Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1920-03-25
Some Primitive Fishing Tackle.

that for practical service the most
skillful OF civilized mechanics can
hardly equal, is the constant wonder
OF observant travellers. The Eskimo
dog sled, for example, made OF walrus
ivory lashed together with throngs OF
deerskin, will outlast . dozen Of the
most finished sledges OF steel and
hickory wood that American artisans
can manufacture. And consider also
the curious and admirable fishing ap-
paratus devised by the ignorant Oueni-
ult Indians.
These Indians. like the other Pacific
Coast tribes, are radically much nearer
the Eskimos and Aleuts than the red
men Of the plains. They live or a res
ervation stretching along the banks OF
the Queniult River halfway between
the mouth OF the Columbia and the
Strait Of Juan de Fuca, and they sub
sist almost entirely on the Ash that
swim in their river every spring and
fall.
optihb VI - lURGHl-
ously netted in this manner: Lattice
work fences of interlaced twigs are
first built across the stream, passages
being left next either bank that the Ash
may not be prevented from going up to
their spawning grounds. On the lower
side Of these fences, near the openings,
light platforms are built, from which
the fishing is conducted.
A net stretched from a circular
wooden frame is used. To one side
OF this frame upright pole is firmly at
tached; to the opposite side another
pole is fastened, the end OF which is
brought over and tied to the end OF
the upright pole. A loose network
OF Irvine crosses from side to side o.
the circular frame above the net, and
from the Irvine a signal cord is carried
to the fishing platform.
The net is then forced down into
the water until it rests on the bottor
to counteract the buoyancy Of the ap.
paratus, a stud fastened across the up.
right pole and caught under the edge
Of the platform.
Upon the platform the fisherman
or fsherwoman-squats patiently, sig
nal cord in hand. When the fish,
which swim in populous schools, reach
the fence, they swim along toward the
openings. In passing over the net,
some of them brush against the net
work of Irvine, and the signal cord
witches. The fisherman gives the up
right pole push, the stud is released
and the net springs smarty to the sur
race, bringing with it from one to
twenty-five fish, as the case may be.
BY this means immense quantities of
fish are caught with a minimum ex-
penditure of labor-the double ideal
at which the Indian aims.
In the fall other means are used
and the salmon hook and spear are no
less remarkable for ther ingenuity and
efficiency. The hook, a large iron
VS. , II, is rather loosely fixed into
-o'kct at the end of pole some
io.rt2cn feet long and an inch and
h1if nick. A cord is securely fastened
o0.h % the hook and to the pole below
th2 socket; while at the other end of
tie pole a deerskin thong attaches il
TO the fisherman's wrist.
Inc dusty sportsman is then paddle
about the river in a canoe, the hook
being allowed to hang vertically in the
water. When it strikes against a fish
the pole is sharply jerked upward, and
two to one the salmon is hooked.
The fish is SO large-it generally
weighs over twenty-five pounds-that
with straight pull on the pole he
might come off victor and either tear
himself free or drag the fisherman
mead over heels out Of his canoe. Blu;
as the struggle begins, the hook slips
out of the socket, and the strain comes
on the plant cord that attaches il 10
pole. There is pay enough here to
serve, and the drag of the pole also
helps to tire the fish, which is soon
landed in the canoe.
The salmon spear is used from the
bow OF the canoe when the fish are
so thick that one can be speared by
random thrust. The polet is somewhat
shorter and thicker than that used in
hooking and tapers gracefully toward
either end. At the point prongs are
provided by lashing tive outward cury
ing pieces of wood a foot and a-hali
long to the end of the pole. The barbs
are made by nails lashed between two
pieces OF elk horn, and are fitted into