GB1562116A

GB1562116A - Fishing method and equipment

Info

Publication number: GB1562116A
Application number: GB3899476A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: WHITE FISH AUTHORITY
Current assignee: WHITE FISH AUTHORITY
Priority date: 1977-09-15
Filing date: 1977-09-15
Publication date: 1980-03-05

Description

(54) FISHING METHOD AND EQUIPMENT (71) We, WHITE FISH AUTHORITY, a British Statutory Body established and incorporated under the Sea Fisheries Industry Act, 1970 of Sea Fisheries House, 10 Young Street, Edinburgh EH2 4JQ, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to fishing equipment and to a method of fishing, and more particularly concerns a method of fishing and fishing equipment suitable for use in longline fishing or greatline fishing.

Longline fishing is a method of fishing that is practised from small boats all round the British coast, and from the coastline of many other countries. Greatline fishing is a very similar technique, but the boats that are used for greatline fishing are relatively larger than those used for longline fishing and the greatlines are relatively longer than the longlines.

Known fishing equipment used for longline fishing includes several lengths of main line each equipped with hooks that are spaced at regular intervals. Each hook is connected to the main line by a length of thinner line termed a 'snood'. The hooks and snoods tend to tangle as the line is stored, and in order to prevent any tangling the line must be carefully coiled prior to the "shooting" of the line, when the line is fed out over the side of the boat into the water.

If the hooks are pre-baited ashore, before the boat sets out, it is known to store the line coiled in a wicker-work tray, the baited hooks being formed into a particular pattern that has been evolved from experience.

Alternatively the hooks may be separated by some cheap material or carefully positioned amongst the coils of line, the line being held in a container such as a tin bath. If the hooks are to be baited at sea it is known to store the line in a wicker-work basket with the hooks either stuck into a cork rim around the edge of the basket, or hung over a bar across the top of the basket.

When utilising the known fishing equipment described above, separate lengths of line are connected together to give a composite line of the required total length. Each end of the composite line is then anchored to the sea bed, marker buoys being provided to facilite the recovery of the line. When the line is recovered it is hauled in by hand or a mechanical hauler at a slow rate to prevent tangling of the line and the snoods.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved fishing equipment and fishing method suitable for longline fishing or greatline fishing.

In its broadest aspect, the present invention accordingly provides a method of longline or greatline fishing in which snoods carrying hooks and stored separately from the line are capable of being releasably secured to the line, said snoods being attached to the line at intervals as the latter is passed out from the boat during a so-called shooting operation and being detached from the line as it is hauled in at the end of the fishing operation.

Preferably the attaching of the snoods to the line and the subsequent detaching are effected automatically, for example mechanically, and to this end, one specific method of longline or greatline fishing according to the present invention comprises the steps of feeding a plurality of snoods each carrying a hook at one end and each initially held in an extended, straightened condition in side by side relationship towards a length of line, automatically presenting the other ends of said snoods at intervals to said line and detachably clipping said other ends to said line, passing said line and snoods to a baiting station, constraining said hooks to pass in succession through said baiting station along a predetermined path, delivering bait to said path to be intersected and engaged by a respective hook, directing the line with baited snoods into the water, subsequently recovering the line from the water by hauling the line through a snood unclipping station wherein said snoods are successively automatically detached from said line, removing fish from the detached snoods and returning said detached snoods to their initial extended and straightened condition.

As will be appreciated, by storing the snoods, when they are not actually in use, in an extended and straightened condition, the method provided by the invention avoids the difficulties previously experienced wherein baited hooks require to be formed into a particular pattern for coiling in a wickerwork tray, or for separating them by some cheap material or for carefully positioning them amongst the coils of line. By eliminating manual baiting, the invention also eliminates a considerable danger factor hitherto present in longline and in greatline fishing operations and contributes to a speeding up of such operations.

