Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-07-31
A SALMON RUN.

OF the street ilCi oiu'
A SALMON RUN.
Interesting Inquiry Into Habits OF
Famous Game Fish.
The real fishing season in Alaska
does not begin until the salmon COM
mence their migration from the sea
to their spawning beds in the fresh
water streams. Then it Is that the
inhabitants of the air and the earth
seem to vie with each other in an eff
fort to slaughter the most fish. While
few fish begin their mad rush to
certain death-for it is said that hav-
ing once ascended a stream they nev-
er live to return to the sea-in May
and June, the migrations are not at
their height until July. Then 1t Is
that the most priced Of all the salmon,
the king salmon, begin to run, and
soon after come the red salmon. then
the silver salmon in August, and with
them large numbers of humpbacked
and dog salmon. but the two last
mentioned species are dry and coarse
and will never be considered fit for
food until the better grades of fish
have been exterminated.
To describe these salmon runs
without seeming to stretch the truth
Is difficult, yet when 1 say that this
IL, hot 10 nrantioollV i'm
possible to exaggerate, the reader
will be somewhat prepared for the
coming story. Words can hardly eX-
press the wonderful scenes enacted at
the mouth of a salmon stream during
the height of the salmon season; one
must be there to see for himself In
order to appreciate them.
Every stream is not a salmon
stream and why not is known only to
the salmon themselves. When the
tide is out the water at the mouths
of some streams is often too shallow
for the fish to ascend, so keeping well
in shore the salmon work their way
from the ocean, and congregating at
the streams mouth await the rising
Of the water. Soon the pool swarms
with huge salmon that chase each
other hither and thither and poke
their noses into the shallow rift in
their anxiety to begin the fatal battle
against man and beast. rapids and
falls. Having watched the fish here,
let US move on further up the stream
and await their coming.
While working our way through
the tall, luxuriant grass and weeds
that usually cover the fiat about the
mouth Of a salmon stream we cross
or follow numerous paths beaten
deep into the mossy ground. These
trails were made by the brown bears
and black bears as they journeyed to
and from their mountain homes and
the creeks where they fish. Practi-
cally every bear that lives near sal
mon stream becomes a fish-eating
bear at this season, and the trails
from the timber intersect and cross
each other like cow paths In a pas
ture. Along the edge Of the stream
the grass is matted, and lying here
and there in all stages of decay are
quantities Of salmon with only their
bellies eaten, these fish having been
tossed up on the bank by quick flap
of bruins paw. About a hundred
yards from the streams mouth
cluster Of tall spruce trees grows
close to the bank, the high branches
Of which make a capital lookout from
which to study the salmon.
From our elevated position the
mouth of the stream can be plainly
seen, and as the tide rises the rift that
has held the salmon in check gradu-
ally disappears, at first liberating the
small fish, which founder over the
barrier, soon followed by the giants
of the school. On they come like
herd of stampeding cattle-pushing,
crowding and throwing the water in
every direction. Now they sink into
deep water, now they reappear on
another shoal, and as they draw near
us the noise made by their founder
ing and fighting sounds like the
splashing of some gigantic sea mon
ster. BY the time the advance guard
has reached us the entire length or
the stream as far as we can see Is one
mass of writhing, fioundering fish. On
the riffs their backs protrude several
inches above the water and the big
fellows turn upon their sides and
scoot over, sometimes running high
and dry upon the bank, where they
flop about until they gain deep water
or die from exhaustion The nights
between the jealous males are in their
way as desperate as the battles be-
tween more ferocious animals, for
they often result in the death of one
of the combatants. In their frenZied
charges one will sometimes drive his
opponent through the water at such
rate that he will shoot high up on
the shore and there die. In streams
where the runs are not so large as the
one you are now watching the nSh
seem to travel in pairs, and after a
fight momentarily shrouded in cur
tain Of spray, you see the VICTORIOUS
fish return to his mate.
AS the fish reach a cascade the ba-
sin under it congests with them, and
soor the scene is one of leaping and
falling salmon. Some Of them mount
the falls at the first attempt; others
fail and drop back, only to try and
try again: still others gain the apron,
but in spite of their struggles the cur
rent gradually carries them back over
the brink, or, catching on the apex.
they manage to overcome the point OF
resistance and continue their journey
to the next fall. In this manner some
of the salmon manage to work their
way hundreds of miles up the streams.
On descending from our outlook TO
study the fish at close range our won
der gives way to pity. The salmon
that have just left the sea are hne
specimens of health, vigor and beauty
but those that for weeks have been
battling with each other. and the
boulder-strewn creek bed and the jag
ged edges of falls are indeed objects
of compassion. With bodies mass or
bleeding sores. noses skinned to the
bone and fins so nearly gone as to be
useless. we see them feebly attempting
TO resist the current and the on
slaughts of their stronger kin. In the
quiet pools near the banks we flnd
hundreds of these poor creatures 100
weak to move out of the way. Ere
uuently the body of a once fine Fellow
who died while stubbornly resisting
the elements in an attempt TO OBEY