The morning call., 1892-11-13

in the most insane and reckless manner, eat
ing nothing, and stopping at no obstacle in
the way OF his mai rush.
There are seven or eight different and dis
tinct kinds of salmon. each with the same
habits of 'running." but each preserving
its individuality as a species, although two
or more varieties may be running At the
same time Some of these are yalueiess In
commercial sense. and some are even
pest to the fishermen who use nets aud fur
nish fish 10 the canneries. The 'quaia or
dog salmon and the "bumpback" are both
useless and pestiferous, running In such
vast numbers at times as to render hshing
costly and laborious process, on account OF
the necessity of taking these thousands OF
worthless fish from the net
There are no salmon to speak Of to be
found in the months Of December. January
and February in the waters OF this coast,
but early in the spring the iordly "tyee"
salmon appears, never in large quantities.
but making up in quality and size what is
lacking in numbers. Specimens OF this
variety have been caught which weighed
from sixty to eighty pounds, and yarns OF
Alaska salmon of such extraordinary size
that only three or four are necessary to fill
barrel GOO pounds) when cut up and
saited, are numerous and we'll vouched for.
These fish play around in the salt waters
of the mouths OF the rivers mp which they
intend TO run for two or three weeks, and
often as long as month, before they are
season.. e., spawning.
Then is the time TO get out your spoon
hook and trolling-line, and either in a sail
or rowboat troll for them, for then. and at
no other time, will they take the glittering
bait. Make a sinker fast to your line, about
ten feet above your spoon hook, of sufficient
weight TO sink the spoon from two to four
feet under water when your boat Is under
way, play out about 800 feet of line and
while your companlon-fer trolling Is best
done with partner-sails or rows the boat
hold The line in your hand and wait for the
eiectric-like shock which tells yon that you
squarely and takes IL you will very
likely have occasion to thank your
stars that you made the end OF your
line fast IN the boat, for if you
haven't taken this precauiiOn you will
most likely be out good line and spoon
hook. If he don't get your line and hook,
then the fun comes, for you can't always
land your pr ey. He may get foot or two
Of slick by a Sudden rush toward you and
unlock himself. Ii he does succeed in do
ing so it is good form (from long and
ancient USAGE to use some very unladylike
language, and the man who doesn't do SO is
no true disciple of Izaak Walton and Is too
good for this earth-heayen is his home.
But IL, on the contrary, yon get him safely
landed you feel proud and happy and enjoy
one of those moments of eontentment and
self-approval which rarely comes more than
a dozen times IN the ordinary course
OF mans life, You "heft' him
and guess al his weight, and usually over
estimate by about three pounds; you think
him rather the handsomest specimen or this
kind you ever remember TO have seen. 1t
is said that even the stolid siwash is sus-
ceptlble 10 the same emotions. but the story
lacks confirmation, for, If lie is, he Is the
most accomplished dissembler on earth; for
L have seen him land a salmon after an ex-
citing fight, taking him off the hook and
throw him into the bottom Of the boat with
all the outward indifference which might be
expected on the occasion of the successful
capture Of 'bull head" the most pleteian
OF fishes
But siwash showed me how TO catch
salmon on hoOk-not spo0nhook-in
An entirely novel and original way, 1t was
up in the Jerys Inlet on The British Column
bia coast. in the spring of 1888 The "tyee''
salmon were playing around IN Lutte cove
in which we were anchored, chasing smaller
fish and making the water seem alive by
their antics. An old siwash appeared
around point In a small canoe a little big
ger than breadtrough. and slowly padded
toward US. Before he got to US he caught
salmon. We then saw that he was trolling,
and l took the tugs boat and rowed over
toward him to watch his motions.
lie had no spoonho0k, but made a
splendid and successful substitute by
using herring, the natural food of the
salmon. HIS method of batting the hook
with the herring was what interested me
| his bait with a good deal of interest. He
| first. with a pointed stick a little smaller
| than lead pencil, punched a hole
| lenglhwise through the herring, the stick
| entering on the side quarter Of an inch
4 ahead of the tail fin on one side, and
coming out Of the mouth. he then detached
| about six or eight feet Of the hook-end Of
| his line and threaded this piece of line
| through the hole thus punched in the her.
ring. from tail 10 mouth, and made il fast
trf ~ af in lima faff q
| the large hook projecting slightly from
| the side of The herring. just forward of
the tail, the line leading from its mouth.
he used siDker. weighing about n
pound. bent onto the line about ten feet
above the hook. The bait being ready. he
paid out about 100 feet of his line as he
padded slowly along. The end OF the line
was made fast in the canoe and passed
through bis hand. l noticed that the her
ring acted in some respects as a spoon hook
would. sometimes whirliDg over and over
and again going straight through the water
as a live herring would. very attractive
bali witha. and one very likely 10 challenge
the attention of any fish that was in the
habit OF eating herring. he had not gone
| more than 100 yards before he got bite
| which nearly upset the canoe. he locked
as If he was nearly asleep before he got the
| bite, but when the shock came he was
| galvanized into activity. He threw his
| Iaddle into the bottom OF The canoe and
| commenced 10 pull that salmon in. He
| did not throw away any time playing
II, mind you, but just preceded 10 DIR, z
him in out of the wet. Every two or three
| yards the salmon would spring two OF three
| feet into the air. making beautiful picture,
bis silyery sides flashing in the sunlight
and the curves Of his body strongly suggest
ing strength and grace combined as in
| well-trained athlete. BY taking sight
| on some trees ashore, i could see that the
canoe was going toward the fish about as
fast as the fish toward the canoe, which
showed plainly the resistance the salmon
was making. 1 can't say who was the most
excited-the siwash or ]. but j think must
have been fully as much disappointed as he
was when the fish got away. which he did
when within about thirty feet of the canoe.
The sudden slack" on the line nearly let the
canoe. and his remarks, il literally trans
lated, would most probably be unfit for
publication. i didn't understand him. for
he confined himself TO the use of the tongue
be could handle with the greatest facil-
lily. he simply remarked 10 ne In CHI
nook: 'Ya-ka klataws," Che is gomez, and
proceeded calmly to renew his bait. He had
better luck after that and caught three
within an hour.
In the waters Of Puget Sound the salmon
are now playing around the mouths of
rivers and creeks up which they run and
can be caught as above described. be-
leve that the herring bait Is far better IN an
the spoon hook. but ! never tried ii myself
and never saw IL tried, excepting the one
| time above described. Many are caught
with spoon houks, but ] don't know Of any
other bait they will take. Try the expert
ment and you will get lots of exercise, some
fun and maybe some fish.
ED. N. ID. 0yEREND.