It is a feature of the invention that the snoods when not in use are carried in a storage rack comprising a rail on which the snood hooks are received and a spaced rail to which clips at the opposite ends of the snoods are attached. A plurality of stored snoods may thus be easily and safely carried from one position to another when so required. In the practice of the method proposed by the invention, the required position of use is the shooting rig which comprises a magazine for receiving the extended and straightened snoods from the storage rack, means effective to drive each clip in sequence from the magazine towards a hammer mechanism and a hammer and anvil arrangement in the latter for directing each clip towards and detachably securing it to the line as the latter is drawn through the shooting rig. If desired, according to another feature of the invention, the shooting rig may comprise an automatic baiting mechanism through which the line causes each hook to be drawn through a path intersecting a position to which a piece of bait is delivered, whereby the hook engages the bait and carries it along with the line.

The invention also provides a hauling rig for use in recovering the line when the fishing operation has been completed and the hauling rig may conveniently include means for orientating the clips into a desired attitude with respect to the line and means for effecting a separating movement between the line and each clip to detach the latter from the line.

The invention will be described further by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is fragmentary perspective view of a snood carrying a hook at one end and provided at the opposite end with a clip for attaching the snood to a fishing line, Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a snood storage rack, Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the storage rack, Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a shooting rig, Fig. 5 is a plan view of a snood clip feed mechanism, Fig. 6 is a fragmentary end view thereof, Fig. 7 is a plan view of a hammer and anvil arrangement for attaching clips to the line, Fig. 8 is a transverse section thereof, Fig. 9 is a plan view of a hook guide assem bly Fig. 10 is a side elevation thereof, Fig. 11 is a section taken on the line A-A of Fig. 10, Fig. 12 is a section taken on the line B-B of Fig. 10, Fig. 13 is an end view of a baiting mechanism, Fig. 14 is a horizontal section taken on the line A-A of Fig. 13, Fig. 15 is a side elevation of the baiting mechanism, with parts removed for clarity, Fig. 16 is a plan view corresponding to Fig.

15 Fig. 17 is a diagramatic perspective eleva tion of a hauling rig, Fig. 18 is a diagramatic cross-sectional view showing the hauling rig fitted to a boat and Fig. 19 is a diagramatic plan view showing both the shooting rig and the hauling rig fit ted to a boat.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, each hook 10 is attached to a longline or greatline 12 by means of a snood 14 which at the end oppo site to the hook 10 carries a clip 16. The clip 16 is illustrated as having generally rectangu lar pyramidal form and is provided towards its upper edge region with an aperture through which an eye of the snood 14 is passed. Beneath that aperture, the clip 16 is formed with a hole 18 which opens out in keyhole fashion into a flared mouth 20 intersecting the front face of the clip. The hole 18 is made of a diameter appropriate to snugly receive and retain the line 12, the junction between the hole 18 and the inner end of the flared mouth 20 constituting a neck 22 which is of lesser diameter than that of the line 12.

When they are not required for use, the snoods complete with hooks and clips are stored on storage racks. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, each storage rack has an upper rail 24 on which the hooks 10 are carried and a lower rail 26 for carrying the snood clips 16.

For carrying out the method of fishing hereinbefore described, the invention pro vides a two-part apparatus, of which the first part is a so-called shooting rig for feeding the line 12 out from the fishing vessel into the water and the second part is a hauling rig for hauling the line 12 back onto the vessel when the fishing operation is completed. The shooting rig is generally illustrated in Figs. 4 to 16 inclusive while the hauling rig is shown in Figs. 17 and 18, the two parts of the apparatus being shown in use on a vessel in Fig. 19.

The component parts of the shooting rig are illustrated in their working relation in Fig. 4 and will be seen to be carried on a frame generally designated 32 and intended to be secured to the deck of a fishing vessel.

Towards the forward end of the frame 32, there is mounted a magazine rack generally designated 30 which is of similar construction to the storage rack 28 and has accordingly a rail 34 to carry the hooks and a second rail 36 on which the snood clips 16 are received. As may be seen from Fig. 4, the arrangement is such that the storage rack 28 can be aligned on the forward end region of the frame 32 with the magazine rack 30, when the snoods may be manually transferred from the storage rack 28 to the magazine rack 30.

