Cape Breton's Magazine

Tius Tutty, Codfish and Handpick IVIining I'm 93. I was born the 5th of August, 1880, A mile from Louisbourg, Lorraine, They call it Lorraine Road, you know. That's between Lorraine and Louisbourg. My father fished. That was it. Fish and, well, catch rabbits in the winter, whatever you could m the fall. Tough goin sometimes. Yes, I can remember right back to 3 years old. Old fashioned woodstove, an old Waterloo • big oven on it, you know, low and a neck coming up from the stove and a big round oven on top. Most all softwood there, was- n;t very much hardwood. I'd say I'd be about 10 years old the first time I went fishing. I went with two old men. And they made a little hardwood board, about that wide, you know? And a little like a shingling axe. And every fish I'd catch I'd have to cut a piece off of the tail. Well they took them and cleaned them and salted them and dried them and sent them to Halifax, and in the fall when the returns come back I had $12,39 when we settled. For my summer's work. Pretty good, v/asn't it? And I used to be so terrible seasick. Oh, my. But, no, I wouldn't quit. It was all right when there was a good breeze on, but when it was calm, the heavy roll • especially off Louisbourg there. We moved to Louisbourg after my father was drowned. Ten years old I was fishing. Codfish, haddock, stuff like that. With a hook and line • they ne? ver used a jig like they do today. They had some bait on the hooks but with a jig they don't use no bait. We used squid and different things. You'd jig the squid. Get them right in the harbour. Queer little thing like a lead jig with little hooks all around it. And they'd grab that, you know. They don't bite it. Just grab it. Those suckers they have on. Sometimes would get two of them at a time with that. Cut them up in small pieces. Use them for bait. Use herring • fresh herring for bait. With nets for herring. It was in the fall generally when you'd get the squid. Oh, coming on the fall. You'd generally use fresh herring for bait in through the summer. Just Cape Breton's Maga2ine/5