In my opinion, perhaps the dirtiest part of lobstering is pogies. Herring can be messy, for sure. Especially greasy, rotten herring on a hot day. Everything gets coated with herring oil. Pogies, on the other hand, are a bloody fish. They have deep crimson guts that turn black when oxidized and splatter all over everything. When I first handled pogies I quickly learned to break the heads off away from my face. I don't care to elaborate on the consequences of splitting pogies towards my face. It isn't pretty. I'll leave it at that.
The other evening I was having dinner with my friends, and someone asked pleasantly what everyone did that day.
My friends responded:
"I went canoeing on the lake all day," the first said happily.
"Played with screeching little girls all day," another replied sounding tired.
I came last: "Turned pogies inside-out all day."
They thought I was joking. Then someone asked how you turn a pogie inside-out.
"Well. First, you rip the head off. Then you run your finger down the length of the belly to split it in half. . ."
No joke. That's what I do.
You see, a pogy is a distinct fish. It has a rather thick skin, but the insides are very soft and squishy. If you put a whole, unadultered pogy in a bait bag, even a lobster might have a hard time cracking it. So we help them out a bit. By turning them inside-out, you are exposing the meaty insides to the lobsters, making the bait absolutely irresistible. Turning a pogy inside out is a tricky task, believe it or not. The vertebrae are very sharp and if you run your finger along the belly to split it open, you have to be very careful not to get a spine bone splinter. I've done this countless times and it doesn't feel good.
Pogies, also called menhayden, used to be a big fishery around these parts. I distinctly remember a summer during my youth when a huge school of pogies came up the Damariscotta River and were washed ashore, leaving the whole Town steeped in a heinous odor resembling bad cheese. Little did I know how well-versed I would become in pogy annihilation.
Cap used to go seining for pogies. He told a story of once time when they filled a dory with pogies and one of the fishermen's wives jumped in the boat barefoot, standing on top of the fish exuberantly. Well, she didn't remain standing for long. Unlike other fish, pogies have razor-sharp gill plates. When this woman jumped on the pile of pogies barefoot, the gill plates cut into her feet. Cap said her feet were a bloody mess. Ugh.
But the simple fact is that lobsters like them. Hence why we tolerate the blood and gore of my least favorite bait fish. They catch lobsters. The other day I was trying to picture pogies from a lobster's perspective. They are probably comparable to chocolate for lobsters. Imagine if you were just walking along and encountered a piece of delectable Lindt milk chocolate dangling in mid-air. I would be a goner. Good thing I'm not a lobster!
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