The snood clip rail 36 forms a part of a snood clip feed mechanism 38 which is more particularly illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. The feed mechanism includes a slide assembly arranged in spaced, parallel relation with the rail 36 of the magazine rack carrying the snood clips 16, the slot 20 in each clip being located on the flange of the rail 36 with the slide assembly supporting the back of the clips. The slide assembly incorporates a sliding member 38 provided with a ratchet lever 40 which projects into the space between the clip rail 36 and the slide assembly, as may be seen from Fig. 5.

The sliding member 38 is moved along the slide assembly by a double acting pneumatic cylinder 42. The sliding member 38 is coupled to the piston rod of the cylinder and the supply of air from an air line 45 to the cylinder is controlled by a spring loaded valve 44.

The spring bias of the valve is arranged such that air is directed to the cylinder 42 to push the sliding member 38 along to the right as viewed in fig. 5. Snood clips 16 are manually pushed from the storage rack 28 onto the magazine rack 30 and because the snoods 14 connect the clips 16 to the hooks 10, the latter are also thus transferred to the magazine rack 30. Manual operation of valve 44 reverses the direction of air flow to the cylinder 42 and causes the cylinder to pull back the sliding member towards the left. As the sliding member is pulled back the ratchet lever 40 engages with the snood clips 16 in the magazine rack. When the manual operation of the valve 44 is ceased the spring bias of the valve causes the cylinder 42 to push the sliding member 38 towards the right. Thus by virtue of ratchet lever 40 the stack of clips 16 are pushed towards the right. A pressure regulator 46 controls the pressure of the air being fed to cylinder 42. Thus by controlling the air pressure the force of the snood clip feed is controlled.

As an alternative, however, it will be appreciated that the sliding member 38 may be biased towards the clip delivery end of the rack 30 as by spring means (not shown) which may, if desired, be manually placed under tension appropriate to move the stack of clips 16 to the right.

The snood clips 16 are urged by the feed mechanism towards a hammer mechanism 54. The latter (Figs. 7 and 8) includes a hammer 56 which is opposed by an anvil 58 having a portion 60 which is capable of entering the clip slots 20. The line 12 is run by pulleys, for example 62, through the shooting rig, and is guided by the latter to pass close to the anvil 58. The hammer 56 is pivotally mounted towards its lower end at 57 and at its upper end is formed with a base 64 onto which a snood clip 16 is urged by the action of the slide assembly, a side plate 66 being provided in the hammer mechanism to limit the feed direction of the clips. To locate each snood clip 16 in turn in the hammer mechanism, the hammer incorporates a spring loaded lever 68 which acts on the clip gripping it in its location in the hammer.

When the hammer is in its start position the lever 68 is held open by a stop 70, thus permitting the clip feed mechanism to push a clip into the location in the hammer. Initial movement of the hammer, as it is powered towards the anvil, brings the spring loaded lever 68 clear of the stop 70 allowing it to grip the clip. When the hammer 56 moves towards the anvil 58 the body of the hammer blocks the outlet of the snood clip feed mechanism, thus preventing the latter from pushing the clips along. When the hammer returns to its start position, the location for the clip is exposed and the feed mechanism pushes the clips along to feed the next clip into the location. The hammer may conveniently be powered by a pneumatic cylinder 71 or by haudraulic or electro-magnetic means. As the hammer, carrying a snood clip 16, is urged towards the anvil, the clip is forced against the forward portion 60 of the anvil, thereby entering the line 12 into the opening 20 of the clip 16. As the clip is pressed against the line 12 by the hammer, the anvil supports the line causing it to be pressed through the neck 22 of the clip and into the hole 18 of the latter. Thus, when the hammer is returned to its start position, the clip 16, being secured to the line, is dislodged from its location in the hammer and is carried along with the line.

