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bait n also ~ fish. Cp OED ~ sb1 1 b 'worms, fish,
etc' [used in angling] (1496-1799), O Sup2 ~ fish (1820-), Fisheries
of U S i, 182-6 for sense 1; for comb in sense 3: Fisheries of U S i, 127 ~
board; DAE ~ knife (1857).
1 Caplin, herring, lance,
squid and other sea creatures, formerly including birds, used in fishing for cod with
baited hooks.
1620 WHITBOURNE 9 The Fishermen doe bait their
hookes with the quarters of Sea-fowle on them: and therewith some ships do yeerely take a
great part of their fishing voyages, with such bait, before they can get others. [1663]
1963 YONGE 60 They have divers kinds of bait. In the beginning of the year they use
mussels, then come herrings and generally last all the year. The middle or end of June
[come] the capling, a small sweet fish and the best bait... After the capling come the
squids. [1693] 1793 REEVES ii-iii No alien or stranger whatsoever... shall at any time
hereafter take any bait, or use any sort of trade or fishing whatsoever in Newfoundland.
[1766] 1971 BANKS 123 Glams ... of Peculiar use in the fishery as the fishermen depend
upon them for their Baitts in their first Voyage to the Banks. [1774] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii,
19 A skiff and six hands went to the Cape to try for baits, but they could not meet with
any. [1889] 1897 Nfld Law Reports 379 That defendants, on or about the 8th of July
last, did purchase, at or near cape St Mary's, a part of this Colony, a certain quantity
of bait fishes, that is to say, caplin, for the purpose of exportation for bait purposes.
[1930] 1980 Evening Telegram 29 Sep, p. 6 At Burgeo yesterday some boats
using clams for bait secured from a quarter to half quintal of codfish. A few squid were
secured at Francois and all boats are out fishing today. [1952] 1965 PEACOCK (ed) i, 143
"Skipper Tom": And down o'er the bank I steered 'er so straight, / With a whipping fine
breeze and a tub of fresh bait. 1979 NEMEC 237 In late spring or early summer [the cod]
shifts its habitat to the surface zone where it feeds on small 'baitfish,' such as
caplin, herring, mackeral, launce and squid. 1979 Salt Water, Fresh Water 41 So
you go out in the mornings and cut your squid for bait—a squid can make four good
baits.
2 A small amount over and above quantity purchased;
a present; TILLY.
P 149-63 ~ something extra given to purchaser.
1971 NOSEWORTHY 169 ~ A free gift presented to the first buyer.
3 Attrib, comb, cpd bait bird: sea-bird feeding on
'bait-fish' in inshore waters.1966 SCAMMELL 130 "The Joe Batt's Arm Bully": In the summer
with the trawl, with the hand-lines in the fall, / Her youthful captain ranges, braving
all the weather's brunt / From Round Head to the Rock, and where the bait-birds flock /
In his Joe Batt's Arm bully and the Change Island punt.
bait
board: triangular piece of wood with two raised edges, used to cut up herring, squid,
etc.
T 50/2-64 [We'd have] a piece o' board, bait board they call
it. Take up your squid and cut it up. M 68-7 It was a pleasant sight when father began to
wash the bait board, because then I knew he was going in.
bait
boat: craft engaged in catching caplin, herring, squid, etc, for use as bait; BAITER.
1765 WILLIAMS 19 For the Shoremen that catch the Bait [—]
Bait Boat, with Sails and sundry Materials. [1909] 1930 COAKER 4 We believe there is room
for the use of motors in connection with the fisheries such as in bait boats, for
supplying caplin, squid, and herring for bait, or to bait depots.
bait box: container for bait used in trawl fishing.
T 436-65 I washed un overboard in my bait box—washed out the
old bait was in the box in the evenin' when I was comin' in. M 68-7 The bait box was just
a common box about two feet long and one foot wide. There was a line from one end to the
other for carrying purposes. 1979 TIZZARD 285 A fisherman always carried a bait box in
his boat. The bait box we carried was usually a XXX Soda biscuit tin.
bait chopper: broad-bladed knife for chopping bait-fish into
pieces.
1975 BUTLER 47 We said first thing we're gonna do was get
that canvas chopped away. . . I got a axe and he got a big bait chopper and we used to go
down under water and chop and hack as long as we could.
bait
depot: facility where iced or frozen bait is stored for distribution to fishermen.
[1909] 1930 COAKER 4 [quot at bait boat above]. [1953] 1978
Evening Telegram 1 Aug, p. 5 The bait depot at Grand Bank has a good supply of
caplin bait.
bait hauler: fisherman engaged in catching
caplin, herring, etc, for use as bait on a 'banker.' See also HAUL v.
