Cod, hake, and halibut heads are quite generally used as bait.  Halibut heads are said to be the best, as they are tougher than the cod or hake heads, and thus last much longer.  Sculpins, flounders, in fact almost any kind of fish, can be used.  In the vicinity of sardine canneries the heads of herring are used.  Sometimes the bait is slightly salted, at other times it is used fresh.  Small herring are lightly salted, and then allowed to remain until partly decayed, when they are inclosed in small bags, and these put into the pots.  The oil from this bait forms a “slick” in the water, and when the smell from it is strong the fishermen consider it at its best.  The bait is generally secured by small haul-seines and spears in sections where offal can not be bought.

FISHING VESSELS AND BOATS.

The fishing vessels are either sloop or schooner rigged, with an average net tonnage of slightly over 8 tons (new measurement) and an average value of about $475.  There has been a great increase in the number of these vessels during recent years.  Eight vessels were used in 1880, 29 in 1889, and 130 in 1898.  Quite a number of these vessels are used in other fisheries during their seasons.  Two men usually form a crew, although three, and sometimes four, are occasionally used.

The other vessels comprise sailboats under 5 tons and rowboats.  The sailboats are generally small square-sterned sloops, open in the afterpart, but with a cuddy forward.  They are all built with centerboards, and some are lapstreak while others are “set work.”  Around the afterpart of the standing room is a seat, the ballast is floored over, and two little bunks and a stove generally help to furnish the cuddy.  They vary in length from 16 to 26 feet and in width from 6 to 9 feet; they average about 2 tons.  They are especially adapted to the winter fishery, as they are good sailers and ride out the storms easily.

Dories are in quite general use in the lobster fishery, as are also the double-enders, or peapods.  This latter is a small canoe-shaped boat of an average length of 15-1/2 feet, 4-1/2 feet breadth, and 1-1/2 feet depth.  They are mainly built lapstreak, but a few are “set work.”  Both ends are exactly alike; the sides are rounded and the bottom is flat, being, however, only 4 or 5 inches wide in the center and tapering toward each end, at the same time bending slightly upward, so as to make the boat shallower at the ends than in the middle.  This kind of bottom is called a “rocker bottom.”  They are usually rowed, but are sometimes furnished with a sprit sail and centerboard.

TRANSPORTING VESSELS OR SMACKS.