The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-07-01
BIG SALMON ALREADY CAUGHT
CANADIAN ANGLERS LOOK ron
A GOOD SEASON.

thirty Pound Fish Common -Homing In.
stlnct or the Salmon niustrsted-A
Hard Baltic Ended With o Pistol Sport
Beat In the Early seaaon-Deeords.
GAspE BASIN, Que, June 27.-The sal
mon fishing has opened auspiciously. The
professional net men expected that the
salmon would be later than usual, owing
to the long delayed spring, but instead
the meta began to work about the usual time,
and the first run was Of exceptionally hne
fish.
As o rule salmon travel up stream In
pairs, keeping close in shore 90 long az tho
depth Of water allows. This year oopious
rains have maintained the high level Of
the rivers, 80 that the trap nets Get at the
corners and projecting points have beer
most effective.
Thirty pound fish have been common,
and as q rule they have been paired, very
few solitary cock salmon having been
noticed. For some reason or another.
they have not been lettering about the
mouths Of the streams In the braok water.
as they did the few previous years.
Owners and lessees Of salmon rights have
found the lowest parts Of their rivers dis-
colored and almost muddy. and therefore
unfavorable to fly fishing. Higher up the
waters are almost always Of crystalline
olearness. The giant fish sometimes balk
altogether at the dirty water, and when they
do pass through 1t do so with n dash,
stopping at the first clear pool.
Afterward they pursue their ~leisurely
course upward. Travelling by night. or
in the cool of the evening or early morning,
they rest a day, or sometimes more, In
each OF the pools
they reach the shadows where they had
their birth and where they intend TO spawn.
It is during their pilgrimage time that they
are the quest of the anglers. The wonder
full homing instinct leads the salmon TO take
Journeys of hundreds Of miles along tntri-
cate. ever changing river courses.
Just about to lose their bright troutlike
spots, were deprived OF one Of their spare
fins and released. Year after. year the
marked fish were captured 10 their native
waters, In Salmon River, a little tributary
Of the St. Francis, some distance above
Sherbrooke, in the eastern townships OF
Canada, by water route probably 1000 miles
from the Atlantic Ocean.
The first fish this season are heavy n fat
and appear to make better fighting now
than they will later onI when the water
eoome5 warm. 40. e,
by numbers of beautifully Furnished sea
trout. These, being ravenous feeders, an
noy the salmon fishers by taking the fly,
for though glorious specimens Of their kind
they are but vermin to the man whose mind
is set upon salmon. The early fishing Ii
| free from this annoyance altogether.
The first salmon Of this year was taken
about the first Of June in the Big Rock
| pool, in one OF our best known rivers. Al
though it was earlier than usual. the fisher
man who had been supervising the erection
up on to the rock about 6 in the evening
and made a few casts with a large Jock
Scott. At his second attempt there was
the boiling upheaving of the water which
betokens the baff1ed half riss Of q big salmon,
and the angler hoped that he might yet
induce the fish, which was evidently Turk
ing there, to strike
After resting the pool a bit he cast again
and was instantly fast to a salmon which
| sprang out of the water and revealed ita
great size. The man had strong tackle
and a good nerve and fought the monster
for half an hour. Fortunately the hook
was we'll set in a sensitive part and 1t was
possible to check it's rushes down stream.
It was not until the big fellow began Ia
| thresh about that II occurred to the angler
that he was alone on a rock, fifteen feet
above the water. and at any rate without Q
| gan. Inc prOplem Oh low W ALL JIG Abu
Under such circumstances was settled by the
exercise of his ekill as pistol shot, for which
this fisherman is famed among his friends
A shot stunned the fish and before an aoci.
dent could occur the man was swimming
in the water and the fish was tucked unde,
one arm and taken ashore. 1t weighed
thirty-eight pounds. ,
On a neighboring river four men tool
five fish in one, their second, day. Theil
total weight was 1874 pounds.