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ALVMNVS BOOK FVND

THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN^ LIBRARY

EDITED BY
CASPAR WHITNEY

SALMON AND TROUT

SALMON AND TROUT

BY

DEAN SAGE, C. H. TOWNSEND, H. M. SMITH
AND WILLIAM C. HARRIS

ILLUSTRATED BY A. B. FROST, TAPPAN ADNEY
MARTIN JUSTICE, AND OTHERS

gorfe
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.
1904

All rights reserved

COPYRIGHT, 1902,
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.

"Set iip and electrotyped. Published June, 1902. Reprinted

Xortooob ISrrss

J. S. Cashing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

CONTENTS

THE ATLANTIC SALMON
BY DEAN SAGE

CHAPTER PAGE

I. History and Habits . . • • • • • l

II. Where to be Found . ... . . .37

III. Tackle . . . . . . . . . 53

IV. Casting and Working the Fly . . . . . 91
V. Fishing the Pool . . . . . . . .99

VI. Striking, Playing, and Landing . . . . .114
VII. Hours for Angling, and Miscellaneous Advice and

Experiences . . . . . . . 130

THE PACIFIC SALMONS

BY C. H. TOWNSEND AND H. M. SMITH

The Pacific Salmons . » . . . . . .153

THE TROUTS OF AMERICA
BY WILLIAM C. HARRIS

I. Angling, its Antiquity and Literature — Distribution of
Trouts and Charrs — Classification — Native Trouts
and Foreign Species introduced to American Waters 193
II. The Salmon-Trouts — The Cut-throat Series — Popu-
lar and Technical Names — Somka or Mykiss Trout
of Kamchatka — Columbia River Trout — Rocky

vi Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

Mountain or Cut-throat Trout — Yellowstone River
Trout — Trout of Idaho and Washington — Rio
Grande Trout . . . . . , . .210

III. Salmon-Trouts Continued — Colorado River Trout —

Waha Lake Trout — Greenback Trout — Yellow-fin
Trout — Lake Tahoe or Truckee Trout — Trout of
Lake Webber — Utah Lake Trout — Salmon-Trout of
Lake Sutherland — Spotted Trout of Lake Sutherland

— Long-Headed Trout of Lake Crescent . . . 225

IV. Salmon-Trouts Continued — The Steelhead Series —

Typical Steelhead — Kamloops Trout — Blueback
Trout of Lake Crescent, Washington — Speckled
Trout of Lake Crescent, Washington . • . 240
V. Salmon-Trouts Continued — The Rainbow Series —
Rainbow or Coast Range Trout — Brook Trout of
Western Oregon — McCloud River (California) Rain-
bow — Kern River Trout — No-Shee Trout — Golden
Trout of Mt. Whitney (California) — Brown or Ger-
man Trout — Lock Leven Trout .... 249
VI. The Charr-Trouts, their Habits, External Markings,
and Classification — The Great Lake Trouts and
Methods of Capture — The Eastern Brook Trout,
Development and Extent of their Sense of Sight,
Hearing, Taste, Smell, and Touch . . ... 283
VII. The Charr-Trouts Continued— The Dublin Pond Trout

— The Dolly Varden Trout — The Sea Trout, " Salt-
ers " — The Saiblings — The Alpine or European
Charr or Saibling — The Greenland Charr — The
Long-finned Charr — The Floeberg Charr — The
Arctic Charr — The Sunapee Trout — The Oquassa
Trout — The Lac de Marbre Trout . . . .316

Contents vii

CHAPTER PAGE

VIII. Methods of Fishing for Trout — Fly Fishing and Bait
Fishing — Up-stream or Down-stream — Atmospheric
Conditions — How a Trout Brook is Fished — The
Grasshopper Cast — Flies to be Used — Dry and Wet
Fly Fishing — Fly Fishing at Night — Flies used in
Lake Fishing 330

IX. Casting the Fly— How it is Done — The Switch or
Spey Cast — Handling a Hooked Trout — Bait Fish-
ing — Selecting Fishing Tackle, Rods, Reels, Lines,
Leaders, etc 354

X. How to tie Artificial Flies 368

INDEX 401

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

WELL HOOKED . * . » . • . Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

THE ATLANTIC SALMON (Salmo salar) . . , . 23
INDIANS SPEARING SALMON . . * . • . . 55
TOAD BROOK POOL, RESTIGOUCHE RIVER . . . . 55
HEAD OF LANDLOCK SALMON IN SPAWNING SEASON . . 75

A PACIFIC SALMON AFTER SPAWNING 75

ATLANTIC SALMON DURING SPAWNING SEASON ... 75
THE UPSALQUITCH POOL . . . . . . .103

DRIFTING DOWN STREAM WITH FLAMBEAUX TO SEE THE

SALMON . . .«• . . . . . 139
THE HUMPBACK SALMON (MALE), ALASKA . . . 151
INDIAN SALMON FISHING PLATFORMS, CHILKOOT STREAM,

ALASKA . . ... . . . . .163

A TYPICAL SPAWNING RIFFLE . . ... .185

THE BROOK TROUT (Salvelinus fontinalis, male) . . 199
His FIRST TROUT • • • • • • • .213

THE OQUASSA, OR BLUEBACK TROUT (Salvelinus oquassd) 227
THE SUNAPEE TROUT, OR GOLDEN SAIBLING (Salvelimis

alpinus aureolus) ........ 227

THE GERMAN, OR BROWN TROUT (Salmo fario) . . 227
THE CRUCIAL MOMENT 245

x Illustrations

FACING PAGE

THE STEELHEAD TROUT (Salmo gairdneri ) . . .253
THE RAINBOW TROUT (Salmo irideus) . . . .253
THE LOCK LEVIN TROUT (Salmo levinensis) . . . 253
THE DUBLIN POND TROUT (Salvelinus fontinalis agassizii} 263

THE MONTANA GRAYLING 263

WHERE THE BIG ONES LIE .281

THE MICHIGAN GRAYLING 315

FIRST DORSAL FIN OF MICHIGAN GRAYLING. REDUCED

ONE-HALF. FROM A l| LB. FlSH 315

WHERE EXPERTNESS is NEEDED 333

THE CUT-THROAT, OR WAHA LAKE TROUT (Salmo clarkii

bouvieri) 351

THE GREAT LAKE TROUT (Cristivomer namaycusH) . -351
THE DOLLY VARDEN TROUT (Salvelinus parkci} . .351
LANDED 371

THE ATLANTIC SALMON

(Salmo Salar)
BY DEAN SAGE

THE ATLANTIC SALMON

(Salmo Salar)

CHAPTER I

HISTORY AND HABITS

CONCERNING no fish except the trout has so much
been written as on the salmon, and the result of
the whole body of literature on the subject is to
give to the Philistine, meaning all who have never
caught salmon and many who have done so, numer-
ous erroneous ideas on the subject along with a
few " proved facts." This state of things is largely
due to the little positive existing knowledge of
the salmon, except during his brief journeys to his
native or other rivers, and to his many vacillating
and inconsistent characteristics while under obser-
vation, especially that of a necessarily temporary
kind. He will show one day the courage and
voracity of a hungry lion, the rle^t the, timidity; of
a hare. At 9 A.M. every fish, in a pppl, may he
ruled by tendencies to investigate < with' boldness
and disregard of consequences almost anything
from a gnat to a swallow or squirrel in the river.

3

4 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

At 9.30 the entire contents of the biggest fly-book
would not make one of them stir a fin. For in-
stance, Mr. R. Brookes, who published in 1740 a
treatise on angling which went through numerous
editions, says, " The most usual baits are a large,
gaudy, Artificial Fly, Lob worms, small Dace,
Gudgeons, Bleaks and Minnows which should be
often varied in order to suit the Humour of the
fickle Fish, for what he likes one day he will de-
spise the next." Nicholas Cox, whose great work,
" The Gentleman's Recreation," antedated Brookes
by over half a century, says of the salmon, " he
biteth best at 3 of the clock in the afternoon in
the months of May, June, July and August," that
when obstructed in their passage to the sea " they
have grown so impatient that clapping their tails
to their mouths with a sudden spring they have
leapt clear over Wear or any other obstacle which
stood in their way." Mr. Cox also says that there
is " no bait more attractive of, and eagerly pursued
by Salmon than Lob worms scented with the Oil of
Ivy berrifes'0£ trfe'Oil of Polypodies, or the Oil of
Oak -mixt with' Turpentine; nay, Assa-Foetida
they say is- inedinparably good." I give these
examples, which might be indefinitely multiplied,
from the earlier angling writers, to show how easily

History and Habits 5

the novice who seeks instruction as to salmon
from his library may be deceived. Indeed, it is
not only the archaic authors whose information
and advice are misleading — many of modern times
show almost equal indisposition or incapacity to
refrain from unwarranted statements as to the
habits and disposition of this noble fish.

The sum total of our actual knowledge of sal-
mon is small. Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell happily
stated it in his excellent book, perhaps the best
of his many angling works, " The Sporting Fish
of Great Britain," 1886, in a few paragraphs called
" Proved Facts in the History of the Salmon," and
it is doubtful if anything material has been added
to them since. Here they are : —

I. Salmon and grilse invariably spawn in fresh water if pos-
sible, both the eggs and the young fry while in the parr state
being destroyed by contact with the salt water.

II. The eggs are usually deposited on gravelly shallows, where
they hatch in from 80 to 140 days according to the temperature
of the water — eggs remaining unhatched beyond the latter
period will seldom hatch at all, possibly from having been de-
stroyed by the low temperature.

III. The eggs deposited by the female will not hatch under
any circumstances unless vivified after exclusion by the milt of
the male and, at least up to the period of migration, there is no
difference whatever in fry bred between salmon only, between

6 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

grilse only, between salmon and parr, or between grilse and
parr. The female parr cannot spawn, but the male parr pos-
sesses and constantly exercises the power of vivifying salmon
and grilse eggs.1

IV. The fry remain one, two, and sometimes three years as
parr before going down to the sea, about half taking their de-
parture at one year, nearly all the others at two years, and the
remainder, which are exceptional, at three years old.

V. All young salmon fry are marked with bluish bars on
their sides until shortly before their migration, up to which
period they are parrs ; they then invariably assume a more or
less complete coating of silvery scales and become smolts, the
bars, or parr marks, however, still being clearly discernible on
rubbing off the new scales.

VI. The young of all species here included in the genus
Salmo have at some period of their existence these bluish bars,
and consequently such marks are not by themselves proofs that
fry bearing them are the young of the true Salmon (Salmo salar) .

VII. Unless the young fish put on their smolt dress in May
or early in June, and thereupon go down to the sea, they remain
as parrs another year, and without smolt scales they will not
migrate and cannot exist in salt water.

VIII. The length of the parr at six weeks old is about an
inch and a half or two inches ; and the weight of the smolt
before reaching the tidal wave from one to two ounces.

1 This is to be understood as referring to the specific character-
istics of any of the salmon thus bred. It seems very possible that
there may be in fry, variations of size or development depending on
their parentage or generation, as there are also known to be differ-
ences in the size of the eggs of different breeding fish dependent upon
the size and age of the latter.

History and Habits 7

IX. In at least many cases smolts thus migrating to the
sea in May or June return as grilse sometimes within five, gen-
erally within ten weeks, the increase in weight during that
period varying from two to ten pounds, the average being
from four to six pounds, and these grilse spawn about Novem-
ber or December, go back to the sea, and (in many cases) re-
ascend the rivers the next spring as salmon with a further
increase of four to twelve pounds. Thus a fish hatched in
April, 1854, and marked when migrating in May, 1855, was
caught as a salmon of twenty-two pounds' weight in March,
1856.

X. It appears certain, however, that the smolts do not
always return during the same year as grilse, but frequently
remain nine or ten months in the sea, returning in the following
spring as small- sized salmon.1

XI. It has also been clearly proved that, in general, salmon
and grilse find their way back to spawn in the rivers in which
they were bred, — sometimes to the identical spots, — spawn
about November or December, and go down to the sea as
"spent fish" or "kelts" in February or March, returning, in
at least many cases, during the following four or five months as
" clean fish " and with an increase in weight of seven to ten
pounds.

These " facts " have to be modified to fit the
conditions of salmon existence in this country,
where the lives of the fish are subject to quite

1 It will thus be seen that the fry of the salmon are called parrs
or parr until they put on their migratory dress, when they become
smolts and go down to the salt water ; grilse, if they return during
the first year of their migration ; and at all other periods, salmon.

8 The Atlantic Salmon

different climatic influences from those which
prevail in Great Britain. At the breeding estab-
lishment of Stormontfield on the Tay, where
intelligent observation of the habits and growth
of salmon have been carried on for about half a
century, large numbers of smolts which had been
marked by cutting off the adipose fin were retaken
as grilse after absence in the sea of somewhat over
two months and weighing six to nine pounds. It
was also discovered that while the larger propor-
tion of the young salmon assumed the silvery coat
and went to sea the second year of their lives,
the remainder which had been hatched from the
same lot of ova taken from the parent fish at the
same time, and had been subject to exactly
the same conditions, remained another year in
the ponds before changing to the migratory
coat. That this can be ascribed (and the same
thing has also been observed in the Severn) to
such conditions varying from the natural ones
under which the Stormontfield fish pass their
early lives, is improbable, and it is likely that the
divided migration of smolts to the sea is based on
some natural provision analogous to that which
governs the divided migration of salmon from the
sea to the fresh water. I have learned that on

History and Habits 9

the Restigouche River in Canada in some years
large numbers of smolts are taken by the Indian
boys fishing for trout at the head of the tide near
Campbellton very soon after the ice breaks up
early in May. The usual season for the migra-
tion of smolts is three to four months later, and
until then the river is full of parr. These smolts
which are migrating in May are probably from
the same crop of parr of which a portion went to
sea the August before, though this cannot be defi-
nitely affirmed owing to the lack of provision for
confining the parr until they assume the silvery
coat as is done on the Tay. Certainly some accu-
rate knowledge as to the divided migration of
smolts on this side of the Atlantic is well worth
the attention of fish culturists. It is, of course,
possible that there may be here, as in Britain,
fresh salmon entering the Canadian rivers in the
late autumn, spawning when the rivers are frozen
over, and returning to the sea in the spring.
There is evidence that this visitation takes place
in some rivers, where fresh-run salmon have been
taken through the ice. I know two credible
Indians who caught one of sixteen pounds when
fishing for trout with bait in December, and it
seems strange that the kelts which are so numer-

io The Atlantic Salmon

ous on many of the Canadian rivers in June can
be the fish which left the sea a year or there-
abouts before and spawned in October. If they
are, their appearance as kelts in the late spring
and early summer would indicate a stay in fresh
water of six to eight months after spawning,
which is very much in excess of the length of
time they are known to remain there in Britain.

The British smolts return to their native rivers
as grilse at periods of time varying from one to
four months (provided they do not pass this stage
of existence in the sea), weighing from three to
ten pounds, showing a rapidity of growth fully
verifying this statement in Walton and Cotton:
" It is said that after he is got into the sea he
becomes, from a samlet, not so big as a gudgeon,
to be a salmon, in so short a time as a gosling
becomes to be a goose. Much of this has been
observed by tying a ribbon or some known tape
or thread in the tail of some young salmons which
have been taken in weirs as they have swimmed
towards the salt water, and then by taking a part
of them again with the well-known mark at the
same place at their return from the sea, which is
usually about six months later."

In this country — and by this country, in speak-

History and Habits n

ing of salmon, I include Canada — the stay of
smolts in the sea is supposed to be at least ten
months. The exception to this, if any exists, is
in the case of the smolts which have been ob-
served going to the sea in the early spring as
above mentioned in the Restigouche, and they
may do the same in other rivers, though I have
never heard of it. These fish possibly return as
grilse the same year, and could do so and still
have as much time in the sea as many of the
British smolts devote to that visit before seeking
the fresh water. I am not aware that any of
these spring migrating smolts have ever been
marked so that they could be identified with
returning grilse, but many of those which go
down to the sea in August and September have
been marked, and are known to have come back
to the river in ten or twelve months as grilse,
weighing from two and one-half to five pounds.
I think it beyond question that the grilse ascend-
ing American rivers have averaged a much
longer time in the salt water than their British
relatives, and yet are smaller in weight, the con-
ditions of both in the sea being ^probably nearly
identical. I have never seen a grilse in Canada
of above six pounds, while in Britain ten pounds

12 The Atlantic Salmon

is not a very rare size, and one is reputed to have
been taken of twenty pounds.

Undoubtedly, owing to the slight differences
in appearance, many small salmon, especially in
this country, are assumed to be grilse, and it is
rather strange, in view of the great similarity in
the fish at these two different stages of its exist-
ence, that so few writers give any instruction to
enable one to distinguish grilse from small salmon.
Mr. Young says in "The Book of the Salmon":
" Very frequently the only distinguishing marks
between grilse and salmon are the smaller scales
of the former, and longer and larger fins. The
fins of a grilse of eight pounds' weight are longer
and larger than those of a salmon of the same size."

Other differences are the looser setting of the
scales, which are more easily rubbed off in the
grilse than in the salmon, and the squarer tail of
the adult fish, that of the grilse retaining the
forked shape of the smolt's to a marked degree.
The grilse is smaller in proportion at the root of
the tail than the salmon. With these peculiari-
ties borne in mind, it is not hard to tell salmon
from grilse, especially in this country, where the
latter seldom attain enough size to be mistaken
for their older relatives.

History and Habits 13

So far as my experience goes in this country
the size of the grilse of different rivers is about
the same and does not vary according to the size
of the parent fish, as is said to be the case in
Britain. The grilse of the Restigouche and
Metapedia, in both of which rivers the salmon
average fully twenty pounds, and not infre-
quently attain a weight of forty pounds or over,
are no larger than those of the Nepisiguit,
where the average weight will hardly exceed half
that of the first-named streams. Mr. Day in his
" British and Irish Salmonidae," quoting from
Professor Brown Goode, says, " The male grilse is
sexually mature, but not the female in America."
This is certainly a mistake, as female grilse are
known to breed in some Canadian rivers. The
present owner of the Godbout, Mr. Manuel, is
my authority for stating that on this river grilse
are very frequently taken with ova quite as fully
developed as those of salmon at the same time.
On the Restigouche, where I have fished for
nearly thirty years, I have never seen or heard
of a female grilse, and believe that no members of
the fair sex ascend that river until they become
salmon. John Mowat, the former head guardian
of the Restigouche, and an observant and intelli-

14 The Atlantic Salmon

gent man, told me the second time I was on the
river that no female grilse ascended it, and for
many years I had every one examined that was
caught, without finding a single female. The
same, I was told by an old half-breed canoeman
of the Nepisiguit, is true of that river, in which
grilse come up with the first run of salmon and
are very much more abundant than on the Res-
tigouche, where they do not begin to run until
July, and are never plentiful then. The observa-
tions on these and other American rivers are not
extensive and careful enough to establish with
certainty the facts as to the sexes of grilse,
though I believe that very few, if any, female
grilse ascend the Restigouche.

Another curious fact about grilse which has
been observed on both sides of the Atlantic, is
the great relative disparity between them and the
salmon in different rivers, — in numbers. It is,
of course, impossible to make more than a wild
guess how many grilse there should be to one
salmon in the same stream, supposing all those
belonging there should ascend it simultaneously,
but it is certain that some rivers have in them
every year many more grilse than salmon, which
would seem to be the proper state of affairs,

History and Habits 15

while others have many more salmon than grilse.
In some streams the grilse come along with the
first run of salmon, and in others six to eight
weeks later. A river which has a large propor-
tion of grilse may not have so many salmon as
one in which the grilse are scarce. All this
would seem to indicate that fish in the grilse
stage come back to their native rivers in vary-
ing proportionate numbers, or that the grilse of
one river go to another at that period of exist-
ence. This latter theory would account for the
presence of large numbers of grilse in one river
whilst another near by has but few, as is the
case in the Nepisiguit and Restigouche. It is
known that salmon have forsaken their own river
and gone up another for one year. I have seen
an undoubted example of this, and there is no
reason why grilse should not do the same. How-
ever, this is a sporadic action in salmon, and the
disparity in numbers between them and grilse in
different rivers is habitual. In the Jweed, ac-
cording to Mr. Willis Bund, in his most valuable
and interesting book " Salmon Problems," " from
1808 to 1853 in no year were less than three
grilse taken for each salmon, from 1853 to 1876
only two grilse were taken for each salmon."

1 6 The Atlantic Salmon

There has in the Tweed, in the past fifty years,
been a very sensible decrease in the number of
salmon, of which the smaller proportion of grilse
may indicate that the fish in that stage of growth,
or possibly the preceding one, had been subject
to some untoward influences. However this may
be as to the Tweed, there are British rivers and
rivers in America wherein the numbers of grilse
seem utterly without bearing on the numbers of
salmon. One habit they have seems to prevail in
both countries — they do not seek, nearly as gen-
erally as salmon, to reach the head waters of the
rivers they frequent, and this is rather strange, as
they seem by reason of their smaller size and
greater activity much better able than the adult
salmon to travel in shallow and rapid water.

The number of grilse taken on the lower waters
of salmon rivers is, so far as I can ascertain, larger
in proportion to the salmon, than on the upper
waters, and this difference is quite plainly to be
observed in stretches a few miles apart. It may
be interesting to give the number of salmon and
grilse in some waters I fish, — on the Restigouche
River, — and also the number and percentages of
the different fish taken in the waters of the Ris-
tigouche Salmon Club for twenty years from and

History and Habits 17

including 1881. Probably the proportion of
grilse would be greater in both instances were
the angling carried on beyond August 15, the
beginning of the close season. Our water was
not fished in the seven years given at a later
average date than July 10, whereas there was
some fishing done on the water of the Risti-
gouche Salmon Club during the entire season.

SALMON GRILSE
Our water, — 1895 87 n first grilse taken July 4

1896 315 38 first grilse taken June 29

1897 120 no

1898 62 6 first grilse taken July 3

1899 52 13 first grilse taken July 3

1900 155 1 6 first grilse taken July 2

1901 179 5 first grilse taken June 36
Totals: 970 89 Percentage of grilse

Ristigouche Salmon Club from 1881 to 1900: —
9986 salmon; 1198 grilse; percentage of grilse, 10.71.

The excess of percentage of grilse in the score
of the Ristigouche Salmon Club may be due to
the later date of fishing on its waters or to the
habit which prevailed there at one time of count-
ing as grilse all fish below a certain weight, —
eight or ten pounds.

