CHAPTER XVIII. 

 FISHING IN ESTUARIES. 



"There is a tide in the affairs of men, 

 Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune, 



***** 

 And we must take the current when it serves 

 Or lose our ventures." 



JULIUS 



ALL fishing in estuaries is very much, and I am inclined to think 

 entirely, governed by the tides, except, perhaps, when monsoon floods 

 somewhat modify calculations by overpowering the tides, and except in 

 the months when the tides of putrid-smelling sea water set in ; then the 

 fish are sickened. But the tides seem to affect different fish differently, 

 so that it is a very difficult matter to work out to a satisfactory 

 conclusion. I have noticed fish taking freely at the very commence- 

 ment of the flow in an estuary, while not a few fishermen agree that 

 certain fish take best during the latter part of the ebb tide. 



I am inclined to think that the former are chiefly the rock-fish 

 Lutianus roseus, and Chrysophris dat?ua, and C. berda, and sometimes 

 Lates calcarifer. The latter are the well known B&min of the Malabar 

 coast, Polymmus tetradactylus. The latter go to sea with every tide, 

 I believe, whereas the former do not leave the estuaries, I think ; and 

 this difference in their habits may well account for the difference in 

 their time of feeding. 



Watching an estuary I noticed that when I first came to the spot all 

 was quiet, not a fish was moving. Then the tide turned to flow, and I 

 saw all along the edge of the river, between me and the sea, heavy fish 

 rushing at smaller fish, and making great swirls on the surface ; when 

 they came opposite me, the place was alive with big fish striking little 

 ones ; but it did not last more than a quarter of an hour : with the 



