One of the key reasons why fly fishing is such a successful technique is it's ability to exploit feeding opportunities and patterns across the complete range of levels all the way from the bottom to the top, and if you so wish it, in a single cast. Ideal for fish with a free ranging feeding versatility such as trout. Less so with many other species of fish, and in particular marine species, where it is more restrictive. Not so much because these fish are any less susceptible to being duped by an imitative hook dressing, or even a lure. But because they are more inclined to do the bulk of their feeding at or close to the bottom, which in deep water means only limited amounts of time with any real chance of a take.
This probably is more of a problem at sea than it is in freshwater. In the tropics, where even over excessively deep water, pelagic game species are willing to feed at or close to the surface, it is less of a challenge. Fly fishing for marine species is big business in many corners of the world, from boats as well as from the shore. Here in the UK and throughout much of Europe we unfortunately have a totally different situation. While most marine species found in home waters could be persuaded to take a fly, few are ever given the opportunity. In part this is a perception problem. But equally, there are practical reasons too. Fish feeding hard on the bottom in deep water in a fair lick of tide are never going to receive that much attention.
Fortunately, there are exceptions to this general rule. One in particular is the pollack. A widespread species both inshore and off that is more than happy to make feeding forays well off the bottom. Even over deep water wrecks, you rarely find them close to the rusting super structure. Often they will be many metres above it riding the pressure wave looking for bait fish such as mackerel. Wreck anglers fishing lures such as redgills and jellyworms count the number of turns on the reel up to the point of contact to get some sort of feel as to how high up in the water column the pollack are feeding on any given day. In shallower water such as over inshore reefs and around deep rocky headlands, pollack may well spend much of their day at or just off the bottom. But they are sight predators, and anything looking even remotely edible going over head is likely to provoke some measure of interest.
The other thing that needs to be said about pollack is that despite the fact that they are edible, they are seen by many as a sport fish and as such a great many are returned. Pollack are also one of those species able to encourage sea anglers to scale their gear right down and enjoy the scrap. And what a scrap it can be. I pollack fished with some salmon anglers, one of whom took his first one on the fly, and he could not believe the fish was as small as it was when it reached the boat. It gave a far better account of itself than a salmon many times its size. He also had a few comments to make about fishing heavy outfits in the 10 to 12 weight category, until of course he had his first hook up. A weight 7 outfit could conceivably be destroyed by even a half decent pollack or coalfish, and a double figure fish of either brand simply does not bear thinking about. That’s how well these fish go.
Pollack and coalfish (Amercian’s all coalfish pollock) have been recognised as game fish on the international scene for many years now, both being listed by the IGFA for tippet class world record status on fly tackle. And they can be taken in world record proportions in UK waters more or less at will. I’m not sure if that’s because not enough attention has been paid to either species with the fly rod, which could explain why the record sizes appear to be so low compared to their regular growth potential. More likely it is the raw power both these fish are able to exert that brings added degree’s of handling difficulty, particularly over deep open water and snaggy, kelpy ground. One further complication is locating situations where fly fishing offers a real opportunity not only to hook up the better fish, but to find them in good big numbers. Without reasonable levels of fish participation, enthusiasm can quickly wane.
My introduction to fly fishing for both species came a couple of years ago in the company of Scottish salmon angler Allan Everington, and charter skipper Ian Burrett who works three 19 foot Orkney Fastliner’s from his home base of Drummore. Having trailable boats opens up many more options than a permanent harbour, not the least of which is being able to choose from launch sites either side of the Mull of Galloway to suit the speed and direction of the wind. Normally the pollack are taken on live sandeel or mackerel strip on a slow retrieve, freelined, or as Ian prefers, put out under a float around 12 feet down over water ranging between 25 and 35 feet deep. No pollack worth its salt is going to let an offering such as that passing over head go by without at least a look. And with so many tiny bays receiving more and less tide at different times throughout the day allowing you to stick with the optimum drift pattern, this offers potentially perfect fly fishing conditions to say the least.
Pollack are pretty powerful fish, hence their widespread sporting appeal. They can also grow big with doubles taken regularly around The Mull right up to the shoreline. To exercise any useful measure of control over such a fish, fly rods in the 10 to 12 weight bracket are essential. A suitable reel such as the Penn 4AR saltwater fly reel is a must. This has an anti reverse system which prevents the knuckles from getting battered by revolving handles, and boasts a good dragging system to aid fish control when a good pollack makes a powerful run. Reels need to be loaded with a good quality backing line to help minimise tangles when it is stripped back onto the deck of the boat. Fly line choice varies from a fast sinking shooting head (Orvis 600 grain depth change) to an intermediate. Remember, these fish can be persuaded to move well up off the bottom. And casting need not be much of a problem. Line can be snaked out on the drift, though it must obviously be cast at anchor.
The first time I fished with Allan and Ian we had reasonably bright conditions with quite a stiffish breeze to push the boat along. On the drift, boat movement either from the wind or the tide can make all the difference. Despite the drift speed that day, getting the flies into the interest zone was not a problem. Amazingly, what did prove to be a problem was getting down too far and becoming stuck in the kelp. On our latest trip, conditions were exactly the opposite. A flat calm sea under a hot sunny sky can make for excellent boating, but for pollack on any method, let alone the fly, forget it. This time the effort to fish ratio was greatly increased, though some very good fish did eventually come our way, particularly when short lived duller breezy squally spells came along speeding up the movement of the fly.