While the comparative scarcity of grilse in

1 8 The Atlantic Salmon

some rivers is an unnecessary confirmation of
the fact of a divided migration of salmon at this
stage of their existence, and it is now well estab-
lished that this divided migration occurs in all
stages of growth from the smolt to the adult fish,
the great surplus of grilse over salmon in some of
our rivers is hard to explain. One river may
yield one grilse to ten salmon, and another, near
by, one salmon to four or five grilse. As the
fewest grilse are found in the rivers of this coun-
try, so far as I know, which produce the largest
fish, it may be possible, though I only hint at it
as a theory, that the large average growth at-
tained by the salmon of the Romaine, the Cas-
capedia, and some other rivers is due to their
continued residence for years in the sea, where
their increase in size is not checked by the exer-
cise of the reproductive function and the severe
strain it involves. This would appear to show
that a very much larger proportion of the fish of
some rivers pass the grilse stage of existence at
sea than is the habit with natives of other
rivers, or, that the grilse of some rivers ascend
other streams than those in which they were
born.

It is probable that the smolts of this country

History and Habits 19

remain a good deal longer in the sea before re-
turning as grilse (and this by reason of most of
the American salmon rivers being ice bound
for four or five months of the year) than in
the British rivers. For all this they are not so
large as their European brethren. Mr. Pennell
mentions the average weight of grilse as four to
six pounds, and I think that nearer three than
four pounds would be the average here. While
it is possible that the smolts which go to the sea
in August and September may return while the
ice is in the river or before the next summer, none
has ever been seen during this period of time,
while several smolts which were tagged in August
on the Restigouche have been caught as grilse
the next July and were of the average weight — a
little over three pounds.

After the grilse becomes a salmon, he is likely
to come to fresh water every year of his life and,
if not prevented, to his native river, though that a
portion of the salmon of all rivers remain in the
sea every year is well established, and is a precau-
tion of nature against the entire destruction of
any one crop of fish. The habits as to the ascent
of the rivers vary greatly. In some, there is a
run of large fish, entirely females, which enter the

20 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

fresh water as soon as the ice is out and go
straight through to the head waters of the rivers.
This run will be on the rivers of the Bay of Cha-
leurs in which it occurs, from the middle to the last
of May — this is followed during the first fort-
night of June (in an ordinary season) by another
run of good-sized fish and to them succeed the
smaller ones and the grilse, though occasionally
there is a late run containing a scattering number
of large salmon. On other rivers in the same
district no fish come until nearly or about July i,
and then observe no order in their appearance,
great and small coming together, and on more
than one river the grilse accompany their
elders. Undoubtedly fresh salmon come in from
the sea until the rivers freeze, but in numbers
very much smaller than those of the early runs.
One of the best runs of salmon in the Miramichi
River comes in August, when the upward migra-
tion has practically ceased in the neighboring
rivers, and I think there must be a still later run
in some other streams which remains as far up
them as the thickness of ice will permit, spawns
beneath the ice, and furnishes the kelts which
come down in May following; for these kelts
cannot be the fish which spawned the October

History and Habits 21

preceding and had an open route to the sea at
any time after.

The plentifulness or scarcity of salmon in good
rivers is dependent largely on causes connected
with the habit of divided migration which may
have been operating for several years before the
effect is manifest on the river. A widespread
calamity to the parr or smolt crops of a certain
year may cause a scarcity of salmon three years
later and an average diminution of size in those
taken for several years after that. While certain
companies of salmon go directly through to the
tops of the rivers they ascend, others, bound for
the same points, take it more leisurely and halt
a day or two or longer in favorite resting-places,
where they take their diversion in leaping from
the water, seizing flies, false or natural, on or near
the surface, and amusing themselves according
to the various fancies which may strike them. A
rise of water may take them up river a few miles,
though in larger streams they are not dependent
on this and travel very often in water which is
falling. So soon as the salmon leaves the sea
does his appetite, which must be of the most
voracious character, begin to decrease, and for-
tunately, as no good salmon river that I know

22 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

could furnish food for the throngs which ascend
it. That his tendency to eat is not eradicated
while in fresh water is certain. He takes flies,
natural and artificial, and other objects as well,
with the general intention of swallowing them.
That he sometimes carries out this intention I
thoroughly believe, both from having taken several
which had the fly far down toward the stomach
and from the following incidents in my knowl-
edge.

In 1886, late in August, two Indians of my
acquaintance came down the Metapedia River and
stopped at the large pool at the mouth to fish for
trout, which gather there in great numbers late in
the season. The canoe was anchored, and the
bait, consisting of a chunk of raw beef put on a
large hook attached to a string line, and a short,
stiff pole cut in the woods, thrown overboard.
Before it had sunk a yard and a half in the clear
water the Indian in charge saw a large fish come
from the bottom and seize it. Recognizing it for
a salmon at once, he gave a mighty jerk, then
passed the rod back to his companion, caught the
line in both hands, and before the astonished fish
had a chance to turn he was hauled into the canoe
and on his way down the river to the sea whence

a i

History and Habits 23

he had come. The salmon was about seventeen
pounds' weight, and his dark color showed he
had been for some time in fresh water. A bright
salmon was taken a year after this by an Indian
fishing for trout with bait just above the tide head
in the Restigouche. A young friend of mine
took a salmon with a fly on the Upsalquitch,
which had in his stomach a small mass of angle-
worms. Any one angling in rivers that are netted
at the mouth must have noticed that the fish
which have been in the nets and escaped will take
the fly much quicker than their unscathed com-
panions. May it not be that as the wounded fish
reach the stage of convalescence their appetite re-
vives, and the needs of their systems, to make up
for the waste caused by their injuries, excite them
to extraordinary exertions to appease it ?

Many instances have been known of fish taking
the fly when so badly hurt as to make it seem
almost incredible that they should want to move.
I took one which had lately lost a good pound of
flesh by a seal bite and saw one of twenty-three
pounds taken, which I afterward learned had
been hooked, played, gaffed, and lost the evening
before about half a mile below. In addition to
the fly embedded in his jaw with a yard of gut fast

24 The Atlantic Salmon

thereto, he had a deep open gaff wound in his
shoulder. It would seem as though the pangs of
hunger drove this fish, sick and sorry as he was,
to his second and fatal attempt to devour an arti-
ficial fly. One Mitchell, who was engaged in
building the section of the Intercolonial Railway
which passes Metapedia, assured me he had
caught a salmon with a partly digested frog in
his stomach.

The explanation of the fact that salmon, even
those caught in salt water, are so very rarely
found with any food inside them, is that they
have in common with some of the higher forms of
creatures the power of emptying their stomachs
when danger is near and their activity is to be
called in play. They have certainly been observed
in this act on more than one occasion. This con-
duct on the part of the fish is much more reason-
able than that of never taking any food when out
of the sea ; and though the appetite of the salmon
gradually diminishes after he reaches fresh water,
it is pretty certain that he takes an occasional
slight refection up to the time of spawning.

It is not in accordance with well-known facts
to accept the very frequent statement that salmon
rise to a fly which resembles no living creature,

History and Habits 25

simply for purposes of investigation, and with no
intention of eating it. The fact "is that most flies
do resemble very strongly, in a general way, well-
known moths and butterflies. The Durham
Ranger, Toppy, and Brown Fairy, for instance,
are excellent imitations of insects common on
American or British rivers, and the natural vorac-
ity of salmon is such that, even when it is on the
wane, they are liable to come at almost any mov-
ing object. A red squirrel was once being carried
down a pool in the Restigouche which I was
fishing, and forty or fifty yards below me was
taken by a large salmon — at least there was a
big rise just where we were watching the little
animal, and it disappeared to come to the surface
again in a short time ten or a dozen yards fur-
ther down. He was not " mistaken for a shrimp,"
as we so often hear, to account for salmon taking
a fly. Once when fishing the Chain of Rocks
pool I saw a salmon with great eagerness take
one of the large black and yellow butterflies so
common in July, which I dropped in the current
and which floated down over him. I then caught
another of the same insect, put it on a hook, and
cast over the fish ineffectually. Going down the
river directly after, I met a friend on his way to

26 The Atlantic Salmon

Chain of Rocks to whom I told the story and the
location of the fish. He got him the same even-
ing with one of the live butterflies. The largest
salmon I have ever seen on the Restigouche was
taken by a man named Alford, who had risen him
one evening two or three times to a Silver Doctor.
He then attached to the hook of the same fly a
piece of caribou skin with the hair on, and at
least two inches long by one wide, and let it float
down over the fish. It was taken so greedily that
the hook fastened at the very root of the tongue,
and as Alford was alone and had no gaff, he
beached the salmon, which weighed forty-five
pounds. Mr. Locke, in " The Tweed and Don,"
says, " As an illustration that salmon when in the
humour will take anything, a few seasons ago
a friend of mine captured two or three fish with
the thumb of an old kid glove stuck on a plain
hook." This would be a European adaptation of
the caribou skin, and to my mind confirms the
belief that salmon rise to a fly or to anything else
with an intention of eating the object. The
intention may change on investigation, as is the
case often with people who think they will take
something and then alter their views.

The assumption that because nothing is found

History and Habits 27

in the stomachs of salmon therefore they never
feed has very slight foundation. Many salmon
are caught in salt water, and these are quite as
empty as those taken in the rivers above. Any
one who has taken salmon with a shrimp bait
cannot avoid the belief that they take it for food,
otherwise why do they swallow it ? I have seen
in Ireland salmon taken with shrimp, worms,
eel's tail, and a spinning minnow. There are a
few known instances of food having been found
in the stomachs of salmon, and certainly one in
which salmon when netted were seen to disgorge
quantities of sand eels.

The fish of the early runs, and up to August
certainly, spawn in various parts of the rivers,
generally on the gravelly bars where the eggs
are deposited and impregnated, in troughs or
grooves dug out with infinite pains by the fish,
and afterward covered by them. After this func-
tion is performed, they shortly descend to the sea,
changed from the plump, brilliant creatures of a
few months since, intp lank, slimy, black objects,
there to regain in the unknown quarters they
inhabit, their health and strength, and to return
in one, two, or three years perhaps, to encounter
again the fresh perils of their renewed journeys.

28 The Atlantic Salmon

Where they go during these marine sojourns is
a mystery likely to be long insoluble. It is
thought by many that they do not go a great
distance from the mouths of their native rivers,
and the fact of their almost uniform return to
these makes this conjecture a probable one in
default of any actual knowledge to the contrary.
It was discovered many years ago in Britain that
salmon about visiting fresh water strike the coast
at some distance from the rivers to which they
are bound, and follow the coast along to their
mouths. This knowledge has been utilized by
the netters, much to the discomfiture of the poor
fish, whose perils have been doubled. The same
is true of this country, and the salmon of the
rivers flowing into the Bay of Chaleurs are
decimated by nets set in the sea as far as fifty
miles down the coast from the estuary of the
Restigouche. The returns of salmon caught by
the netters are notoriously untrue, but it is
probable that the nets below the estuary take
quite as many fish as those set in and above it,
and are doing their full share toward rendering
worthless the many splendid salmon streams trib-
utary to the bay.

It is not now considered certain that salmon

History and Habits 29

when visiting fresh water always return to the
rivers in which they were spawned. They proba-
bly do so when nothing interferes to prevent ; but
when, from various causes, they cannot get into
their native streams it would certainly be natural,
if not unavoidable, for the gravid fish, whose first
instinct is to reach a place where they can deposit
their spawn, to go to some river they could ascend
if the entrance to their native one was practically
closed. An excessive number of nets at the
mouth of a river may cause salmon to desert it
while thus obstructed. For several years of my
acquaintance with the Restigouche River the
white porpoises have been in such great quanti-
ties at its mouth as to drive off the salmon of the
earlier runs, which undoubtedly went to rivers on
the other side of the bay. In 1896 there was a
run of large fish in the middle of July in the Res-
tigouche which were very different in their appear-
ance from the natives of that river, being shorter,
thicker, especially at the base of the tail, and with
much broader tails for the size than were found
in the Restigouche fish. They came in the river
all together and were past the lower waters, in two
or three days, — I took half a dozen of them, all
from twenty to twenty-five pounds, — but they did

30 The Atlantic Salmon

not rise freely until they reached the head waters,
where a great many were killed. On the Meta-
pedia River, where the fish are large, many of
them go a long distance up and spawn in small
streams. A former owner, acting on a peculiar
theory of his, had a dam built thirty or thirty-five
miles up the river to stop the further passage of
the fish, and thus improve his own angling, at the
same time forcing the fish to spawn in the lower
stretches. The result of this was that in three
years there were no fish in this magnificent river,
and in the first year the angling began to decline.
When the river came into the possession of the
Ristigouche Salmon Club the dam was removed,
and the salmon allowed their old freedom of
action, but it took five or six years to get back
the river to anything like its old form. It seemed
as though, after two or three seasons' futile at-
tempts to reach their old spawning grounds, the
remnant of the salmon abandoned effort and went
elsewhere.

A well-known and observing angler, writing me
from Edinburgh, says anent salmon returning to
their native rivers : " Fourteen years ago I rented
the Mount Clairy fishings on the Deveron, which
usually yielded about one hundred salmon to the

History and Habits 31

rod. The season was an unusually dry one. On
the removal of the nets the salmon were seen in
great numbers at the mouth in September, and
the tacksmen who had done badly, foretold, if rain
only came, a grand year for the rods. Unfor-
tunately there appeared a great number of por-
poises, the fish disappeared, and very few ascended
the Deveron, though rain fell a few days after the
nets were removed. My total bag for the season
was only six salmon."

More proof, if necessary, could be brought as
to salmon not always confining their visits to the
rivers in which they were spawned, but enough
has been said in support of a now quite general
belief that such is the fact.

Mr. Atkins, the fish culturist of Maine, has
ascertained by experiments at Bucksport, where
the hatcheries are situated, that the Penobscot
salmon spawn only every other year. This is not
an established fact in all rivers, and gives, per-
haps, grounds for the supposition that these
salmon may visit other rivers in alternate years,
though it is hardly probable that such is the
case.

As it is only in salt water that salmon, after the
smolt stage, gain in weight, and especially just

3 2 The Atlantic Salmon

after the first seaward migration, it would be
interesting to know on what food they feed, that
they wax so fat — as the smolt is but a tiny crea-
ture from three and a half to seven or eight
inches long, and must have the material for his
stupendous growth very handy to enable him to
increase his size thirty or forty fold in six or eight
weeks. Professor Huxley believes that the food
consists chiefly of a class of small crustaceous
creatures found in semi-solid masses upon the
surface, frequently of deep water, in fact that the
salmon swims in a species of animal soup in
which it has merely to open its mouth and swal-
low what enters it.

Mr. Cholmondeley Pennell gives in his "Natural
History of the British Salmonidae," published in
the Badminton Library, the actual weight of seven
marked grilse from the Stormontfield ponds
which were let out to go to the sea in May
and June and were caught from July i to
August 4 of the same year — the smallest
weighed three pounds and the largest nine and
a half pounds.

The smolt is two or three weeks in changing
from the preceding parr stage, which consists in
assuming a coat of silvery scales. When this is

History and Habits 33

done the fish gather in shoals and drop down
stream till the sea is reached.

In the Fishing Gazette for September 2, 1893,
is a table by Mr. E. Sturdy for estimating the
weights of salmon by their inches of length, of
course assuming the fish to be in average con-
dition. As these trials were made on one river
and for a part of one season only, by Mr. Sturdy,
it might not be safe to base any general law on
them. The table is as follows, and I have, in giv-
ing it, not gone into the fractions of pounds in
the original, but simply put down the approxima-
tions to quarters of pounds : —

"A fish of 30 in. weighs 12^ Ibs. A fish of 41 in. weighs 29 \ Ibs.

A fish of 31 in. weighs I2| Ibs. A fish of 42 in. weighs 3if Ibs.

A fish of 32 in. weighs 14 Ibs. A fish of 43 in. weighs 34 Ibs.

A fish of 33 in. weighs 15 \ Ibs. A fish of 44 in. weighs 36^ Ibs.

A fish of 34 in. weighs i6f Ibs. A fish of 45 in. weighs 39 Ibs.

A fish of 35 in. weighs 18^ Ibs. A fish of 46 in. weighs 4i| Ibs.

A fish of 36 in. weighs 20 Ibs. A fish of 47 in. weighs 44 £ Ibs.

A fish of 37 in. weighs 2if Ibs. A fish of 48 in. weighs 47$ Ibs.

A fish of 38 in. weighs 23$ Ibs. A fish of 49 in. weighs 50$ Ibs.

A fish of 39 in. weighs 25^ Ibs. A fish of 50 in. weighs 53$ Ibs."
A fish of 40 in. weighs 27$ jbs.

It is my impression that there may be very
sensible variations from this table, particularly in
large fish, depending on the difference in con-
dition. I once measured accurately a female

D

34 The Atlantic Salmon

salmon of forty-one and a half pounds and her
length was exactly forty-three inches. So short
and thick was she that I am sure her great weight
for her length could not be taken as affording a
guide to estimate the weights of other fish. As
against the measurement of this fish, Mr. Sturdy
took one of fifty pounds in 1900 on the Vosse in
Norway which verified the standard used in com-
piling the above table.

Mr. Bund gives an instance of a smolt which
he marked, and which was captured next season
on its first return from the sea, weighing twenty
pounds. This was a growth entirely out of pro-
portion to that usual with smolts from the same
ponds, and cannot well be explained from any
facts within our knowledge, nor can the fact of
salmon growing so much larger in some rivers
than in others. The Upsalquitch River, an afflu-
ent of the Restigouche, produces salmon which
will average seven to nine pounds, though a rare
big one is found. For the past twenty years this
river has been stocked with the fry of the Resti-
gouche salmon, which will average fully twice as
large. Certainly the millions of fry of a bigger
breed put in this river ought to have made some
difference in the size of its fish, but the change, if

History and Habits 35

any, is imperceptible. Unless the fry of the Res-
tigouche salmon put in the head waters of the
Upsalquitch and remaining there till they attain
smolthood obey some inherited instinct, and on
their return from the sea pass by the mouth of
the Upsalquitch and continue up their ancestral
river, it is proof that they are subjected to some
conditions at sea which prevent their attaining
the size of the fish from which they descend. It
is quite probable that there are conditions of feed-
ing ground at sea which affect the growth of
salmon, causing those of some, and frequently
neighboring, rivers, to vary materially in size. I
know of no case of a salmon river having the
character of its fish changed by stocking it with
fry from elsewhere, though perhaps the experiment
has not been tried often and intelligently enough
to get many specific facts on the subject. It
seems, however, that it can be nothing else than
a question of food, and that fry from a river pro-
ducing small fish, if put in a stream which yielded
large ones, would grow to be big salmon, and
vice versa.

Other theories as to the food of these fish are
quoted by Mr. Pennell, and it is certain that both
here and in Britain the salmon, as they approach

36 The Atlantic Salmon

the fresh water, feed on various small fishes, eels,
and marine Crustacea. On the Gulf coast they
pursue shoals of smelt and capelin as they ascend
the estuaries, and create great havoc amongst
these small fry, but they probably have to depend
on other foods in their more permanent marine
habitations.

CHAPTER II

WHERE TO BE FOUND

WHEN the salmon, strong, active, and brilliant
in his silvery armor feels the impulse to revisit
his native river, he would certainly abandon the
intention could he have any idea of what lay
before him in the way of nets along the shore he
coasts, and far up the channel of the river he is
to ascend in order to reach his birthplace. These
nets on all accessible streams have, with the
drifters, spearers, and other employers of illegal
methods of destruction, practically exterminated
the salmon from the many excellent rivers of the
Atlantic coast of the United States; and the
same causes are in active operation in such
Canadian rivers as fish can be shipped away
from at a profit. The various reports of the
Commissioners of Fish and Game for the state
of Maine show a most discouraging state of
affairs so far as salmon are concerned. For
instance, the Kennebec River, an ideal salmon
stream, was divested of fish by the building of

37

38 The Atlantic Salmon

a dam at Augusta. The Penobscot, which could
easily supply hundreds of thousands of dollars'
worth of salmon at a nominal cost if the very
reasonable and necessary existing laws were
enforced, is fast going down under the illegal
fishing and the pollution of its water by the
poisonous chemicals thrown in it from the vari-
ous manufacturing establishments near its mouth.
The St. Croix, owing to its being partly in
Canada, where the laws are not so badly en-
forced as with us, though quite badly enough,
has done rather better, but is gradually growing
worse. The Connecticut, which could easily be
made to furnish a very large revenue to the
state, has been stocked several times; but when
the salmon returned to the river they were all
caught by the netters at the mouth, in viola-
tion of the law, and, so evenly were the political
parties divided, that the poachers held the
balance of power, and a governor of the state
told me that either party which might try to
punish their depredations would inevitably be
ousted from power.

The Hudson, as to which there is some doubt
of its having been a salmon river, — though it
has certainly in its upper waters every requisite

Where to be Found 39

for one, — was stocked with fry in 1882; but it
was not until 1886, four years after, that adult
fish were seen in the river, and those which
were taken at the Troy dam, illegally, of course,
were from ten to sixteen pounds in weight. In
one year, according to the late Mr. Cheney, State
Fish Culturist, over three hundred fish from ten
to thirty-eight pounds each were taken in nets
in the lower Hudson, every one contrary to law.
Fishways have been built by the state at Troy,
Mechanicsville, and Thompson's Mills. I have
seen but one of them, that at Mechanicsville,
which was built by some incompetent person
on plans of his own, and was utterly inadequate
for its purpose. At this Mechanicsville dam
salmon gathered in small numbers, and were
caught by hooks ostensibly baited with pieces of
pork, and dragged along the bottom till the
"sportsmen" at the other end could feel them
against a fish, when a hard jerk sometimes fast-
ened the hook in the luckless creature. I
suppose a few salmon are still taken and sur-
reptitiously sold by the netters, and the great
state of New York has had no officials who
knew enough or were honest and strong enough
to take means to enforce the laws which would

40 The Atlantic Salmon

have made the Hudson as productive of food
at a very slight cost as twice its area in tillable
land.

