Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-01
SALMON TIME IN MAINE.
Season Opens Today and the Fish Are
Disappearing.

BANGOR, Me-. April 1.-Open time for
sea salmon fishing on the Penobscot will
begin Monday, April l. but as the river is
still frozen a foot thick over most of its
surface it Is not likely that any fish will be
taken early in the season. There Is so
much snow in the woods this spring that
a season of high and muddy water is ex-
pected in April and May and as usual, tho
best fish may be looked for in May or early.
in June.
The Penobscot salmon is priced far above
any other because of the fine grain and
delicate flavor of it's pink flesh, and Bangor
has gained almost as much fame for these
splendid fishes swimming at her doors
she has for spruce lumber. The market
supply of salmon is taken in weirs scat
tered along the river from Bangor to Sears
port but the sportsmen resort to the great
pools just below the Bangor dam, where
there is generally an opportunity to test
the attractions of the gaudy fly and the
skill of the caster.
Twelve years ago the salmon swarmed
in the Penobscot river, and a man could
go up to the pools below Treats Falls dam,
within the city limits of Bangor, and hook
a fine big fish for breakfast. Hundreds OF
salmon were in those days taken with the
fly from these pools and thousands were
taken in the weirs along the river below
Bangor. Now the salmon is so rare in
these waters that the taking of single
fish Is an event of such interest as to call
for mention in the newspapers.
Two principal causes are assigned for the
disappearance of the sea salmon-the pulp
mills and the weirs. When about fifteen
years ago the pulp mills began to rise along
the river above Bangor. the effects OF the
contamination of the water by acids and
other waste from the mills were at once ap-
parent in the diminished run Of salmon.
The Penobscot salmon. big and strong
as he Is, is the daintiest of fishes. very par
ticallar about his food and stunning all pol
luted waters. Thomas F. Allen. the most
expert of all PenObScOt fishermen, says
that, Notwithstanding their homing instinct,
the salmon will not ascend to the spawning
waste while they are also discouraged by
the numerous dams and other obstacles
that lately have been erected In the Penob-
scot and other Maine rivers.
Old settlers tell Of the days when the
shad were so numerous In the Penobscot
salted and dried, or smoked, to the West
Indies and when fat shad could be bought
in Bangor markets for cents. Today the
catching of shad ins Penobscot waters
would cause a sensation.
Another destructive enemy of the salmon
Is the black bass Many years ago some
misguided sportsman caused Pushaw lake.
near Bangor to be stocked with black bass.
These piratical fishes killed Off all the perch
and pickerel in the lake, and then, seeking
new worlds to conquer, assembled through
brooks and streams to the upper Penobscot
waters, where every spring since then they
have Toasted upon the salmon fry planted
by the state and United States govern
ments.
Still another enemy has the salmon-the
dynamiter. When In early summer Few
of the returning salmon have reached the
spawning waters-brooks and streams far
up the Penobscot-these natives Kill scores
and hundreds of the fishes by exploding