THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

So maybe there is, or at least there was still a chance for the north west generally, and the Fylde coast
in particular, to return to those jumbo era days. Yet rod and line anglers have had none of these fish and
wouldn't even have known about them at all if Andy hadn't seen them with his own eyes on his return
to the marina.
Shore fishing for cod too on my local patch from Fleetwood down into the Mersey has also picked up.
But without doubt, the in place for very big cod just at the moment is Shetland.
Whether or not some or all of this will change any time soon is one of angling life's imponderables. If
it does, it probably won't be for the better if the European Union continues on with its current draft of
the Common Fisheries Policy, despite EU fishery scientists repeatedly begging ministers to think again
while there is still some hope of a rescue of sorts from the brink of the abyss while there are still a few
commercially high value species left.
Associated audio interview numbers: 5, 24, 43, 92, 111, 170, 171 and 181.
POLLACK Pollachius pollachius
Bucket List status – result
In common with several of the more common cod family
Ian Burrett, inshore Scottish Pollack
members, pollack are fish with three dorsal fins and two
anal fins, which at face value might sound like a recipe for
identity confusion. Fortunately, in reality it turns out to be nothing of the sort.
Only the coalfish, to which pollack are most closely related and in many ways mirror in terms of lifestyle,
present any sort of identity confusion, and even then not very much.
One obvious point of difference is the lower jaw of the pollack which very noticeably protrudes beyond
the upper, whereas they are equal in the coalfish.
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