The “trawls” are only an elaboration of the hand-lines. They are single
lines, several hundred feet in length, with short lines and baited hooks
at intervals. They are taken out by members of the crew in their dories,
buoyed and anchored. It is the work of tending these trawls that takes the
greatest skill and fearlessness. It is in the work of hauling and baiting
the lines in all weathers that the greatest losses of life occur. There is
no room on the decks of the schooners for heavy boats, and as many such
craft are needed, five or six are piled together amidships. A block and
purchase from aloft are their hoisting-tackle.
They are handy boats, though light, and two men and a load of fish can
weather the rough seas, if your fisherman is an adept with his oars. But
they are mere cockle-shells at the best, and are tossed like feathers.
The “codders” are reckless fellows, and they will put out to the trawls
day after day in any kind of weather, fog or clear, wind or calm, with
not even a beaker of water or a piece of pilot-bread.