jAx. ft 1904.1 ! FOREST AND STREAM, - 29 
SEA AND Mva reniN' 
Pollock with Rod and Reel. 
BY EDWARD A. SAMUELS. 
I WONDER how many anglers have taken the pollock, 
and by anglers I mean those who use the rod and. not 
the hand-line fishermen, for to the latter the fish is by 
no means a stranger. Possibly many of my brothers 
of the angle know all about the fish and its peculiarities, 
but probably very few have made its acquaintance, or 
if they have, I have never seen anything on record re- 
lating to what they have done. 
Although the pollock is own cousin to the cod, being 
included by ichthyologists in the same family with the 
better known species, it is very much more gamy, not 
only in general appearance, but in habits also. Every- 
one who' is familiar with it, either in the .flesh or in 
the illustrations that have been made of it, has noticed 
its trim, game fish form and has undoubtedly come to 
the opinion that it is endowed with great strength and 
activity; and such is the case; without the element con- 
tours of the salmon it has much of the speed and 
strength of that fish; in fact, in the far north it is often 
called the sea salmon, in consequence of possessing 
the qualities I have named. 
Now, although my experience with this fish has not 
been very extensive, it may perhaps be of interest and 
may furnish a pointer to those anglers who enjoy a 
vacation at the sea coast where the pollock is found. 
This- fish is pretty widely distributed, and occurs at a 
great number of points on our shores, ranging from 
the latitude of New York to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
Some idea of the abundance of this fish may be 
formed when I state that in the Report of the Fish 
Commissioners of Massachusetts for 1902, the latest, I 
believe, of- the series that has yet been printed, the 
catch in that State in the seines, weirs, pounds, etc., is 
given as having been 1,149,416 pounds, in which the 
catch by hand-line fishermen on the coast, of course, is 
not included. • Its abundance continues as latitude in- 
creases, for in "a necent number of the .Canadian Fish- 
eries Report, the catch for the Dominion was about 
9,940,000 pounds for the year. 
Though, as before stated, closely related to the cod 
, and haddock, its feeding habits are in general quite dif- 
ferent from theirs, for.it seeks its food mostly at or 
near the surface of the water, and when in pursuit of 
schools of herring, mackerel, alewives, etc., it darts 
about with much of the activity of the bluefish, often 
jumping above the surface of the water, showing its 
whole length in the air. 
An account by Prof. Sars, of the curious manner in 
which they surround a schooj 9f young cod, printed in 
George Brown Goode's book on the "Fishes of the 
United States," will be of interest here, he says: "I 
was much interested to see how the pollock caught 
the young codfish. It' looked like a systematic, chase, 
and it certainly looked as if the pollock were acting 
with a common and well defined purpose. As far as 
T could observe the schools of pollock surrounded the 
little codfish oil all sides, making the circle constantly 
narrower until iall the codfish were gathered in one 
luniiD, which they then, by a quick jnovement, chased up 
to-the surface of the water. The poor . little fish now 
found themselves -attacked on all :sides; below the 
voracious pollock, which, in their eagerness, often 
leaped above the water, and above, hundreds of screech- 
ing sea gulls, which with wonderful voracity and pre- 
cision, pounced down upon the places where the pol- 
lock showed themselves, to. share the spoils with them. 
The whole chase is carried on so rapidly and the young 
fish stay only so short ar time at the surface of the 
water beifore they are scattered in all- directions with 
lightning-like rapidity that 'it was not even possible for 
me to see any, much less to 'catch any with my insuffi- 
cient implements." 
Now, a fish possessing among its characteristics 
rapidity of motion, strength, stubbornness in resisting , 
capture, one may readily see is worthy the attention of 
the angler, and that the pollock p.ossesses these quali- 
ties r have proved, on more than one occasion. While 
it has not the intense ferocity of the bluefish, it is ag- 
gressive in a high degree, as is plainly indicated by its 
prolonged under jaw, and although it has not the light- 
ning-like and graceful movements of the salmon, it 
gives a battle "royal to. the angler, which he will not 
soon forget; the average weight of the fish being from 
8 to ID pounds, and 20 and even 30-pounders being not 
uncommon. 
My first acquaintance with the pollock was made 
. years ago. 'I had- been on an outing on a salmon river 
in New Brunswick,- and was on my return to Boston 
from St. John on one of the steamers which plied be- 
tween those ports. . 
■^ly cnr-pcc'-AT) 'the salmon stream had been indifferent. 
i'1 consequence' i lie water being very low and clear, 
.ird T had -pramled to leave the steamer at Eastport, 
lake the river stecinier thence to Calais, -where I would 
pass the niglit, jE^illing, of course,- on my old friend 
George : A. Boardman, a gentleman of the old school 
• and an oniithoiAg.igt of repute, his private collection be- 
. ■ ing one- of the firtest I have ever, seen, and' on^' the fol- 
. . lo-win g trto rn i n g-- 1 ;tk« the 'trairty t;o - Prihcet'o-rii at the foot 
of Big Lake, one of the Schoodic chain of lakes, where 
I would secure my Indian guide and supplies and pro- 
ceed in canoe to the outlet of Grand Lake stream in 
which the landlocked salmon, or as we used to call 
them, the white trout, abounded. When our boat 
reached Eastport I had my trunk, rod case and other 
impedimenta taken ashore, where I soon followed them. 
