Critter Of The Week

Pollock, Harbor and Otherwise

An early-morning call from a fishing buddy went something like this: “They’re in.”

“How big?”

“Biggest was 17 inches but the last one I hooked was a whopper, took me hook, line and sinker.”

“When are we going?”

My pal didn’t need to tell me what the “they” was; I already knew. This was in late October and time for the harbor pollock to congregate around the local piers and floats. This habit of forming large, inshore schools in late fall is largely unrecognized by the sporting fraternity. Besides, the arrival of the pollock coincides with the beginning of the open firearms season on deer. Few people are willing to spend valuable deer-hunting time fishing for harbor pollock. That suits me just fine, though. The fall pollock fishing is a solitary sport, with little or no competition. It’s just the sort of lonely pastime that appeals to me.

In fall and early-winter, open-water fishing is a brutally cold proposition. Bleak skies and dark water cast a spell over those hardy souls who stand on bouncing floats and cast to the streamlined harbor pollock. Insulated underwear, parkas with hoods, warm boots and gloves are a must.

Apparently, little is known of the adolescent pollock we call harbor pollock. In fact, a marine scientist once called me, wanting to know how to catch harbor pollock. It was his job that summer, to catch and study the little pollock. I asked him where he intended to fish and he indicated a place far offshore, in deep water. His superiors assigned this to him, apparently at random. Even worse, he could not deviate from these assigned coordinates. This was all part of the science, don’t you know.

Anyway, I pointed out that harbor pollock were known as such because they live in harbors. That came as kind of a surprise. But nonetheless, his parameters were already laid out and as such, were carved in stone. I wished him luck, nevertheless. It is to be hoped that his final conclusion did not indicate that the harbor pollock population has crashed and that the pollock are practically extinct.

Pollock, harbor and otherwise, are among the sportiest members of the cod family. While a codfish keeps its mouth open while being reeled in, often getting half-drowned in the process, pollock usually know enough to keep their trap closed. Besides that, pollock are slim, fast and full of energy.

Top weight for adult pollock is generally agreed to be no more than 35 pounds. Apparently the nearly 40-pound fish I once took off the Cutler coast hadn’t heard about this and thus had put on a few extra, albeit forbidden, pounds. That was years ago, though, and today 20 pounds is a pretty big pollock. No matter, as far as fight goes, all pollock pull like the devil.

Here’s a trick that takes big pollock every time. It’s best employed while out on the ocean, fishing for large, adult pollock. Using a Diamond Jig, or even a large-sized Swedish Pimple, drop the jig to the bottom and work it for a minute or so. If nothing bites, reel the thing back to the top as quickly as possible. This drives pollock wild and they will smash the jig with wild abandon. It’s hard on the wrist and elbow, though, and anyone prone to carpal tunnel syndrome is advised to eschew this particular tactic.

Pollock also like and will eagerly accept clams, herring and marine worms. Put a heavy sinker on the end of the line and attach the bait hook as a dropper, about 15 inches or so up the line. Expect the fish to hit hard and fast.

In years past, the majority of the fish-eating public only barely tolerated pollock as table fare. Now, the public’s taste has become much more catholic and fish such as pollock, wolffish, hake, redfish and cusk are much in demand.

While pollock flesh is quite palatable, it has a drawback. That is, it tends to be soft and as such, needs to be cared for properly. A fish caught during the warm months must be immediately placed on ice. or the quality of the flesh quickly deteriorates. It’s not so hard to care for pollock taken in early winter.

One of my friends likes to use his harbor pollock in chowders. and he freezes the fillets for such use during the winter. However, my taste trends toward broiling and a fresh pollock fillet, sprinkled with lemon juice and black pepper, is a thing of beauty when broiled just until the flesh is flaky and perhaps a bit translucent.

Old-timers on the coast liked to “corn” their pollock. This is easy to do. Just lop the fillets off each side, skin-on, and place in a glass dish. Coat each fillet with salt and leave overnight in the refrigerator. In the morning, rinse the fillets in fresh water and slowly cook in butter, over a low flame.

Back to the fall run of harbor pollock. The pollock congregate beginning in mid-to-late-October and stay inshore until sometime in the winter. It’s hard to say just how long the fish remain here, since by January, open-water fishing is out of the question because it is simply too darn cold. But since the pollock are gone in spring not to return until summer, it seems probable that they stay around until mid or late winter.

As per the catching of harbor pollock, it is my contention that a two-pound pollock can pull a similar-sized striped bass backwards if it wishes to do so. They are so quick and sporty that they rank among my favorite saltwater sport fish.

My favorite pollock outfit is an ultralight spinning rod just a tad under eight feet long, and an ultralight spinning reel with an above-average line capacity (mine is a Shakespeare Intrepid), filled to the brim with six-pound test line, which is plenty strong for most harbor pollock.

In years past, it seemed to me that a fish wasn’t worth catching if it couldn’t be taken on a fly. That mindset no longer motivates me and when the temperature hovers around the freezing mark, spinning tackle is way more user-friendly. Still, pollock are fools for a pretty bucktail or streamer. It’s much like casting to trout, too, especially given the hard-fisted way pollock take a fly. This is sight and feel fishing. Strike at a flash and hook a fish. Sometimes, though, the fish hit so hard that there is no doubt about what has happened.

In November, when the pollock schools are firmly established in our harbors, it’s deer hunting in the early morning and late afternoon, and pollock fishing during the day. This seems to me to be the best use of my time, and if anyone can suggest a more pleasurable way to spend a month in the fall, please tell me.

Pollock, especially the fall-run variety, represent a significant, yet unappreciated resource. Those willing to spare the time have a great source of rewarding sport. Most any harbor on the Maine coast is apt to host a pollock run, although the fish will have varying schedules. It’s likely that the further south, the later the runs.

Also, tide has much to do with when the pollock are available. Mostly, the fish are found on an incoming tide. However this is not a hard and fast rule, and sometimes dead low tide is best. On a few occasions, I have taken harbor pollock at high tide. It pretty much depends upon local conditions, and the only way to ascertain the pollock’s schedule is to keep trying until everything comes together.

It’s a far cry from fishing during the hectic days of summer. The tourists and pleasure boaters are long gone. A few lobstermen are in evidence and other than that, it’s the ever-present gulls, the gray sea and of course, the pollock.

It’s offbeat, it’s cold and for all of that, it’s great fun. It’s also doubtful that a great mass of recreational anglers will read this and run to the nearest dock in droves. But maybe a few will take my advice and try their luck. My best wishes go out to them.