DCHP-1 Online
gurdy [< hurdy-gurdy] 
n. a hand- or machine-operated winch that winds fishing line on a drum as fish are hauled in.
See also: hauler-head
- 1936 "Yah," he replied, looking up at us. "I bane making some gurdies. Sometimes when I catch salmon he get tangled in other lines so I make gurdies to stop too much jerking, and make fish more steady to haul lines in."
- 1955 But as halibut were tougher fish to pull in than are cod and haddock the hand-winch, known as the "gurdy", affixed across the bow of the dory was frequently employed to haul up the line and fish.
- 1959 As an electric "gurdy" hauled in the line, the fish, weighing five to fifty lbs., were gaffed at the rail's edge, gutted, flipped in the hold.
- 1936 "Yah," he replied, looking up at us. "I bane making some gurdies. Sometimes when I catch salmon he get tangled in other lines so I make gurdies to stop too much jerking, and make fish more steady to haul lines in."