While much has been done by artificial propa-
gation and stocking to prevent the extermination
of salmon and to introduce them in depleted
rivers, these means alone will not make a river
good or keep it so. Its whole length, from
mouth to source, must be watched to insure the
safe ascent to the spawning beds of a sufficient
number of fish to keep up the supply, and to look
out for their protection while engaged in the
work of breeding and finding their way back to
the sea. The methods in vogue in the United
States, where we have so many rivers capable of
producing unlimited quantities of salmon at
nominal cost, are to put the young fry in the
head waters and then leave them for the rest of
their short lives to their own devices. They get
down to the sea all right, but when they come
back for the first time they are practically all
taken by the netters. The law in New York
and Connecticut provides that any salmon taken
by the shad nets shall be released, but of course
this is never done. A netter told me he took
a salmon of thirty-eight pounds just above

Where to be Found 41

Albany in 1897. The only method of stocking
our rivers with salmon is to have them prop-
erly guarded their entire length, and to enforce
the laws as to nets, which are now, as to the
Hudson, substantially unheeded. Thirty years
ago vast numbers of shad were taken above
Albany in this river, and also abundance of
sturgeon. Now the river is so nearly closed
by nets below that no shad has been caught
above Albany for the past three years, and I
doubt if a sturgeon has been seen for a much
longer period. This has resulted, of course, in
a great decrease in the catch of both shad and
sturgeon in the lower waters, and a consequent
diminution, not only of a valuable article of
food, but of the profits of the very men whose
violation of the laws has created the scarcity.

In all countries there seems to be an irresist-
ible impulse amongst otherwise law-abiding
people to break the enactments regarding fish
and game, and such have never been enforced
without extraordinary Efforts on the part of the
state. Legislators in this country have pretty
uniformly been in sympathy with the law-
breakers in this respect, ignoring entirely the
important economic question of the value to the

42 The Atlantic Salmon

people of a supply of cheap and nutritious food
which could be easily created by utilizing the
barren waters of our rivers. The value of the
salmon fisheries of the United Kingdom is
estimated to be from ,£750,000 to ,£800,000 per
year, and certainly those of the Atlantic coast
of the British possessions in North America now
accessible, under a judicious system of protection
and propagation properly managed, would shortly
exceed this amount in value. The Atlantic trib-
utaries of the United States where salmon are
now practically exterminated would, under proper
conditions, yield an approximation to this sum in
the next ten years; but until the present system
of mismanagement is changed, we shall have to
depend for our salmon on Canada, where the
persecuted fish have a somewhat better chance
than with us.

The British possessions in North America
undoubtedly afford the greatest field for the
salmon angler of the future of any part of the
globe. Beginning at the south in the river St.
Lawrence, and farther east in Nova Scotia,
which has a number of small and fair rivers, and
following the north shores of the river and of the
Gulf of St. Lawrence up to the Strait of Belle Isle,

Where to be Found 43

there are scores of tributary rivers abounding
with salmon. Many of these well up the north
shore have not been tested sufficiently to allow
of any just estimate of their capacities. The
Miramichi and Nepisiguit are probably the
best of those south of the Restigouche in the
Bay of Chaleurs. This river is a large and
beautiful stream running back between the
provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick, a
distance of over two hundred miles, with four
large tributaries — the Metapedia, the Upsal-
quitch, the Patapedia, and the Kedgwick. It
flows in a generally northeast direction and
has in its entire course no falls or rapids which
a canoe cannot surmount. The protection of
this river was undertaken by the Dominion
government in about 1870, and the stream was
leased in two divisions to Mr. (now Sir San-
ford) Fleming and to Mr. Bridges. In 1880 the
riparian rights were decided by the English Privy
Council to belong to the owners of riparian real
estate, and were takeir away from the Dominion
government. The Ristigouche Salmon Club has
since that time acquired by purchase, and by lease
from the provincial government of the fishing in
front of ungranted lands, a large portion of

44 The Atlantic Salmon

the best angling on the river, and has been
very largely occupied, with other riparian owners
and lessees, in vainly trying to induce the
provincial and Dominion government and offi-
cials to enforce the laws they have made relat-
ing to the protection of the persecuted salmon.
Under the guise of carrying on a government
hatchery at the Tideway, the officials in charge
have for years entirely closed one channel of the
river with a net, and arranged another with a
wing from the farther shore, which practically
prevents fish from ascending a second channel.
The nets held under government licenses are
nearly all extended farther into the channel
than is legal, the regulation being that only one-
third of it may be covered with them, and these
are very often not lifted, as provided by law,
from Saturday night to Monday morning. The
river under this condition of mismanagement is
deteriorating, and doubtless would now be
substantially worthless but for the very large
sums annually expended by the riparian owners
in guardianship.

If the laws were enforced on this magnificent
river, it could, undoubtedly, be made in five
years to produce, for a considerably smaller

Where to be Found 45

number of nets than are now licensed, three
or four times the number of salmon, and the
two governments of Quebec and New Bruns-
wick could get a proportionate increase in the
rentals from ungranted water fronts. They
certainly would fetch it with tenfold the number
of salmon in the river, and there could be no
question as to the feasibility of having them
there in a few years.

The rod fishing in this river now yields about
one thousand to twelve hundred salmon and
grilse yearly, which is nothing like what it
should do. It is impossible to get any reliable
statistics as to the catches of the netters, as it
is their policy to return as few fish as possible.
As an example of this, some years since I,
with a friend and the head guardian of the
river, went down to the tide head early one
morning to ascertain the catch of a certain net
stretched more than halfway across the channel.
Three men were lifting it when we reached them,
and we counted in the meshes of the net ninety
salmon. I reported this to the Commissioner
of Marine and Fisheries at Ottawa, and a few
weeks thereafter received from him the affidavits
of five or six persons, who swore they lifted the

46 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

net in question on the morning we were there,
and only eight salmon were in it, which was the
largest catch of the season. One of the indi-
cations of the deterioration of a river is the
diminution in the average size of the fish, which
shows that an increasing proportion of the adult
salmon is being taken. It is a very sure sign,
even when the numbers show no decrease, as a
given year's crop of small fish may be greater
than those of preceding years, and a considerable
proportion of its individuals may not have visited
fresh water as grilse; but when fewer large fish
are taken, it shows a falling off in the supply.
The average size of Restigouche fish has dimin-
ished four or five pounds since 1883 or 1884.

On the other side of the Bay of Chaleurs we
have the Grand Bonaventure and the famous
Grand Cascapedia. This river was long reserved
by the Dominion government for the use of the
governor general, but after its ownership became
vested in the Province of Quebec it was leased to
a club, *>. the part of it formerly reserved. It is
comparatively well protected, and full of large fish.
One of fifty-four pounds was taken some years
since by Mr. Dun, and the average, one year with
another, is probably above twenty-five pounds.

Where to be Found 47

The rules of the club provide that if a member
has a guest only one rod may be fished, and the
fish killed by the guest are charged to the score
of the member. Only eight fish per day can be
taken by any one rod. As an instance of what
has been done on this great river, Mr. Kennedy
of New York fished there from June 19 to and
including July 3, 1900, having with him a guest
for the last four days. Some of the time the fish-
ing was much hindered by the great quantity of
logs floating down the river, and several days
were broken by heavy rain.

The catch was, in thirteen fishing days : —

Mr. Kennedy, 64 salmon 1725 Ibs., average 26f-J Ibs.
Guest, 8 salmon 242 Ibs., average 30^ Ibs.

Largest fish (taken by Mr. Kennedy) forty-four
pounds ; there were five fish of forty pounds and
over, and twenty-four of thirty pounds and over.
The only river I know which can compare with
this is the Grand Romaine on the north shore —
a large river, but onty fishable a short distance
from the sea by reason of a large fall. I have no
statistics of this fishing, but the average weight is
very large. I saw on one of the Gulf port steam-
ers, twenty years since, four fish caught there,

48 The Atlantic Salmon

which a gentleman was taking home, the weights
being from forty-two to forty-five pounds. Occa-
sionally the angler has to go out to sea in his
canoe in following fish hooked in this river.

The St. Anne de Monts is another good river
of the north shore, where the fish run large. The
Grand and Dartmouth and others in the Gaspe
district are good, and the fish are of fair average
size with some large ones. The Godbout on the
St. Lawrence is a remarkable river. It was owned
by the late Allan Gilmour of Ottawa, and is now
the property of Mr. Manuel. I have before me
the score of fish taken from 1859 to 1894. A
catch of fifteen to twenty salmon to one rod in a
day is not at all unusual. Mr. Gilmour took
forty-six on July 10, 1865, and Comeau (I think
the guardian) took on

July 9> '74,

57 salmon

10

25 salmon

ii

34 salmon

13

40 salmon

14

25 salmon

15

1 6 salmon

16

37 salmon

17

1 6 salmon

18

28 salmon

20

27 salmon, &c,

Wbere to be Found 49

the whole score for eighteen days, including these
specified, being three hundred and sixty salmon
weighing thirty-eight hundred and thirty pounds.

The nearest approach to such a day as this of
which I have heard was the bag of Sir Bache
Cunard on the Grimersta, in the island of Lewis,
off the west coast of Scotland, which was fifty-
four fish in one day and thirty-four the day follow-
ing; the average weight, however, was but seven
pounds, all with the fly. The largest catch that I
have heard of in Britain is that reported by Mr.
Senior, of Lord Louth, on the Beauly, where he
killed one hundred forty-six fish in five days —
whether consecutive days or not is not stated.

The fish are small on the Godbout, but so is
the river, which is very broken, and fished almost,
if not entirely, from the shore.

The Moisie and the Mingan, farther down, are
good and the fish are large, averaging, I should
say, over twenty-two pounds. The Natashquan
is a good-sized stream and full of small fish of
from eight to twelve -pounds. The Natashquan
marks about the eastern limit of the rivers which
are at all well known, though a number of those
between there and the Strait of Belle Isle have
been fished in a superficial way.

50 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

Two of my friends were on the Masquarrie, the
Washicoutai, and the Olemancheeboo ten years
since, and had splendid sport. On the last-named
river one rod took sixteen fish, averaging seven-
teen pounds, in an afternoon from one pool. I
have since been there. The banks of the pool
where the sixteen fish were taken are of solid
rock, affording good standing and walking facili-
ties. Where the fish all take is an easy cast from
opposite the top of the pool, which is short with
a rather stiff rapid at its foot. All the fish go
down this rapid after being hooked, and are killed
in a deep pool just below. The year I visited
this river was a very late one, and the salmon had
not ascended when we left, the i2th of July. So
we got nothing but trout and a number of the
beautiful, richly colored arctic char — the first I
had ever seen.

I find I have omitted in its order the St. John
River, which is above the Natashquan, and is
noted for the numbers of its salmon, mosquitoes,
and flies. These last are the curse of the north
shore rivers, and unless anglers going there are
very well protected with gloves, veils, etc., and
are willing to go unwashed after their hands and
faces are well glazed over with tar and oil, which

Where to be Found 51

is on the whole by far the best defence against
flies, they are likely to suffer more than almost
any sport will repay.

The Esquimaux River in the Strait of Belle
Isle is, judging from such few reports on it as I
have heard, probably the greatest known salmon
river. It is very large and long, without heavy
falls to prevent the salmon from ascending to its
upper waters. The fish are in vast numbers and
of large size — perhaps not so large as those of
the Grand Romaine or Cascapedia, but well up
in that class. This river has been leased by Mr.
J. J. Hill, who also has the St. John, and informs
me that in 1900 the catch at the one stand of
nets at the mouth of the Esquimaux was fifty-
one thousand salmon. The St. John, in 1900,
fished for an average of about eight days by six
rods, yielded two hundred and thirty-six salmon,
nearly thirty a day — biggest fish twenty-eight
pounds, average i3y^-. This year, 1901, owing
to the party reaching the river rather late, the
fishing was not so geod, though a catch of about
eighty thousand pounds was reported to have
been made by the nets at the mouth. On the
Godbout in 1901 three rods took in twelve days
two hundred and seventeen salmon.

52 The Atlantic Salmon

The vast, practically unexplored region north
of the Strait of Belle Isle, extending up to Davis
Strait and to the west, including a thousand
miles of shore line of Hudson Bay, is undoubt-
edly full of salmon rivers where a fly has never
been cast. I have heard vague rumors of the
enormous quantities of salmon in the rivers just
north of the Strait of Belle Isle, the Hamilton
being especially spoken of. At the present ratio
of destruction those wanting salmon fishing are
quite likely to have to look as far as these remote
regions for it in the next twenty-five years, but
now the lack of means of transportation makes it
out of the question for any to attempt going far-
ther than the Natashquan, except by means of
a good sea-going yacht, or one of the fishing
schooners built for the dangerous navigation of
the north shore.

CHAPTER III

TACKLE

" A man that goeth to the River for his pleasure must under-
stand when he goeth there to set forth his Tackles. The first
thing he must do is to observe the Sun, the Wind, the Moon,
the Starres, & the Wanes of the Air, to set forth his Tackles
according to the times and Seasons to goe for his pleasure &
some profit." — BARKER'S "Art of Angling," 1653.

THE attempts at information which are com-
prised in the foregoing chapters of this work I
trust may in some manner prepare the reader for
the more important and practical features which
are to follow. There is hardly a pleasure of early
spring more delightful to the angler than that of
getting out his rods, reels, and lines after their
long rest, looking them over to proy'e^that'^every-
thing is in good order for the approaching tests
they are to undergo^to see that tliei lizyes are
unfrayed and strong, that the reels work well and
smoothly, that the windings on the r.ods'a're per-
fect, and the rods themselves are as-/pliant and
trustworthy as they have been in past yearjs, and

53

54 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

have not forgotten their cunning gained in many
an exciting contest with a lively salmon.

The spring examination is the appetizer for the
coming banquet, and the imperative call for it is
felt when the warm breezes from the south swell
the buds, when the air grows soft and balmy, and
you know that the salmon are growing uneasy in
their mysterious haunts in the ocean's depths,
and, perhaps unconsciously, preparing for the
ascent of their native rivers. As " The Tyne
Fisher's Call" in "The Fisher's Garland" for
1831, begins: —

" The snow has left the verdant heights,

Which stand by rapid Tyne,
And spring invites the blithesome wights
Who wield the rod and line,"

so we, on this side of the Atlantic, feel the fever
in our veins, and feed it by these preparations, as
pleasant as they are necessary.

Although^ salmon may be taken with a poor
rod aid'ara/.imperfect reel, a sound, strong line is
an absotut£ -necessity. Strength without bulk is
the first consideration. I am obliged to differ
with those- who assume that, because a dead pull
of abok<t three pounds at the end of a line will
put as^.big a strain on the rod as any salmon ever

INDIANS SPEARING SALMON

TOAD BROOK POOL, RESTIGOUCHE RIVER

Tackle 55

does, the pull on the line in playing a fish does
not exceed the weight shown by the scale. With
sometimes twenty to fifty yards of line under water
the salmon will generally, if not always, get a much
greater pull than three pounds, as he has to over-
come the friction of the water on the line in addi-
tion to that of the bent rod and the resistance of
the reel, even when going straight away. More
frequently, however, he goes across-stream or in a
diagonal direction to its current, which greatly
increases the strain on the line. If after going
down-stream the fish turns and runs up, "drown-
ing the line," as it is called, he has to pull up
against the current the whole weight of the sub-
merged line until the angler can get below him,
which is often impracticable. In these cases the
tension on the line is very much greater than a
straight pull of three pounds would indicate, and
a large amount of effort on the part of the salmon
is exerted before the result of it is felt on the rod.
In towing a boat up-stream with a long line, if it
becomes "bellied" by^ being slack and carried
out in the stream by the current, a large amount
of power has to be exerted by the horse or man
pulling the boat along, before the boat feels it at
all, the line having first to overcome the force

$6 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

exerted against it by the current. So it is with a
line of length to which a salmon is attached.
Again, when a salmon after a run down or across
stream turns, runs up-stream and jumps, often
appearing yards above where you think he is,
he has to pull out of the water the weight of the
line between him and you which is "bellied"
by the current and by his course, and the angler,
though he have a strong pressure on the fish,
may not feel it any stronger when he jumps
three feet in the air. With a long bellied line
out, though it is advisable to follow this rule of
lowering the rod as the fish jumps, I don't believe
it is effective in reducing the strain a particle, as
the fish is back in the water again long before
the dipping of the rod could act on the line curv-
ing between the angler and the fish and pressed
downward through a long distance by a rapid
current. Enough salmon break loose in their
jumps to prove that on such occasions a much
stronger force than usual is brought against the
line, if there were no other way of demonstrating
this fact Mr. Wells, in "Fly Rods and Fly
Tackle," gives some interesting and ingenious
experiments as to the strain exerted in pounds
and ounces by trout, which show it to be much

Tackle 57

greater than would be supposed from the result
given by attaching a spring balance to a line and
having some one hold the rod up and pull against
the balance as much as the rod would bear.

In quick water a trout of i Ib. 9 oz. pulled 2 Ibs.
In quick water a trout of 2 Ib. 2 oz. pulled 2 Ibs. 1 2 oz.
In quick water a trout of 3 Ib. — pulled 4 Ibs. 4 oz.
In quick water a trout of o Ib. 12 oz. pulled i Ib. 4 oz.
In quick water a trout of 3 Ib. 4 oz. pulled 5 Ibs.

In " comparatively still water " a trout of three
pounds four ounces pulled four pounds eight
ounces. These experiments were made by attach-
ing the spring balance to the line beyond the
point of the rod.

The American braided, waterproofed silk line
long bore the palm as the best one made, but
this high reputation has been greatly dimmed in
the past few years, during which time I, with
many others, have found these lines distinctly
inferior to their former reputation. They do not
seem to have anything like their old durability,
and after one season's use are apt to knuckle
and grow very tender for a distance from the
end, sometimes breaking suddenly where casual
observation would show them sound. A new
line has lately appeared in Britain and here

5 8 The Atlantic Salmon

called the u Olinea," which appears very good,
and possibly may prove equal to the old line. I
have tried it but one season, when it was satis-
factory. Lines should be selected with reference
to the rods on which they are to be used, a very
light line on a heavy rod being as objectionable
as a heavy line on a light rod : in the first in-
stance the weight of the line is not sufficient
to bring out the spring of the big rod; and in
the second, the strength of the rod not being
great enough to lift a good length of the heavy
line from the water.

The tapered line I do not regard as desirable.
It looks rather nicely when not in use, but
adds nothing to the casting qualities ; and when
the line is shortened by losing a portion of it,
which is sure to happen, its only possible advan-
tage over a line of uniform size is gone. Mr.
Cholmondeley Pennell says he "found there was
no appreciable difference in calm weather (be-
tween tapered and ' level ' lines), but when
casting across, or still more against a sharp
wind, the * swelled ' line went out decidedly
straighter and more easily." So soon as the end
of a line is at all frayed or knuckles in places,
and can be easily bent at a right angle even

Tackle 59

though it is strong and will stand quite a hard
pull, then is the time to cut it off as far as the
portion which is absolutely sound ; for in such
places the line will often break with the
rushes of a fish directly after it has stood a
pull of eight or ten pounds or more. It is not
safe, and he who continues using it will at last
do so to his sorrow. A line of one hundred
yards is quite long enough for general use, and
one of one hundred and twenty yards is ample for
any emergency likely to occur. By cutting in
two a line of one hundred and twenty yards, and
having each part neatly spliced to the end of a
thin linen Cuttyhunk bass line of one hundred
yards, you get two lines of one hundred and sixty
yards each which occupy much less reel space
than one hundred twenty yards of salmon line,
and are quite as strong and durable, besides
being more economical. Salmon lines should
be unwound from the reel and dried thoroughly
as soon as practicable after being used. This
can be done without^taking the reel off the rod
or removing the casting line, by simply pulling
the line from the reel, the rod being hung on
hooks or cleats, and leaving it on the ground or
floor beneath in loose coils, which will soon

60 The Atlantic Salmon

become perfectly dry by exposure to the air if
under cover. Lines should be tested before
going into use at the beginning of the season,
and frequently during use in the parts of them
exposed to the water.

Casting Lines or Leaders

Every one knows that these useful and in
many cases indispensable parts of the angler's
outfit are made from the silkworm, though not,
as many suppose, from the entrails of this
creature. The gut is in reality the unspun silk
of the worm, which, instead of being allowed to
be used for a cocoon, is taken from the insect
prematurely. The worms are selected just
before they are about to begin spinning, which
is known by the attendants from certain signs
in the caterpillar — the cessation of feeding, and
the appearance at the mouth of a small filament
of silk. Mr. H. P. Wells in his book on " Fly
Rods and Fly Tackle" describes at length the
operation of obtaining the gut, from which I
condense the following: When the worms are
ready to spin they are immersed in a pickle of
vinegar and water for several hours. They are
then removed, seized at each end, and forcibly

Tackle 6 1

torn apart, disclosing the two silk sacs, which
are about twice the length of the worm. These
are taken by the operator at each end, stretched
out to the desired length, and placed upon
a piece of board, where they harden almost
immediately on exposure to the air. Later the
gut is washed in pure water, and hung up where
a current of air will pass through and dry it.
When dry, the strands are tied up in bundles,
and sold to those who cleanse them from the
little adhering filaments of the sacs, and prepare
them for market. The best gut is the longest,
the roundest, and the most transparent, and,
of course, the scarcest. Good salmon gut should
be sixteen to eighteen inches long, though it is
becoming harder year by year to get it of this
length and perfect. Mr. Wells holds out a
remote prospect of gut being produced in this
country of a very much greater length than any
now or formerly in use. He prints a letter from
a Mr. Garlick of Bedford, Ohio, who states that
he has produced gut- from the Attacus cecropia
eight or nine feet long and strong enough to
hold a salmon, and quotes from an article by Mr.
C. F. Orvis, an old angler and fly tier, which says,
" I have in my possession a round, perfect strand

62 The Atlantic Salmon

of gut which is now six feet long, and a piece has
been broken from it; it is large and strong; it
was drawn from some big silkworms by a man
in New Jersey." What a boon it would be to
anglers if gut such as this were attainable.
Chitty says in "The Fly Fisher's Text-book,"
" Each piece should be also to the teeth as hard
as wire and transparent as glass, which testifies
strength, freedom from unravelled fibres that are
attended with an inclination to split or peel ;
knotted roughness which shows almost actual
rottenness," etc. While very few anglers in this
country tie their own casting lines, it is desirable
for all to know how a broken leader can be mended,
how to make a proper knot for the loop in the
end, and how to fasten a casting line which has
no loop at the end to the loop or eye of a hook.
First, I should warn all to eschew, without
exception, any casting lines where silk whipping
or lapping is used. This is said to prevent the
knots from cutting where the strands of gut are
tied ; but the advantage is very questionable, and
is much more than neutralized by the silk whip-
ping growing white after a few days' use, which
wears off the varnish, and the invariable loosen-
ing of the ends, always resulting in the angler

Tackle 63

being obliged to take off the whipping entirely,
and in frequently having to retie the knots to
which it was applied. I copy from the Badmin-
ton the single fisherman's knot for tying strands
of gut.

