tackle must be thoroughly reliable, as the Bass is a very powerful fish, and you will require to keep a taut line on him, in order to steer him clear of the rocks and piles, round which he has an awkward trick of breaking your line. The hooks, too, should be long in the shank and very sharp; for the Bass being a leathermouthed fish, the hook should pierce well. You should also have by you a cloth with which to handle the captive, otherwise its spikes may inflict some nasty wounds while you are unhooking it.

The favourite spots for Bass are at the mouths of rivers, round dock-heads, and off wooden piers and breakwaters. They feed as a rule on the sand, but are also found on the rocks. The best time to take Bass is in moderately rough weather, in sea-breezes, and choppy water. Dull days, too, seem to be preferable, though this is immaterial in the case of bottom-fishing. Morning and evening, and about high water, are the best times for surface-fishing.

Mackerel-fishing also commences in June. The Mackerel is a gregarious and a migratory fish, so it is most important to know its whereabouts at any time of the year. The national movement among the Mackerel seems to be, as far as we are concerned, from South-west to North-east. They appear in the Channel with the New Year, but the fishery is not large until March. As the weather grows warmer, the shoals approach the surface and move up the Channel. Thus, all through June and July they may be taken along our South Coast by dozens on surface tackle. Large shoals also pass up the East and West Coasts. In August they retire into deeper water, but are taken on whiffing

lines (at a great depth) up to October, as also on ground-lines.

Fig.

Whiffing. The two whiffing-lines shown at 41 will do admirably for Mackerel lines, and should there be many fish, the trace may be 3yds. long, and may be fitted with so many as a dozen flies and a spinner. Mackerel, unlike Pollack and Bass, do not seem to be discouraged by a large number of baits.

The main idea is to find the shoal, and then to keep with it. This is by no means difficult, as Mackerel are not shy; they will take anything bright, from a "last" of their own skin-a very deadly bait -to a piece of flannel. A piece of clay-pipe stem is a favourite bait. I think it is much improved by fastening a "baby" to it, which causes it to spin on a long-shanked hook in a most attractive manner.

66

When Mackerel are very plentiful, amateurs often whiff with four lines, two from cane spreaders, and two in the hands. To avoid entanglement, the former may be let out 30yds. behind the boat with light leads, the latter having heavy leads and being let out only 15yds. or so.

on

The ordinary bottom-fishing may be carried throughout June. Two fish especially will attract the attention of anglers, the Wrasse and the Ray. No two fish are more unlike, and yet, strange to say, they have been confused in print (vide Fishing Gazette, August 28th, 1886). Mr. Perkin refers in his Prize Essay on Sea-Fishing to the Wrasse's liver as "worth the lot put together" for Bass. This is a mistake. The bait referred to is the liver of the Ray, and not the Wrasse, a beautiful fish that one would hesitate

to describe as "an ugly flat-fish, with a long tail like that of a greyhound, minus the hair."

Wrasses are as beautiful as they are worthless; their handsome skin appears to have reminded several writers of Joseph's "coat of many colours," which, I regret to see, the late Frank Buckland impartially assigned to Jacob. There are several species of Wrasses the common Wrasse has many names; on the Welsh coast it is called "Connor," while the Manx word is 66 Bollen." The Ancient Wrasse (Fig. 44) is the most gorgeous of the tribe. They live in

sea-weed, and are on this account particularly plentiful

off Littlehampton, Bognor, and best bait is ragworm. This is always catches a lot of useless this bait for Grey Mullet.

The

Swanage Pier. The unfortunate, for one Wrasse when using bait is rendered more

attractive by jerking it about. No one thinks of fishing specially for Wrasse.

Skate are also plentiful in June. They do not approach very near shore, fortunately, but abound in sandbanks out at sea. The Goodwins at certain times of the year swarm with them. The best baits are

sprats, launce, and lugs. Skate feed on the bottom. They are nasty customers. Of late years some very large Skate have been taken off our shores, one at Swanage weighing 128lb. I was told at Deal of an amateur having taken one (1887) weighing cwt. The late Frank Buckland got one from Southwold (lately removed from the British Museum to the Natural History Museum at South Kensington) that weighed 90lb. without its intestines. Some of these Rays (Thornback, Sting Ray, and Eagle Ray) have terrible spikes on the tail. This long flexible appendage is wound round the offending object, which is then fearfully lacerated with the spike. If you haul one on board, cut its tail off as soon as possible.

Flat Fish, Pout, &c., are all to be caught during June, but I fancy that Bass-fishing will occupy most of the attention of anyone lucky enough to get away during this lovely month.

CHAPTER VIII.

JULY.

the Bass occupies the attention of the Angler during June, July should certainly be divided between it and the Pollack, though the former abound both in sandy and rocky neighbourhoods, the latter requiring, as a rule, rocks. The amateur may meet with Pollack of all sizes, from lb. upwards. I see in Fishing (Nov. 2nd, 1889) that Lord St. Levan took a Pollack at Plymouth weighing 24lb.; but the average is far below 81b.

The essential particular about whiffing for Pollack is the depth at which they feed. In the case of Bassand Mackerel-fishing, we have applied the term "surfacefishing" as literally correct, but whiffing for Pollack is generally practised within a few feet of the bottomoften at a depth of ten or twenty fathoms. The ordinary hemp lines are quite good enough; many writers recommend horsehair lines, but I think the additional advantage hardly justifies the additional expense. These delicate lines, too, are apt to rot, and to get gnawed by insects. I rather incline to pipe leads at intervals, but the majority of sportsmen are, I believe, for one heavy lead at the end of the main line. The exact number