Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-12
WHEN THE SALMON RUN
METHODS OF HARDY FIsHERMEN ON
THE COLUMBIA RIVER,
season Lasts for Four Months and tho
Catch Is Worth Nearly Two
Million Dollars,


| from now until August II one of the nre.
| test spectacles on the lower reaches of the
| great river will be the trim little boats.
| each with its fiat sprtsail It's two or three
| men, and its canvas-covered nets slashinr
the water. on its way to or from the fishing
grounds.
Inc boats used by the Columbia river
hshermen are. like the fishing craft of
every country. the result of an evolution
| which has gradually fitted them exactly
| Tor the service in which they are engaged.
lhey are all of the same general plan,
sharp at both ends. hollow-b bowed. built
to ride waves like sea gulls, and to in
crease In buoyancy their cargo weighs
lnein GOWN INTO the water. They carry 4
spritsail which can be shortened merely
by unshipping the spirit. and taken in en-
tirely at moments notice This fs
necessary, for the winds that blow at the
mouth of the Columbia are subject to yio-
leht increases on short notice, and the
fisherman must be able to get his craft
under bare poles in the nick of time or
capslze and struggle in a water-logged boat
until help arrives
life OF the salmon seeker Is tolerably en-
1oyable as such lives go. He is In the open
air, ne never knows what ill-health means
and the constant excitement of his quest
and friendly rivalry Of daily races with
other fishermen keep up his interest in
thinss. But when drizzling rains pour
down. week in and week out when n driy-
ing gale sets in from the ocean and the
swell grows heavier and heavier, till the
little boat is tossed about like an egg-shell,
II Is by no means an easy safe pur-
SUIT Last year the Columbia river salmon
pack was 100000 cases. valued at 81 $40 80
and nearly 10000 men are employed in tho
various branches of the work.
Passengers on the Astoria boats. on awall-
ening in the morning. find their attention
drawn to teams OF horses, wading appar-
emily In midriver, and attached to some
| invisible burden. To the uninitiated this
spectacle causes small amount OF Won
der. and the rail Of a steamer is usually
lined with theorizing passengers until an
ob,iging officer explains that these are SEM
iEg grounds-shallow tracts of water where
large seines are taken out into the river in
boats and their tow lines hitched to horses,
which then pull them ashore, with not in
frequently a big haul of bright, stlvery
'chnooks." The SEEMING grounds worked
or leased by their owners are among the
most profitable and easy means of fishing,
none of the dangers of the men who fish
out toward the sea being risked by The
seiner
Nesting under the rocky point that mar
liners look for when they want to locate the
mouth of the Columbia is Bakers bay,
and Bakers bay brstles with piles. There
are thousands of them, stretching In every
direction far as, and further than, they
can be counted. and obstructing. so navi-
gators allege. the channel. by forming In
Vulnerable bars on the bottom Of the river.
These piles are the skeletons or frames
of fish traps, with which Bakers bay
fairly teens.
The traps are ingenious affairs. being SIM
ply long guiding nets, stretched on the
piles, and intended to defect the salmon
from his cruise to the spawning grounds
and steer him into a maze made of more
nets. from which he can no more eXtricate
himself than he can walk on pair of
crutches He must keep on swimming right
along if he expects to get anywhere, and
his destination Is an open space, In the
midst of group of piles, driven in cir
Gle, al the bottom Of which is strong net,
attached to gear by which 1t may be pulled
clear from the water, salmon and all.
Every morning the owners Of the traps. In
| their boats, haul up the nets and, In good
season. find them alive with the fiounderins
| salmon. who have been butting their heads
| into the piles and nets all night, in vain
struggle to escape. Sometimes a big. pow
| erful fellow actually rends a net and ,es-
capes, but he usually finds himself IN an-
other trap in a few minutes.
The money invested in traps in Bakery
bay Is enormous as each trap Is an eX@
pensive affair, requiring many feet of net,
and the driving of a large number Of piles,
Most of the traps in the river are in Bakers
bay, whose waters are within the limits Of
the state Of Washington. and the amount
that is paid into the state every year for
licenses is very large. Here and there
along the Oregon shore of the Columbia,
almost as far up as the Cascade Locks. are
to be found few traps. but their number
is nothing like as great as that Of the traps
on the Washington side.
The most deadly of all the foes of thu
salmon, however, awaits him further along
on his journey up the river That is the
fish wheel an ingenious contrivance which
was invented the Columbia river, Grd
which gives the salmon who enters It's long
lead" absolutely no chance for his life.
Up the Columbia, from Rooster Rock to the
Cascade Locks and again in the vicinity of
The Dalles, these wheels-scores Of them
may be seen working any day during the
fishing season. Sometimes, when the run
is large, they are pitching salmon out of
the river faster almost than the attendants
can take care of them.
The wheels consist of large. shallow nets.
arranged about central axles, like the fans
of windmill, and dipping into the river
like an undershot wheel the current turn
ing them slowly around. Long .leadways''
are built out into the river to defect the
fish into the channel under the wheels, and,
as they swim up stream, they suddenly
find themselves lifted into the air, shot
down into trough. and thence to the slip.
perry deck of a scow or platform, where
pile of their fellows are breathing their
last.
The spring Chinook salmon, which come.
only into the Columbia river is admitted
to be the finest fish of his kind that swing
in Pacific waters. Although his average
weight is between ten and twenty pounds
the Chinook sometimes run as high al
sixty pounds, and the man who gets ono
Of these fellows in his net usually knows
that he has caught something before he
gets him out. He Is worth the trouble II
takes to get him, however. for at cents a
pound he is worth $500 at the canneries
and will bring great deal more than thai
in the Portland market. where big fish are
highly priced
The spring run of fish is the mainstay
of the canneries. although the run of "sil
versides," which comes in the fall, al.
ways goes to help out the pack. The
"steelhead," the finest fish Of all for freeZ.
ing and smoking, runs in the winter. and
a sprinkling Of them comes with the run
of Chinooks. These are the fish that rise
to a spoon at Orange City, and for which
Rudyard Kipling angled at the Clacka-
mas hatchery. The "buebacks," a small
but delicious fish, come with the last of the
Chinooks. They are not of sufficient size
to be Of much commercial Importance but
they are a fine fish for the table.
In the early days Of the settlement Of
the country along the banks Of the CO.
lumbia and Its tributaries. salmon, in the
spring season, were actually SO thick at
the head waters of the streams as almost
to justify the statement that man could
cross the water upon their backs and hard
ly wet his feet. So great was the rush to
get up stream that in shallow places many
fish in the great schools were forced clear
out of the water by their fellows and died
alcng the banks. But year after year tho
fisherman has been reaping where he never
ho of Gcl,