Considerable freight was taken aboard the boat, and 
she lay at her dock for nearly an hour, and as the 
river boat was not in sight, and was not likely to ar- 
rive for another hour at least, I spent a portion of the 
time on a visit to a large sardine factory that was 
located not a great distance from the steamer's wharf, 
where many millions were annually packed as Ameri- 
can sardines. That late lamented comedian, William 
Warren, in his celebrated play. The Member from 
Cranberry Center, described sardines as "Little fishes 
biled in ile," and that well illustrates the manner in 
which the posterior halves of the herrings were pre- 
pared. 
The magnitude of this sardine packing industry may 
be appreciated when I state that sometimes many hun- 
dred bushels of the little herrings are (or were) handled 
by the packers in a week, the little fish having been 
taken in seines and weirs along that portion of the 
Maine coast. 
On my return to the steamer landing the Calais 
boat had not arrived, and sitting on my trunk awaiting 
her coming, I gazed on the stretch of waters before me. 
Presently I saw a large fish jump clear from the water, 
and then another, and another, and many more; they 
were scurrying about in every direction, evidently in 
sport or in pursuit of smaller fish; they were so large 
and so active in their movements my interest was 
awakened; they were a decided novelty to me, for I 
had never seen anything like them before; presently I 
asked one of the men employed on the wharf concern- 
ing the identity of the fish, and his reply was: "Them's 
pollock, sir; they're feeding on minnums (minnows) and 
little herrin'; they are great feeders and mighty spry; 
it's great sport catchin' 'em with hook and line." 
The idea at once occurred to me that fish of such size 
and activity might give good sport with the rod, for I 
was always looking for new experiences, and acting on 
this idea I had my trunk, etc., carried to an hotel with 
the view of stopping over a day or two and making their 
acquaintance. 
It was then quite late in the afternoon, but I secured 
a boat and oarsman and a good supply of the little her- 
ring at the factory for bait, and on the following morn- 
ing, provided with a heavy salmon rod and reel, on which 
was a hundred and fifty yards of line, fly-book, and some 
heavy bait hooks and the supply of little herrings, I em- 
barked; the boatman, as he pushed away from the wharf, 
remarked, "The tide is not just right here now, sir, for 
pollock; we'll be more likely to find them out toward 
Lubee." I told him to go where the spirit moved, and 
he pushed leisurely out along the shore, I, in the mean- 
time, affixing a hook to my line and baiting it. We had 
not proceeded more than a half mile from the wharf be- 
fore we discovered a number of the fish in action, and it 
was not long before I was casting my bait among them and 
skittering it on the surface, after the manner of the 
pickerel fishermen ; it was a good sized herring nearly six 
inches in length, and when it struck the water and moved 
along on the surface it made quite a little ripple. It was 
at once discovered by several of the fish, who simul- 
taneously made a dash for it, and it was seized by one of 
the larger ones and swallowed. 
As soon as the pollock took the hook I lifted the rod, 
striking the hook well home in the tough mouth of the 
fish, and it was then I discovered I was fast to sornething 
that was going to give me considerable work before I 
succeeded in landing it, for a 20-pound salmon could not 
have offered much more resistance; at first the fish 
darted about in every direction with almost the activity 
that the bluefish or striped bass displays; it then took 
several quite long runs, causing my big reel to sing right 
merrily; and once or twice appeared above the surface of 
the water, its three dorsal fins standing erect as if to 
show its anger at the restraint put upon it. After a while 
it descended in the deep water, evidently determined to 
reach the rocks at the bottom, and it was only by putting 
the most severe strain upon my heavy rod that I dared 
tQ give it when I succeeded in turning it and gradually 
lifting it toward the surface. 
It was a stubborn fish, and a strong one withal, and for 
nearly ten minutes it gave as gamy a fight as I could 
ask for; but the strain of the rod at last brought it to 
terms, its struggles grew weaker, and finally I was en- 
abled to reel it in close to the boat. At this juncture I 
found to my dismay that I had neglected to bring my 
gaff, and if the boatman had not reached over and thrust 
his fingers in .the gills of the fish as it lay exhausted in 
the water beside us, and lifted it with one quick motion 
into the' boat, I could not possibly have landed it, for it 
was a good 12-pounder. 
The school of pollock had left us during the strug- 
gle, but we succeeded in finding it later, and I was soon 
fast to another large- fish which we saved ; the fight he 
gave was not of as long duration as that of the first one, 
and the school 'kept with us. 
