The man who fishes, not for the good company of the woods
and brooks, but to get as many fish as possible to eat or sell, is
not an angler but a pot-fisher. The man who kills all the trout
he can, to boast of his skill or fortune, is technically known as
a trout-hog. Ethically, it is better to lie about your great
catches of fine fishes than to make them. For most anglers,
also, it is more easy.
Fisheries—With the multiplicity of apparatus for fishing,
there is the greatest variety in the boats which may be used.
The fishing-fleet of any port of the world is a most interesting


* The cormorant is tamed for this purpose. A harness is placed about
its wings and a ring about the lower part of its neck. Two or three birds
may be driven by a boy ina shallow stream, a small net behind him to drive
the fish down the river. In a large river like that of Gifu, where the cor-
morants are most used, the fishermen hold the birds from the boats and fish
after dark by torchlight. The bird takes a great interest in the work, darts
at the fishes with great eagerness, and fills its throat and gular pouch as
far down as the ring. Then the boy takes him out of the water, holds him
by the leg and shakes the fishes out into a basket. When the fishing is over
the ayu are preserved, the ring is taken off from the bird’s neck, and the zako
or minnows are thrown to him for his share. These he devours greedily.
