TALES OF FISHES 



One day I found the Gulf Stream a mile oflp Ten- 

 nessee Buoy, whereas on other days it would be close 

 in. On this particular day the water was a dark, 

 clear, indigo blue and appreciably warmer than the 

 surrounding sea. This Stream has a current of sev- 

 eral miles an hour, flowing up the coast. Every- 

 where we saw the Portuguese men-of-war shining on 

 the waves. There was a slight, cool breeze blowing, 

 rippling the water just enough to make fishing 

 favorable. I saw a big loggerhead turtle, weighing 

 about three hundred pounds, coming around on the 

 surface among these Portuguese men-of-war, and 

 as we ran up I saw that he was feeding on these 

 queer balloon-like little creatures. Sometimes he 

 would come up under one and it would stick on his 

 back, and he would turn laboriously around from 

 under it, and submerge his back so he had it floating 

 again. Then he would open his cavernous mouth 

 and take it in. Considering the stinging poison 

 these Portuguese men-of-war secrete about them, 

 the turtle must have had a very tabasco-sauce meal. 

 Right away I began to see evidence of fish on the 

 surface, which is always a good sign. We went 

 past a school of bonita breaking the water up iato 

 little swirls. Then I saw a smashing break of a 

 sailfish coming out sideways, sending the water in 

 white sheets. We slowed down the boat and got 

 oiu" baits overboard at once. I was using a bally- 

 hoo bait hooked by a small hook through the lips, 

 with a second and larger hook buried in the body. 

 R. C. was using a strip of mullet, which for obvious 

 reasons seems to be the preferred bait from Palm 

 Beach to Long Key. And the obvious reason is that 



96 



