FISHING 99 



She hauled and pulled till at last an enor- 

 mous fish appeared. " It's a giant saithe," 

 exclaimed the skipper, and dashed to the 

 rescue to help her pull it into the boat. Just 

 as the brute's head was over the gunwale the 

 hook broke and it slipped back into the sea. 

 So exhausted was it however, with its 

 journey of fifteen fathoms upwards, that it 

 lay floating on its back, maddeningly just out 

 of our reach. Alas ! we had neither gaff nor 

 even boathook. The skipper struck it with an 

 oar to further stun it ; Malcolm tore at the 

 anchor and started reversing the engine to try 

 and back down on it, but just as he got the 

 anchor up, the fish gave a recovering wriggle, 

 rolled over on his stomach and disappeared, 

 followed by our wails and howls of rage and 

 disappointment. He must have been about 

 ten pounds, reckoning it modestly for a 

 " lost " fish. 



We fished altogether for an hour and a 

 half, and our catch was 168 fish all told : 154 

 haddies, 12 whiting, and 2 gurnets. None 

 of us will ever forget that afternoon's sport 