" The two ends of the gut A A are laid parallel
to each other, being held in that position between
the first finger and the thumb of the left hand
at the point and in the position in which they
are to be joined. A half-hitch knot BB is then
made by the right hand with the end of each
strand alternately around the strand of the other,
and each separately drawn tight." When the
knot is drawn tightly together, it forms a very
neat and strong union of the strands of gut, and
the ends may be cut off as closely as possible.
The double knot is perhaps even less liable to
slip, and is the one generally used in tying salmon
casts. " It is made by taking two double instead
of two single half-hitches, the end with which
each half-knot is tied is passed twice instead
of once around the central link, and through the
loop in the manner shown by the engraving."

64 The Atlantic Salmon

For making a loop at the end of the casting line
the very simple one below is quite as good as any,
and so easy as to be within the knowledge of any
child of ten years.

Frequently one wants to fasten the casting line
to the fly when there is no loop on the former, as
it makes a neater knot, and the loop is often
objectionable by reason of its bulk, in low clear
water. " Tippets " or single strands of gut with
a small loop at one end to fasten to the casting
line are much used in Britain instead of the ordi-
nary and frequently clumsy and bulky loop. To
attach the fly to one of these " tippets " or to the
plain end of the casting line I have found, after
many years of use, the " figure 8 knot " is the best.

Although the knot is shown on a turn-down-eyed
hook, it can be used just as well on any gut or
other loop, and is the strongest and most conven-
ient I know for fastening the casting line to the

Tackle 65

reel line. In " Figure A " the casting line being
passed through the eye or loop, and always from
the back of the hook, a half -hitch is made by turn-

FlGURE A.

ing the gut once around the shank of the hook, or
fly, then between the shank and the gut below the
eye. In "Figure B" the knot is shown finished all
but being drawn tight. The end of the gut after
the completion of the half-hitch being passed
around the gut beyond the eye and above, not be-

FIGURE B.

low, it when the hook is held in the position shown,
then tuck the end tkrough the loop first formed
on the back of the hook in making the half-hitch,
and holding fast the end of the gut, pull tightly
the part of the line above the hook, and you have
a knot which cannot come loose, is neat, not lia-

66 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

ble to cut, and can be taken out very quickly with
the end of a small sharp bodkin, or its equivalent,
which no angler should ever be without. Mr.
Wells says truly of this knot : " This method of
attaching the flies to the leader has, I believe,
many advantages. The customary loops are apt
to immesh more or less air which, when sub-
merged, shines like polished silver, while all dis-
turbance of the water caused by the knot I
advocate is so close to the fly as to be readily
attributed to the motion of the fly itself. Again,
it is unnecessary to pass the fly through the loop,
and the injury it not unfrequently suffers from
this cause is avoided."

Casting lines should not be exposed to the
light or to the direct rays of the sun except when
in use, nor bent at anything like an angle unless
thoroughly soaked. When put away they should
be wrapped in something which excludes the
light (I use a piece of chamois skin), and im-
mersed in a bowl of water four or five hours be-
fore being used. I have now casting lines that I
bought ten years since which have been carefully
kept, and this season they were quite as good as
ever. There is a great difference in the durabil-
ity of casting lines which are apparently identi-

Tackle 67

cal in size and quality. I once had one of several
tied for me by Nicholas Brown of the Weir Cot-
tage, Gal way, Ireland, which I used for an entire
season and took on it thirty-eight salmon. The
gut was not extra heavy, but very hard and as
stiff, when dry, as a wire of the same size would
be. It is still apparently fit for service, but I am
preserving it along with other " memorabilia " of
my angling experiences. Good salmon gut should
stand a strain of fourteen to eighteen pounds
before breaking, but it is not advisable to test any
the angler is going to use as highly as that, e.g.
a man was once backed to eat a leg of mutton at
2 P.M. At 12 M. his supporters were betting on
him heavily ; and one of them, being asked by a
friend what made him so sure of victory, replied,
in confidence, that his man could not lose, as they
had that morning tested him on two legs of mut-
ton, which he had finished easily.

Reels

A good reel is of the first importance in salmon
fishing, and until the past few years the art of
making one had practically ceased in develop-
ment for half a century. However, of late, there
has been very great improvement, not only in the

68 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

materials used, but in the manufacture of this
implement, and the adoption of the tension screw
to regulate the pull required to take off the line
has been of the greatest service to anglers. The
general reduction in weight is hardly less useful,
although a reel may be too light for the rod as
well as too heavy. A multiplying reel, or one
which may be changed from a click to a multi-
plier, is not thought nearly so good as the plain
click reel. A wide spool on a reel is objection-
able on account of the tendency of the line, when
reeling in rapidly, to become unevenly distributed
on the spool, when the coils which are above the
general level are apt to slip down and cover a
part of the line more lately reeled in, fouling it so
it will not render. With a narrower barrel to the
reel this risk decreases, but still exists in a modi-
fied form ; and one should, in the most exciting
period of taking in line, try to so guide it with
the thumb of the left hand that it is evenly
wound on the barrel of the reel. It is easier to
do this when the reel is on top of the rod in play-
ing a fish, as it uniformly is in this country, than
when it is kept underneath, both in casting and
when a fish is hooked, as is generally the British
custom. To my mind, the advantages of our

Tackle 69

method are: first, the rest to the rod from hav-
ing the strain on it changed by turning it over
from the position in which it is used when cast-
ing ; second, the saving to the line by the decrease
of the friction against the rings by the employment
of the American method ; and third, having the
reel in much plainer sight at the time of its hard-
est work. Still, the majority of the best anglers
in the world keep the reel always underneath.

Returning to the width of the reel, a very nar-
row one is not so good as one of from i^ to if
inches' width of barrel, and about 3^ to 4^- inches
outside diameter. A reel of these dimensions
will hold one hundred yards of fair-sized line, say
No. 2 or 3, and more than that if the lower half of
the line is of linen. By the tension screw, which is
on the side of the reel opposite the handle, the pull
may be regulated, but should always be kept easy,
as a hard-running reel will not only wear out more
quickly, but one is more likely to lose fish with it.
It is noticeable how much less likelihood there is
to overrun in the more modern reels than in those
of former days, even when without the tension
screw. When a reel clogs from heating of the
interior mechanism, by plunging it in the water
it may frequently work all right again.

yo Tbe Atlantic Salmon

Hooks and Flies

When a salmon rises and takes a fly, closing
his mouth tightly on it and turning to the bottom
with the hook sometimes well down toward the
root of his tongue, he is pretty certain to drive
the barb of it far enough into him to make his
capture moderately certain. In such cases a
slight difference in the angle of the penetrating
line is not important; but there are many in-
stances where the fly is very slightly nipped or
touched by the fish, and for such, the hook with
the most acute angle of penetration will fasten
the most fish, other things being equal. Mr.
Cholmondeley Pennell, in his " Modern Practi-
cal Angler," has treated the subject of hooks most
ably and exhaustively, and any one interested in
the subject should not fail to read what he has
written. The treatise on " Fish-hooks " in Mr.
Wells's " Fly Rods and Fly Tackle " is also enter-
taining and instructive. Mr. Cholmondeley Pen-
nell states that the objects to be aimed at in a
perfect hook are, (i) penetration, (2) holding
power, (3) strength, (4) lightness and neatness,
and thinks the best combination of these virtues
is found in the hook called the Pennell. I should

Tackle 71

place, along with the Pennell, the O'Shaugh-
nessey and the Limerick. Of course, if a man
fastens a good proportion of the fish which rise to
him, he naturally ascribes it to his own skill or to
the hook he is then using, being liable to over-
look the fact that the salmon may be rising with
the determination to take the fly ; and, on the other
hand, a hook may be condemned because the fish
are rising at it more in sport than in earnest, and
consequently few are fastened.

Hooks are known by sizes, and it is important
for the angler to keep these in mind when order-
ing flies. The turn-down-eyed hook is justly
gaining in popularity, and I think it safe to ven-
ture the prediction that ten years hence the
plain shanked hooks for fly fishing, especially for
salmon, will be as rare as hammer shotguns are
now. It will be a blow to fly tiers, as the gut loop
used to attach the casting line is in nineteen times
out of twenty the first part of the fly to give way,
and once broken or frayed, the fly is useless. This
is entirely obviated by the use of the eyed hook,
which will insure a double or treble average dura-
bility to the fly, a most important item to the
angler. Besides the advantage of durability, the
eyed hook can be fastened to the casting line

72 The Atlantic Salmon

much more neatly than one with a gut loop. Of
course the loop at the end of the casting line
cannot be used and must be cut off, or the fly
attached first to a " tippet " which may be looped
on the casting line. The attachment of the tip-
pet, or of the casting line, to the eyed hook (and

that with the eye turning down is the best) may
be made by the figure 8 knot shown on p. 65, or
as by the cut below which shows the jam knot
This is recommended by Mr. Cholmondeley Pen-
nell especially for trout and grayling flies, but
I have used it on salmon flies with good results,
though I prefer the figure 8 knot, as it seems
rather more secure. When the gut has been
passed through the hook eye and the slip knot

<r

has been made on the gut above, it should be
left large enough to pass over the eye, when on
gradually tightening the central link the "jam
knot" is formed. Of course it is necessary in
this, as in all other attachments of the fly to the

Tackle

73

casting line, to examine the point of union fre-
quently to see that the gut is not frayed and
everything is right. In salmon fishing this ex-
amination as to all parts of the tackle should
be frequent and searching, that one may know,

before it is too late to apply a remedy, that it is
not his fault if the fish is lost.

The sizes of hooks vary somewhat in different
factories, but the following diagram approximates
the average sizes, from 12 to i°, which latter is
quite as large as any one is likely to want in this
country.

74 The Atlantic Salmon

Rods

I am not at all certain that either the rod or
the fly are the most important parts of the
salmon angler's outfit, so far as the perfection or
pattern of either is concerned. Salmon may be
taken on flies of almost any pattern, size, or
roughness or neatness of manufacture, and a rod
may suffice for successful sport and at the same
time violate nearly every one of the formulae used
by the most eminent makers. Still, a man can
fish with much more comfort if he has a rod well
balanced, and adapted to his strength and to his
manner of casting — always supposing he has
had experience enough to know a rod that suits
him when he has it in his hands. If he has not,
he should leave the selection to some more ex-
pert friend. A rod for use from the bank should
be longer than one used from a boat, as in the
latter method of fishing the boat or canoe can
almost always be placed within an easy cast of
the spot one wishes to reach ; whereas it is fre-
quently necessary in fishing from the bank to
make casts beyond the scope of a short rod.
However, in the latter method of fishing, alto-
gether the more attractive and sportsmanlike,

HEAD OF LANDLOCK SALMON IN SPAWNING SEASON

A PACIFIC SALMON' AFTER SPAWNING

ATLANTIC SALMON DURING SPAWNING SEASON

Tackle 75

the British idea as to the weight and length of
rods has changed very much of late ; and I think
few would now recommend a rod longer than
eighteen feet for fishing from the bank, whereas
twenty years ago those of twenty to twenty-two
and twenty-four feet even were in common use.
Certainly such heavy engines have no practical
advantage save that of developing the muscles
by unnecessary labor, and at the latter half of
a long day, toil for this purpose ceases to be a
pleasure. Even were rods of equal weight, the
shorter would be the easier for continuous use.
One often hears a person say, generally of a
heavy, unwieldy rod, " What a rod that would
be to kill a fish," oblivious to the fact that one
rod is just as good as another in its killing
powers, provided both are well enough made not
to break at the strain required to hold the
salmon. I know of a thirty-eight-pound fish
being killed on a five-ounce trout rod, and I
landed one of twenty-eight pounds on a rod
not much heavier. It was rather tedious, as I
was afraid to put the strain on the fish that an
ordinary salmon l*od would have stood easily.

The combination in a rod to be sought, and
not easy to find, is one of strength, lightness, and

76 The Atlantic Salmon

casting power that is adaptable to a short as well
as to a long line. There are many rods which
need a heavy weight of line to work well, and at
any distance under fifteen to twenty yards are
too stiff for good work. Others are so limber
and withy that they are only capable of doing
well at short ranges, and are useless for anything
like a long cast. A properly constructed rod
should have the strength equally distributed
from butt to tip, so that a pull at the latter point
will cause the rod to bend throughout its entire
length. If the spring is confined to one-half the
length, owing to the weakness of the top or stiff-
ness of the butt, the rod is defective, as in cast-
ing the spring should be easily perceptible to
the end of the butt. Top-heavy rods of the
Castle Connell pattern, though possessing great
power, are not pleasant to fish with, owing to the
great proportionate weight of the top.

Major Traherne, one of the best anglers of his
day and the author of " Salmon Fishing with the
Fly," in the Badminton Library, and " The Habits
of the Salmon," two most interesting and instruc-
tive treatises, says : " I have tried all sorts and
sizes of rods by various makers, and the one I am
now using, and have used for many years, is, to

Tackle 77

my mind, perfection. It is a greenheart in three
splices, and if a rod is to be judged by its powers
of casting, it should be a good one. It is the one
with which I won the first prize at the Fishing
Tournament at Hendon in July, 1884, for the
longest overhead cast, with a cast of forty-five
yards one inch." Major Traherne does not men-
tion the length of this rod, but I was told by Far-
low, when in '86 or '87 I went to order a rod of
this pattern, that Major Traherne was then using
one of sixteen feet. That length being nearer in
accordance with my ideas, I had one of that size
made, which I still own. It is an excellent rod
and apparently indestructible; but I suppose I
shall be adverse to the opinions of most British
anglers when I say that I prefer, for fishing from
a canoe, a rod of the earlier make of Forrest &
Son of Kelso, Scotland. I have used one of
these, fifteen feet long, for twenty-five seasons,
and killed a great many heavy fish with it. It
has been varnished a few times, and some of the
whippings about the joints have been renewed;
but it is as good "as ever, including the two tips,
neither of which has been broken. Forrest rods
are used more than any others in this country,
but I fear that many sent over in late years are

78 The Atlantic Salmon

not so carefully and thoroughly made as those of
earlier dates. In balance and casting power up to
thirty yards, which is quite as far as any one needs
to throw, and generally too far for successful fish-
ing from a canoe, as salmon are neither so apt to
rise to a very long cast or to take the fly if they
do, I think a good fifteen-foot Forrest rod equal
to any I have seen. The American split bamboo
rods have great power and are light and delight-
ful implements to handle ; but many of them
have been found subject to a kind of dry rot
near the joints, which develops generally after
one or two seasons' use, when the rod will some-
times break at an ordinary cast without the least
previous sign of weakness. This general ten-
dency, which perhaps might be prevented by
great care of the rods, has made them unpopular
here, and in spite of their many advantages they
are not much used. It is rather strange that
trout rods made of the same material and by the
same makers are as durable as any other rods.
As between jointed and spliced rods, it is hard
to decide, though probably the jointed ones would
carry the preference. I believe, however, that a
spliced rod is more even in its action than a
jointed one, from having no part of it, as ferrules,

Tackle 79

stiff and immovable. For the same reason the
jointed rod would be more likely to break at the
points of union of the different sections than
would a spliced one. Perhaps, however, in actual
work the convenience in putting up and taking
down more than counterbalances the slight ad-
vantages I have named in the spliced rod.

: ^

Flies

" Large be your fly too, with expanded wings
Of various hues, at this he boldly springs."

— Williamson's British Angler, 1840.

I approach the subject of flies with the cer-
tainty that no opinions, experiences, or views on
the matter can be advanced which will not run
counter to those of many masters. I have never
met two reasonable anglers who would not differ
radically as to some of their doctrines regarding
flies. It is as ticklish a minor theme to venture
the expression of decided opinions upon, or to
lay down hard and fast rules about, as one could
easily find. Were it possible to furnish a tyro
with a dozen different patterns of flies and force
him to fish with them alternately for several sea-
sons on a good salmon river, some authentic
information might be gained as to which kinds

8o The Atlantic Salmon

were the favorites of the fish. However, as it
now is and probably always will be, each angler
has a theory or many theories of his own. If
they are the result of his experience, they may be
generally right, — for the waters in which he is
accustomed to fish, — but quite inappropriate for
water somewhere else. Again, some of these
theories may be based on extraordinary occur-
rences, as, on a certain occasion, when nobody
else was having any luck, the trial of a fly very
much larger or smaller, brighter, or darker than
those in use has been rewarded by the capture
of several fish, which the angler is likely to assume
would only have risen to the particular strange
fly they took. He can't say with anything like
certainty that the fish would not have taken
something else just as well, but very naturally
ascribes his success to some attractions in the
particular fly he has used. Almost any angler
has facts enough at his own command to dis-
prove nearly all statements that may be made
by others as to the virtues of special flies.

While I admit that I suffer with others from
the prevailing delusions on this subject, and that
in some respects I feel quite strongly in favor
of my own opinion, I will endeavor to explain

Tackle 8 1

my ideas with the full belief that many of them
can be successfully controverted. I am often
inclined to think that the simple views as to flies
held by a Micmac Indian, Jacques Vicaire, who
fished with me for many years are not so far out
of the way. " Wen salmon want a fly, he take
any fly damn quick. Wen he don't want none,
no matter how many you show him, he say go to

h ."

Perhaps I may begin by saying that, as a gen-
eral rule, large flies are better in high water and
early in the season, and small ones when the
water is low and clear. I have seen exceptions
to this rule, and fish taken on No. 3 and 4 flies
in early high-water fishing, and on one occasion
when we were using in July Nos. 8's and ic's in
the very low clear water, I took four good fish
one afternoon on a large No. 2 toppy. I knew
salmon were in the pool, and had tried them in
vain with various small flies for several days.
When I changed to the toppy they took it at
once. I would not therefore recommend a big
fly of this kind for low, clear water, though a
similar experiment might succeed when salmon
will not take the flies appropriate to the time
and place. As to the sizes of flies, what may be

82 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

large on some rivers would be considered small
on others. On the Shannon in Ireland I am
informed that 8° flies are used for the spring
fishing. I took three fish one morning on the
Restigouche with a fly I should think as large as
that, which was given me by an English friend.
The water was very high and dark after a heavy
rain, and the fish came for the enormous bunch
of feathers just as freely as they did to the No. i
Silver Doctor a friend was using in the pool
above me.

I am quite sure that salmon will apparently
change their ideas as to the desirability of certain
flies from year to year, as a woman changes the
pattern of her bonnet or a man that of his cigars
or neckties. Many years ago I tied a rough fly
with claret body, heavy gold tinsel, yellow tail,
blue hackle, and wild turkey wings. With this
fly I was more successful than with any other for
several seasons, of course using it more, but all
at once it seemed to lose its attractiveness and
has never regained it, though I give it a trial
every year. Of course, if a man puts on a strange
fly and gets a fish with it in short order, he will
go on using it, and the more fish it takes the
stronger belief he will have of its merits, not tak-

Tackle 83

ing it into account that he cannot be sure some
other fly would not do quite as well. Major
Traherne in the Badminton Library speaks of
this change of mind as to flies in the salmon, and
mentions one violent revolution as to what was
wanted on the River Usk, in Monmouthshire,
where the change has been from a fly with a
dirty yellow body, blue or red cock's hackle, and
brown wing, to what is called the " Usk grub," a
wingless fly of tinsel chenille and coch-y-bon-dhu
hackle in joints. I have tried this fly on the
Restigouche often, but never with any success,
though I have taken fish on a brown hackle trout
fly, and on a bunch of fur from a squirrel's tail
tied on the shank of a hook. The Beaufort
Moth, a white-winged fly with peacock-herl body,
much like the Coachman, I have used with
good results for late evening fishing, from dusk
until pitch dark (the best time for the long,
smooth, flowing stretches), until last season, when,
after vainly trying the white fly for two evenings,
I changed to a " Causapscal," an all yellow fly of
the same size, No. i, and had thereafter fair sport
on that and some other flies quite as different
from the white one. A fish may not be in the
rising humor at eight o'clock, but at one minute

84 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

past he may have reached the point where his
appetite, or whatever it is which induces him to
rise, impels him to take one or some particular
passing fly. There is an instant when a salmon
changes his mind from a state of apathetic in-
difference to flies in general, to a desire to seize
any fly or some especial one that may be pre-
sented him. I have known of several instances
in support of this statement. A friend of mine
was fishing the big pool at Metapedia before the
club was formed, and when it was free to all of
the guests at Dan Frazer's hotel. Close behind
him and in line followed two canoes, an angler in
each, and all three were using the same fly, a
Jock Scott. My friend fished down to the bridge
without a rise, while each of the men not two
minutes behind him took a good fish from the
water he had just gone over. My friend had un-
doubtedly cast over these salmon, and had his
followers taken them so soon after with different
flies, he would naturally have concluded it was
not the Jock Scott that was wanted. This in-
cident proved, and I have others in my mind
nearly as conclusive, that a salmon may become
a rising fish almost in the twinkling of an eye,
and will, so soon as the change occurs, rise to a

Tackle 85

fly he would not notice a moment before. I
should, as the result of my own practice in
salmon angling, place the size of the fly as the
most important element in its selection, as I
believe that very often, though not always, it is
the size that first appeals to the desires of the
salmon which, up to a certain point, it is our aim .
to consider. Salmon will very frequently take
freely under similar conditions flies of one size
but of very different colors, but not often flies
of greatly varying sizes. Last summer I took
three fish from one pool, each hooking himself at
the first rise and having had no other fly over
him, on a Silver Doctor, a Durham Ranger, and
a Brown Fairy, all tied on No. 4 hooks. I tried
the experiment, as there was a number of fresh-
run fish in the pool, and I wanted to give the
question of size a fair trial with uniform condi-
tions, as nearly as could be obtained.