A stop 72 is provided in the hammer mechanism to ensure that the hammer 56 always returns accurately to its start position.

As the line 12 with the clips 16 secured to it as described above continues to be drawn through the shooting rig 32, the hooks 10 are drawn past a baiting mechanism 74 (Fig. 4) and to guide the approach of the hooks towards the baiting mechanism and to pres ent them properly thereto, there is provided a hook track generally designated 76. As may be seen from Figs. 9 to 12 inclusive, the hook track includes a pair co-planer plates 78 and 80, of which the bottom plate 78 is radiused to align with the hook rail 34 of the magazine rack. The bottom plate 78 is fixedly mounted whilst the top plate 80 is urged against it by springs 82, the leading end of the top plate 80 being tangential to the radius on the end of the bottom plate 78. The joint between the plates 78 and 80 thus forms a track in which the hooks 10 can run. It will be appreciated that a hook 10 drawn off the magazine rail 34 by the pull of its snood 14 will enter the vee formed between the radiused bottom plate 78 and the straight adjoining edge of the top plate 80 which is tangential to the radius. As the hook 10 is pulled into the vee it forces the top and bottom plate to part against the action of the springs 82, so that the bend of the hook 10 is gripped between the plates. Located at each side of the top and bottom plates are side plates 84 which locate the hook 10 laterally as it is pulled along the track by the snood.

The path of the track curves to converge with the top edges of two angle sections 86 which are positioned parallel with and in the direction of travel of the line 12 through the shooting rig. As shown in Fig. 12, the angle sections 86 are positioned so that they oppose each other with a narrow gap between them, sufficient for the width of the snood 14 to pass between. In the direction of the hammer mechanism 54, the angle sections 86 diverge to form a fork or Y-section.

When a snood clip 16 is attached to the line 12 by the hammer mechanism, as the clip 16 travels along with the line towards the baiting mechanism 74, the snood 14 enters the fork formed between the angle sections 86.

As the clip 16 travels further with the line 12, the snood 14 is guided by the fork into the narrow gap between the angle sections 86, the hook being drawn off the magazine rack rail 34 and along the hook track. Where the track and the angle sections converge, the eye of the hook 10 is supported on the top of the angle sections, with the snood between them, whilst the bend of the hook is gripped between the top and bottom plates 78 and 80. The hook 10 is now travelling towards the baiting mechanism 74 in a horizontal position with the point of the hook projecting out sideways. At the entrance to the baiting mechanism 74, the top and bottom plates 78 and 80 terminate and the hook 10 is con strained in its position by a flange 88 extending over the angle sections 86 as shown in Fig. 12.

The baiting mechanism is shown in detail in Figs. 13 to 16 inclusive and includes a bait tube 90 which is open at the top and which is manually fed with whole fish bait 92. Closing the bottom end of the bait tube 90 is a knife 94 which is reciprocated by a pneumatic cylinder 96, the knife blade being of a guillotine pattern, that is to say angled across the width of the blade, and being carried at its sides by suitable guides diagramatically indi cated at 98. Co-operating with the cutting edge of the blade 94 is a shear plate 100 which spans the width of the blade. The shear plate 100 is mounted vertically in a guide 102 which permits it to slide up and down and is acted upon by a spring 104 which urges it in a downwards direction. The bottom edge of the shear plate is angled across the width of the plate, the angle being such that, as the knife blade passes under the shear plate, contact is made between the shear plate and the cutting edge of the knife. As the knife blade passes further under the shear plate, the point of contact travels across the width of the knife blade, the shear plate lifting upwards against the action of the tension spring 104 due to the angled bottom edge riding on the cutting edge of the knife blade.

This action of the shear plate on the knife serves to keep the cutting edge sharp and ensures efficient cutting of the bait 92.

Located below the knife blade and in a horizontal position is a base plate 106 (Fig.

