flyfishing in fresh water, as well as to boating at sea, employ a man to pull, for you will find it rather awkward work to manage the rod and keep your footing in the boat at the same time, and had better be satisfied with towing or trailing your line after the boat, until you have practised throwing a fly on shore. The loops at the heads of the flies should be either of fine silk line, fine snooding, or double twisted gut.

Use of the Gear or Tackle.-If alone let out about twenty yards of line and pull leisurely along, resting the rod against a thowl-pin in the after rowlock. If with an assistant, hold the rod in your hand. If you feel a fish or see a rise, strike gently and draw the fish toward you by bending the rod backward until you can take hold of the line, when you may lift the fish on board if of moderate size. If, however, the fish should be large, on no account touch the line, but play him as you would a Salmon or any other large fish, and when exhausted, reel up the line until you have no more out than the length of the rod, then inclining it backwards, strike your gaff into him under the throat if possible, and lift him on board. A landing net with

the handle only about a foot long is more convenient than a gaff, where the fish are of a moderate size.

As good a gaff as can be used is a Hake or Bonita hook, 2 inches in width, from point to shank, lashed on to a stick 2 feet in length, as a Salmon gaff is too good for the purpose, and soon gets rusty and spoiled. File off nearly all the barb of the hook.

When employing an assistant from amongst sailors or fishermen, it is very necessary to caution him against catching the line without orders to that effect, as in the excitement caused by seeing a large fish circling round the boat, he is almost certain to do, not reflecting that the elasticity of the rod favours your tackle, and will enable you to kill a much larger fish than if the line were held in the hand.

Boat. The best boat for this fishing is a yacht's punt, or dinghy, or boat of similar build, not less than twelve, nor more than fifteen feet in length, as these boats are light, steady on the water, and row sufficiently fast for the purpose; but if unacquainted with boating at sea, leave the selection to your assistant.

You may fish under sail in larger boats, but the rod is better dispensed with, and whiffing lines should then alone be used with the fly-trace.

If you prefer a short-handled net for getting your fish on board, procure a forked branch of a tree, of any tough or flexible wood, and bending the ends round, lash them together with waxed twine, leaving the handle about a foot in length; this is much preferable to an iron ring, on account of rust, but if for the sake of portability in travelling you prefer a metal hoop, folding or not, it should be galvanised, unless made of brass, which breaks frequently in the joints and is more expensive. When you see a shoal of fish break the surface of the water, row to windward and cast as for Salmon or Trout. If you wish to trail entirely you may venture on four flies on the trace, but for casting two are quite sufficient, more being difficult to manage. Any artificial baits, such as Spinners, Sand-Eels, or Herring-fry (locally called Brit), may be used in the same manner.

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Sheaf-fishing. This plan of fishing is followed on the Scotch and Irish coasts with severals rods of from 12 to 15 feet in length, and where the fish are plentiful, Pollack and Coal-fish (often known as Lythe and Saythe) are taken in large numbers, and sometimes Mackerel. It is termed sheaf-fishing, either because as many as nine rods are taken on board the boat at one time, and when lashed up into a faggot, form something like a sheaf of straw, or because a sheaf of straw is actually used to retain the rods in their required positions during their use. This sheaf of straw is lashed to a board placed across the boat about three feet in advance of the stern, into which the rods are stuck, spreading out like a fan over the stern and quarters of the boat. The line of strong snooding or horse-hair is used about 18 inches longer than the rods, and the hook, on double or strong single gut, is baited with a particular goose feather, placed on the hook in a peculiar way, not having the appearance of a fly, but rather that of a small fish. This feather is first rolled up as one might roll a small leaf, and firmly lashed on to the head of the hook, at the root part (see fig. 33, b, p. 89). If the line were more than 18 inches longer than the rod, there would be a difficulty in lifting the fish into the boat. The extraordinary number of nine rods is taken into the boat in case of loss or breakage, but half a dozen only are commonly used at once, the other, with lines and hooks wound round them, being kept ready for action at a moment's notice, in order that no time may be lost in the dusk of the evening, when this method of fishing is commonly practised, for it would not do to be refitting the rods when they ought to be at work. These rods are made of good red pine 1 inch thick at the butt, tapering up to thickness at the top. For safety in case of breaking the rod, the line should come down the whole length of the rod to the butt. The favourite feather used is taken from a white goose at the bottom of the neck on the back, just between the wings. One goose does not afford many of these feathers. The rods when stuck in the sheaf of straw stretch out horizontally, and the tops ought to be 6 to 12 inches above the water. In addition to the board upon which the sheaf of straw is placed, a second is