You could of course speed up the movement of the fly yourself by increasing the retrieve rate. This unfortunately means the fly spends less time in the optimum bit of water, plus a lot more physical work. The preferred method is to get a good line out then either leave it ‘static’ though still moving with tidal drift, feeling for tugs of interest then upping the movement rate with a moderate figure of eight retrieve. Alternatively, if the drift is particularly slow, go straight into the figure of eight with intermittent short bouts of faster hauling, then snake the line back out through the eyes for another go. Snaking the line out may not be in the true spirit of fly fishing, but it’s a whole lot easier than casting, not only with a heavy weight outfit, but an exceptionally heavy totally unbalanced fly. If snaking out is on the cards, then why not go for it.
That introductory trip of a couple of years ago produced lots of pollack, three of which were well above existing IGFA tippet class records. All went back without claim. Skipper Ian Burrett has long operated a policy of returning all fish other than bait fish, and had no intention of breaking that rule for any reason, particularly as anglers fishing with him had previously returned several potential Scottish and British records including that of the tope. This trip would be no exception. IGFA tippet records were beaten by Finlay Wilson and John Sangster, and both were returned. In addition to this, I had a go at freelining a long strip of mackerel belly for pollack during one particularly quite spell and came up with of all things a ballan wrasse a couple of ounces better than the Scottish record. That too went back unclaimed.
If anyone seriously wanted to do the IGFA record thing properly taking it all the way through to claim status, then it should not be too much of a problem to devise some means of keeping the fish alive in order that it can be weighed on shore then released. This has been the stumbling block in the past. Ian Burrett doesn’t set a great deal of store by records, but is not against people claiming them. What he does not condone is the killing of fish simply to make a record claim. The claim procedure is very precise, I know because I successfully claimed the IGFA fly caught 4Kg tippet class record for coalfish at Cushedall in Northern Ireland. The fish must be weighed and witnessed properly, though it need not be retained if good identificational photographs are made available. My fish was kept for freezing as coalfish make exceptionally good Common Skate baits. But it could just as easily have gone back.
On the subject of the coalfish record, it is worth mentioning the special situation which exists at Cushendall. In the middle of the bay they farm salmon in large cages under which live vast shoals of coalfish to double figures feeding on pellets falling through the mesh. Chumming is illegal under IGFA rules, and to be honest is counter productive in that it bunches the frenzied coalfish up in a tight ball giving you a restricted shot at them. Far better simply to work the fringes of the cages, though the anchor cables can be a problem. There are some huge fish out there up to two or even three times the records. The man to contact there is Hamish Currie who interestingly operates from a 30 foot purpose built charter angling RIB.
Back at the Mull of Galloway, many of the lures used were sandeel patterns. Long streamer type lures incorporating sparkle threads with different colour bodies. But there were other patterns too with much bulkier bodies, and some fry patterns from the USA with epoxy heads and bodies. On the day, most designs did the business to some degree. The main pattern to it all was to use big flies of up to 4 inches in length tied on 4/0 to 6/0 hooks, incorporating black and red into the design, particularly around the hackle. Where possible, try to give the thing a pulsing action by incorporating some soft material such as marabou into the main body. You could have a lot of fun designing and tying up your own concoctions. Alternatively, grab an American tackle magazine which seem to be full of the things, or try looking on the Internet, speaking of which, also take a look on the web at the IGFA site to down load a record claim form and a set of rules.
For those not fully conversant with IGFA rules, lets look at exactly what constitutes a tippet. For world record claim purposes, a tippet is a length of monofilament of at least 15 inches between the knots attaching the fly to a rubbing length of any breaking strain of mono which in turn is tied to the end of the fly line. The IGFA (International Game Fishing Association) oversee world record keeping, and for fly fishing accept records on 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10 Kg breaking strain tippets, or if you like, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 and 20 pounds. So long as the actual tippet used when tested by them breaks at or under the breaking strain quoted, the record claim can progress. Some tackle companies produce mono’s guaranteed to meet IGFA specifications. A good one is Rio Saltwater which is the brand I used for my successful coalfish claim. It costs a bit more than ‘regular’ mono, but if it guarantee’s a successful claim, its worth every penny.
IGFA WORLD TIPPET CLASS RECORDS FOR POLLACK & COALFISH
NOTE: These are correct at the close of 2006.
| POLLACK Pollachius pollachius | RECORD CATEGORY | WEIGHT |
| Pollack | Tippet 1 Kg (2 lbs) | 5lbs 9 oz |
| Pollack | Tippet 2 Kg (4 lbs) | 6lbs 10 oz |
| Pollack | Tippet 3 Kg (3 lbs) | 4lbs 7 oz |
| Pollack | Tippet 4 Kg (8 lbs) | 4lbs 11 oz |
| Pollack | Tippet 6 Kg (12 lbs) | 6lbs 11 oz |
| Pollack | Tippet 8 Kg (16 lbs) | 12lbs 5 oz |
| Pollack | Tippet 10 Kg (20 lbs) | 7lbs 8 oz |
| COALFISH Pollachius virens | RECORD CATEGORY | WEIGHT |
| Coalfish/Pollack | Tippet 1 Kg (2 lbs) | 1lbs 13 oz |
| Coalfish | Tippet 2 Kg (4 lbs) | 1lbs 2 oz |
| Coalfish | Tippet 3 Kg (3 lbs) | 8lbs 14 oz |
| Coalfish (my fish) | Tippet 4 Kg (8 lbs) | 4lbs 4 oz |
| Coalfish | Tippet 6 Kg (12 lbs) | 10lbs 12 oz |
| Coalfish | Tippet 8 Kg (16 lbs) | 18lbs 8 oz |
| Coalfish | Tippet 10 Kg (20 lbs) | 28lbs 14 oz |
