Flounder tramping Flounder tramping Flounder tramping is a traditional method of catching flounder or other flat fish by wading in shallow water and standing on them. This method of fishing was used in the coastal waters and river estuaries of South West Scotland for centuries. Once trapped the fish were often secured by impaling them on a leister before being bagged. A leister is the local name for a trident or three pronged long handled spear. Although traditional, the use of leisters to aid capture is no longer permitted (presumably for safety reasons). On the first Saturday each August, Palnackie, a small
Depth sounding sea; it is not related to the word sound in the sense of noise or tones, but to sound, a geographical term. Traditional terms for soundings are a source for common expressions in the English language, notably "deep six" (a sounding of 6 fathoms): see John Ehrlichman. On the Mississippi River in the 1850s, the leadsmen also used old-fashioned words for some of the numbers; for example instead of "two" they would say "twain". Thus when the depth was two fathoms, they would call "by the mark twain!". The American writer Mark Twain, a former river pilot, likely took his