14) the distance between the base plate and the knife blade being adjusted to suit the thickness of bait it is desired to cut. The base plate 106 abuts against the side of the hook track 86 such that a hook 10 travelling along the track will project mid-way into the space between the knife blade 94 and the base plate. Mounted on the base plate is a tension arm 108 which is pivoted such that the end of the arm describes an arc which intersects the path of the hook travel. The tension arm is tensioned by a spring 110 against the travel of the hook 10.

Mounted to one side of the baiting mechanism 74 is a holding lever 112 operated by a single acting spring return pneumatic cylinder 114 and acting in the space between the knife blade 94 and base plate 106 and in the way of the lower opening of the vertical bait tube 90. The spring bias acts against the holding lever 112 to urge it against the side of the hook track 86, a stop (not shown) being provided to ensure that a sufficient gap is left between the hook track and the holding lever for the hook 10 to pass unimpeded.

In the operation of the baiting mechanism, with the knife blade 94 situated in its innermost position, closing the opening at the bot tom of the bait tube 90, fish bait 92 is manually dropped down the bait tube. The knife blade 94 is then moved outwardly and the holding lever 112 is also moved outwards by its pneumatic cylinder 114. Thus the bait 92 is allowed to drop down to rest on the base plate 106. The knife blade is then operated to move it inwardly, cutting through the bait, and the holding lever 112 is spring returned to bear against the cut piece of bait, holding it against the hook track. The hook 10 travelling along the hook track 86, due to the pull of the line 12 passing through the shooting rig, penetrates the cut bait and carries it along to make contact with the tension arm 108. The hook 10 forcing the cut bait against the tension arm 108 causes the arm to pivot against the action of its spring 110. The point of contact between the arm 108 and the cut bait is such that the load applied to the bait by the end of the arm 108 causes the bait to roll backwards against the direction of hook travel. By virtue of this backwards rotation, the bait rolls around the bend of the hook 10 resulting in secure hooking of the bait.

As the tension arm 108 pivots further back, its arc of travel causes it to lose contact with the bait thereby allowing the arm to spring back ready for the next cut piece of bait. The baited hook is drawn off the end of the hook track and leaves the shooting rig to enter the water. The knife blade is then returned to allow more bait to drop down on to the base plate 106 to be cut for the next hook.

In order to control the operation of the hammer mechanism which attaches the clips 16 to the line 12 and the baiting mechanism which presents the cut bait to the hooks, there is provided an operating control.

The operating mechanism provided to control the operation of the shooting rig does so by measuring the length of line passing through the rig and activating the hammer mechanism and baiting mechanism at regular intervals of line length, corresponding to the desired snood spacing. This can be achieved, for example, by crimping metallic stops onto the line 12 at the desired intervals of snood spacing and providing the shooting rig with a proximity probe over which the line 12 passes. The probe detects the metallic stops and, via a suitable electric circuit, actuates solenoid valves which control the hammer and baiter pneumatic cylinders.

Alternatively the revolutions of one of the line guide pulleys 62 on the shooting rig may be employed to measure the length of line passing round it. Each revolution of the pulley will correspond to a line length equivalent to the circumference of the pulley. Accordingly, by detecting the revolutions of the pulley, the hammer and baiting mechanisms can be activated at the desired intervals of line length. The revolutions of the pulley may be detected by a proximity probe, pulses from the probe due to each revolution being fed to an electronic counting circuit which actuates the solenoid valves to operate the hammer and baiting mechanism pneumatic cylinders.

By switching to different pulse counts it is possible to select the desired snood spacing at will.

For the purpose of recovering lines when fishing has been completed, the invention provides a hauling rig as is basically shown in Fig. 17. The function of the illustrated mechanism is to detach the snood clips 16 from line 12 to enable the snoods 14 then to be manually replaced on the storage racks 28; or when a fish is on the hook, to enable the fish complete with snood 14 to be removed from the line 12, the snood being recovered after the hauling operation has finished.

