When I was young, I was first introduced to paternoster tackle when I was part of an interclub junior quiz team. I was told that it got its name – literally (in Latin) ‘Our Father’ from the Oratio Dominica (the Lord’s Prayer) – from Cistercian monks who used to breed carp in stew ponds for eating. The monks were forbidden meat on a Friday so the carp in their stew ponds became the next best thing on the menu. Supposedly, they used an early form of the paternoster rig to catch them usually, and this made me chuckle, with wooden poles to which horsehair fibres were attached. Being young, I went along with this – it seemed logical after all and I had no reason to question it – though it now seems likely that this is yet another example of folklore that has grown up around the original form of the tackle.