1975 LEYTON 102 Before Confederation [the Nova Scotia vessels]
weren't allowed to take any bait in Newfoundland themselves. They hired what they called
a Bait Hauler. Now Mr Lake next door, he used to be a seine man, a Bait Hauler, had his
own seine net; and I'd go with him, go haul bait.
bait
horn: large spiral sea-shell, blown into to announce the arrival inshore of caplin,
squid, etc; CONCH.
1905 DUNCAN 113 ' 'Tis the bait horn, Eleazar!'
bait jack: wooden tub or quarter barrel to hold bait, etc.
1942 Grand Bank U C School 34 He puts the liver into a
baitjack. T 453/4-67 He had what was called [a] bait jack—about quarter of a barrel,
sawed off, full of cod liver in the midshiproom of a small boat. 1971 NOSEWORTHY 170 ~
One quarter of a flour barrel with two straps, or rope handles, attached and used
for storing bait.
bait knife: see bait chopper
above.
1966 SCAMMELL 92 'Must be one of those whales,' shouted
father. 'I suppose he has a turn of the rope around his tail. Stand by to cut if it don't
come clear. Here, Cecil, pass the bait knife along.' C 69-5 I can recall my father's
reaction when he'd see the bait knife edge-up on the gangboards.
bait locker: covered section in bow of an undecked fishing
boat; cp LOCKER (P 245-67).
bait (seine) master: man in
charge of boat and nets sent from a 'banker' to secure bait (P 127-76).
1937 Seafisheries of Nfld 105 Each Schooner-Master must be
an experienced fisherman, and bait-seine-master.
bait punt:
see bait boat above, baitskiff below, and PUNT.
1976
Decks Awash v (5), p. 9 It was a regular chore to go in the 'bait punt.' This
meant six or eight men rowing to Bonaventure Head, a distance of 8-10 miles, to haul
caplin and return with the load for the fishermen to bait their trawls.
bait shed: storage place for bait on fishing premises.
T 270-66 We had flakes right along there. Our plantation used to
reach from that store right over to the end o' that bait shed. That's the bait shed what
they keeps their bait in now.
baitskiff: large undecked
boat with 5 to 7 crewmen, propelled by oar and sail and employed to catch caplin, etc,
for use in the cod-fishery; see SKIFF; also attrib.
[1770] 1792
CARTWRIGHT i, 24 Early in the morning, I took Charles and Ned with me, and sailed for
Chateau in our baitskiff. 1836 [WIX]2 45 Went off on a bitter cold morning, in
a bait skiff, two hours' sail to Clatters' Harbour, at the back of the Isle of Valen.
1895 Christmas Review 18 It was meant as the highest tribute to the boat-building
capabilities of Jim Leary, whose handiwork, whether displayed in the construction of
baitskiff, smack, skiff, punt or rodney, was always superior to what any other man in the
settlement could turn out. 1912 DUNCAN 139-40 Well, I went down t' Jimmie Lot's stage,
where the bait-skiff horn was kept, and fetched it back. 'Twas a conch shell, with a hole
in it: so that if a man knowed how t'use lips an' lungs on it he could blow a blast that
would wake the harbour. In the caplin season, when they uses them little fish for bait,
the folk take turns at mannin' the skiff. 'Tis the bait-skiff conch that calls un t' put
out; an' 'tis the baitskiff conch that warns the harbour that the skiff is back with the
bait. 1966 SCAMMELL 76 Ah, there it was, the baitskiff, just rounding the head. He could
see the heap of seine-linnet in the stern of the punt that was being towed behind.
bait squadron: patrol vessels engaged in enforcement of the
Newfoundland Bait Act of 1888 prohibiting the taking of bait-fish by foreign fishing
vessels or unauthorized provision of bait to such vessels.
1906
Nfld Qtly Dec, p. 14 At one time I was district Judge, police-magistrate, by
statute also police-inspector, Chairman of the Board of Health, surrogate of the
Admiralty Court, president of the Royal Marine Court of Enquiry, and, to crown all, they
appointed me [Judge Prowse] Naval Commander of the Bait Squadron!
bait tub: see bait jack above; TUB.
[1888] 1976 Evening Telegram 5 Jan, p. 6 In one of those
moments of peril one of the men flung over the second bait-tub which again distracted the
creature's attention. 1955 DOYLE (ed) 14 "Bill Wiseman": Oh Bill rode out one morning /
Just at the break of day; / He said he was sure of his bait-tub of squid / Up here in
Hiscock Bay.
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