RC: Yes. We used to go out in these boats. We would have three
lines on each side, two hooks to each line. There was a lot
of grouper then. You would catch the devil out of them.
E: Where would you fish for them?
RC: Right offshore there.
E: Right outside the pass?
RC: Yes, about fifteen or twenty miles.
E: Was that during the war, when Sam and all of those boys used
to fish for them?
RC: Yes.
E: Was there money in them then?
RC: Oh, yes, we did pretty good at it. But there was a lot of
grouper out there then.
E: What happened to them?
RC: Probably the red tide killed most of them. It settled on
those rocks and killed them.
E: That was in 1947 or 1948?
RC: I believe it was about 1948 when it first hit.
E: Did you ever see any roe in any grouper?
RC: Never have.
E: Strange. I wonder where they gather up at. I have
gutted a few, and I never have. The trout will have a
few roe in them all year.
RC: Yes, trout will, but not grouper.
E: The red tide after the war, was that the worst red tide you
ever saw around here?
RC: Yes.
E: Do you remember any before that?
RC: No, I do not.
E: Have you ever heard of anything called poison water?
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