The evening times., 1900-06-12

AS long as the weather Is pleasant the
life of the salmon seeker is tolerably en-
ioyable. as such lives go. He is In the
open air, he 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 things. But when drizzling rains pour
down. week in and week cut, when a
driving gale sets in from the ocean and
the swell G:ows heavier and heavier till
the little boat is tossed about like al
eggshell, II is by no means an easy OF a
safe pursuit Last year the Columbia
River salmon pack was $40. Ooe cases val
ued at 81, 500. 755. and nearly 10000 are en-
ployed in the various branches Of the
work
Passengers on the Astoria boats. on
awakening in the morning. find their at
tention drawn 10 teams Of horses wading
apparently In midriver, and attached 10
some invisible burden. To the uninitiated
this spectacle causes no small amount OF
wonder, and the rail Of steamer is usu-
ally lined with theorizing passengers IN
til an obliging officer explains that these
are seining grounds-shallow tracts OF
water. where large seins are taken out
into the river in boats and their tow lines
hitched TO horses, which then pull them
ashore, with not infreQuently a big haul
OF bright, silvery "chinOUks." The sein-
ing grounds worked or leased by their
owners are among the most profitable and
easy means Of fishing, none OF the dan
gers of the men who fish out toward the
sea being risked by the seiner.
Nesting under the rocky point that
mariners look for when they want TO locate
the mouth of the Columbia, is Baker s
Bay, and Bakers Bay bristles with piles.
There are thousands of them, stretching IN
every direction as far as, and farther than,
they car be counted, and obstructing, so
navigators allege. the channel by forming
innumerabie bars on the bottom OF the
river. These piles are the skeletons or
frames OF fish traps, with which Baker s
Bay fairly teens.
The traps are ingenious affairs, being
simply long guiding nets, stretched on the
piles, and intended TO defect the salmon
from his cruise TO the spawning grounds
and steer him into q maze made Of more
nets from which he can no more extract
himself than he can walk on a pair OF
crutchers. He must keep on swimming
right along if he expects 10 get anywhere,
and his destination is an open space in the
midst Of a group of piles driven IN cir
Gle, st the bottom OF which is a strong
net, attached to gear, by which T. 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
floundering salmon, who have been butting
their heads into the piles and nets all night
in q vain struggle to escape Sometimes
a big. powerful fellow actually rtads net
and escapes. but he usually finds himself
in another trap in a few minutes.
The money invested in traps In Bakers
Bay is enormous. as each trap Is an ex-
peusive affair. requiring many feet Of net
and the driving of large number OF piles.
Most Of the trans 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 Co
luIabia. almost as far up as the Cascade
IocEs, ere 20 be found a few traps, but
THEN rumber is nothing like as great as
that of the traps on the Washington side.
The most deadly Of all the foes OF the
salmon. however, awaits him further along
on his journey up the river That is the
fish wheel. an ingenious cCntTivance which
was invented on the Columbia River. and
which gives the salmon who enters its long
lead" absolutely no chance for his life.
Up the Columbia from Roster Rock 10 the
Cascade locks and again in the vicinity OF
the DalIes 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 attend
ants 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 cut into the river to defect the
fish into the channel under the wheels
and. as they swim up stream, they sudden
ly find themselves lifted into the air, shot
down into a trough, and thence 10 the slip
perry deck of a scow or platform, where 8
pile of their fellows are breathing theil
last
The spri2g Chinook salmon, which come:
only into the Columbia River, is admitted
to be the finest fish Of his kind that swims
in Pacific waters Although his average
weight is between ten and twenty pounds
the Chinook sometimes run as high as sixty
pounds, and the man who gets one of thest
fellows in his net usually knows that be
has caught something before he gets hin
out He is worth the trouble II takes tC
get him, however, for at cents pound
he is worth 50 at the eanneries. aad vii
bring great deal more than that in the
Portland market, where big fish are highI.
priced.
The spring run of fish is the mainstay
of the canneries, although the run of "siI
versides,' which comes IN the fall, Away
goes to help out the pack. The steel
head the finest fish of all for freezing
and smoking, runs in the winter, and
sprinkling of them comes with the ruI
of Chinooks. These are the fish that risi
to a spoon at Orange City, and for whicl
Rudyard Kipling angled at the Clackama
hatchery. The "bluebacks," a small bu
| delicious fish. come with the last of tn
| Chinooks. They are not of sufficient siz
TO be OF much commercial importanCs, bu
they are fine fish for the table.
In the early days of the settlement o
the country along the banks of the Colum
bia and its tributaries, salmon in tn
spring season were actually 20 thick a
the headwaters of the stream as almos
to justify the statement that a man eoul
cross the river upon their backs AM
hardly wet his feet. So great was tn
rush to get up stream that in shalloy
| places many fish IL the great schools wer
forced clear out Of the water by their fel
lows and died along the banks. But yea
toF~ IL.