Setting the Baits

Before full daylight, Santiago sets his four baits at different depths—forty, seventy-five, one hundred, and one hundred twenty-five fathoms. Each bait is carefully prepared with fresh sardines hooked through both eyes, and the hooks are covered with bait fish. He rows gently to keep the lines straight and at their proper depths. The old man takes pride in his precision, believing that exactness will bring luck. He watches the dip of the green-sapped sticks that signal any pull on the lines.