The detaching of the snood clips 16 is achieved by passing the line 12 under tension around a grooved pulley 116 consitituting a clip release pulley. As the snood clip 16 is carried around the pulley 116 by the line 12 the clip 16 rides on the outer circumference of the pulley with its slot 20 facing the pulley groove 118. Since the line 12 is contained in the snood clip, as the clip rides on the outer circumference of the pulley 116, it tries to lift the line out of the groove 118. However, tension in the line 12 around the pulley 116 prevents the line from lifting and thus it pulls clear of the snood clip 16 thereby releasing the clip from the line.

To ensure that the clip approaches the pul ley in the correct position, it is necessary to orientate the clip. This is achieved by passing the line 12 between guide plates 120 prior to the clip release pulley 116. These guide plates 120 oppose each other and are spring loaded together, the width between them being set to allow the width of the snood clip 16 to pass through. On the inside of the guide plates are ribs 122 which run on one plate diagonally downwards and on the other plate diagonally upwards.

When a snood clip 16 is drawn through the guide plates 120 by the line 12, if it is in a vertical position, i.e. with the snood attachment point either up or down, it will pass through unimpeded. However if the clip 16 is not vertical it will spring the guide plates 120 apart and engage on the diagonal ribs 122.

As it is drawn along, the ribs 122 impart a rotational motion to the clip 16 bringing it into a vertical position and disengaging it from the diagonal ribs.

From the guide plates 120 the clip 16 is led directly on to the clip release pulley 116.

However, since the slot 20 in the clip 16 may not be facing towards the pulley groove 118, it is necessary to provide a second release pulley 124 which the line passes around in the opposite direction to the first pulley Should the clip encounter the first pulley 116 with its back to the groove 118 it will merely travel around the pulley 116 holding the line 12 clear of the groove 118. On encountering the second pulley, the slot 20 will then be facing the groove 126 in that pulley and the clip 16 will be released.

In order to ensure sufficient line tension to release the clips 16 the line 12 is taken around a tension wheel 128. This is a deep vee groove wheel, the vee section gripping the line. The tension wheel 128 is equipped with a brake (not specifically shown) which resists the rotation of the wheel thereby tensioning the line 12 which is pulled through the hauling rig by a hauling device (see Fig.

18). A guide pulley 130 is positioned in front of the tension wheel 128 to ensure an adequ ate angle of wrap of the line 12 around the vee section for the wheel 128 to grip the line.

A typical layout of the hauling rig on a vessel 132 is shown in Fig. 18.

The line 12, on leaving the water, is guided over the vessel's rail 133 by leading it over a vee section hanging block 134. A fish trough 136 is mounted level with the top of the rail 133 to support fish 138 as the line 12 passes through the hauling rig. The fish 138 are drawn along the trough 136 by the pull of the snood 14, the fish dropping off the end of the trough as the snood clip 16 is released at the release pulleys.

Snoods without fish are manually retrieved at the release pulleys 116 and 124 and replaced on the storage racks 28. The snoods which remain with the fish 138 are recovered after hauling has finished and the fish are being gutted. Hauling of the line is effected by a hauling winch 140 to which the line is directed by a guide pulley 142.

A typical layout according to the invention of a detachable snood longlining system on a vessel is shown in Fig. 19.

During shooting the hauling winch 140 is set to free rotate and the line 12 from the winch drum is passed around a system of pulleys 144, 146 and 148 to lead it to the shooting ri Fig. 4 and the end is attached to an anchor not shown). A buoy and buoy line are also attached to the anchor.

A compressed air supply to operate the various pneumatic cylinders is turned on to the shooting rig. A storage rack 28 of snoods 14 is fitted on the shooting rig and the snoods are transferred to the magazine rack 30. The snood clip feed mechanism (Figs 5 and 6) is loaded to feed the stack of snood clips 16 to the hammer mechanism 54. Bait is placed in the baiting mechanism (Figs. 13 to 16) and the electrical supply switched on.

