96 Big Game Fishes 
dead, I now gently moved to make it simulate 
life. The fish would gaze at it for a few seconds, 
then back off to move slowly forward again, 
tipping it over, as though wondering what was 
the matter; and if there was anything suspicious 
about it, at this stage my fishing often ended. 
They confessed to an overweening curiosity, 
nosed the bait and moved it, when I succeeded 
in making it struggle, but often would not take it. 
Again my patience would be rewarded by the 
lightninglike snap, and the fish would rise 
proudly to later take me knee-deep into the 
water to save the slender rod or line. 
The bait of baits is a live, vigorous sardine or 
the “shad” referred to, and frequently I had 
negro boys accompany me alongshore with a 
fine cast-net, or a long piece of mosquito bar, 
with which small fry could be taken and used 
fresh from the water when a good-sized barracuda 
was located. Such lures would rarely, if ever, be 
refused, though I have known certain fishes to 
scorn every attempt to attract their attention. In 
fishing in deep water, peering down into the 
channel to watch the graceful jellyfishes or the 
long purple anchor chains of the physalia as it 
moved along, I have seen the muzzle of a huge 
