Page 57 - The Ashley Book of Knots

THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS

The Fisherman

The knots now to be shown apply to fishing as distinct from

seamanship. The fisherman's knots, so far as his boat gear is con-

cerned, do not differ much from other sailor's knots. But for his

fishing he uses a number of original ones which, surprisingly enough,

do not seem to have been recorded. For instance, the GROUND LINE

2.70
HITCH ('#277) and the GANGING KNOT ('#276), \vhich are the essence

of cod fishing, do not appear even in the knot pages of the Atlantic

FishermiW's Almanac, which is a trade journal that hangs in almost

every fisherman's cabin.

The professed object of both the professional and the amateur

fisherman's activities being to catch fish, and most of their practices

being applicable or of interest to each other, their knots will be

shown together. The use of the fly may be a little out of the pro-

fessional's everyday requirements, but he occasionally uses spinners,

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eelskins, and other lures. On the other hand, there is no practice of

the professional that will not provide sport for the amateur .

..... ,

• • 269, 270. These are the common ways of stringing fish, if you do

not wish to hide your catch under a basket. In '# 269 the long end of

2.71 the stick is shoved up through the gill and out of the mouth. In

'#270 a short, sharpened stick the size of a meat skewer is shoved into

the mouth and out the gill, where it turns at right angles and acts as

a toggle.

271. A KILLEG HITcH-also spelled and pronounced KELLIG, KEL-

LAGH, KELLICK, KILLOCK, and KILLIcK-consists of a TIMBER HITCH

2.75 and HALF HITCH ('#1733) that are drawn closely together around a

stone. In its stricter application a killeg is a stone-weighted wooden

anchor, while a stone used alone as an anchor is called a slingsMne,

and is used on rocky bottom where an anchor is apt to foul. It is em-

ployed in anchoring seines, lobster, crab, and eel pots, small boats,

decoys, etc.

272. The SLINGSTONE HITCH comes from Sakounet Point, where it

is used in anchoring lobster pots. It may be tied either in the bight or

/ - ' in the end. Pull the ends strongly, and the turns in the standing part

" are spilled into the loops.

273. This is a Buoy ROPE HITCH from Pol perro, England, used on

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semes.

274. NET LINE KNOT from Looe. A 5ingle headrope, when wet,

will swell and consequently twist, thereby fouling and rolling up the

edges of seines. To prevent this two headropes of equal size and op-

posite lay (twist) are led parallel with each other. This knot, which

is of the type termed BINDER, seizes the two together. Except that it

is used as a knot instead of a hitch, it is similar to '# 273.

275. A slightly different NET LINE KNOT from Clovelly.

276. The GANGING KNOT is used on codfish tr-awl. A soft line is cut ' , , ---

into short, ~qual lengths, which are hung over a convenient nail or

hook, and long loops of uniform length are tied in one of the ends

of each, after which fishhooks are added to the loops as shown in

'# 3 10 and '# 3 11. In the left drawing a hook is shown to indicate the