134 The Angler's Secret 



South Bay is ninety miles long, six miles 

 wide, and two feet deep. This is their 

 deduction, and it is about correct, though, 

 of course, in some places it is narrower 

 than six miles and deeper, much, than 

 two feet. There are channels twenty 

 feet deep and open spots fully sixty feet 

 in depth." 



"Is flood tide the best for weakfish? " 

 asks the doctor. 



"Sometimes and in some places," I 

 answer, remembering the reply of the 

 bayman when I asked the same question 

 years ago. "Most of my best fishing has 

 been done just as the tide turns to run 

 out and until it is about half out, though 

 I have caught some nice fish on the in- 

 coming tide, as you took your four-pound 

 fish this evening." 



And so we chat until the doctor is made 

 miserable by repeated efforts to keep 

 awake; then we seek the berths, the old 

 man being snugly housed in the lower one, 

 and I blanketed to my chin in the one 



