The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-13
CAME FIsH IN ALAsxA.
streams That swarm with G~raJnuE-Bears
That Anale When the ehlmon nun.

That ArHie when the Salmon Run.
Alaska is certainly the paradise Of game
fish" said Hugh Murray Of Juneau, and that
gamest ard most beautiful Of them all, tho
g%rayling. which American sportsmen have long
beiieved:to exist only in the waters Of the Mich
gan wilderness, and to DO deplorably rare oven
there, IL, as abundant in Alaskan streams as
your common minnow is in It's native pools.
This Is particularly true Of all tho streams Of
tho Yukon basin. l remember once l killed q
moose while hunting along one of.thoso rivers,
and dressed 1t close to tho edge Of the stream,
so close that rejected portions OF the carcass fell
into the water. which instantly became the
scene of the widest turmoil, fish rushing in tro-
mendous numbers to The spot to seize tho ref
use. l was surprised to discover that the fish
were grayling. l thought at first that this par
acular spot must be q pool in which the fish had
drawn together from different parts OF tho
stream. after the manner Of trout, tho time OF
year being August, and the POOL being at the
mouth of a small spring run. Every time l
throw a bit OF the moore into the stream, tho
water fairly boiled with tho rush OF tho fish, bat.
Ting for its possession. Many Of them would
leap entircl cloury OF the water. their brilliant
markings and the bright iridescent hucs OF
their broad dorsnl fms mingling with the toss.
ing foam in n Kaleidoscope picture as beauti-
full as 1t was %feeting.
soon discovered mat inc pOSsiDlllly OF so
rare n piscatorial exhibition as that was not
confined to that pool. l threw q piece Of tho
moose's liver UP stream and 1t fell into tho
water a hundred feet or more distant from this
pool. Instantly at that spot the same wild
scramble for tho morsel followed, and the sur
face of the stream was dashed into foam by
tho rush Of %Erayling. My course lay up tho
stream. and 1 followed it a mile or more. tossing
at intervals pieces of moose heart or liver into
1t, and ut no place did the falling Of the meat
into tho water fail to bring as great and fierce
q dash OF, hungry rrayling as the first one had
done In 1.-the pool II mile below The hundreds
and hundreds Of grsyling that l saw were but
a small portion or the iuyriads that joined in
these savage rushcs, and among them l saw but
few smal. ones.
basin brook trout-the genuine crimson-spotted
fellow, tho true anglers, pride-nro more than
too tSSn Numerous asks to IN" mako sfEsyt sriSn Rff6fe" ang ing f foT
them the rare pleasure it il in waters. where
,hey arc "s y sS%r Ggcr and ,S.m shioT r. for Or 'ah sy S %i6l S eoG at
when they are thinned out. and Erayling and
trout become comparatively scarce, there Will
region are alive with salmon. They're not the
rod among them will never be an attraction.
The creates, sport | get on a salmon stream is
These bears love salmon. and. they know just
when the fish arc running. They, fish from the
shores sometimes, but they enjoy the sport most
q - 'ANs ''tA P'A' - - 'hNy Ag' Ae'N@@S So"
out over the water, hanging low.
The cinnamon bear eIceps out on a favor
ing branch. which nc clasps with three legs,
one of tho forelegs hanging fgce. From his
perch. which Is never more than two,or three
feet above tho water. tie bear scans the stream
closely. Salmon ly the hundreds are running
up stream or down. according TO the time or
year, but the bear Is very deliberate in his fish
ing. Whether he has some particular choice
of tho run and Is waiting for IT.. or whether he
wits for a salmon TO come within a certain dis
tancc of hi paw. l can't say, but it. is plain
from the changes in his countenancc and tho
nervous movements of that free furclaw that
the fish that fills his longing or the one thnt an
pears the best mark comes his way. When
that particular salmon does como along, though.
It would have been better for II II it had meyer EYER
bcar-swccps that terrible paw of.his 4nto the
water, the long, sharp claws spread out Ike q
great gang. of ivory fish hooks, and the fish
doesn't swim that is quick enough to get
away from it. There is always q comical look
of administration on the face of the his brute
as he lifts the fish from the water, while the
catch and the .leisprcly assurance with which
he prepares himself for picking another sal
mon from tn stream arc enough to bring Il
smile to the face OF an Indian.
"The cinnamon bear ia not the only Alaskan
bear that il an adcpt at fishing, nor docs he con-
fine himself to angling for salmon. but he Is the
trees; There are many, yarietes 81 bear IN
Alaska. including the grizzly. don't know of
any other region. though. where thore are
hybrid bcars-croSscs between the various spe:.
size that are frequently startling even 70 the
man who IL u3ea u being confronted with the
queer freaks of bear breeding in Alaska: The
valuable skins to the trapper. The oil! OF the
fish seems to affect tho growth OF the coat. Civ
ing the fur a softncss. luxuriancc, and gloss,
and a peculiar pi!n bility 10 the skin that are not
possessed by bears that are rot so highly IA
vor2d by piscatOrial environment