FLY FISHING IN THE SEA 167 



stick from breaking. The power of fish lies almost entirely in 

 their tails ; so that if you gaff a large fish in the middle of the 

 back or shoulder, he may work his natural propeller so vigor- 

 ously as to smash the gaff or break away from the hook. With 

 large fish, therefore, the best plan is, if possible, to get the gaff 

 well in near the tail. The big creature is then helpless. If 

 you have any reason to think your gaff is not strong enough 

 to lift him out, walk backwards, draw him tail foremost on 

 shore, and knock him on the head as quickly as possible. 

 When in a boat, a gaffer may be obliged to lay hold of the 

 fish with middle finger and thumb of left hand across the back 

 of the neck, in addition to lifting him in with the gaff stuck in 

 near the tail and held in the right hand. 



It is worth bearing in mind that, however strong one's 

 tackle, very large fish cannot be lifted safely in by means of the 

 fishhook ; not that the tackle will necessarily break, but the 

 fish's flesh may give way if the creature is very heavy. In 

 anglers' language, the hook will tear out or break away. 



For small fish anything under 5 Ibs. a large landing net 

 is certainly preferable to a gaff ; but I will repeat here what I 

 have already stated in an earlier chapter, that, if neither landing 

 net nor proper gaff is forthcoming, a large hake hook with the 

 barb filed or hammered down, lashed on the first available stick, 

 is a very excellent substitute. A steel meat-hook makes a very 

 fair gaff. These remarks on landing big fish apply perhaps 

 more to pollack than bass, for the largest bass are not com- 

 monly caught by the fly fisher. 



Pollack and coalfish are frequently classed together in 

 sporting literature ; but their habits are more dissimilar than 

 their appearance. On the Devonshire coast I am well within 

 the mark in saying that many thousands of small pollack are 

 caught on flies in the spring of the year. The usual tackle, 

 however, is a kind of glorified paternoster with a number of 



