THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

Phill Williams, typical reef Pollack
I've fished a great many of them, and in their different
ways, enjoyed them all. But if it's big pollack you want,
let's say twenty pounds plus, then the mid channel wrecks
in the early months of the year when the biggest mature
fish pile on weight before heading out into even deeper
water to spawn is the place to be.
Boats from a number of channel ports still get out there
and find good fish, because unlike some species, pollack
will migrate from wreck to wreck, and as such, providing
there are suitable fish about to re-stock with, can do so
very quickly.
The other side of the coin however is that they might just
as easily choose to disappear. Back in the early 1970's
when all of what we take for granted on the pollack scene
today was still unfolding, and when most wrecks were
still absolutely stuffed with fish, the main man for big
pollack and coalfish was Plymouth based skipper JJ
McVicar aboard the 'June Lipet'.
JJ broke the British coalfish record on his own rod twice
in consecutive days, grabbed the pollack record, then
added the angler fish record for good measure.
Getting on in years now, I caught up with him at his
home in Plymouth recently where we recorded an amazing interview talking about a quality of fishing
the likes of which, sadly, we will never see again.
Associated audio interview numbers: 72, 138 and 167.
COALFISH Pollachius virens
Bucket List status – result
In many ways, coalfish
share a similar body layout
and general habits to their
close relative the pollack,
having three dorsal fins, two
anal fins, and a sleek
streamlined torpedo like
profile.
Dave Lewis, Coalfish
Of major importance in
separating the two is the fact
that coalfish have jaws of
almost equal length and a
straight white lateral line
over a very dark brownish
green to bottle green upper
half which fades to greyish
white below, whereas
110