As an experiment I then removed my bait hook, and 
to my double gut leader attached a large bass fly with 
light wings and put it out on the water, and at the 
second or third cast it was seized. Whether I was too 
eager and struck the fish too sharply, or the hook was 
defective I cannot say, but when I lifted the rod the fly 
came back to me with its point broken off, and the fish 
went on its way rejoicing. I substituted for the bass 
fly a large and strong Priaice William of Orange salmon 
fly which I chanced to have in my book and threw that 
out; this lure was quickly accepted, and another lively 
tussle ensued before this fish was secured. 
Now, I have no doubt I might have filled the boat if I 
had desired, but I was satisfied with what I had done and 
returned to Eastport. 
On the next day I procured a small^ yacht and made 
a cruise across to Grand Manan, where in the "rips" ne.a-r 
that island the pollock at that season were to be found in 
abundance. Back and forth in those lively waters^ we 
moved, a light breeze giving us all the speed we desired. 
A hand-line baited with a herring six inches in length, 
and my own line running from my rod and reel and sim- 
ilarly baited were trolled astern, after the manner of blue- 
fishing, and in a short time both baits were seized, and 
we had quite a lively time in getting the fish aboard. 
During that tide we captured with the troll eight or ten 
more good sized fish which the boatman said he could 
use to good advantage, and we then headed the yacht 
back to Eastport, well pleased with our day's sport. Now, 
whether or not the pollock is to prove a desirable acquisi- 
tion to our anglers remains to be seen ; my experience 
with it has been all I could ask, and that it is often taken 
with fly is recorded in literature relating to the fish. 
Goode states that at the Orkney Islands great numbers 
eight or ten inches in length are thus captured, and in 
Chambers'! Encvclop?edia we find that "No fish more 
readily rises to the artificial fly, and in this way great 
numbers are caught on the British coasts." 
As a table fish, if cooked when freshly caught, the pol- 
lock is, in my estimation, superior to the cod; although 
the meat is not so white, it has more of a gamy flavor. 
Like all other fishes it deteriorates rapidly after leaving 
the water. The weakfish or squeteague, if cooked soon 
after being killed, is really very palatable, but after it has 
been out of the water a day or two it becomes quite 
insipid. 
A grilse or a young salmon five or six pounds in 
weight, taken from the river, dressed, and at once broiled 
over a good bed of live coals or before a rousing fiie, 
is delicious in the highest degree, immeasurably superior 
to one that has been kept in the market for several days, 
or perhaps weeks. 
When salted the pollock is not, generally, in as fiigh 
favor as cod; there is no reason, however, for the pr jju- 
dice against it, for its flavor is certainly as good, iff. the 
estimation of some, better, than that of its cousin ? its 
flesh when cured, however, is considerably darker than 
that of the cod, and this, perhaps, may account for the 
disfavor in which it is often held. 
A Bigf Bfown Tfoat of the Bcavefkill. 
MiDDLETowN, N. Y. — Editor Forest and Stream: About 
election time a squib went the rounds of the papers^ here- 
abouts that a large trout had been found dead in the 
Eeaverkill at Cook's Falls, Sullivan county, which 
measured thirty-eight inches long and weighed fifteen 
pounds, and that it had died from fatty degeneration of 
the heart or starvation, or probably old age, nobody 
knew which. A whopping lie I said to myself, and let it 
go at that. On the i6th of November the Daily Press 
of this city again published another big trout found dead 
at Rockland. That made two big 'uns, and I thought I 
would investigate ; so I wrote to m.y friend "Bill" Keener, 
the genial proprietor of the Roscoe House at Rockland, 
and, as luck would have it, I struck the right man and 
the same fish, as yon will see by the inclosed letter. 
Friend Keener is an all-round sportsman, and is_ authority 
on fishing, particularly in the Beaverkill and Willowemoc 
country. I am glad this big fellow has gone to the happy 
hereafter, the place where all big ones ought to go. 
John Wilkin, 
Mr. Keener wrote: I can tell you all about the big 
trout. I am the first one who saw it after the two small 
boys found it. On November i I was down the track 
about three miles below here and met the boys conting 
down with the trout strung on a cane, carrying it be- 
tween them. I measured it, and it was plumb 3 feet 2 
inches long. They took it on down to Cook's Falls and 
it weighed 14^ pounds. It was very poor; if it had been 
fat it would have weighed 20 pounds at least. Thi.s is no 
fish story. Lots of people saw it. It was a German brown 
fcut. It was found down by the old stone mill between 
here and Cook's Falls. The time of the high vrAer last 
month it ran up a little spring brook between the tmck 
and river; when the water went down it could not get 
back, and I suppose st'.rved to death. I dont ihiak it 
was dead when the boys found it, but the boys were 
jifraid of the law and said they found it dead. I had a 
hound dog with me and the trout's head was as large as 
the dog's. It does not appear possible tbat there could 
have been such a fish in the river, but it Is tfiie. 
