Steve - that was Laurie, known here at Mudcat as 'Bloke in the corner'.

And I second your remarks about casting the lead. This would be a deep-sea lead, not the lead you use close inshore. The deep-sea lead has a recess in the bottom that you fill with tallow to pick up a sample of what is on the bottom. That is what you would use to find where you wanted to fish such as the 'Silver Pit'. Another mention of the deep-sea lead is in 'Spanish Ladies'.

We hove our ship to with the wind from sou'west, boys
We hove our ship to, deep soundings to take
'Twas forty-five fathoms, with a white sandy bottom

And it was certainly trawling not line fishing in 1889.