laid across from gunwale to gunwale, a little in advance of the other, for the fisherman to sit on, so as to enable him to look down conveniently upon his rods. The boat is kept in motion by a second fisherman, who pulls along slowly in successive circles of from 50 to 70 yards' diameter. The feather-bait is represented with the flies, any of which can likewise be used with the rods, just as this feather-bait may be used for fly-fishing for Bass or Mackerel on either rods or whiffing lines. (See p. 89.)

ROD-FISHING FOR POLLACK FROM SHORE.

Very good sport with the rod, from the steep rocks as well as from the piers of many harbours on the coast, may be had with this and other fish. For rod, reel or winch, and line, see pp. 86, 87.

If there is much stream, or a strong eddy, the following tackle will be found to answer well. Take a pipe-lead one ounce in weight, and pass through it a piece of horse-hair line double, of twenty-four hairs thickness and seven inches in length, having previously brought the two ends together and firmly bound them round with waxed thread to within half an inch of each loop, which will stiffen it and prevent the line from twisting round the lead; procure a piece of medium sized gimp four feet in length, such as is used in Jack-fishing, and having made two neat bows with waxed silk at either end, loop the lead on at one, and the hook tied to two links of the strongest Salmon gut at the other; bait with two or three RagWorms.

If you cannot obtain gimp, you may use four feet of white horse-hair, twenty-seven hairs thickness, or of the strongest triple Salmon gut twisted, which should be first soaked in warm water, when it will work better; this should also always be done before tying knots with gut, to prevent its breaking. Where fish are very large, six thicknesses of gut, two in each strand, will not be found more than is requisite. In fig. 34, p. 95, a short piece of gimp is only shown, from the limited space available. The hooks should be tied to two lengths of double twisted or single gut, according to the run of

the fish on the coast. This tackle with a snood of increased length, nine feet from lead to hook, may also be used in whiffing from a boat pulling, weight of lead four ounces; in tide-way or drift-fishing it will also answer well, and if the current be strong a lead of as much as half a pound will be requisite, beyond which weight the use of a sinker is unpleasant on a rod. Let the line be fine, it will then keep down sufficiently in a considerable tide, if not beyond ten fathoms depth of water. In connection with this gear I have given these instructions for the benefit of anglers who, not being accustomed to sea-fishing, object to the handling of wet lines. The line had better be marked at distances of three, five, and ten fathoms. In harbour fishing No. 13 hook is generally large enough, but off headlands and the open sea you will require No. 11; all should be extra strong, as a large Rockfish, Bass, Bream, or Pollack, will snap off or straighten a weak or brittle hook. (See 'Hooks,' fig. 63, p. 211.)

Floats. If you are fishing on an open shore where there is much wash, you will find a float useful, but in a strong run of the tide it is of little service. On an open shore the backwash will take out the float and enable you to keep your line clear of the rocks, which without it would be very difficult of accomplishment. From a pier or breakwater head, off which a stream sets, turning round into an extensive eddy, a float may be used with advantage. The old-fashioned pear shape answers well, length 3 inches, diameter 12 inch, or of the elongated form, length 5 inches, diameter 1 inch. I prefer them without either ring or caps, merely with a plug through the hole projecting from either end of an inch. Over this, both top and bottom, take two half hitches, which will both make the float secure, and can be cast off instantly, when you desire to dispense with it, which a change of tide or any other circumstance may render desirable. A float may be used either with the lead and trace already described, or with the Pater-Noster line, when the water is inconveniently deep to plumb the bottom. For Pollack-fishing from shore I do not find any other bait worth using except the Rag-Worm, to be stuck on through the head, as shown in fig. 21, p. 68; a