I don't consider, however, that the result of
this experiment makes it at all certain that there
are not numerous occasions when a different
attitude on the part of the salmon might be
established. Indeed, I shall mention here-
after a notable instance or two wherein color
and not size was demanded.

86 The Atlantic Salmon

Next to size, I should place color as the de-
sirable attribute in salmon flies, and by color
I mean the general effect which may be obtained
by using materials of uniform hues. I do not
believe that salmon are sensitive to slight varia-
tions in color, or that the addition of a minute
feather or an extra twist of hackle, put in by
tackle-makers to increase their list by one pattern,
or by ambitious anglers in order that their names
may be revered by the present and future genera-
tions on account of having flies called by them,
matters one way or the other.

Sir Herbert Maxwell, in his very instructive
book, " Salmon and Sea Trout," gives a number
of examples to strengthen the theory that color
has nothing whatever to do with fish, either
salmon or trout, taking the fly, and that these
fish are practically color-blind. His own ex-
periences were with trout, which he found would
take a bright blue or red May fly quite as well
as one of the natural color of the insect. The
May fly being about the best imitation of the
real thing that exists in any artificial flies, this
might prove that the trout looked first for the
shape and size of the fly they were taking, and
perhaps experiments with other patterns not so

Tackle 87

closely resembling living insects might be more
conclusive if they gave the same result. Sir
Herbert quotes an anecdote from Thomas Tod
Stoddard of a a Scottish laird who so firmly
believed that color had nothing to do with the
taking properties of flies that he renounced all
color in his, and dressed them entirely in white,
and, thus equipped, took as many fish as one of
the " ablest craftsman " in the district whose
notions regarding the visual perception of fish
were perfectly different. So far as our trout go,
I can say with confidence they are not color-
blind, though this may be answered by the state-
ment, which is true, that they are not trout at
all, but char. Salmon may be more indifferent
to the color effect of flies than trout, but I am
very reluctant to admit, in the face of several tests
mentioned in this volume which seem to me con-
clusive, that this indifference comes from inability
to distinguish between a dark and a light colored
object or even to a finer perception of hues.

It is safe to say that in a lot of flies of fifty
varieties twenty-five would be so nearly alike
that a layman could not, without careful examina-
tion, tell the difference between them, and that
a salmon could do better is very improbable. No

88 The Atlantic Salmon

doubt the state of the water is an important
factor in the selection of the colors of flies to
be used in fishing it, and the appearance of a fly
is influenced, not only by the depth, swiftness, and
darkness of the water in which it is used, but
also by the condition of the atmosphere and the
various backgrounds of sky against which it is
seen by the fish. Major Traherne and other au-
thorities unite in saying that in a deep and rapid
stream a black or red fly will be more likely than
any other to attract a salmon's attention. The
Jock Scott, though a brilliant fly when seen dry,
has a very different and more modest appearance
when viewed, floating on the water, from a point
below the surface.

The capriciousness of salmon, one of their few
characteristics of which we are absolutely certain,
makes it unsafe to lay down any but the most
general propositions as to what colors or effects
in flies are to be used under varying conditions.
Perhaps bright or dark colors in strong or high
or dark water, e.g. the Durham Ranger, Popham,
Silver Doctor, Jock Scott, or Nicholson; for
medium and clearing water, the Butcher, Jock
Scott, Silver Doctor, and Fairies, brown and
black; for low water, Brown Fairy, Jock Scott,

Tackle 89

Silver Doctor. It will be observed that the Jock
Scott, Silver Doctor, and Fairies are included in
the flies appropriate for all stages of water and
varieties of weather, and although I have never
done it myself, I think a man provided with an
ample stock of different sizes of these three flies
could catch as many fish in any river of this
country as if he had the entire stock of any fly
tier in the world to choose from. Still, few
anglers have enough self-control to start forth
with so small a variety of flies, and the universal
practice is to take very many more than can
possibly be needed, which uselessly lumber up the
fly book, and ultimately are given away, lost, or
become food for moths.

In addition to the Jock Scott, Silver Doctor,
and Fairy flies, the Britannia (which is bright and
very handsome), the Nepisiguit Gray (which is tied
with rat's fur body, light silver tinsel, and mallard
wings, and which I have found excellent wher-
ever tried), the Durham Ranger, the Nicholson, or
Blue and Brown (claret body, gold tinsel, yellow
tail, blue and rich brown hackle mixed, with
cocked-up mallard wings), the Butcher, and the
Beaufort Moth, or some other white fly, should
certainly furnish enough variety for the most

90 The Atlantic Salmon

fastidious angler or salmon. It cannot be denied,
however, that there are occasions when salmon
will take things they have never seen before, and
which are as different from any of the creations
of the fly tier as can be imagined.

I took two on the Nepisiguit with a bunch
of muskrat fur tied to a bare hook, and, as I
have mentioned before, salmon have been taken
on the Restigouche with a bunch of red squirrel's
fur tied in the same way.

CHAPTER IV

CASTING AND WORKING THE FLY

" Who has not seen the Scarus rise,
Decoyed and caught by fraudful flies ? "

IT will be long ere the art of casting for
salmon in this country approximates the per-
fection it has attained many years since in the
British Isles. The rivers are so much larger
here, on the average, that most of the fishing is
done from a boat or canoe, which renders unnec-
essary the employment of switching, or any of the
various underhand casts without a knowledge
of which angling would be practically impos-
sible in many of the best rivers of Britain.
The time will doubtless come when these things
will be studied and learned here ; but now, though
we have anglers equal to any in overhand casting,
I should not know where to look for one posted,
practically, in the mysteries of any of the other
methods.

The overhand or ordinary cast is made by
lifting the line out of water to the end where

91

92 The Atlantic Salmon

the fly is, and throwing it out behind to its full
length before casting it forward. This is the
most important part of casting, as, if not done,
and there is a slack in the line at the time of
the forward cast, the fly is frequently snapped
off, and line and fly alight in front in a tangled
mass far in direction and distance from where
they should. In raising the line from the water,
a little jerk should be given just as the fly leaves
the surface, which makes it travel up and back
much faster than it otherwise would, and prevents
the line from hitting the ground or the water on
the back cast. It is desirable that the straight-
ened-out line behind should not fall to a lower
level than that of the angler's head, and if kept
higher than that it is better. The rod on the
back cast, to accomplish this, should go as little
as may be beyond the perpendicular. To see men
casting from a canoe, and not only a good bit
of the line, but often the tip of the rod, striking
the water behind, is far from a pleasant spectacle.
The higher the fly on the back cast, if straight,
the less force is required to send it forward, and
the knack of getting it into this position or any
other whereby the fly is straightened out ori the
back cast is in applying sufficient sudden force

Casting and Working the Fly 93

as it leaves the water, where there is some resist-
ance to add to the impetus necessary to put it
where it is wanted. To use sufficient power in
the right place, to get the fly straight out behind,
and to know just when to begin the forward
motion, the principal force in which is to be
exercised at the first part of it, with just suffi-
cient in the remainder of the cast to guide the
fly and make it alight properly, can only be
learned by practice ; which, after a long enough
time, enables one to cast far and fine without any
consciousness of the methods he employs. In
casting for salmon from the bank or from a boat,
the line should be thrown across and down-
stream at an angle of say fifty to sixty degrees.
If thrown straight across, the fly does not work
so well, and the line remains longer slack than if
the cast is made more down-stream. Still, I have
seen fish take the fly an instant after it touched
the water on the straight-across cast, though such
an occurrence is very unusual.

When the fly touches the water, the point of
the rod should be held stationary until the fly has
swung around one-third or a half of its course ;
then the rod should be made to follow the fly
until the end of the cast, the object being to

94 The Atlantic Salmon

keep the line from bellying, which prevents the
fly from working properly, and which also
renders a rising fish less likely to hook himself
than if there was a comparatively straight line
between the end of the rod and the fly. A cast
in which the fly reaches the water with a slack
line should be at once tried again, as in such
instances a belly is created in the line, the fly
goes down-stream headforemost for half or more
of the cast, and water passed over in that fashion
is practically unfished. It should always be
borne in mind that the fish should see the fly
before he sees the casting line, and, of course,
the clearer and shallower the water, the more
desirable this is. When the end of the cast is
reached, the fly should remain there an instant or
more, as salmon will sometimes follow it without
rising until it stops, or come at it from the other
side. One of the best anglers I know considers
the end of the cast the most deadly, and says he
hooks more fish by working the fly at that point
and gradually letting out and drawing in the line,
than in any other portion of the cast. Probably
this method attracts fish from a greater distance
than it does when the fly passes quickly over. At
this point the rod and line are in the most

Casting and Working the Fly 95

favorable position for the next cast, and the line
for that purpose may be lengthened out from the
reel so much as is desired. Three or four feet
additional on the length of each cast is not too
much unless in very heavy or dark water, when
this amount of new line can be reduced accord-
ing to the fancy of the angler. In fishing from
a boat and casting alternately to each side, one
should learn to use either hand uppermost on
the rod for either cast, as it is tiresome and
annoying to change hands every time the fly is
thrown. The fly, of course, is thrown by a
somewhat different motion when it has to be
cast from the left shoulder with the right hand
uppermost on the rod, or from the right shoulder
with the left hand above ; but a little practice in
this enables one to acquire the habit and to add
greatly to his ease and comfort in fishing.

In fishing from a bank or wading, while the
above general directions will apply in many cases,
there are also many where the cast has to be
made in quite a different way in order to cover
all the water within reach. Of course, if there
is plenty of clear space behind, the ordinary
overhand cast will do; but if, as is frequently
the case, the angler has a backing up of trees or

96 The Atlantic Salmon

high rocks, some other method of getting out the
line must be adopted. There are various kinds
of these underhand casts, as they are called, the
general principle of all being to so apply the
force to the rod that the fly, instead of going
above and behind the caster, travels low, and near
the surface of the water toward the centre of the
stream, and then by a sharp forward and outward
motion the fly is thrown high in the air, and as
it descends straightens out and alights in the
chosen spot, never in the course of its travels
going behind the angler. It is delightful and
astonishing to see how far a line can be thrown
by underhand casting, and any angler who has
seen a good exhibition of this art will be fired
with a desire to attain a practical knowledge of
it which I fear cannot be taught from books.
Major Traherne says on this subject: —

" Of all the various undercasts the one as practised on the
Spey is the most pleasant and satisfactory to make, and, as far
as I can judge, a longer line can be got out with it than with
any other. It is generally believed this cast can only be ac-
complished when wading, but if any one knows how to do it, it
can be done with quite as great ease and to as great perfection
when standing on the bank ; but in the latter case it requires a
sharp stream to be running evenly close into the bank which is
being fished from. ... To make a Spey cast successfully the

Casting and Working the Fly 97

line should be allowed to be carried well down the stream straight
and tight to its fullest extent, the point of the rod following the
direction of the fly and held very low. Before making the cast
the whole line should be lifted clear of the water ; if allowed to
drag under the surface the cast cannot be made. The Spey
fishermen who, I think, are the finest underhand casters in the
world, use rods made especially for the purpose. The upper
portion, instead of being straight is made in a curve, and, when
fishing the curve faces the stream, which gives the rod made in
this fashion a greater lifting power than an ordinary one, but I
have found I could make as good a cast with the latter."

The proper working of the fly as it goes down
and across stream on its journey, for the purpose
of producing in it a lifelike movement calculated to
impress upon the salmon in the neighborhood the
fatal belief that it is no sham, is a vexed question.
The popular conviction is that by moving the
point of the rod up and down constantly when
the fly is in the water, its charms are enhanced.
This looks very attractive when it can be seen, on
a short cast, but it is certain that on a medium or
long cast the up and down motion of the rod is
not communicated to the fly at all, and on the
short casts the action keeps the fly nearer the sur-
face of the water than is desirable in most rivers,
as the rule is to hold the point of the rod low that
the fly may sink as deep as possible. I am obliged

98 The Atlantic Salmon

to admit that I find myself a good part of the time
jerking my fly in fishing, though I am convinced
that, even if it does no harm, it does no good. It
serves to while away the time and gives one the
idea that he is doing something to help along his
sport.

CHAPTER V

FISHING THE POOL

"That pleasure which is most comely, most honest, and
giveth the most libertie to Divine meditation, and that without
all question, is the Art of Angling; which having ever been
most hurtlessly necessary, hath beene the sport or recreation of
God's Saints, of most holy Fathers, and of many worthy and
reverend Devines, both dead and at this moment breathing." —
"The Pleasures of Princes, or Good Men's Recreations," 1614.

WE will now suppose that the angler is at the
riverside full of hope and enthusiasm, provided
with two to six rods, a commensurate equipment
of reels, lines, and casts, and forty to fifty different
patterns of flies (for I feel sure that all hints and
counsels to moderation and economy in outfit,
even when supported by experience, will prevent
no one who can afford it from encumbering him-
self with much unnecessary tackle).

The morning is fresh and balmy with the first
breath of northern summer, the birds are carol-
ling their nuptial hymns, the light green of the
tender foliage of the hardwood trees is extended
well up the mountains, where it merges into the

99

ioo The Atlantic Salmon

darker hues of the spruce and hemlock reaching
to the summits, sharply defined against the clear
blue sky. The river, recovered from the spring
floods, and though still high, is falling, and flows
along its course, now through long flats with
apparent slowness, now subsiding into ripples as
the stream runs over a greater descent or a rock-
strewn bottom, now into crested waves which
break and foam as they encounter some huge
boulder around which they swirl and eddy in
angry haste, breaking into gentle ripples, dancing
in the sunlight as they reach the pool farther on.
Although the " School of Recreation " tells us
that " salmon bite best in May, June, and July at
three o'clock of the afternoon," and our early
belief was that daybreak is the best season for
their capture, we take a leisurely breakfast at
seven, smoke one pipe, and sally forth to the water
at eight, having bestowed much thought as to the
size and pattern of the fly we will first show on
the pool where no angler has cast one since last
year. The river being high but clear, a No. i
Jock Scott is chosen, though a friend going to
another pool is to try a Silver Doctor of one size
smaller. The apocryphal person through whose
coming exploits I hope to convey in a pleasing

Fisbing the Pool 101

manner what may be useful information to some,
and the reverse to others, is of course a skilful and
experienced angler, absolutely free from prejudice,
and tolerant of dissentient views. He is pro-
vided with a fifteen-foot Forrest rod with standing
rings, a Farlow tension reel holding sixty yards of
Olinea line, having spliced to it seventy-five yards
of Cuttyhunk thin bass line, a casting line tested
to seven pounds, a book filled with flies of all
kinds and sizes, from the veterans with honorable
records of former years, and still fit for service, the
cripples with parts of their dressing gone, or loops
frayed and unsafe, all of which should have been
thrown away long since, the dozens of flies never
used and probably never to be used, as one or two
trials of their kind have been fruitless, to the com-
paratively small number of pet patterns on which
he pins his faith, all tied on turned-down-eyed
hooks. These implements are put in the canoe
along with a gaff whipped to a /-lighjt spruce -pole
seven or eight feet long, a small, ; round; 'fettift, box
in which repose, between two pieces of wetted
thick flannel, a couple of fresh casts, and a sharp-
pointed bodkin, one of the most useful utensils of
the angler for taking out knots in a casting line
and loosening it from the fly.

102 The Atlantic Salmon

With this equipment he in his bark canoe is
poled by two Indians to a pool a mile above the
camp, which begins at the end of a heavy rapid,
deepening as it slackens around the edge of a
projecting ledge of rock, and gradually shoaling
with its downward flow until it reaches a com-
paratively smooth and level bottom, where it
glides with almost glassy smoothness, but with a
force which has to be felt to be realized. The
length of the pool proper is about fifty yards,
though it extends or shortens with the j*ise and
fall of the river. In low water the fish lie farther
up and even in the heavy rapid, while, when it is
high, they are all below the rock, sometimes scat-
tered over the shallow smooth stretch. On this
first morning of the season our angler, with the
assenting minds of his Indians, had his canoe
anchored just opposite the rock a good cast out
from shore, and began operations with his Jock
Sc<kt,< in the' fc^e and expectation of soon seeing
th£< bi^ boijiflg; rise and feeling the " tight line "
he had so anxiously been anticipating since the
first breezes of spring. Fishing with care and
deliberation, and all the time getting on better
terms with the rod, he came to the end of his cast,
about twenty-five yards, with no sign of a rise.

Fishing tbe Pool 103

Comparatively few fish are killed on casts of over
twenty -five yards, and the great majority on con-
siderably shorter ones. I don't think salmon are
so likely to rise on a long cast, as the fly is mov-
ing more quickly, and there is apt to be a belly in
the line which prevents it working so well, and
when they do rise they are liable to miss or be
slightly hooked.

The canoe being dropped down-stream six or
seven yards, fishing was resumed, and through
this and the next drop no evidence appeared to
justify the belief that a salmon was in the neigh-
borhood. However, the temptation to change the
fly was successfully resisted, and at the fourth
drop the labors of our angler were rewarded by
a noble rise of a big fish well out in midstream,
which came with a rush and splash, showing his
broad tail as he descended without the fly, nor did
he return to it though it was not moved for a few
seconds. A man once went salmon fishing for the
first time, and after half an hour's work had a tre-
mendous rise. The fish missed the fly, where-
upon the angler thanked God and ordered his
Indians to put him ashore, nor could he, for the
rest of his stay on the river, be persuaded to run
the risk of repeating the experience, lest it might

104 The Atlantic Salmon

result in hooking the fish. Neither could our
angler resist a transient feeling of relief, as his
salmon went down untouched, that the conflict
had been postponed. However, he waited five
minutes by the watch before casting over the fish
again, though this length of delay is greater than
many recommend, some saying that three, others
two, and still others that half a minute is suffi-
cient. Then, beginning two or 'three yards above
the fish, he cast down till he reached a spot sev-
eral yards lower, but no move. The Jock Scott
was then changed for another a size smaller, and
that in its turn for a Silver Doctor No. 3. When
these had vainly been shown the salmon, a change
was made to a No. 2 Durham Ranger. When
this passed over the fish there was a slight and
languid break, but that was all to be got out of
him, though three other flies, and finally the
original Jock Scott, were tried before the canoe
was dropped farther down. Fishing was resumed
with a No. 2 Jock Scott, and after half an hour's
work another rise came, this time on a long cast,
and scarcely visible, followed by a strong pull on
the line ; and as the rod bent a steady pull, not a
hard jerk, was given by the angler, the watchful
Indian in the stern hastily pulled up the anchor,

Fishing the Pool 105

the reel sung, and presently far out on the river a
fish of good size leaped high in the air, and then
started on his course down and across stream, the
canoe being paddled after him as quickly as pos-
sible until it got opposite and then ahead of him,
where it remained until line enough could be
reeled in to make it prudent for the angler to go
ashore. Just as he landed the fish sought the
bottom, ceased running, and began " jigging," that
is, giving hard, short jerks against the line. This
is said by some to indicate that a fish is lightly
hooked ; but be that as it may, this one presently
broke his hold, and the angler had the sickening
feeling which comes when it is realized that the
tie which held the man and the salmon is severed,
and that they are parted, probably forever.

Returning to the spot where the fish was
hooked, and just below which he had seen a
salmon jump while absent, the angler fished care-
fully down past the end of the pool into the flat
below without a rise. Then he went back to
the first fish that had come up, and a little below
him hooked, on a No. 2 Jock Scott, a smaller
salmon, which was landed after a play of about
ten minutes and weighed nineteen pounds. Re-
turning to camp, he found that his friend, a com-

106 The Atlantic Salmon

parative tyro, who had been fishing below, had,
soon after beginning, changed his fly to a No. 4
Silver Doctor, with which he had pricked one
fish, broken his casting line on another, and landed
two of twenty-three and twenty-five pounds. The
moral of this tale is to always use rather smaller
flies than you think the water requires.

When a fish rises short, it is a good plan to
change the fly for one of a size smaller before
casting over him again. I think a fish is a little
more likely to come a second time if this is done.
He is more on the alert than before he saw a fly
at all, and would naturally be apter to notice a
smaller object.

The changing of flies is a vexed question and
one of the many unsolved problems regarding
the salmon. It may be the prevailing opinion
among salmon at certain times of their sojourn in
fresh water, that a particular size or pattern of
fly is worth seizing while they regard all others
with silent contempt. Anglers generally assume
the existence of this condition on inadequate
grounds. A man, for instance, fishes halfway
down a pool with a Silver Doctor and stirs noth-
ing. He changes to a Durham Ranger, forth-
with hooks a fish, and thereafter firmly believes

Fishing tbe Pool 107

that the change accounts for his success. He
does not know that the fish would not have taken
his Silver Doctor if he had seen it, nor that there
were any rising fish in the water he has passed
over. A pool may contain a dozen salmon, none
of which will rise at anything, or hold but a
single occupant, and he ready to take any fly, or
a particular one. A hungry fish, like a hungry
man, will eat almost anything. If his stomach is
full or his appetite is failing, he may be attracted
by unusual tidbits, and may even change his
mind about one of them when he has looked it
over. The only approximately certain way of
knowing whether a fish desires a fly of a certain
kind, or none, is to fish over him with different
varieties of those he doesn't want until you show
him the one he does. It is rare in my experience
that a fish over which one fly has been cast with-
out result will rise to another shown him very
soon after, though I have had two notable in-
stances to the contrary. One morning, late in
June, '82, I was fishing the Mowat pool at the
upper end of our water in the Restigouche, where
the bottom is very level and the stream, though
running swiftly, is as smooth as glass. The water
was about five feet deep and very clear. I hooked

io8 The Atlantic Salmon

a fish soon after beginning, on a Nepisiguit
Gray, and when I landed him found that the
hook, a Sproat, had, after the custom of its kind,
bent considerably. Pounding it back into shape
with a stone, I returned to the same place and
directly hooked another fish, after landing which
I found the hook had straightened again so much
that I thought it unsafe for further use. On look-
ing over my book, I found no fly of the same
pattern, and so tried four or five others, but no
fish would rise to any of them. Then, bending
the hook of the gray fly back into shape, I tried
that from the same position, and at the first cast
hooked a salmon. Him I landed, but the temper
of the hook, through frequent bendings, was so
nearly gone that, though salmon would rise to
it, after pricking a couple, which escaped at their
first run by straightening the hook, I took off
the gray fly, and tried various others without
avail ; then, putting it on again, I rose a fish to it
at once in the same place I had been casting
over. All this was done in so confined a space
that there could not be the least doubt of the
same fish being cast over with all the different
flies used, and that the only one to which they
would pay any attention was the gray one.

