128 SEA-FISH. 
to regain his liberty. For we have here a fish that 
is at any rate consistent in its behaviour; and of 
Be- the thousands of pollack that I have caught 
ie I never yet knew one behave differently. 
;pollack Instead of shcering wildly like the 
‘mackerel, dashing anon to the surface in the en- 
deavour to slack the line and shake out the hook, 
tactics identical with those of sharks, the pollack 
invariably heads straight for the bottom. Down 
he goes; and not all your strength, even if you 
know your tackle to be equal to any strain, will 
quite check the first rush of a large fish. Your 
great object must be to keep the fish as far from 
the rocks as possible, and, indeed, unless the water 
is very shallow, he ought not to be allowed to 
reach them even for a moment. The first rush 
over, the rest is plain sailing. Gallant as is his first 
and only bid for freedom, he makes but a poor 
show when that docs not avail, and few fish of such 
strength show the white feather sooner. Perhaps 
an honourable exception may be named in the 
blue groper of Australian seas, which shows about 
as much sport as would a wreck. Another good 
bait for pollack that feed round piers is the live 
prawn, or even shrimp, hooked through the tail; 
and it is a good plan to work it with a short, light 
rod in such little bays or eddies as are often 
observed round steps, for it is there that the best 
pollack often lie in wait. Hand-lining for pollack 
from a picr is a very precarious affair, as in the 
first place it is next to impossible to keep a fish of 
any size clear of the piles, nor is there as a rule 
any “give” in the handline to enable gut tackle to 
withstand the downward rush. Occasionally, how- 
ever, small pollack are caught on hand-lines. The 
