Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-15
A FISHING PARADISE.
IdahO's Many Mountain Streams Are
Just Loaded With Trout.
ANY QUANTITY TO BE CAUGHT.
The Mad Rush of the Salmon to the Small
Rivers and Brooks.
SOME BIG SPECIMENS OF STURGEON

CORRESPONDENTS OF THE DIsPATcH.I
SILVER CITY. IDAHO, June IA letter
of inquiry from a friend of mine who has
done much in true sportsmanlike way to
deplete the streams for Venango, Forest and
Elk counties, Pennsylvania, of their
speckled beauties, and who is now in quest
OF newer and fresher fields to indulge in
his fayorite pastime, has prompted me to
reply through your paper, that others as
well as he may learn something of how this
sport is enjoyed among the mountains Of
this most attractive Territory.
Assuming that others may be as little in
formed respecting everything here as my
friend by his letter proves to be, L must in
form them that we have no sluggish streams
here. All ofthem originate in and are fed
by the mountain SHOWS, and are clear, cold
and swift. have never seen one yet that
was not TO nv mind an ideal trout stream
originally, but many of them have been
filled with the debris from placer mining or
the slum from quartz mills, and now run
along muddy torrents in which no game fish
can abide. Others still exist in their pristine
purity and abound in trout.
THE PLACE FOR TROUT.
In fact, except when salmon come into
them no fish except mountain trout eaist in
them. These mountain trout are not identi-
cal with those IN the tributaries of the Al
legheny, lacking the beautiful scarlet spots
of the latter and being darker in color, but
quite like them in shape, equal in flavor
and possessing all the game qualities Of
their eastern relations. They take the fly
with equal ayidity and by their abundance
almost satiate sportsman's pleasure. To
reach the streams which they haunt often
incurs some rugged mountain climbing, but
one finds ample compensation for this in the
varied splendor of the scenery and the cool,
light invigorating atmosphere, so clear at
nearly all times that one can see objects at
astonishingly long distances. 1t is a most
delightful country in which to camp out,
always provided that one is amply equipped
with blankets, as warm nights are almost
unknown here. 1t seldom rains here during
the summer, and tbright clear weather may
be counted upon as almost certainty.
White trout are the only fish in many
streams, there are other fish in the territory
worth travelling a long way to catch. A
series of beautiful lakes on the Payette
boast of a fish almost peculiarly their own,
known as the red fish. These fish are
caught weighing from one to five pounds,
and are the most beautiful specimens of the
fnnV tribe ever found. Their color is
maroon or brown on the backs. shading off
into cardinal and scarlet underneath. They
are as swift and game as trout, but run in
shoals, so that while the sport of catching
them when one runs across shoal is most
exciting, the sport is not always at ones COM
mand.
A WONDERFUL THING.
At the risk, however, of being thought
guilty of telling stories of fishy flavor, L
must tell that the most wonderful thing Of
all here is the run of salmon. They come
out of the Columbia into Snake river, and
more than 500 miles up the course OF that
swift and tortuous stream, making their way
out into the tributaries and keep on in their
wild, mad rush, leaping cataracts and push
ing on up into small streams to where they
can scarcely find water enough to float
them. saw one taken out of a little stream
at the foot of the mountain am now on.
The fish weighed Is pounds, and the stream
was so small 1 could step across it.
OF course, from such mad runs they never
get back to the sea, being either caught by
men, or the equally expert fishers, bears, or
perishing from exhaustion. Snake river
also abounds in sturgeon of most enormous
size. These are often caught, weighing
from 300 to 500 pounds, and one was exhib-
tied and sold in Shoshone last year which
actually measured 13 feet in length and
weighed 1,O5O pounds. The country is
equally attractive to the hunter. J. L.