Fishing the Pool 109

Another instance occurred on a piece of water
we call the Brook Pool, very similar in character
to that mentioned above, where I was fishing one
side and a friend the other. I had on a No. 4
Dun Wing fly, with which I hooked a fish almost
at once. My friend, who was very near me, both
of us casting toward the centre of the river, where
the fish were lying, tried several kinds of small
flies without hooking a salmon, though he had
one or two very faint rises. He would not take
a Dun Wing from me until after I had landed
three large fish. Then he came over and bor-
rowed one which the salmon began taking at
once, and we carried home eight between us.
The proof was not quite so absolute as in the
case first mentioned, but still convincing as to
the tastes of the fish that morning. The theory
held by some that salmon are able to distinguish
more than the general effect, color, and size in
flies, or that they can tell the difference, for in-
stance, between a Silver Doctor and a Dusty
Miller, is, I think, untenable. Although it proves
nothing as regards any theory of colors, it may
not be out of place to give the following state-
ment of the different patterns of flies on which
salmon were killed on water I fished in 1896, and

no Tbe Atlantic Salmon

the numbers of fish taken by each fly. Total
number taken, 353. Of these —

10 1 were hooked on Silver Doctor and Dusty Miller.
8 1 were hooked on Jock Scott.
1 6 were hooked on Black Dose.
1 8 were hooked on Lady of Merton.
14 were hooked on Durham Ranger.
1 6 were hooked on Black Ferry.
21 were hooked on Brown Ferry.
86 were hooked on a dozen other varieties.

It is quite possible we would have killed just as
many fish had we been without the first two kinds
of flies. Hardly any one is disposed to change a
fly the fish are taking, in order that the future
angler may be benefited by the experience he
thereby gains ; and a fly which has become stand-
ard like the " Jock Scott " is accepted without
question as one proper to use anywhere, which it
doubtless is. Some years since, on the Nepisi-
guit, I was told that the only flies the fish would
take were the Nepisiguit Gray and the Nicholson,
or Blue and Brown (both previously described).
The two friends with me used these flies consist-
ently, but I stuck to the Jock Scott and Silver
Doctor long enough to prove that the salmon took
them quite as well. Next year I tried the Gray fly

Fisbing the Pool 1 1 1

on the Restigouche, where it and the " Lady of
Merton," very nearly the same thing, have been
ever since found excellent. I fished the Galway
River in Ireland one April, and landed the first fish
of the season taken with the fly on one I tied in
Nicholas Brown's cottage, and from his materials,
a rough and simple combination of claret body,
gold tinsel, brown hackle, and wild turkey wings.
It was so radically different from the gaudy flies
in general use on the Galway that Nicholas ad-
vised me to " hould to the shrimp," but I got a
twenty pounder with it on the " resarve " inside of
half an hour. A salmon is quite as likely as a
human being to change what answers to his mind,
and while at three P.M., of ten fish lying in a pool,
one may be disposed to rise, an hour later the ten-
dency may have left that one and taken possession
of part or all of his fellows. It is a fact that usu-
ally but a small proportion of salmon will rise at
any given time, and they may come up freely in
one pool, whilst at another an hundred yards dis-
tant, where they are quite as plentiful, nothing will
tempt them. Many salmon start for a fly floating
near the surface, and abandon the chase before a
break indicates their presence. I have often seen
fish make a rush for a fly, stop short, and go back

ii2 The Atlantic Salmon

to their seats without the angler being conscious
that he has attracted them. Probably fish doing
so will not rise again without being rested, which
of course cannot be done in default of informa-
tion the angler is not likely to have.

Once I saw below me, from the high Metapedia
Railway bridge, seven salmon lying almost mo-
tionless in the swift clear water. A friend was
fishing above in the pool, and I told him to come
and cast over them that I might observe the re-
sult. None of them stirred the first time the fly
passed, but one started for it on the second or
third cast, and turned when within a foot of the
surface. Waiting a few moments, my friend be-
gan again, with no effect on the fish. The fly was
changed, and as soon as it was seen another fish
darted at it when it was at least five yards one
side of him, turning away just about as the other
did without breaking water. A rest was given
this fish, but he would not come again ; then the
fly was changed, when a third salmon came half-
way to the top, and that was the end of it.

I once fished the same place from the upper
end of one of the high piers on the up-stream
side of the bridge. There I saw one fish start
from the bottom as my fly passed over him, and

Fisbing the Pool 113

go back without quite reaching it or moving the
surface of the water. A rest and change of flies
availed nothing with this fish, but after a time, as
the fly was very near where he had come from, I
noticed a portly form emerging from the obscure
depths farther under the bridge. He came on
with a deliberate dignity fitting to his bulk,
opened his mouth as he approached the fly, slowly
closed his jaws on it, and quietly started with it
back toward his residence. Though I gave him
a good pull at once, he continued his deliberate
progress until out of sight, a couple of yards per-
haps, and then realizing he was in trouble, quickly
threw off his air of leisurely superiority. A long
struggle ensued, during which I succeeded in get-
ting my rod with a somewhat disabled reel under
the bridge to the lower side, where the salmon
had gone. He was lost when thoroughly ex-
hausted, by the idiotic conduct of an angler in a
canoe, to whom I offered the fish if he would gaff
him, and who tried, despite my entreaties, to haul
him up-stream by the line, until the weakened
hold gave way, and fish and angler went safely
down-stream, leaving me securely perched on the
bridge, lamenting what I still consider the great
calamity of my fishing career.

CHAPTER VI

STRIKING, PLAYING, AND LANDING

" Not gladder Shobden's wealthy peer
Views his fat oxen and his deer,
Nor peeress, when her alms she gives,
Nor those her charity relieves —
Nor Gripus, as he scans his store,
And counts and counts it o'er and o'er,
Nor Stella, decked in nuptial pride
And just about to be a Bride —
Than I to feel, O bliss Divine !
A Salmon floundering on my line." — Old Song.

THE advisability of striking a salmon at all is
largely a matter of the water in which he is
caught. When I first fished for salmon, after a
long apprenticeship at trout, I could not for a
couple of days resist the impulse to strike as soon
as the rise came. The water was heavy, as were
the fish, and the result was that I snapped off
three or four flies before I learned to command
myself. The great force of the current, added to
the weight and motion of the fish, not only made
the salmon certain to hook themselves without any

114

Striking, Playing, and Landing 115

effort of mine, but caused the effect of striking,
on the tackle, to be about the same as if it had
been fastened to a twenty-five-pound iron weight.
Some years later I fished the Nepisiguit, a
much smaller and shallower river, which, in many
of its pools, has hardly enough current to keep
the fly straightened in its journey down-stream,
and it had to be worked very much as in fishing
for trout. In such places the salmon rose to the
fly on the surface, and if they were not struck the
instant the rise came, just as in fishing for trout,
the greater part of them were not hooked, as
they probably quickly discovered the deceit and
ejected the fly. I have never fished any other
river where I did not consider striking unneces-
sary. When a salmon takes the fly and goes
down with it, the rod should be held steadily in
its position, and the weight of the fish is sure to
force the barb into him as he descends. When
it is certain, from the strain, that the salmon is
hooked, a steady pull during the instant that
generally passes before he begins his run may fix
the barb in his jaw as firmly as the first few yards
of the impending run will do. Besides the danger
to tackle from striking when the rise is seen,
there is another serious one of snatching the fly

n 6 The Atlantic Salmon

away from a fish that has not yet taken it but is
about to do so. Even when it is certain a salmon
has missed a fly, he will frequently turn and take
it if it is left where it was. Some advise casting
at once in the same spot before the salmon has
time to settle, but leaving the fly is better.

While most would say that the rise followed
by the first rush of a salmon after the instant of
suspense, yields the supreme delight of angling,
the ensuing moments of contest, full of anxiety as
they are, may furnish the most enduring recollec-
tions. One of the maxims of salmon angling
is, when your fish is hooked, to get him ashore
as soon as possible, regarding of course the safety
of your tackle. If a salmon is lightly hooked, he
will escape anyway, and it is better for him, and
for the angler, that he should do so soon than
after a half-hour of ladylike dallying with him.
After a salmon is hooked it is wise to reverse
the rule of doing all you can to please him, and
instead, to assume an attitude of determined op-
position to every move he may make. Wherever
it is possible the angler should try to get below
his fish as soon as it can be done after he is
hooked. The tendency of the salmon is to keep
his head up-stream, and he is fighting the rod and

Striking, Playing, and Landing 117

the current together if the angler is below him,
whereas if the angler is above, it is he who has to
overcome the force of the stream in addition to
that of the fish. Of course it may, for various
causes, often be impossible for the angler to go
down with a fish a quarter or a half mile, but
where it can be done it will be found to materi-
ally shorten the time of bringing him to gaff,
and every unnecessary moment spent increases
more and more the chances of loss. The neces-
sity of keeping a continuous strain on a salmon
has been realized by every angler. This fish has
the power, common to many of his species, of
ejecting forcibly from his mouth things he doesn't
approve of, and doubtless can do so with a fly
unless it is firmly fixed, when the line is slackened.
I have seen a shrimp bait forced several inches
up a link of gut above the hook by salmon in the
Galway, and have no doubt the same methods
are adopted, and often successfully, with flies.
The strain on the fish is unavoidably broken in
two instances, — first, when he turns and runs
toward the angler. All the latter can do in such
a case is to run back himself, if he can, and reel
up his line as fast as possible. Both of these
means only suffice to shorten the danger period.

n8 The Atlantic Salmon

Second, when the salmon jumps, and this is
almost invariably done after a quick turn up-
stream, which leaves a belly in the line, and the
salmon, in jumping, has to pull all this through
the water and against the current, making it
liable to part in any weak spot, especially when
the fish leaves the water. At the instant he
does so the point of the rod should be lowered
to ease the additional sudden strain, and as soon
as his leap is over the rod should be lifted and
the strain resumed. Frequently salmon are lost
in these jumps in spite of the angler, as he may
think the fish is running down and across stream,
and suddenly sees him in the air fifty or seventy-
five yards above where he thought him to be.
The object, then, is to get the great loop out of
the line as soon as possible and thus relieve it
from the heavy pressure of the current. This is
done by going as nearly as may be directly below
the fish, thus straightening out the dangerous
loop in the line. In cases of this kind a thick,
heavy line is at a great disadvantage as compared
with a light thin one, which offers so much less
resistance to the currents, and the Cuttyhunk
bass line spliced to the other will often result in
saving a fish, nor is such a line so likely to sink

Striking, Playing, and Landing 119

to the bottom, where it may become entangled or
broken among sharp rocks, as a heavy one. The
risk of letting up on the strain is often made
manifest by the hook dropping out of the mouth
when the fish is gaffed and the line slackened.
Unless the hook is deeply embedded in the tis-
sues or is close to some of the bones of the head, it
is apt to work loose in the course of a protracted
struggle, which often brings about changes in its
position and in the direction of the pull against
it, and while it may hold if kept taut, an instant's
let-up will enable the fish to eject it. It should
always be borne in mind that the longer the fish
remains in the water the more the chances of
getting him out of it are lessening, that wherever
practicable as heavy a strain should be put on
him as is regarded safe for the tackle, and that it
is correct to assume every movement of the fish
to be hostile to the interests of the angler and
therefore to be opposed on principle. It is a good
idea, when it can be done, to get a salmon into a
still pool or eddy when he begins to show signs
of relenting. He is quite likely to relax his
efforts to escape when coaxed out of the current,
and I know several places of this kind in different
rivers which, when reached by salmon, hooked

120 The Atlantic Salmon

above, they hate to leave, and generally remain
there until gaffed. When a salmon is sufficiently
tired out to be gaffed, the gaffer should go below
him, entering the water far enough below the fish
not to scare him, and remain there in a stooping
position with his gaff outstretched, and perfectly
still, until the fish is brought inside the reach of
the gaff by the angler, when it is to be gently
lowered beyond the shoulder of the fish and
quickly pulled inward. Striking at the fish with
the gaff is not to be permitted, or moving toward
him as he is coming down-stream. In case the
fish takes alarm or is evidently not coming within
reach of the gaff from where the gaffer is stand-
ing, he should come out of the water and enter it
again farther below, and never attempt to gaff
the fish until he is sure of him, for a salmon fre-
quently regains a good share of his pristine vigor
from being wounded by a gaff or even vainly
struck at by one. He will much more readily be
brought up to shore where the water is of moder-
ate depth than where it is very shallow, and, as I
mentioned above, where the current is not rapid.
In gaffing from a boat, it should be below the
fish, the angler facing up-stream and well back in
the boat, and the gaffer ahead of him in the bow.

Striking, Playing, and Landing 121

So soon as a fish is brought ashore he should be
despatched by a knock on the head with a club or,
that lacking, a stone, the fly removed from the
jaw, flicked in the water two or three times to
cleanse it, and then the tackle examined and line
and casting line tested to see if everything is
sound and uninjured by the recent struggle. This
is a very important matter to be attended to, and
many a fish is lost by neglecting it. Salmon, even
of large size, may be landed by dragging them
gently up on a shelving beach without the use of
a gaff, and it is interesting to see how much less
force is required to effect this than one who has
not seen it done would suppose. The stones, as
well as the salmon, are slippery, and when once
started the fish seems to help himself along and
to slide ashore. The most successful angler I
ever knew was a settler on the Restigouche, now
departed, named Alford. He had a little piece of
water in front of his place and adjoining some in
which I was interested. This he fished very
slowly and daily from a canoe alone, going over it
probably six or eight times between sunrise and
dark. If he rose a fish, he would keep at him for
hours, and in the end generally hooked him. I
think he caught more salmon than any man on

122 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

the river every season, in his own water and that
of others, who did not always know when he was
there. When Alford hooked a salmon he would
throw overboard a buoy attached to his anchor,
stand up in his canoe, rod in one hand, and in the
other a pole with which he pushed the canoe
toward shore until he reached shoal water, where
he stepped out, pulled up the canoe so it would
not drift off, and began attending to his salmon,
which in the meantime had generally taken out a
lot of line. Alford always beached his fish, as he
never had any one with him, and landed very
many large ones in this manner, one which I saw
weighed being forty-five pounds.

The length of time required to land a salmon
depends on several things, and not always on his
size, as salmon vary quite as much as men or other
animals in power and endurance. The various
works on salmon angling contain accounts of
many thrilling encounters with enormous salmon.
One of these, recounted by Couch, in " Fishes of
the British Islands," as having taken place on the
river Shannon and " from an Irish source," is worth
narrating. The man who hooked the fish played
him for five hours, during which he was worked
three miles down-stream. In the approaching

Striking, Playing, and Landing 123

darkness this angler became faint from fatigue,
and a companion took the rod. He fared little
better, though he kept up the fight for eight hours,
finding himself at the end of that time seven miles
farther down the river, and day just breaking with
the fish as fresh as a daisy. The news having by
then reached a gentleman living near, he hastily
arose, proceeded to the field of action, where he
gave the exhausted angler a pound bank-note for
the rod and chance of success. For four miles
farther and nine successive hours the struggle
lasted with the third combatant, until with a des-
perate plunge the fish broke off the rod close to
the reel and proceeded to the sea, leaving with
his last adversary only the reel and part of the
butt. The time occupied was twenty-two hours,
and the distance travelled down-stream was four-
teen miles — the book says " almost twenty miles."
The fish may have been a relative of the one
Nicholas Brown of Galway used to mention, which
was hooked late one afternoon by the " Portumna
Man," who played him for three hours, when he
sent home for his supper, which he ate while the
fish was sulking, then worked hard at him till
early morning and took advantage of another sulk-
ing time to write an account of the conflict for the

124 The Atlantic Salmon

morning paper. After this literary diversion he
stirred up the salmon again, and succeeded in
landing him at breakfast time — weight fourteen
pounds.

The largest salmon I have ever known to be
taken with a fly, was killed by Mr. Dun on the
Cascapedia some years since, and weighed fifty-
four pounds. A farmer on the Restigouche,
Sandy Macdonald, told me he took one in a drift
net on that river early in the eighties, weighing
sixty-five pounds, which is perhaps heavier than
any of those which I and other anglers have
played and lost. Both of these were male fish, —
" kippers " they are called in Britain, — though
according to Badham in " Prose Halieutics," p.
313, " a kipper is a salmon previously well scoured
and cleaned that has received several dry rubbings
of pepper and salt, and afterward been dried
either in the sun or else in the smoke of peat and
juniper berries."

If a salmon of twenty pounds or above had
intelligence equal to his strength, he could not
be held for two minutes by any tackle in ordi-
nary use. Most anglers have had the opportu-
nity of realizing their own powerlessness against
such a fish in case, as two have done with me,

Striking, Playing, and Landing 125

he starts straight down-stream for the sea until
he has emptied the reel, when something has to
go, or if he takes a big run down and then comes
up suddenly and jumps, when the strain on the
belly of the line is almost sure to be fatal. I
have often heard that a salmon hooked pretty
well down in the tongue will not make a long
fight, probably from his mouth being kept open
more than if the hook is fast in the outer bone of
the jaw. Foul-hooked salmon are always very
stubborn unless hooked in the tail, when they
tire after a few rushes, as the pull against their
principal means of propulsion is very trying. A
salmon hooked outside, under the chin or any-
where about the head, if big and strong, may
keep the angler occupied for hours. A friend
of mine landed a twenty-five pounder in the
Jupiter River on Anticosti Island, hooked out-
side the jaw, which resisted his best endeavors
for five hours ; and I once had an exciting strug-
gle with one for two hours, half the time it being
pitch dark, which took me nearly two miles down-
stream and kept me very busy until he was
gaffed. I suspected he was foul hooked, as he
turned out to be, under the pectoral fin, but
nevertheless would have firmly believed, had I

126 The Atlantic Salmon

lost him, that he weighed at least forty-five
pounds. He did weigh thirty-two pounds, and
was a male fish, of which sex, on all rivers I have
ever fished, I have taken but a small proportion,
and those have averaged far superior in fighting
powers to the females. Altogether the strongest
and most determined salmon I have ever taken
were two males of thirty-four and twenty-eight
pounds, the latter being the better one, and each
taking an hour to kill. When I had the big one
pretty tired I succeeded in getting him into a
deepish pool near the shore, where I could plainly
see him from the bank, and several times I
noticed him almost perpendicular in the water
amongst the stones on the bottom, trying to rub
out the hook.

Sir Herbert Maxwell in " Salmon and Sea
Trout " says : " In perfectly clear water it may
be seen that a sulking fish assumes an almost
vertical position with his head down," and that
" to move him from this posture of resistance and
cause him to move about, an attempt should be
made to get a side pull at him." I am not sure
that this " vertical position " is always assumed
by sulking salmon.

The two largest salmon I ever saw taken,

Striking, Playing, and Landing 127

forty-one and thirty-nine pounds, were landed in
twenty and eight minutes respectively, and the
latter one never ran out twenty yards of line. I
should say that fifteen to twenty minutes was
plenty of time to land salmon averaging twenty
pounds, fairly hooked, and it must be an extraor-
dinarily strong and stubborn fish that cannot be
brought to gaff in half an hour. There are
many anglers who take delight in protracting the
struggle as long as they can, and will hold down
their rods when a fish is hardly able to move, in
order to encourage him to try to make one more
run, like a cat with a moribund mouse, and this
they call sport. Fortunately such anglers gener-
ally loose a good proportion of the salmon they
hook.

Here I wish to quote from a letter written me
by Andrew Williamson, a well-known Scottish
sportsman and author, equally skilful with rod
and rifle, and who has killed salmon, and many of
them, in both hemispheres : —

"Why do salmon in Canada and Norway give so much
finer sport than those in Scotland? So much so that for my
part I would rather kill one there than five in my own country ?
In the latter, the heavier the fish the more sluggish he is. In
the former I have found it just the reverse. In the Annan, on

128 The Atlantic Salmon

my return from Canada I killed three fish, thirty, twenty-four,
and eighteen pounds, not one of which went twenty yards, or
once showed himself. As for any sport they gave, I would as
soon have been fast to a log. The Dee and the Spey fish play
better. I had once great sport with a thirty pounder on the
Dee hooked in the back fin, but the Tweed fish rarely show
any sport. I have heard it said that our fish are dull because
they come up in the Autumn, but on the Ligne in Ross-shire
they run in May. In that river I killed several large fish, one
of them thirty-eight pounds, which I saw enter the pool nearest
to the sea but a few minutes before I hooked him. He fought
but little and I had him out in twenty minutes. My keeper on
the Dee, the year before he entered my service, landed on the
fishing below mine a fresh-run salmon of fifty-seven pounds in
fifteen minutes. It was all so easy he described it as ' quite
frivolous like.' My belief is that the explanation is to be found
in the exhilarating character of the Canadian and Norwegian
climates which, unlike ours, are not subject to sudden atmos-
pheric changes, to which fish and animals are so keenly alive,
and that the best of our fishing is had after the nets are taken
off in September, when the salmon are in more or less a gravid
state."

This is a question on which it would be inter-
esting to have the opinions of a number of an-
glers who have fished here and in Britain. My
own experience has been small on the other side
and confined to the Galway, where I had excel-
lent sport the first half of April, twenty years
since, and lately to two small rivers, the Kerry

Striking, Playing, and Landing 129

and Badachro, on a shooting in Ross-shire, Scot-
land. In Galway it did not strike me that there
was any difference in the play of the fish from
those in Canada; but the three small salmon I
took in the rivers of Ross, the biggest being only
seven and a half pounds, were as sluggish brutes
as I ever saw, all making for the bank at my feet
as soon as hooked and burrowing there until they
were gaffed. Their conduct was so disgraceful
that I could hardly believe the first one was a
salmon, and a sea trout of two pounds I took in
the Badachro gave more sport than the three
of them together.

CHAPTER VII

HOURS FOR ANGLING, AND MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE
AND EXPERIENCES

" Who woll vse the game of anglynge must and ryse erly."

— JVLYANS BARNS, "Boke of St. Albans," 1486.

