Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-08-05

An old fisherman said to New York
Sun reporter: 'Td rather catch one
twenty-five pound salmon than wagon
load of any other fish that swims What
do you think of having to chase fish
two miles and more after you've got your
hook in it, and after YOU catch up with
it having TO tussle with it like Gr1co-
Roman wrestler for an hour, maybe, be.
fore it'll throw up the sponge? Wen, l
had to do that last season with a salmon,
and he wasn't an extra large one, either
The salmon rivers are all streams with
swift currents, whirling rapids and high
falls. You won't find this king of fish
in any other kind of water. 1t don't
make any difference how like railroad
train the water may run, or how steep
the falls are, the salmon goes up stream
just as fast as he does down. A salmon
win go up an almost perpendicular fall
as slick as you could slide down a creased
telegraph pole.
'Did you ever see a salmon take the
fly Well, then, when your first salmon
appears to you you won't know whether
to faint or shout 'Halleluiah2' The
salmon's haunt, when he is laying in
pool, where the water eddies and hest
tates, and then passes slowly on. From
the bank above this pool, or from your
canoe, you cast your fly ON its surface
Now, the beauty about salmon fishing e
that your tackle isn't much heavier ths.
If you were whipping some mountain
brook for trout. Your rod is elastic and
strong, and your reel must hold a; least
800 feet of .tine silk line Yo,rfy DROP
lightly on the surface, and If the sailAon
is In the humor he goes for it. at once
Now, trout rises to fly VIA swo0p
and whirl. and away he goes Isur
salmon darts from his hiding-place in
meteor fashion also, b.. before ne
reaches the fly, he pauscs ><ithin fcy.
inches of 1t. Then the salmon ,isaa
opens his mouth and draws it IT,, eos
drops back toward the bottom. That i.
when he gets himself il trouble u
dropping down he sets the sock :-rx,y
in his upper jaw, and then is whe= h.
begins to get you in trouble. A. on
as he feels the hook things beri&
to boil. Away he'll 60 and tbs
100 feet of your l;ne off your rec
before you know it, Then the chs. 1c55I
are that he'll take another course et
haps straight toward you, and then
you've got to work to take up that slacl>
line. As soon as you draw it taut on
the reel and he feels the pull on the
hook, whiz he will come oat of that
water and shoot into the air dozen
feet. Taking a header, he darts dows
to the depths again. tea: ing this way az.
that way, round and round, and keeping
your fingers busy at the reel Then SUI
denly out of the water he comes apS.?,
throwing himself high above the wac.
and, describing capncious arc in mid
air, falls back into his clement agaIS
quivering with excitement and pain, s.,S
sparkling with spray. Finding thar
these tactics fail to release him from :. e
hook, the chances ere that he may take
1t into his head to seek another part o.
the river, and down the stream he .socs
like a race horse.
HE may lead you mile, or two miles
keeping your attendants busy at tn.
oars, anc yourself on the alert for ens
sudden change in his maneuvreing. 1t
may be that, after the chase, he will have
recourse to his former tactics. and give
you lively struggle for half hour or
SO. By, and by, however, discouraged
and exhausted, he win give up absolute
ly and allow himself TO be reeled in and
gaffed. The whole affair has been
science and skill against cunning and
strength, and the former will win everv
time