The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-09-02
Fishing In Canada.

The right Of fishing for salmon In the
Marguerite river, Canada, belongs to
six gentlemen, who have each a hand
some cottage upon its banks. This is
the twelfth year they have held the
river under q Government lease and
they have invested there over $4,000
In income from which is the pleasure
they enjoy In spending month there
once year. For the purpose of keep
ing off intruders keeper Is hired, who
with his ass tant, patrols the stream
and makes it extremely unpleasant for
poachers. Before the system of leas-
ing was adopted the Indians hunted the
salmon with spears. In the very
height Of the breeding-season party
of Indians would visit salmon-pool by
night, 1lambeau burning In the bow Of
their canoe, and in a couple of hours
would spear hundred magnificent fish. {.
Had the slaughter been allowed to COLI
tinuea few years longer, salmon would
have been rare fish in Canadian
waters. The action Of the Govern
ment had precisely the effect it was ex-
pected to have. The salmon have null
tiplied very rapidly. and are now as
plenty as ever. The price Of the fish,
too, has been greatly affected, falling
in the Quebec markets from 90 cents Il
pound to and 8 cents. IL Is the habit
OF salmon to make their homes IN swift
running rivers-rivers with rapids and
falls. They run up and down these
rivers with perfect ease, no matter how
swift the current, or how steep the
falls. OF course this statement must
be construed literally and literally.
A cateract like Niagara, or a perpen-
dicular fall like that of the Montmor-
ency River, of $50 feet, would be too
much Of an obstacle. But the falls Of
Lorette, near Quebec, which are made
up of a succession of short tumbles,
over which the water rushes at almost
lightning speed, offer no impeachment.
But the salmon has his nest In quiet
water, In pools through which the cur
rent moves slowly. 1t is to these pools
that the fishermen go to cast their lines
baited with artificial flies. The fishing
apparatus consists of light cane pole
and reel Of fine silk line, measuring
about 400 feet. With this light appar-
atus salmon are taken weighing thirty
to thlrty-flve pounds, not by force how
ever, but by strategy. The cast Is
made from the bank Of pool, and
there the fisherman prefers to stand
and fight 1t out with his willy antago-
mist. The rule obtains among salmon
fishers that no man having put his
hand upon salmon can withdraw
without dishonor. "A gentleman Of un-
questionable veracity told me that Oh
one occasion he knew a salmon to be on
the hook from five O'Clock In the morn
Ing until noon, and In the end escape.
1t Is not the number of fishes that u
man takes In the day that measures his
sport. 1t is the gameness as he calls it,
of the fish that delights him. But it
not frequently happens that single
fisher brings in ten or twelve good
sized specimens in a days fishing, their
combined weight aggregating from two
hundred to three hundred pounds.
The care Of the fish, after they have
been landed, devolves upon the attend
ants. Those which are to be kept tor
any length Of time are packed in snow,
which Is kept all the year round pack
ed IN houses built for the purpose. II
one is to be sent away, he is put In a
rough wooden box and packed closely
with snow. Packed in Jhis manner,
salmon may easily be sent from the
mouth Of the Saguenay to New York,
and arrive in perfect order.