IT is perhaps unkind as well as ungrateful to
the reverend and illustrious mother of angling to
attempt to controvert such an unqualified state-
ment as the one of hers which heads this chapter.
Her views on the subject of early rising for an-
glers prevailed for centuries, though a few auda-
cious writers ventured to differ from her; but
their influence on public thought was trifling, and
for centuries the majority of anglers groaned be-
neath the yoke of this, as well as other, mediaeval
nostrums. H. R., in "The School of Recreation,"
1684, says, " Salmon bite best in May, June, and
July, at three o'clock in the afternoon." This was
a feeble, disconnected, and rather vague statement.
Thomas Fairfax, in " The Complete Sportsman,"
about 1 760, tells us " His [the salmon's] best bit-
ing time is at nine in the forenoon and three in

130

Hours for Angling 131

the afternoon in clear water." Both of these
were preceded by the " Innocent Epicure," 1697,
which recommends a different hour, but still not
an early one, as follows : —

" At Midday when the Sun exerts his Rays
See on the Surface how the Wanton Plays.
Then wisely tempt him & from Force or Choice
You'll see him nimbly to your Pastime Rise.
Strong be your Lines, your Hooks, your Rods & all,
And wise your Conduct, or he breaks the whole."

With the general growth of intelligence there has
been a gradual change in public sentiment as to
salmon fishing, as well as in other respects, and
the modern tendency is perhaps to disregard any
fashions in morals, manners, and sport simply be-
cause they are old. Many, who are not young,
cannot agree with these prevailing ideas of the
day, but cling more or less fondly to ancient
superstitions. These unenlightened persons have,
by their pernicious example and advice, convinced
certain of the younger generation, though not
many of these have the time or money to go
salmon fishing, that about daybreak is the most
auspicious time to begin operations. Wherefore
many an ambitious tyro, possessed with this her-
esy, still sallies forth, with some of his elders,

ij 2 The Atlantic Salmon

through the dripping grass and penetrating fogs
of the early June morning, often finding his pool
covered with mist, and passing a comfortless and
luckless season, until it is time for the fish to rise,
when he returns to his breakfast with nothing to
repay him for his sufferings except the conscious-
ness of having performed a repulsive duty.

During the years I was addicted to this prac-
tice I never had but one really good early morn-
ing's sport, and that was on the first of July at
a pool in the Metapedia. Old Joe Bernard, who
was my head Indian, waked me at daybreak and
refuted my arguments in favor of further re-
pose by repeating, " Beautiful mornin' fer de
salmon," until I yielded and went to the canoe.
The weather was warm, clear, and bright when
the sun rose, and in two hours I came in to
breakfast with four salmon averaging twenty-
five pounds each. For years afterward the
memory of this exploit cost me many a broken
night's rest and many a shivering barren morn-
ing. When the water is low and the weather
hot late in the season, early morning may be
better than after the sun gets high, but at all
other times I think eight o'clock is quite early
enough to begin. The two best days' fishing

Hours for Angling 133

I have ever had I took all the fish, eight each day,
between twelve and two P.M. Both were bright,
warm days, and the water was at a moderate
pitch and clear. Major Traherne, in the Bad-
minton Library, says, " The time of day when
I have found salmon take best is between the
hours of nine A.M. and one P.M., and from four to
dusk in the evening."

In the first of the season, when the water
is cold and high, any time of day except the
early morning is good, and the brighter and
warmer the better ; but, take it all around, I would
rather have from four P.M. until dark than all the
rest of the day; and from early in July there are
some excellent, smooth, but good flowing pools
that, without a good breeze, could not be fished
successfully until the beginning of twilight, from
then till dark being the best. The fish in
these places, which earlier will occasionally make
a languid rise to a No. 6 or 8 or smaller dark
fly, as the obscurity grows in the evening will
come vigorously at big flies i° and 2° or larger,
the sight of which would make them flee from
their resting-places in the daytime.

It is impossible to lay down anything more
than a very general rule as to the best days or

134 The Atlantic Salmon

times to fish. Salmon will frequently refuse to
rise or suddenly cease rising when " all in nature
pleases," or reverse the processes at times when
man is not " vile " and the conditions are appar-
ently most unfavorable. Therefore the angler
who, undiscouraged, hopeful and careful, has his
fly the most hours on the water, is sure to rise
the most fish.

For years I credited the current belief where
I fished that salmon would not rise when it thun-
dered. One day I was caught in a sudden
shower and thoroughly drenched, but, having
seen two fish jump below me, I decided to give
them a trial, the result being that notwithstand-
ing the storm continued in a most violent fash-
ion, with heavy thunder at short intervals, for two
hours, I hooked five fish, of which I landed three.

Another archaic belief which has been greatly
weakened is that salmon will never take when
there is mist on the water. Two years since
a friend of mine came down the river from
where he had some water fifteen miles above,
and said that he had killed five fish the preced-
ing afternoon in a heavy mist so thick he could
not see his fly ten yards from the canoe. We
had the same mist where I was fishing, and when

Hours for Angling 135

it began I went to camp. Very shortly there-
after I heard of two instances of capital sport,
one in Canada, and one on the Dee in Scotland,
in dense fogs. So there is hardly one, if any,
rule in salmon fishing without exceptions. Mr.
Samuel Wilmot of Ottawa, a veteran and suc-
cessful angler, held the belief that salmon slept
during the heat of the day and that their normal
periods of activity were mornings and evenings.
To prove this he had several salmon confined
in a pool he made near the mouth of Indian
House Brook on the Restigouche, and said
that at midday, especially in warm weather, they
were almost torpid, and had to be disturbed a
great deal to rouse them to any kind of activity.
This view of Mr. Wilmot's has lately been con-
firmed in a letter to me from Mr. Andrew
Williamson, and I think what he says is inter-
esting enough to be given here : —

" Do salmon sleep ? I am convinced they do and that this
often accounts for their not taking. One calm, cloudless day
on the Grimersta, the last of the season, I fished, without get-
ting a rise, the tail of the second loch where just as the waters
enter the river there is a hole which usually holds a good lot
of fish. I told my gillie to row me to the other side, a dis-
tance of about thirty yards. As he did so my black pointer
swam after us, and was carried by the stream right over the place

136 The Atlantic Salmon

where the fish lay. No use, apparently, in trying that pool !
I had scarcely spoken when a fish rose, and I instantly threw
over him. He came at once, and in less than an hour I
killed five, all hooked within a yard or two of the very place
through which the pointer had been carried. Apparently he
had roused them from their siesta.

" A Mr. S. who had some water on the Dee was convinced
that his neighbor, Mr. B., habitually sent his keeper to fish
the only one or two good pools he had opposite. Arriving one
morning at one of these, under a bridge he found Mr. B.'s
keeper, as usual, hard at work, but who had then seen noth-
ing. S. in a rage threw several large stones into the pool,
and his feelings may be imagined when he shortly thereafter
saw the keeper land two large salmon. A friend of mine
was once fishing a small Aberdeenshire River on a bright, sultry
day with no result, when he was accosted by a pearl fisher with
the remark, 'You will no get a fish the day if ye dinna let
me wade through that pool ; the salmon are a' fast asleep.'
My friend, for the fun of the thing, consented, and shortly
thereafter landed three fish."

Rising salmon will not always take a fly
coming directly over them, as there are certain
resting-places from which salmon are in the
habit of going several yards for the fly, and if
it is not presented at that place they will dis-
regard it. A very notable instance of this is
at the Flat Rock Pool at Pabineau Falls on the
Nepisiguit. The fish lie in numbers in a deep

Hours for Angling 137

pool, just above which is a very swift, glassy, and
shallow rapid flowing into it over smooth rock.
The salmon will not rise in the deep water
where they stay; but the fly has to be cast at
the top of the rapid, down which it goes so
swiftly that it seems impossible a salmon could
get it, but it is taken by the fish coming up
from the pool and always before it reaches
there. Another place I know where a gradually
shelving rock goes down into the river. The
fish lie six or eight yards from the shore, but
take the fly close by the rock and will not rise
elsewhere. I recollect once hooking a big fish
very near the rock in low water. I saw him
coming for some distance, and as he drew near
the fly he turned on his side before seizing it.
I had seen this done before when I had hap-
pened to be over fish in clear, shallow water,
and incorrectly assumed that this turning was
habitual with salmon, as I have since had the
chance of seeing them take a fly as one nat-
urally supposes they would. Salmon often lie
on the comparatively smooth beds of river flats,
where there is no shelter in the way of big rocks
or bars. In such places, and indeed in others
with rougher bottoms, the fish are liable to

138 The Atlantic Salmon

change their seats from time to time. In a
deepish pool containing big rocks or ledges,
one familiar with it can tell pretty nearly just
where the fish are to be found, and there are
many such wherein one boulder on the bottom
is sure to have a salmon behind it if any is
in the pool. To such favorite retreats fish at
once return if they have risen at a fly and
missed it. But in the cases of fish rising in
the pools where the bottom is smooth, they
may come from quite a distance at the fly,
follow it for several yards before showing, and
then not return to the places where they were
lying when they saw the fly. In a pool of this
kind, when fished from a canoe, in dropping
down a fish may be disturbed, and go down-
stream or to one side. As things grow quiet
this fish is likely to work back to his first
resting-place, and it is not at all a rare thing to
see salmon return to positions quite near the
canoe after it has been motionless for some
time. These fish may not have been cast over
at all, or if so when they were alarmed and
moving about, and I think it is from such that
the greatest number of those come which follow
and rise at the fly as it is being reeled in when

Hours for Angling 139

the cast is finished. Why these fish so seldom
take the fly, though they sometimes do, it is
hard to tell, unless they become alarmed as they
approach it by reason of its unusual and more
violent motion and its nearness to the surface.
Indeed, most of these rises are made near the
canoe when the fly is on the surface and moving
rather rapidly. As they are generally unexpected
by the angler, he cannot quickly enough stop the
motion of the fly. The rare cases in which I
have hooked fish thus rising have been those in
which I had enough presence of mind to stop
reeling at the first sign of a rise, and even let
out a yard or so of line in order to sink the fly a
little and allow it to drop down-stream. By so
doing I have induced a salmon to make another
dash at the fly and get it. Salmon rising in this
way and missing can very seldom be made to
come again after resting them.

When a salmon rises at a fly and misses it in
a pool with a level bottom, it is impossible to
know just where he started from or where he
will settle after he goes down. Consequently the
angler, after resting him, should begin fishing with
the same fly, or one a size smaller, and this latter
is advisable in case the rise was not a strong one,

140 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

at a point somewhat above that of the rise, and
continue six or eight casts below. The salmon
is more likely to be below the place where he
showed than above and farther to the right or
left, but nothing certain can be known as to his
whereabouts. After a salmon has once risen and
refused to come again to the same fly or to one
a little smaller, it is considered best by many
high authorities to leave him to his own devices
for half an hour or longer before trying him
again. My best results have been obtained by
sticking to the fish until he stops rising at any-
thing, and frequently he may come at a fly after
he has been indifferent to the three or four pre-
ceding ones. Sometimes a fish will come to a
fly presented to him from a different direction
to the one he has refused. I once rose a fish
three times from a canoe within casting distance
of the shore, and after that cast over him inef-
fectively for twenty minutes. Then I went
ashore, and as soon as the fly reached him com-
ing from the other way he took it. After a
salmon has risen two or three times without
hooking to the flies in common use, his normal
tendencies are abandoned, and he is just as likely
to come to a fly that would inspire him with

Hours for Angling 141

terror were it the first one offered him, as to any
other. He may have risen to a No. 8 Fairy,
and after declining intermediate sizes and col-
ors, come with a rush at a No. i Britannia or
something else equally as large and brilliant. I
have risen salmon as often as eight or nine
times and at last hooked them. As an instance
of the freaks in which they indulge I give this
experience of a friend. He rose a salmon which
missed the fly, rested him for five minutes, then
cast over him when he again rose and missed,
and as the fly went on three or four yards below
another fish rose at it and missed. A rest of
about three minutes, and then as the fly came
midway between the places of these two rises
both fishes rose simultaneously and missed. Mr.
L., after three minutes more, rose fish No. 2
again, then waited the same length of time, and
cast over the spot (the fifth time), when again
both fish arose. A minute's rest and another
cast brought up fish No. 2, then after an interval
of half a minute the fly started down again,
and was taken by fish No. i, which broke loose
after being on for ten minutes. Then Mr. L.
returned to the same place, and on the second
cast hooked and killed fish No. 2, weighing

142 The Atlantic Salmon

twenty-five and a half pounds. The first rise
of all was on a Butcher. After the third rise the
fly was changed to a Silver Gray, after the fifth
back to the original Butcher.

Fish which are pricked will not generally rise
for some time after, but this rule also has excep-
tions. I once hooked a salmon which escaped
by the loop of the fly coming away, and while
fishing down the same pool half an hour after, I
saw a fish jump about where I hooked this one.
Returning to the spot, a salmon took the fly, and
on landing him I found my Silver Doctor, minus
its loop, firmly stuck in his jaw.

I have amongst my angling memorabilia three
flies found in the mouth of salmon I have killed.
Two of these are attached to casting lines about
six feet long, and one has, besides a three-yard cast,
half that length of line to which it is fastened.

It seems strange that a salmon should be
inclined to rise after having been gaffed the day
before, as I have mentioned, or even with a hook
in his jaw, and trailing ten or fifteen feet of line
after him. Fish wounded by the nets through
which they have lately passed are known to be
more likely to take the fly than their unscathed
companions, and the same is true of those which

Hours for Angling 143

have been bitten, and sometimes badly, by their
marine enemies. My Scottish correspondent, be-
fore quoted, tells of an old Kelt which had become
imprisoned by the falling of the water in a small
but deep pool : " Over this fish, for lack of other
sport, some members of our party amused them-
selves by throwing a fly, and though he was landed
as often as three or four times a day, he was quite
ready to seize it as frequently as offered. In
the Grimersta River, of which I have spoken, the
worm was such a deadly bait that some of the
anglers agreed not to use it, and a gentleman
once fishing there landed with this bait in one
hour and a half seven fish, the worm being
greedily seized the instant it was in the water.
While some of the fish were fresh-run, others by
their dark appearance showed they had been away
from the sea for some time." I do not know any
instances in this country of salmon being taken
with bait nor even of it having been tried, though
I have no doubt its use would prove successful.

An English gentleman killed quite a number
of salmon some years since at Chain of Rocks on
the Restigouche, with a small brass spoon, which
he gave when he left to one of his Indians, who
showed it to me.

144 The Atlantic Salmon

The best stages of water for fishing are just
after a rise begins and after a rise, when the
water is at the turn and commences falling.
When a river is growing in flood or when it
is low and falling, salmon are generally, though
not always, indisposed to rise. It has been
said that there is one hour or more out of every
twenty-four when any salmon in any pool will
take a fly, which at the least it would be hard to
disprove. When salmon have been for some
time settled in a pool, often fished over and per-
haps pricked, they learn to associate the sight of
a man, a canoe, or even a rod and fly, with
danger. I have seen three or four salmon, in low,
clear water, drop down-stream and out of sight
when a fly floated over them, and in the same
spot presumably the same fish would take a fly
at dusk when the line was not so clearly visi-
ble. A rise of water will send many of these
fish up-stream to new scenes, where they are
much less shy and have to learn anew the lesson
of caution, as do their relatives from below who
come up to take their places. It is certain that fish
are much more likely to rise for a short time after
they reach a pool than when they have been
there for several days. On their arrival from the

Hours for Angling 145

sea, where they have remained for periods vary-
ing from six months to perhaps three years, they
are comparatively unsuspicious of novel dangers,
and do not curb their rising tendencies nearly so
much as after a sojourn in fresh water. In the
majority of rivers on this side, contrary to the
general rule in Britain, the first run of fish is
composed of large females which go directly
through to the upper waters very soon after the
ice leaves, generally by the middle of May, don't
stop in the lower pools at all, and will very rarely
take the fly until they are well up the rivers.
This run is followed ten days or three weeks
later by another of rather smaller fish, with a con-
siderable proportion of big ones, which make a
more leisurely progress, and take the fly at favor-
able times and places. The succeeding runs are
made up almost entirely of smaller fish, presum-
ably the grilse of the year before.

In many of the Canadian rivers the best sea-
son for angling is coincident with that of log
driving, and the disposition of the salmon to rise
is not at all diminished by the river being well
covered with floating logs. They will take a fly
close beside a log going down the rapid current
quite as freely as if the river were clear; and

146 The Atlantic Salmon

while many so hooked break the tackle by run-
ning under the logs, it is surprising how large a
proportion is landed in spite of the great risk.
The best course to follow is for the angler, if
fishing from a canoe, to get ashore, if he can, and
keep the canoe above the fish to turn aside such
logs as threaten to come near the line.

I was once going back to camp just at dusk,
after a fruitless afternoon, when I saw a good fish
jump in a small, quick-running pool known as
" The Judge's." The logs were very thick indeed,
but Jacques, my Indian, insisted on anchoring
for a trial at the salmon. There seemed hardly
room to cast, and the man in the stern had to
keep a sharp lookout to shove aside the logs that
might otherwise run into and swamp us. Wait-
ing awhile for a clear space where we had seen
the fish, I cast over him, and he took the fly at
once, and in spite of me ran under a floating log
before the anchor could be lifted, and went off
with a yard of the casting line. Quickly putting
on another fly, I threw in the same place, where
another fish hooked directly. Him I had on for
perhaps five minutes, but could not get ashore by
reason of the logs, and this salmon managed to
foul the line and break away with what was left of

Hours for Angling 147

the cast. It was rather discouraging, but we
went back again, and the third or fourth cast
brought up another fish, which took the fly within
a foot of a passing log. Fortunately I was able
to get ashore with him, and as soon as I was
landed the Indians kept the canoe above me, and
with their poles pushed the descending logs out
of the way as much as they could. By holding
the rod high so as to let such logs as would pass
under the line between me and the fish, and drop-
ping the point sometimes below the surface of
the water to allow other logs to run over the line,
I managed after various narrow escapes from dis-
aster to land this fish and another hooked after-
ward in the same place, and then stopped, as it
was so dark that there was danger of being hit
by logs we could not see. Evidently an as-
cending school of salmon had decided to rest
over night in the Judge's Pool. Handling big
and lively fish such as these (and they weighed
twenty-four and twenty-five pounds), when lots of
logs are running and the light fast failing, is
about as exciting business as I know of in the
angling way, and the enjoyment of it comes
mostly after it is over.

Salmon fishing, under the conditions which

148 Tbe Atlantic Salmon

largely prevail on this side of the Atlantic, is an
art so easily acquired as to bring it within the
compass of the most moderate ability, and withal
it yields more pleasure to the lover of sport and of
nature than does any other. No properly consti-
tuted man can be insensible to the healthful
charms of life in the open air, in a world just as
God made it, nor to the companionship of the
spruce-clad and rugged mountains of the North
through which the river has cleft its way, and, full
of sparkling ripples, foaming rapids, and swirling
eddies, follows in crystal clearness its winding
course to finally lose itself in the broad bosom of
the ocean. These and many more appeals to the
better parts of his nature are the portion of the
salmon angler, and his unfailing rewards for
blank days and untoward accidents.

Besides, he has the keen satisfaction in many
cases of proving his inherited possession of the
faculties which enable him to cope successfully
with the normal conditions of life, to get along
comfortably with meagre conveniences, and to cre-
ate these by his own ingenuity from the materials
offered by nature, and to throw aside for a time,
as superfluous and effeminate, the bulk of the
customs and luxuries of civilization, which is an

Hours for Angling 149

unconscious delight of a sound mind in approxi-
mating aboriginal modes of existence.

Though increasing years lessen the bodily
vigor, fortunately they do not take away in the
least the mental and spiritual satisfaction in being
close to nature in her wilder forms, nor prevent
the fullest appreciation of her many varied
charms, especially those under the sweet influ-
ences of which salmon fishing is practised.

" I count it better pleasure to behold
The Goodly Compasse of the lofty Skye,
And in the midst thereof like burning gold
The flaming chariot of the World's great eye ;
The Watry clouds that in the Ayre uprold
With Sundry Kinds of painted Collours flie ;
And fayre Aurora, lifting up her head,
And blushing, rise from old Tithonus' bed —
*******
" The lofty woods, the forests wide & long,
Adorned with leaves and branches fresh and green,
In whose cool bours the birds with chaunting song
Do welcome with their Quire the Summer's queen.
The meadowes faire where Flora's gifts among
Are intermixt the verdant grass between —
The Silver skaled fish that softly swimme
Within the brookes and Cristal watry brimme."

— J. D., "Secrets of Angling," 1630.

THE PACIFIC SALMONS

BY C. H. TOWNSEND AND H. M. SMITH

THE PACIFIC SALMONS

DESCRIPTION AND NATURAL HISTORY
OF THE SPECIES

THE salmons of the Pacific coast constitute a
well-marked group of wide distribution, extraor-
dinary abundance, and great economic impor-
tance. No other river fishes in the world support
such extensive fisheries, and contribute so largely
to the food supply of man ; beside them all other
salmon are comparatively insignificant.

The genus Oncorhynchus (signifying hooked
snout), to which the Pacific salmons belong and
which is peculiar to the North Pacific Ocean, is
closely related to the genus Salmo, the differences
appealing rather to the ichthyologist than to the
fisherman or layman. The features separating
the two genera consist chiefly in an increased
number of anal rays, branchiostegals, gill-rakers,
and pyloric caeca in the western fish. The five
species of Oncorhynchus differ among themselves
in size, color, form, squamation, pyloric append-

153

154 The Pacific Salmons

ages, gill-rakers, and other structural details, and
are not always readily distinguishable. In addi-
tion to the anatomical characters, there is a
fundamental physiological difference between the
Pacific salmons and the fish of the genus Salmo ;
the latter spawn several times, while the former
invariably die after once spawning.

These fishes have been the subject of many
biological investigations on the part of the United
States Fish Commission, some of the most impor-
tant of which have only recently been com-
pleted ; and the general life history of the most
important species is now reasonably well known.
The records of that bureau have been freely used
in this account of the habits, distribution, cultiva-
tion, and commercial value of these fishes.

The quinnat salmon (Oncorhynchus tschawy-
tscha) bears a number of other names in different
regions, such as chinook salmon, tyee, king sal-
mon, Columbia salmon, and Sacramento salmon.
The specific name with which this fine fish is
encumbered is its Russian vernacular. The
euphonious Indian names, quinnat and chinook,
are those in most general use. The species may
be distinguished by its large size, robust form,
conical head, small eye, forked tail, numerous

Description of the Species 155

pyloric caeca (one hundred and forty to one
hundred and eighty-five), rather short gill-rakers,
about twenty-three in number, anal fin with six-
teen rays, fifteen to nineteen branchiostegals, and
one hundred and thirty-five to one hundred and
fifty-five series of scales between the head and
tail ; the back has dusky bluish or greenish color,
the sides and belly are silvery, the head is dark
with a metallic lustre, and the back, dorsal fin,
and caudal fin have small black spots.