The anchor is released into the sea and the vessel 132 travels on a desired course away from the anchor. Since the line 12 is attached to the anchor, the line is drawn throught the shooting rig off the winch drum 140. The line passing through the shooting rig activates the operating mechanism resulting in the snoods 14 being attached to the line 12 at the desired intervals of snood spacing and the hooks 10 being baited.

As the bait 92 is used in the baiting mechanism, more bait from a bait bin 150 is manually fed down the bait tube 90. When the quantity of snoods on the magazine rack 30 has diminished, additional snoods are transferred from the storage rack 28, the clip feed mechanism for this purpose being positioned at the back of the snood clip stack.

When all the snoods on the storage rack have been transferred to the magazine rack the storage rack is removed and replaced with one full of snoods.

This process continues until the full length of line, on the winch drum, has been drawn through the shooting rig into the water. At the end of the line a second buoy and anchor are attached.

The attachment is made by having the anchor and buoy line connected to a 'snapon' clip (not shown) which is clipped to the line being caught by hooks since all hooks are contained in the shooting rig during the shooting operation, whilst the ability to alter the snood spacing enables the skipper to select the best spacing for all fishing conditions, i.e. closely spaced when fish are concentrated, widely spaced when fish are scattered.

Time is saved during the hauling operation by not having to stop to remove fish from the hooks. Damaged hooks are simply rejected during the hauling operation by the man/men who are replacing the snoods on the storage rack. Traditional longlining requires the complete line length to be overhauled to replace damaged hooks.

By virtue of the advantages which the invention offers as described above the oper ation of shooting and hauling a longline can be carried out more quickly and with less labour than by traditional methods. In par ticular the baiting mechanism, the cutting of bait and automatically baiting as the line is shot, saves considerable time and labour over traditional methods. Traditionally the line would either be overhauled and manu ally prebaited before shooting or manually baited during shooting, which is dangerous and requires a large crew. By baiting when shooting, the problem of the bait going bad on prebaited lines, if adverse weather should make "shooting" impossible, is avoided.

Time and labour are also saved during the hauling operation by not having to remove the fish from the hooks when hauling and by the rejection of damage hooks.

The ability to shoot the line again after hauling without doing any preparatory work on the line before shooting is also a consider able saving upon traditional methods.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A method of longline or of greatline fishing in which snoods carrying hooks and stored in ordered groups separately from the line are individually removable in sequence from their respective groups for automati cally releasably securing to a line at intervals as the line is passed out from a boat, said snoods being successively detached from the line as it is hauled in at the end of the fishing operation.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, in which the detaching of the snoods from the line is also effected automatically.

3. A method of longline or of greatline fishing, comprising the steps of feeding a plurality of snoods each carrying a hook at one end and initially held in an extended, straightened condition in side-by-side rela tionship towards a length of line, automati cally presenting the other ends of said snoods at intervals to said line and detachably clip ping said other ends to said line, passing said line and snoods to a baiting station, con straining said hooks to pass in succession through said baiting station along a predetermined path, delivering bait to said path to be intersected and engaged by a respective hook, directing the line with baited snoods into the water, subsequently recovering the line from the water by hauling the line through a snood unclipping station wherein said snoods are successively automatically detached from said line, removing fish from the detached snoods and returning said detached snoods to their initial extended and straightened condition.

