Along the Labrador coast / by Charles Wendell Townsend.

  • Townsend, Charles Wendell, 1859-1934.
Date:
[1907], ©1907
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Along the Labrador coast / by Charles Wendell Townsend. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    I occasionally noticed men “ jigging ” for cod. The “ jigger ” consists of a bright piece of lead, shaped somewhat like a small fish, in which two large hooks are imbedded, with their points extending out on either side. The fisherman stands up in the boat and constantly jerks up and down, or “ jigs,” two lines, to each of which a jigger is attached. The fish are attracted by the lead, and while they are in¬ specting it are suddenly pierced by the hooks that may enter any part of their anatomy. It is a cruel method, for many fish hooked in the abdomen must tear away before they are brought into the boat. Baited hand lines are also used, and I saw on the southern coast “ bultows,” or lines to which are attached numerous baited hooks that are set and hauled at stated intervals. These are called trawls on the New England coast. The fish-stages are lightly constructed wharves of small spruce and fir poles built out from the rocks over the water, which support the rude fish-house, often sheathed with fir boughs and roofed with green turf. In this