DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 193 



" Have you tried the pollack?" I inquired of 

 him, and his reply shattered my hopes in that 

 direction completely. " Yes, several times, and 

 not a pull, and the boatmen say this will be one 

 of the years when none will come." 



I learned that pollack visits were very rare, 

 although the rocky ground seemed an ideal home 

 for them. As yet I have failed to find a fisherman 

 who can explain why these fish are always to be 

 found on some rocky coasts and only now and then 

 on others. From experience I have formed the 

 idea that their chief necessity, after weedy rocks, 

 is warmth of water and that when they pay their 

 rare visits to colder seas it is only in pursuit of an 

 equally rare rush of their prey to such localities. 

 To those who ask : " How is it they are found in 

 abundance in the north-west of Ireland and not 

 in Scotland ? " the answer is easy. The proximity 

 of the Gulf Stream is the important factor that 

 makes them haunt the Scilly Islands, the coasts 

 of Cornwall and the far north-west of Ireland. 

 Pollack of a kind, small and dark, or red (the 

 soldier), may be caught in some numbers in the 

 coldest waters, but it is only in the warmer waters 

 that you may hope for pollack in numbers and of 

 the largest size. 



We caught cod at Glenelg whenever I could tear 

 my sons from their fly rods and the small brown 

 trout. They were very eager for a real week's fly- 

 fishing until they learned for themselves that the 

 sight of salmon that will not take until the river rises 

 becomes vexatious to those whose time is limited. 



The river gave signs of being an ideal one for 

 summer fly-fishing, given much rain. It contains 



