Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-04-26
HOW INDIANS FISH.
UnSporfsmAnllko Methods Prnctlced -
the Red Men Of the Northwest.

HOW INDIANS FISH
Unsportsmanllks Methods Practiced ~
the Red Mon Of the Northwest
The two Indians were going to show
us their method of catching trout and
salmon The stream runs between
steep mountains. is very rocky and the
current quite swift. The water was
icy-cold and clear as crystal 1t was
alivc with small trout and the big holes
wefp well filed with salmon. or sal
mon-trout ranging from five to twelve
pounds. How did ache for my split
bamboo. which l had foolishly left
down in the valley. These fish. from
the smallest to the largest, would take
the fly. or any kind of bait readily.
Steiger proved this by losing fly hooks
to two of the big fellows. but he cap
tured nice lot of the smaller ones,
ranging from half pound. down. He
stopped when he had enough, but l
verify believe five hundred could easily
be taken in day by the Industrious
and inscriptions trout-hog. The In
dians were fishing for themselves and
of course we could not prevent them
from using their regular methods Of
taking all the fish in their power.
which they salt and dry for future use.
While not sportsmanlike. it was de-
cidedly interesting.
They first select a suitable hole with
fish enough to be an object. In this
case it was about two hundred yards
long. thirty feet wide and varying in
depth to ten feet. At the bottom lazily
swimming around were number Of
big fish. From sack Johnnie pro-
duced two light gill nets. which were
stretched across the stream about forty
yards apart. Then he produced the
tips of spear. which were bound to a
strong willow pole. These tips when
thrust into fish come off the pole. but
are held by buckskin strips. Now we
are ready for business. Rocks arc
thrown into the water and the startled
fish dart about, and in a moment the
floats of net are jerked violently un-
der the water. The fish VIRTUES and
twists, tangling himself up hoplessly
and is soon taken out by his dusky
captors. Sometimes heavy fish would
break the net and escape. but not
often. After a number had been
caught this way the frightened fish hid
under the rocks and sulked. Then the
spear came into play, several being
taken. On receiving the barbs they
would struggle violently, and being
hauled out by main strength and awk-
wardness would make good fight.
Most of the big fish, had now taken
refuge under large rocks in the deep
est part, and were clear out of sight.
Then one of the Indians stripped of.
and with small net eighteen inches
in diameter, in the mouth of which
was bent willow pole. making it re-
semble the ordinary landing net, he
slipped quietly into the almost freez-
ing cold water and disappeared under
a large rock. I held my breath in
amazement, and after he had been
under nearly minute, I concluded he
had drowned. But no; away down
dark mass came slowly out, and quick
" rose to the surface. With a snort
his head popped up, while in the net
under his arm twelve-pound fish was
struggling. He crawled out shivering
and after sun bath was ready for
another plunge. Along the bank for
thirty feet was shelving rock under
which several fish had taken refuge.
Propelling himself along frog fashion,
the Indian cleared it out at one dive,
catching one fish and driving out the
rest.
Thus they kept at work. until, after
about three hours work. not fish was
left in the hole that would weigh as
much as pound. They caught about
four hundred pounds of these fish on
this trip. During the height of the
fishing season the Indians from the
reservation visit this stream by tribes.
and for miles entirely clear the river
of fish. They are also quite expert
with hook and line. using venison for
bait. Mr.. Steiger presented one Of
them with a number of handsome fly
hooks He looked at them in a comical
way, then took out his knife and de-
liberately trimmed the fly off clean.
saving that he didn't care for any Of
those new tangled fixin's; venison was
good enough for him for bait w r.
Shattuck, in Forest and Stream.