152 SEA-FISH. 
evening. Whiffing for pollack in the cooler months, 
or in the bright light of summer days, is very 
chance amusement. By sinking the bait to within 
a foot of the rocks, thereby endangering both line 
and rod in frequent smashes in the long weed, and 
letting out a great deal of line, putting in conse- 
quence a tremendous strain on all gear, it is often 
possible—I have done it scores of times—to make 
a good basket of pollack on the brightest of August 
days between eleven and two. But I cannot think 
this either so pleasurable or so artistic as the 
capture of larger fish when the sun is sinking in 
the west, and when pollack of 6 and 8 Ibs. are 
as often happens, to be seen leaping at the surface 
like trout in a pool. At such times you may get 
within a dozen yards before interrupting the frolic, 
and it is possible to row backwards and forwards 
over the spot for a couple of hours or more, picking 
up a good fish at every turn. It is noticcable, as 
every pollack-fisher of experience knows, that the 
best fish are usually hooked as the boat is turning 
at either end of the reef, and if one’s senses 
should ever be allowed to wander for a moment 
from the work in hand, this turning-point is the 
very worst moment to choose. The boat should 
be rowed (or sailed under a mere rag of a mizcn) 
slowly over the rocks, a zig-zag course being 
preferred as covering more ground, though there 
may be cases in which the formation of the reef 
renders a straight course to and fro better than 
that known to seamen as “ dogs’ legs.” A know- 
ledge of the topography of the hidden bed of the 
sea is among the most important qualifications of 
the sea-fisherman, even if it be limited to the 
details that figure in the charts of the Admiralty 
