June 17, 1893] 
THE PISHING GAZETTE 
455 
POLLACK FISHING. 
By Tempo. 
Every angler has, I presume, heard of pollack 
fishing, but how many have ever caught one of 
these active, vigorous fish; and further, how 
many have visited the seaside with the sole object 
of having a day amongst them ? Not many 
London anglers, I am inclined to believe; yet 
pollack fishing is so simple and fascinating that 
I am surprised it has not yet attained the place 
it deserves in the angler’s estimation. Whether 
this is owing to a preference for what may be 
termed general salt water fishing—catch what 
you can—I know not, but I am convinced that 
those who have not yet battled with a 51b. pollack, 
and have confined their efforts to capturing dabs, 
plaice, whiting, and such like, are much in the 
same categoi’y as the river angler who confines 
himself exclusively to coarse fishing and has 
never landed a trout. 
The question of salt-water fishing has now 
become of vast importance in consequence of the 
large number of anglers who have become inte¬ 
rested in it. The recent formation of the British 
Sea Angling Society may be taken as a proof of 
tain them, and they may be caught at nearly all 
times of the year, though the months of August 
and September are the besi in most waters. 
The average weight of the fish caught when 
angling for them is l^lb. or 21b. each, but fish 
of 41b. or 51b. are by no means uncommon. At 
Plymouth they are often caught as heavy as 81b., 
and a 131b. fish may occasionally be had in addi¬ 
tion to the smaller ones. When first brought 
out of the water, the pollack is green and brown 
above, with a delicate play of pink, gold, and 
silver underneath; but shortly after he is dead 
he turns dirty brown above and dirty white 
below, resembling nothing so much as the prosaic 
cod-fish as seen when on the fishmonger’s slab. 
The fish is of the Gadidie family, and has a 
taint of the whiting about it. The body is of a 
longish shape, it has three dorsal fins, the lower 
jaw projects beyond the upper, and the tail is 
slightly forked. When first taken he is lithe and 
graceful, and it is a pity that the general appear¬ 
ance of the fish deteriorates after death. 
As I have already stated, the manner in which 
pollack are caught is exceedingly simple, and any 
angler who can use the Nottingham style would 
have no difficulty therein, provided of course 
that he goes where the fish are located. There 
are four principal modes, viz,, trailing, trolling. 
starts on his expedition, and it then only remains 
for him to slip the line through the lead and 
attach the former to the swivel, fix the bait, and 
all is ready. 
If the angler decides to trail his line in the 
usual style, and is obliged to row the boat him¬ 
self, he will use the artificial sand-eel as bait, for, 
unless an underlying rock or a heavy fish breaks 
his gear, he will not have the trouble to re-bait. 
Having first set the boat in motion he lets out 
about 20 yards of line, and continues rowing to 
keep his bait clear of the bottom. If the water 
is deep more line must be given, and then the 
check should be placed on the winch, and the rod 
laid pointing over the stern. The angler con¬ 
tinues to row steadily near the rocks or over 
sunken ones, and as the line is trailed the arti¬ 
ficial bait spins and resembles a good-sized 
natural sand-worm. Immediately a fish takes 
the bait it hooks itself, and the line is prevented 
from going out too quickly by the check upon 
the winch. The angler, however, must im¬ 
mediately let go the oars, pick up his rod, and 
play the fish. He then recommences to trail in 
the manner already described. In order that the 
oars shall not be lost if washed overboard by the 
action of the waves they should be attnched to 
the rowlocks by a short length of whip-cord. 
THE BOAT POOL, BOAT OF GARTEN. 
this, whilst members of the various London Clubs, 
as, for instance, the Gresham Angling Society, 
the New Albion Piscatorials and others, occasion¬ 
ally visit the coast to enjoy angling for salt¬ 
water fish. The main idea, however, has usually 
been to fish from a pier, jetty, or boat, and 
endeavour to bring home as large a quantity of 
miscellaneous fish as possible. I hope, however, 
that this year they will endeavour to get among 
the pollack, and if successful, I am sure dabs 
and whiting will take a secondary place, and 
pollack fishing will be their chief sport at the 
seaside in the future. 
So far as my experience goes, the most dashing 
salt-water fish is the mackerel, but he does not 
attain the size required to test the angler’s skill 
or ability, but pollack of 81b. or 91b. are often 
caught, and owing to their being strong, desperate 
fish, they give excellent sport and require all 
the angler’s ingenuity to land them. On nearly 
all parts of the coast these fish are to be met 
with, and it would be useless to enumerate the 
various places; but Torbay, Budleigh Salterton, 
Plymouth, Dartmouth, Ilfracombe, Bognor, 
Folkestone, Deal, and Flamborough Head, may 
all be mentioned favourably. Almost any stretch 
of water where there are projecting rocks or 
reefs which underlie the sea will be sure to con- 
float, and fly-fishing. In each instance the rod. 
should be strong, pliable, and well made. Of 
course a fly rod must be used for casting the 
fly, and when the angler only wishes to carry one 
rod a short joint should also be carried to take the 
place of the top joint, though it is best to use a 
heavier rod for trailing. The winch should be a 
wooden centre-pin, with check action, and capable 
of carrying at least 80 yards of line. This class 
of winch is admirably suited for long distance 
casting, and when required the check can be 
placed on the line by merely pressing a button. 
The reel is also improved, so far as its water- 
resisting qualities are concerned, by being dressed 
with either a thin coating of red deer fat or 
white spirit varnish, which should be allowed a 
couple of days to harden before the winch is used. 
The line should be of dressed plaited silk of 
medium substance. For trailing or trolling a 
gut length of one yard should be attached to the 
line by a swivel, then place another swivel, and 
finally add another similar length of gut, the 
former piece to be a trifle stouter than the latter. 
Before fixing the first swivel a rather heavy 
{3oz) weight lead (barrel shaped) should be put 
on the line, which will fall into its right position 
as scon as the swivel is attached to the latter. The 
trace can be already arranged before the angler 
then they will not be carried beyond reach. 
Some fishermen use the natural worm as bait. 
It is then merely hooked through the head (for 
trailing), and not placed on the hook so as to 
cover the hook itself as in float fishing. There 
are, however, many advantages which the arti¬ 
ficial bait has over the natural one. It is brighter, 
stronger, the hook is in the centre instead of at 
one end, and is thus more likely to hook the fish, 
and finally it spins more attractively, and is of 
less trouble to the angler. There is no difficulty 
in detecting the bite of a pollack. It is a hold 
snap, and at first gives one the idea that the fish 
is much larger than it really is—there is a decided 
tug, the line tightens, and the top joint twitches. 
It is best to let the fi.-h have full play as they have 
rather tender mouths, the skin having a tendency 
to slit where the hook enters, nevertheless an 
easy strain must be kept on the fish, otherwise 
if the line is loosened at all the hook is likely to 
be shaken out of its holding on account of the slit 
made in the skin. A landing net is absolutely 
essential, for one may be fortunate enough to hook 
a 101b. or 121b. fish. Having thus described trail¬ 
ing for pollack, which is generally a most success¬ 
ful method, I will now deal briefly with trolling. 
If this is done from a boat, the oarsman should 
! row to the vicinity where the rocks abound. On 
