Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1900-07-26
When the Salmon Run.

The sails @: the fishing feet again
DOT the broad mouth 0. the Columbia,
and from now until August y one Of
the pret;iest spsctacles on the lower
reaches Of the great river viii be the
trim little boats, each with lis lat
spr;tsa;l, its two or three men, and its
canyas-ooyerei nets s,ashing the Wa
ter, on its way 10 or from the fishing
grounds.
The boats used by the Columbia
river fishermen are, Ike the fishing
craft Of every country, the result Of
an evolution which has gradually IT.
tel them exactly for the service in
which they are engaged. They are
all Of the same general plan, sharp at
both ends, hollow-bowed, built to ride
waves Ike sea gulls, and to increase
in buoyancy as their cargo weighs
them down into the water They
carry a spritsai. which can be short
enei merely by unshipping the spirit,
and taken in entirely at moments
notice. This Is necessary, for the
winds that blow at the mouth Of the
Columbia are subject to violent in
creases on short notice, and the fish
erman must be able to get his craft
under bare poles in the nick Of time
or capsize and struggle in water
logged boat until help arrives.
IS long as the weather IS pleasant
the life of the salmon seeker Is toler-
ably enjoyable, as such lives go. He
is in the open air. he never knows
what Ll-health means, and the con-
slant excitement OF his quest and
friendly rivalry Of daily races with
other fishermen keep up his interest
in things. But when drilling rains
pour down, week in and week out,
when a driving gale sets in from the
ocean and the swell grows heavier
and heavier, till the little boat Is tossed
about like an egg-shell, it is by no
means an easy or a safe pursuit. Last
year the Columbia river salmon pack
was $4,000 cases, valued at 81 S00,-
775, and nearly 10000 men are en-
ployed in the various branches Of the
work.
Passengers on the Astoria boats, on
awakening in the morning, find their
attention drawn to teams Of horses,
wading apparently in midTiyer, and
attached to some invisible burden. To
the uninitiated this spectacle causes
no small amount of wonder, and the
rail of a steamer is usually lined with
Neutrality-suspicious. until an Obhging
officer explains that these are seining
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 infrequently
big haul of bright, silvery "chinoOks.
The seining grounds worked or leased
bv 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
mariners look for when they want TO
locate the mouth Of the Columbia Is
Bakers bay, and Bakers bay bristles
with piles. There are thousands Of
them, stretching in every direction as
far as, and further than, they can be
counted, and Obstructing, so naviga-
tors allege, the channel, by forming
innumerable bars on the bottom Of
the river. These piles are the skele-
tons or frames Of fish traps, with which
Bakers 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 spawn
ing grounds and steer him into maze
made of more nets, from which he can
no more extricate himself than he can
walk on a pair of crutches. he must