  We have explored the magnetism in the non-geometrically frustrated spin-chain
system $\gamma$-CoV$_{2}$O$_{6}$ which possesses a complex magnetic exchange
network. Our neutron diffraction patterns at low temperatures ($T$ $\leqslant$
$T_{\mathrm{N}}$ = 6.6 K) are best described by a model in which two magnetic
phases coexist in a volume ratio 65(1) : 35(1), with each phase consisting of a
single spin modulation. This model fits previous studies and our observations
better than the model proposed by Lenertz $et$ $al$ in J. Phys. Chem. C 118,
13981 (2014), which consisted of one phase with two spin modulations. By
decreasing the temperature from $T_{\mathrm{N}}$, the minority phase of our
model undergoes an incommensurate-commensurate lock-in transition at $T^{*}$ =
5.6 K. Based on these results, we propose that phase separation is an
alternative approach for degeneracy-lifting in frustrated magnets.
