Skies 



Wind can affect the fish as much as the 

 people catching them. 



"We have a saying here, 'wind out of 

 the east, fishing least,'" says Jim Bahen, a 

 Sea Grant agent based at Kure Beach and 

 a fisherman himself. "Fishermen up around 

 Carteret talk about a 'mullet blow,' a wind 

 out of the northeast that makes the fish 

 move. 



"The fisherman who relies on it (the 

 weather) year-round has got a pretty good 

 handle on his own method of predicting," 

 says Bahen. 



Cloud formations, the direction of the 

 wind, even the behavior of animals are 

 telling signs. 



"Gulls way high up means there's a 

 front moving in," says Bahen. "Biting flies, 

 the wind's gonna change. 



"Back in the old days, people living on 

 the coast didn't have the weather forecast. 

 They had to rely on local knowledge," he 

 says. 



If Billy Truitt sees "bulls' hides" and 

 "mares' tails" in the sky, he's going to cut 

 his fishing trip short. 



"If there's a bunch of clouds looking 



Rain on the flood, 

 Only a scud. 



Rain on the ebb, 

 Sailois to bed. 



like buffalo running across the plains, it's 

 gonna blow a gale that day," he says. His 

 wife adds that you shouldn't let still waters 

 fool you into thinking otherwise. 



"Even if it's pretty and slick calm, you 

 might as well know," Lucille Tmitt says. 

 "We'll go up a creek and anchor some- 

 where." 



Capt. Eddie Haneman of Wilmington 

 agrees that streaking clouds, which are 

 caused by the wind, should not be 

 ignored. 



"Mackerel skies and mares' tails make 

 m loftier ships carry little sails," he says. |P 



' : 



Sieve Murray 



COASTWATCH 13 



