Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-06
RETURNING
WITH GREAT FISH STORIES

many miles up and down the Columbia.
the greater part of the catch of commerce
is taken near the mouth of the great river
Ihe boats used by the fishermen there are
Ike The hshlng craft of other parts of the
country, the evolution of the people and
the work for which they are designed They
are all of the same general plan. sharp at
poth ENDS, hollow-boWed and built to ride
the waves with ease and safety. They are
rugged with a fiat spirit sail which can be
shortened by uplifting the spirit, and the
Who!e affair can be taken in on a mo-
nent notice in case of a sudden squat.
one of the famous fishing grounds is
near the mouth of the Columbia at what
is known as Bakers bay. This beautiful
met Aas been wholly appropriated to the
use OF fishermen. They. have planted
piles all through it. to which they attach
the framework of the salmon trans The
traps are ingenious affairs being long
suidlhs nets stretched on the piles and in
tended TO defect the run of the salmon as
tHcE come IN from the on their cruise
TO the spawning grounds. The object fur
ther Is 10 steer the run of fish into a maze
MADE OF more and more nets, from which
II IS impossible to extricate themselves The
ilsh Keep on swimming, guided by the nets
INTO an open space in the midst of a group
OF p les driven IN circle. At the bottom
or this circle is a net which works with a
gear. and is lifted at intervals bringing 10
into the trap When the traps are drawn
they are sometimes found loaded to burst
ing with wriggling salmon.
Ihe money invested in these trans is
enormous and while they are confined prin-
cipally to Boxers Bay. there are some of
them for miles up the river, and il is
through them that a large part of the SAL
mon of the canning industry is caught
Another way of taking the caImon is by
The use of the sein. Passengers on the
river boats ON awakening in the morning
ind their attention drawn to teams of
horses apparently Wading in midriver and
attached to some invisible burden This
spectacle creates no small amount of spec
ulduon among the passengers. for not mere
than few of them will have any idea
what is being done by the horses The sein
Is attached to tow line. to one end of
which water sometimes enclosing a vast
number of the shining fish which the pas
senSers on the boat may finally see drawn
up on the bank. The SEEMING grounds are
worked on a lease from the owners and
TINS is one of the easiest and most profita-
bic means of fishing. with none of the
dangers OF the deep water method and none
OF the expense of the traps.
x X
Sttl another device is peculiar to the Co
lumbia river, and that is the fishing wheel.
Hundreds of these mills, which grind fine
as those of the gods for every fish that
comes their way, can be seen along the
river Ifon Rooster Rocks to the Cascade
locks. These wheels consist of large. shall
low nets arranged about a central axis
. like the fans of a windmill and dining
INTO the river like water wheel, the cur
rent turning them slowly round. Long
ieadways are built out into the river to de-
fleet the run of the fish to the place where
the wheel revolves, and as they swim
through they are caught in the wings of
the revolving device, carried upward and
In minute more the fish which was seek
ing 10 escape to the clear water beyond the
obstructing net is shooting down a slip
perry incline to the deck of a dirty boat
where hundreds of his fellows are breath
ing their last gasp.
Deep-water fishing is carried on by
means OF gin nets set in the water outs de
the mouth to intercept the run of the sal
mon as they are entering the river. The
nets are kept in place by buoys and Sc
cureiy anchored to the bottom. The fisher
men go out In boats every day to lift the
nets, take out the fish and reset the lines.
This Is one of the most dangerous and
laborious forms of salmon fishing but at
the same time the most profitable. The
gill nets probably take the choicest speci-
mems of the salmon tribe, take the pick, as
1t were, before they have entered the stream
and become the prey of every known de-
vice for eusnaring the finny tribe by the
bungling well the expert fisherman
The spring run of the salmon is the main
stay of the canneries, though the run of
the siversides, which comes in the fall, al
ways goes to help out the pack. The steel
head, really the finest fish of the Column
bia, runs in the early spring just ahead of
the salmon. These are the fish that bite q
spoon far UP the river and the kind for