4. Apparatus for longline or for greatline fishing, comprising a magazine for receiving in a predetermined, ordered relationship, a group of snoods each carrying a hook at one end and clip means at the opposite end, clip displacing means for urging said clip means successively towards a line passing through said apparatus and thereby engaging said clip means at intervals along said line, a feed mechanism for delivering said clip means to said displacing means, guide means for directing the hooks of snoods clipped on to the line to a baiting station wherein each hook intersects and hooks on to a piece of bait, means for directing the line and baited snoods into the water and means for recovering the line and snoods from the water and for automatically unclipping the snoods from the line.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, in which the magazine comprises a rack having an input end and a delivery end and upper and lower rail members for respectively receiving the hook and the clip means of the snood.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, in which the clip feed mechanism includes a slide assembly arranged in spaced, parallel relation with the lower rail of the magazine rack to provide lateral support for clip means carried on said rail, said slide assembly comprising a sliding member having a ratchet lever projecting into the space between the lower rail of the magazine rack and the slide assembly and engageable in said space with the clip means carried on said lower rail at the input end of the rack, and means urging said sliding member in a direction towards the delivery end of said rack.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, in which the means urging the sliding member towards the delivery end of the rack is a fluid-driven piston.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, in which the means urging the sliding member towards the delivery end of the rack is a manually tensioned spring.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 8, in which the clip displacing means for urging the clip means towards the line is a hammer mechanism comprising a hammer pivotally movable towards an opposing anvil arranged to support the line in

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. being caught by hooks since all hooks are contained in the shooting rig during the shooting operation, whilst the ability to alter the snood spacing enables the skipper to select the best spacing for all fishing conditions, i.e. closely spaced when fish are concentrated, widely spaced when fish are scattered. Time is saved during the hauling operation by not having to stop to remove fish from the hooks. Damaged hooks are simply rejected during the hauling operation by the man/men who are replacing the snoods on the storage rack. Traditional longlining requires the complete line length to be overhauled to replace damaged hooks. By virtue of the advantages which the invention offers as described above the oper ation of shooting and hauling a longline can be carried out more quickly and with less labour than by traditional methods. In par ticular the baiting mechanism, the cutting of bait and automatically baiting as the line is shot, saves considerable time and labour over traditional methods. Traditionally the line would either be overhauled and manu ally prebaited before shooting or manually baited during shooting, which is dangerous and requires a large crew. By baiting when shooting, the problem of the bait going bad on prebaited lines, if adverse weather should make "shooting" impossible, is avoided. Time and labour are also saved during the hauling operation by not having to remove the fish from the hooks when hauling and by the rejection of damage hooks. The ability to shoot the line again after hauling without doing any preparatory work on the line before shooting is also a consider able saving upon traditional methods. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A method of longline or of greatline fishing in which snoods carrying hooks and stored in ordered groups separately from the line are individually removable in sequence from their respective groups for automati cally releasably securing to a line at intervals as the line is passed out from a boat, said snoods being successively detached from the line as it is hauled in at the end of the fishing operation.

its passage through said mechanism, means on said hammer for receiving and locating successive clip means delivered by the feed mechanism and power means for driving said hammer and the clip means located thereon towards the anvil to effect engagement of the clip means with the line.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 9, in which the guide means for directing the hooks of snoods clipped on to the line to the baiting station comprises a pair of adjoining, rcsiliently separable plates defining a hook guiding track into which the hook bends are drawn by passage of the line through said apparatus, said plates extending between said magazine and said baiting station, a snood guide converging adjacent the baiting station with the hook guide means and including a pair of spaced, parallel guide rails defining a gap through which the snood is drawn to direct it along a path appropriate to displace the hooks along their guiding track and to position said hooks on top of said guide rails at the convergence, and a flange member or the like extending over the top of said guide rails between said convergence and said baiting station to constrain said hooks in their guide rail supported position.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 10, in which the baiting mechanism comprises an upright tube for receiving bait, a reciprocable knife closing the bottom end of the tube, a base plate below the knife to receive successive pieces of cut bait, the hooks being guided to pass through the space between said knife and said base plate, a pivotal tension arm mounted on the base plate with the free end of the arm arranged to describe an arc intersecting the path of hook travel and means cooperating with the base plate and the tension arm to present a piece of cut bait on the base plate to an oncoming hook for penetration by the hook, the pivotal action of the tension arm being arranged to roll the bait around the hook bend.

12. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 11, further comprising winch means for hauling the line and snoods from the water and means for successively effecting relative movement between the recovered line and the clip means thereon to separate the snoods from the line.

13. A method of longline or of greatline fishing, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

14. Apparatus for longline or for greatline fishing, constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.