174 AN ANGLER'S YEAR 



POUTING FISHING OFF " OUR WRECK." 



" POUTING FISHING." I can see the lip of the scornful 

 curling up as he reads the words. 



" Pouting ! Stink-alives ! ! Any fool can get out in 

 the summer and catch those." Quite so ! but not in 

 the winter, and, for all practical purposes, not the same 

 fish. 



As most of us are aware the Pouting (Gadus htscus) is 

 also known round our coasts as Whiting Pout (South 

 East Counties), Bib or Blind (Devon or Cornwall), 

 Rachan (Wales), Blen (West Country), and other local 

 names. It is frequently confused with the Power 

 or Poor Cod (Gadus minutus), known locally to the 

 East Coast men as the Bastard Pout. Between small 

 specimens of Pouting and this little fish some confusion 

 may arise, although the more tubby shape of the former 

 at once distinguishes it to the practised eye. As the 

 little Poor Cod rarely grows over five inches in length, 

 it is not likely to be confused with the specimens which 

 we are likely to catch off the wreck. " Our Wreck " lies 

 off Deal, but I am not going to give the marks. Pouting 

 marks are on the South Coast the inheritance of ages, 

 and are handed down religiously from father to son or 

 confided to the fisherman's fides achates, usually when 

 under the influence of liquor. 



Under other circumstances the directions given are 

 not liable to err on the side of accuracy. As most are 

 aware, special pitches for inshore fishing are found by 

 means of " marks." Thus, suppose there is a good reef 

 or patch of ground about abreast of a pier or building 

 on shore, and some distance out ; by taking certain 

 objects on those as fixed points and their bearing on 

 other fixed points in the background, exactly the same 

 spot may be found time after time. 



Thus let A represent a boat at anchor, B a church 

 spire, C a factory chimnej', D a chimney on a house, E 

 a chimney on another behind. If the spire is in a line 

 with the south border of the factory chimney the boat 

 is in the direct line of the ground, and if she goes far 



