The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-01-15
Catching salmon with a Hook.

Catching Salmon with Hook.
California, during the month of Oc-
tober and November, affords the finest
salmon fishing in the world. Our
method of fishing, says correspon-
dent, is to take a skiff, with man to
row, and with rod in hand and hun
dred yards of line out, troll with the
feather-spinner. You don't go far be-
fore there is break, a flash, and your
red makes salaam, while your reel
spins and your line Kisses and when
you bear little, up goes your fish six
feet into the air, showing his silver
sides, and himself vigorously engaged
in shaking his jaws to shake the hook
loose, If that don't do, he takes q good
long run from you, and then, before
you are fairly aware of his tactics, turns
and runs straight for you. Then comes
lively work, for if he ever gets slack
line on you, ten to one you lose him.
If he comes too fast for you, and you
can't feel in fast enough to keep your
line taut, your boatman must pull like
good fellow to keep away from your
fish. The next trick is for the gentle
man to roll over and over to twist off
your wire smell, and he either does it,
or securely binds himself, by the turns
in the line, around his head or body.
If his head, it seals his gills, and he
soon gives up; but have q care how
you attempt to land him in your boat,
for he plays 'possum, and l have had
them make a dash as lifted them from
the water, and go off with 800 feet of
| line, and give me lots of trouble after.
A landing-net-a good strong one-is
essential, for you have to lift, occa-
sionally, twenty-five FOUNDER. The
general average of our "catch" is
about fifteen pounds. You have about
three miles of river to fish in, and it is
poor fishing indeed if you don't hook
from two to six in the pull up, and the
same down. There is no other current
in the rivers than the ebb and flow of
the water backed up by the tide which
runs in at the mouth, through narrow
channel about ten yards wide, and at
the food the salmon come in by
hundreds. In fact, they run in and out
constantly; some go up the river to
the deepest holes and remain. We al
ways know about the length of time
they have been in by the color.
When first in from sea, they are n
bright silver color; in a few days they
begin to turn darker, and finally take
the deep salmon.hue, or red. Some we
caught were bright crimson, fins and
all, and were very beautiful, but the
fastidious gentlemen who work on saw
logs there turn up their noses at these,
and won't eat them. 1 hooked such a
fish, the most beautiful in color, and a
big one AS / brought him alongside,
and told Sam, my boatman, to stand by
with the net, that worthy individual sat
unmoved, intensely interested in get
ting his short pipe into action, and was
pulling at it and ramming down the to-
bacco with the end of his little finger,
entirely absorbed in that operation,
while my fish was trying my light tackle
severely. Said I, Sam, do you hear
me? The net the net quick BY
this time the pipe had concluded to
draw, and Sam looked over the side OF
the boat complacently, but as he caught
sight of the fish he laid down the net,
and taking his pipe from his mouth,
looked at me with an expression where
contempt and compassion battled fol
supremacy, and, jerking his head in the
direction of my foundering fish, re.
marked, "You amt goin' to hist in
that cid lobster, are you ?" Said I.
"Sam, men have died for less. That
net, quick, or you will be permanently
missed in your circle ?" Sam sulkily
and contemptuously raised my fish and
dumped him into the boat rs he would
bushel of clans, and proceeded to set
tie him with whack on the head will
billet of wood, exclaiming, "Whos
you there whoa, January ~ That fisl
weighed edtwenty-threepound drought
him home and gave him to an epicu
rean friend, who had him for dinner
and told me confidentially he never ate
such a deliciously.favored salmon il
his life and that unappreciative cuss
Sam, would have had me dump the fsl
back into his native element as worth
. less. Allowances must be made fo,
Sam he had been accustomed to max
ing his selection out of pile of q hun
dred, at the extravagant epicurean out
lay of fifteen cents apiece for anything
up to fifteen pounds. Think of that, y,
Sybarites, who are happy when you cal
get salmon at 81 per pound.