530 
FOREST AND STREAM 
November, 1917 
WARNINGS OF THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA 
WINDS AND TIDES, THEIR INFLUENCE ON FISH AND FISHING, AND 
THE SUPERSTITION AND LANGUAGE OF THE MYSTERIOUS DEEP 
By LEONARD HUL1T, Associate Editor of FOREST AND STREAM 
T HAT old timers by the sea were ob¬ 
servant of all conditions of tides and 
weather, and that close watch was 
kept on the results of their endeavors 
under the varying conditions is a matter of 
certainty; for there is a marked principle 
of truth in their old lyrics and doggerels. 
Many years spent in close association with 
the hardy toilers of the sea have taught 
many lessons which have been of practical 
usefulness, although much superstition 
runs through all their quaint sayings and 
beliefs. To many of them even among 
the younger generation the “Mermaid” is 
an actuality, always placed in their minds 
among distant islands where their plain¬ 
tive cries can be heard and where “Mer¬ 
maid” habits can be observed on occasion 
and under certain weather conditions. 
Certain it is that “deep water” sailors 
delight in drawing the “long bow” when 
relating incidents in their lives, and it is 
small wonder that such stories should find 
lodgment in the minds of the unsophisti¬ 
cated men and youths who go down to the 
sea in quest of its finny inhabitants 
Neither is it an easy matter to unlearn 
such; as they revel in the uncanny and 
“gran’ther’s” lore is to them a most pre¬ 
cious heritage. Despite much which is of 
the most absurd character in their beliefs, 
there is an education which has been 
gleaned from the hard school of experi¬ 
ence which is their lot, that does not ad¬ 
mit of question or ridicule. “Grey water 
will not give us fish” is an old saying and 
it has been proven true on so many oc¬ 
casions‘that it no longer is regarded as a 
myth. Just what causes this condition in 
the water is not known, but every student 
of conditions which surround him knows 
there are days when all tidal waters run 
“grey.” This condition usually obtains at 
very high tides, and may be caused by 
minute particles of sandy deposit held in 
suspension by the strong tide sweep, thus 
in some unknown manner causing the fish 
to suspend their usual activities. 
T HAT this theory is strongly probable 
is shown by the fact that this con¬ 
dition rarely lasts more than two 
tides and sometimes dies away on the last 
of the ebb of a single tide. The “Harvest 
Moon” tides, however, sometimes give us 
this condition during their whole period. 
This is the full moon tides of August and 
if accompanied by easterly winds will give 
the strongest of tides during the full moon 
phase and it is of but little use to ply 
the fisherman’s art during that time. 
“Breeding water” is another season of dis¬ 
» ben tfje toinb is in tfje nortf) 
Jfisfjrrmen toill not go fortt). 
JUtjen tlje toinb is from ttie cast 
Jfisfjes tf)cn toill bite tlje least. 
®Bf)en tlje toinb is from tfje Soutlj. 
3lt blotos tfje bait in fisfjes moutf). 
I8ut totjen it stoings into ttjc toest 
®ben it ts tfjep bite tfje best. 
content among the oldtime deepwater fish¬ 
ermen, and it is not idle complaint, for at 
this time but little success crowns his en¬ 
deavors. This condition cannot be seen 
at the surface of the water except when it 
is quite still and but little wind blowing. 
Just why this term should have been ap¬ 
plied there is no knowing, neither is 
there any record of its origin; like so 
many other subjects it has been handed 
down from generation to generation, each 
in their turn making their own observa¬ 
tions on the “phenomena,” but in the main 
hSlding sacred the sayings of their prede¬ 
cessors. “Breeding water” is character¬ 
ized by a breaking up to the surface of 
a continuous stream of minute bubbles, 
myriads of them in each cubic foot of 
water, resembling closely water just at its 
boiling stage. That these bubbles are gase¬ 
ous in character there is no question, as 
they apparently burst on contact with the 
air, and that they are the result of fer¬ 
mentation of vegetable substances would 
be but reasonable to assume, as they are 
generally to be observed over muddy bot¬ 
toms of rivers and bays, and doubtless the 
same condition obtains at the bottom of 
the ocean when the “phenomenon” is ob¬ 
served there at the surface. Certain it is, 
however, that fish will not feed during 
these periods or at least where these con¬ 
ditions prevail. I have frequently met with 
it many miles at sea and the result has 
always been “no fish.” 
The influence of tides, too, plays a most 
important part in fish activity; as is well 
known, they always lay or work against 
the current. In this they have a double 
purpose; one doubtless being that they arc 
more comfortable in that position as they 
can more readily retain their equilibrium. 
The other being that their food drifting 
with the current is so* much more readily 
secured. So, in bay or river or on the 
beach front, the flood or incoming tide is 
regarded as the most opportune. 
S 'OMETIMES, however, fine catches 
are made during the ebb tide, which 
may be owing to some peculiar eddy 
which sets in around a bar or point of 
flat and is not in action during the flood, 
and so the small crustaceans and other 
fish food are brought to view only at these 
times, but it can never be accepted as a 
hard and fast rule to work by. Tides al¬ 
ways make from the bottom and are surg¬ 
ing around the bars long before the water 
stops running ebb at the surface. To the 
“not closely observant man” fish will fre¬ 
quently begin striking while the tide is 