The geographical range of the quinnat is from
Monterey Bay, California, northward to Norton
Sound, Alaska, and thence down the Asiatic
coast as far as China. It prefers the larger
rivers, like the Columbia, the Sacramento, the
Nushagak, and the Yukon, which are ascended
for long distances, in some instances over one
thousand miles; but it also enters many of the
shorter coast streams.

This fish is first seen in Monterey Bay as early
as January, and many are there caught by an-
glers for several months, while the fish are fre-
quenting this rendezvous and becoming fat on
small fish, preparatory to entering the Golden
Gate and beginning their long and last journey
up the Sacramento, which stream many have

156 The Pacific Salmons

entered by February. In March the fish is seen
in the Columbia, but not until May does it be-
come abundant there. It seeks the shores of
southern Alaska in May, and probably does not
reach the Yukon until the latter part of June
or early in July. The runs continue for four to
six months in the more southern waters, while
in northern Alaska the running season is very
short, probably not exceeding four to six weeks.

This fish is justly called " royal chinook
salmon " and " king salmon " by the people of the
Pacific states, for no other salmon in the world
compares with it in size. In the Yukon and
Norton Sound it attains a weight of one hundred
and ten pounds, and in the Columbia of over
eighty pounds. Examples weighing forty to
sixty pounds are common in the Columbia and
Sacramento, and the average weight of those
caught in the former stream is nearly twenty-five
pounds.

Since the discovery of gold on the upper Yu-
kon, large numbers of king salmon, often of
huge size, have been taken at Dawson, eighteen
hundred miles from the sea, and salmon are
known to pass above that point.

The greater part of the life of the salmon is

Description of tbe Species 157

spent at sea, where its full growth and sexual
maturity are attained. It is the general opinion
of authorities that the quinnat does not wander
far from the mouth of the stream in which it
was hatched ; for this reason, and not because
of any special homing instinct, it is likely to
return to its native river when impelled by the
spawning instinct to enter fresh water. Salmon,
when seeking fresh water, will sometimes, how-
ever, try to ascend rivulets flowing into the
sea too small to permit of the passage of such
fish at any time. It is a common practice for
natives in the Aleutian Islands to seine salmon
in abundance along shores where there are no
streams whatever, the fish remaining persistently
within a few feet of the beaches where there
is considerable seepage from the moss-covered
hills. This fact shows that they will enter streams
other than those from which they were derived.
Up to the time the fish enters a stream and
begins its migration to the spawning grounds,
it continues to feed ; but when once its up-stream
journey is fairly begun, it loses the ability to eat,
owing to the atrophy of its digestive organs.

When just in from the ocean, the quinnat is a
handsome, resplendent, shapely fish, although its

158 The Pacific Salmons

outlines are rather less graceful than those of the
Atlantic salmon. Its flesh is of a uniform rich
orange-red color, becoming paler and streaked as
the spawning season approaches.

According to the observations of the fishermen,
salmon appear to pass from the mouth of the
Columbia to the Cascades, about one hundred
and forty miles, in ten or twelve days. In the
rapid upper waters they doubtless travel more

slowly.

Sexual Differences

External sexual differences are scarcely dis-
cernible when the salmon first come in from the
ocean, but as the time for spawning advances the
sexes become more and more dissimilar in ap-
pearance. The developing ova give to the
female a plump aspect, while the male grows
gaunt and thin, and the shape of his head is
strongly modified ; the jaws become curved and
hooked, the eyes are sunken, large teeth appear
in both jaws, and his general appearance is savage

and repelling.

Spawning

Spawning begins shortly after the upper waters
are reached. The fish, in pairs, usually occupy a
position at the upper end of a riffle, where the

Description of tbe Species 159

current is strong, and where there are stones
among which the eggs may lodge. The female
extrudes a few eggs and moves away. The male
then takes the same place and emits a quantity
of milt. In a short time the process is repeated,
and this continues day and night for one or two
weeks. At irregular intervals, the female turns
on her side and forces the tail into the gravel,
making an excavation six or eight inches deep
and several feet across. Thus are formed the
so-called salmon " nests," which are not nests at
all, as they are not made for the reception of
eggs and do not contain eggs, which are carried
farther down-stream by the current. The object
of these movements is undoubtedly to loosen the
eggs from the ovaries and thus facilitate their
expulsion. Doubtless but a small percentage of
the eggs deposited are ever fertilized, although,
from the equal number of males present, the
water must be more or less permeated with the
fertilizing product.

Shortly after the spawning act is completed the
fish of both sexes die. Since coming into fresh
water, their vitality has gradually become reduced,
the scales have been absorbed, the fins and tail
have become worn off, the skin has been lost

160 The Pacific Salmons

in places which have been covered with fungus,
parasites attack the gills, and death mercifully
ensues.

The number of eggs deposited by the quinnat
is about three hundred or four hundred for each
pound weight of the parent fish. The loss of
eggs under natural conditions is large, owing to
non-fertilization, to destruction by other fish, and
to death by being covered with gravel and sand.
The investigations of the United States Fish
Commission indicate an average loss of eighty-
five per cent from these causes. The eggs which
are unmolested hatch in seven to ten weeks in
California (four or five months in Alaska), and
the alevin stage lasts six weeks longer, during
which a further heavy mortality — amounting to
twelve or thirteen per cent — occurs. After the
young begin to swim they are comparatively free
from enemies, and the seaward migration is ac-
complished without noteworthy diminution in
numbers.

The duration of the ocean life of the salmon
has not been determined, but recent experiments
in the marking of fry have shown that in Cali-
fornia and Oregon the quinnat salmon come
back to spawn in the second, third, and fourth

Description of tbe Species 161

years after hatching, most of them probably
returning in the second season.

It is not known whether the large-sized salmon
always found in the annual runs are individuals
which have encountered conditions unusually
favorable for their growth, or are fish that have
prolonged their stay in salt water far beyond
the customary period.

The Blue-back Salmon

The blue-back salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) is
known under the name redfish, red salmon, Fraser
River salmon, blue-back, and sockeye. It is more
abundant than all other species combined, and is
the salmon par excellence of Puget Sound, the
Fraser River, and Alaska. The species may be
recognized by its small size, rather slender form,
slightly forked tail, and the following anatomical
characters: pyloric caeca slender and seventy-five
to ninety-five in number; gill-rakers long and
averaging thirty-two to forty ; anal fin with four-
teen to sixteen rays, branchiostegals thirteen to
fifteen; scales in longitudinal series about one
hundred and thirty. The fish when fresh from
the sea has a bright blue back and silvery sides
and under parts, there being no spots anywhere.

1 62 The Pacific Salmons

At the spawning period the back and sides become
red, and the male develops an extravagantly hooked
lower jaw.

The blue-back ranges from northern California
to the far north, ascending those streams which
rise in cold, snow-fed lakes, and spawning in the
affluents of lakes.

It is one of the smallest of the salmon, the
maximum weight being only fifteen pounds;
specimens weighing over eight pounds are rare,
and the average is under five pounds. An
interesting form of the blue-back, apparently
landlocked in lakes in Idaho, Washington, and
elsewhere, weighs only half a pound when
mature, and is known as the little redfish.

The Humpback Salmon

The humpback salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbu-
scha) is the smallest member of the genus; it
rarely reaches a weight of ten pounds, and aver-
ages only five pounds. The principal specific
characters are the very small scales, two hundred
and ten to two hundred and forty in the longi-
tudinal series; slender pyloric caeca, about one
hundred and eighty in number ; twenty-eight short
gill-rakers, fifteen rays in the anal fin, eleven or

on

5 J

w 1
E «

§1

2 X

-J O

Description of the Species 163

twelve branchiostegals ; a bluish color above and
silvery on sides ; the posterior part of back, adipose
fin, and tail with numerous small black spots. It
ranges from San Francisco to the Arctic Ocean,
and is found in abundance on the Asiatic coast.
In Alaska it is the most abundant and generally
distributed of the salmons, but in the Pacific
States it does not ordinarily occur in great num-
bers, although there is sometimes a large run in
the Puget Sound region.

During the exploration of the Kowak River,
which lies within the Arctic Circle, Mr. Town-
send found humpback and dog salmon very
abundant, the Eskimo from the coast being
located in temporary camps along the river for
the purpose of drying fish for winter use.

The humpback usually ascends small streams
for the purpose of spawning, and often deposits its
eggs within a few rods of the sea. When it first
comes in from the ocean, it resembles the quinnat
salmon in form and color, but as the spawning
season advances it develops a large hump on the
back, whence the common name. This promi-
nence, together with the distortion of the jaws,
gives this species a very striking appearance.

When fresh from the sea the humpback is

164 The Pacific Salmons

scarcely inferior in food value to any other
salmon, but until very recently it has not entered
largely into the food supply, the chief consump-
tion being by Alaskan natives.

The Silver Salmon

The silver salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutcti) is also
known as silversides, skowitz, kisutch, hoopid,
and coho salmon. It has a graceful form, and a
brilliant silvery skin. It may be further distin-
guished by the comparatively few pyloric caeca
(forty-five to eighty in number), by the long and
slender gill-rakers, of which there are about
twenty-three, the short, conical head, long body,
small eye, and deeply forked tail. It abounds in
short coast streams in Oregon and Washington,
and is taken in large numbers in the Columbia
River, Puget Sound, and elsewhere. It ranges
from San Francisco to Alaska, and thence down
the coast of Asia as far as Japan. Although it
sometimes attains a weight of thirty pounds, its
average weight in the United States is only eight
pounds, but in Alaska it is nearly twice as large.
In fall and early winter it runs up the streams to
spawn, not usually ascending long distances from
the ocean.

Description of tbe Species 165

The Dog Salmon

The dog salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) has from
one hundred and forty to one hundred and eighty-
five pyloric caeca, fifteen short gill-rakers, medium-
sized scales, and thirteen or fourteen rays in the
anal fin. Its form resembles that of the quinnat.
It is dusky above, paler on the sides, and is usu-
ally covered with fine spots. The average weight
is twelve pounds, and the maximum twenty pounds.
Its range is from San Francisco to Kamchatka,
although it is not equally abundant in all parts of
its habitat, the largest runs being in Alaska. The
enlargement and distortion of the jaws, together
with its very large teeth, give to this species its
common name. It is the least valuable of the
salmons. When just from the salt water the flesh
has a fine red color and is not unpalatable, but it
quickly deteriorates. It spawns in the fall in
shallow rivers and creeks.

The Steelhead

The steclhead (Salmo gairdneri\ while in
reality a trout, is popularly regarded as a salmon,
and on the west coast is known as winter salmon,
hardhead, salmon-trout, and square-tailed trout.

1 66 The Pacific Salmons

It bears a close resemblance to the Atlantic
salmon. Its maximum weight is thirty pounds,
and its average ten pounds. It has a wide dis-
tribution, ascending nearly all streams from Santa
Barbara, California, to the Alaska peninsula. The
first run in the Columbia is in the fall, when the
fish is in prime condition ; but spawning does not
occur until February to May. The usual spawn-
ing grounds are the head waters of the streams,
the steelhead being as indefatigable as the quin-
nat in pushing its way inland.

It has harder skull bones than the salmons, and
its head is of a bright steely color, whence its
name.

This admirable fish is a general favorite, on
account of its size, beauty, gameness, and food
value. It is at its best as a table fish when
recently from the sea, and large quantities are
then caught for immediate consumption, and also
for trans-shipment to the interior and Eastern
States. Increasing quantities are also utilized
for canning purposes in the Columbia and other
rivers.

Unlike the Pacific salmons, it feeds freely in
fresh water, and does not die in the streams after
spawning, but returns to the sea. This habit

Feeding in Fresh Water 167

demonstrates its generic affinities as clearly as do
its anatomical characters.

At the spawning season the jaws of the male
steelhead undergo some changes, but not to the
great extent that they do in the salmon.

Feeding in Fresh Water

It may be accepted as an established fact that
the Pacific salmons do not feed in fresh water
except in rare instances. After leaving tide
water the throat becomes contracted, and dissec-
tion shows no food in the stomach.

The tendency to feed becomes less the longer
they remain, and when one has seen the enormous
runs of salmon that sometimes actually crowd
the streams, so that it would be impossible to wade
without stepping upon them, it becomes apparent
that they could not make their rapid journeys to
the head waters of the largest rivers and have time
to feed, and that there could not be food enough
to supply them if they required it. If such hordes
should become hungry while on the spawning
grounds hundreds of miles from the sea, one could
imagine the effect on the spawning operations.

As a matter of fact the salmon, after leaving
tide water, lives on its own supply of fat and

1 68 Tbe Pacific Salmon

blood. Its flesh becomes less and less red, and
the fish becomes thinner as it advances up-stream.
In most rivers the salmon arrives on the spawning
beds in fair condition, but by the time it has
located on the spawning grounds at the head
waters of the larger streams it is not merely ema-
ciated, but starved and diseased, and its generally
run-down condition is shown in the sores and
injuries on its body from head to tail. " Worn
to a frazzle " is an expression that might have
originated in a description of a Pacific salmon
late in the spawning season and far up-stream.

In the process of evolution the salmon may
have lost the desire to feed in fresh water through
the competition met with in the ascent of the
rivers, the great distances to be traversed, and the
lack of food in any stream necessary to supply as
greatly increased a population of fishes as occurs
in the spawning season. Any one who has seen
the virgin salmon streams of Alaska knows that no
stream could contain food for the legions crowded
between its banks at spawning time. If ani-
mals remain for a time where there is no food to
be had, they must do without it. This is not only
true of anadromous fishes, but is illustrated in
the case of the male fur seals, which when on

Feeding in Fresh Water 169

their breeding rookeries take neither food nor
water for two or three months.

The degree of emaciation reached and the
extent of the injuries received by the salmon by
the time it has spawned preclude the possibility
of its recovery even if it reaches salt water alive.
Death is a natural result of the conditions.

In Alaska, the humpback and dog salmon, in
the last stages of exhaustion, may be seen in
brooks after spawning, within a stone's throw of
the sea, still struggling up-stream. At this time
all desire to feed or return to salt water is gone,
the fish linger until they die from exhaustion, and
the stream becomes offensive from the abundance
of dead fish.

Notwithstanding the fact that the salmon cares
little for food when in fresh water and pressing
up-stream under the strong instinct to seek its
spawning grounds, it can be induced to take the
angler's bait or spoon when properly presented,
even taking a little food at times on its own
account. Perhaps the devices of the angler are
more attractive to these sea fish than anything to
be found in the streams. There can be no doubt
that many salmon are taken by anglers at great
distances from the sea, with the spoon and with

170 The Pacific Salmon

salmon-roe bait. While the ascending salmon
has a mission to perform and never loses any
time seeking food, it may be induced to take
attractive baits that are thrown in its way. Most
of those so captured are males.

The fact remains that, while food is sometimes
found in the fish, it feeds little and becomes more
and more emaciated, until at the conclusion of
the spawning season it dies from lack of nutri-
tion.

Cultivation and Acclimatization

The Pacific salmons received the attention of
fish culturists at a comparatively early date, and
to-day are among the leading fishes propagated
by the general government and the States of the
Western seaboard. Owing in part to the exten-
sive fishing, especially that at and near the
mouths of rivers, and in part to the pollution
of waters and to obstructions, the preservation of
these fish is to a very large extent dependent
on artificial propagation, and the maintenance of
the supply in the face of an enormous annual
catch is very generally attributed to the work of
the hatcheries.

Associated with the first salmon hatching on
the Pacific coast is the name of one of the

Cultivation and Acclimatisation 171

pioneers of fish culture. As early as 1873, when
fish culture was still in its infancy, Livingston
Stone penetrated what was then the almost
unbroken wilderness of northern California,
located on the McCloud River, and artificially
fertilized and hatched salmon eggs at a little sta-
tion appropriately called Baird, in honor of one
whose services in behalf of the food and game
fishes of the country entitle him to the everlast-
ing gratitude of sportsmen, commercial fishermen,
and the general public.

From this small beginning at Baird, salmon
culture has gradually increased, until now it is
carried on at more than a score of government
and State hatcheries in California, Oregon, and
Washington, at which, in 1901, more than a
hundred million eggs were taken and incubated.
While the quinnat salmon receives most atten-
tion, the blue-back salmon, the silver salmon, the
dog salmon, and the steelhead come in for a fair
share.

For an account of the interesting methods
adopted in the artificial propagation of these
species, the reader should consult " The Manual
of Fish Culture," published by the United States
Fish Commission.

172 Tbe Pacific Salmon

It is not often possible to gage the effects of
fish-cultural work in public waters, and this is
especially true of the Pacific salmons. Some
light has, however, been thrown on this subject
by the marking of young salmon prior to their
release in the open waters ; thus, at the hatchery
on the Clackamas River, Oregon, one lot of five
thousand fingerling salmon was liberated in 1896
after having the adipose dorsal fins cleanly shaved
off with a razor. So many of these fish were
subsequently captured as mature individuals as to
indicate that an unexpectedly large proportion of
young salmon turned out by the hatcheries sur-
vive and return to the rivers. Between four and
five hundred of the fish so marked are known to
have been recaptured, the minimum weight of
which was not less than ten thousand pounds.
These figures indicate that for every thousand fry
liberated, two thousand pounds of adult fish were
caught for market. The cost of producing and
planting young salmon at the government hatch-
eries does not exceed one dollar per thousand,
and the value of the fish resulting therefrom
caught for market is at least $100, or five cents
per pound.

The possibility of acclimatizing the Pacific

Cultivation and Acclimatisation 173

salmons in other waters was early considered,
and many large plants of fry were placed in the
Atlantic rivers from the Delaware northward ;
but no noteworthy or lasting results attended
these efforts. More recently the attempt has
been renewed by the planting of large numbers
of yearling fish in the most suitable eastern
streams and in the Great Lakes, and strong
hopes are entertained that success may eventu-
ally be attained. A quinnat weighing over ten
pounds was taken on a trolling spoon at the head
of the St. Lawrence River in September, 1899;
this fish could not have been older than two and
one-third years. Another fine example, weighing
twelve and one-half pounds, was caught in a gill-
net in September, 1900. In the spring of 1896,
the planting of steelhead fry in rivers at the west-
ern end of Lake Superior was begun. By June,
1897, many young salmon six to eight inches long
were caught in the streams, but it was not until
the following year that the fish appeared in the
lake. In the summer and fall of 1898 steelheads
were taken by the commercial fishermen operat-
ing along the American and Canadian shores of
Lake Superior, and by anglers in several of the
streams entering the lake north of Duluth. Fish-

174 Tbe Pacific Salmon

ermen setting large-meshed gill-nets in deep water
for lake trout frequently obtained steelheads four-
teen to eighteen inches long, one man at Isle
Royal reporting twenty-seven fish thus caught by
him. Most of the fish secured in the nets were
not gilled, but were held by the dorsal fin after
the head had passed through the nets; smaller-
meshed nets would undoubtedly have taken many
more fish. A member of the Duluth fly-casting
club states that in two days members of his club
caught over four hundred steelheads in Sucker
River, he himself taking eighty-five fish in one
day; he further reports that he has personal
knowledge of not less than twenty-two hundred
steelheads taken with hook and line from French
and Sucker rivers in 1898. These fish were seven
to fourteen inches long, and took the artificial
fly as readily as do brook trout. The largest
specimen recorded was twenty-eight inches in
length.

The quinnat salmon has been transplanted to
France, New Zealand, and Australia, but with no
very decided benefit up to this time. At the
Trocadero Aquarium in Paris the species has
been reared through seven or eight generations
in ponds.

Salmon Fishing 175

Economic Importance of Salmon

The quantity of salmon taken annually from
the waters of the Pacific States, British Columbia,
and Alaska is almost past comprehension, and
the question may well be asked, How long will
the rivers continue to yield these enormous quan-
tities with inadequate protective measures ? The
yearly drain on the supply now exceeds two hun-
dred and fifty million pounds in the United States
and forty-five million pounds in British Columbia,
with a market value of more than #13,000,000.
The great centres of the salmon fishery are the
Columbia River, Puget Sound, Fraser River, and
Kadiak. As the fish come to the shores and
ascend the rivers, they are caught with all kinds
of appliances and are incessantly harassed by sea-
lions, white men, and Indians. Large quantities
are consumed fresh, but the principal part of the
catch is canned. Owing to the rich red color of
the flesh, which persists after cooking, the chinook
and the blue-back salmon are the most useful for
canning purposes. The blue-back is the most
valuable species, considered in the aggregate, and
is the leading salmon of Puget Sound, Fraser
River, and Alaska. The steelhead is taken in

176 The Pacific Salmon

much smaller numbers than the other species, but
its value is relatively higher.

A peculiar method of taking salmon in salt
water is practised by the Indians of Washington
and British Columbia, called reef-net fishing, in
which a large square piece of netting is held be-
tween two canoes. The latter are anchored on
some reef or other shoal over which the salmon
must pass. A lookout is kept, and when the
mass of fish are between the two canoes, the
net is quickly lifted by the ropes attached to its
sides and corners, and emptied into one of the
canoes.

In the McCloud, and other streams tributary
to the Sacramento, we have seen a method of
salmon fishing by Indians practised apparently
nowhere else: booths, or lodges, covered with
green boughs, are constructed at points just be-
low riffles and rapids, where the fish pause before
entering very rapid waters. The lodges overhang
the water, and have no more flooring than will
afford a seat for the fisherman. From the dark-
ened interior the Indian has a good view of the
fish passing underneath, and strikes them readily
with a double-pronged spear.

Salmon Fishing 177

Angling for Salmon

It took the angler a long time to find out how
to fish for Pacific salmon. For a generation
people had been catching them in seines and
gill-nets, and putting them into tin cans at the
rate of millions of dollars' worth a year, but it was
not until about ten years ago that sportsmen as a
class woke up to the fact that there was good
salmon angling in the bays and tidal waters
generally.

Information received by the United States Fish
Commission from various sources shows that an
important quantity of salmon is now taken regu-
larly by trolling, not merely by sportsmen, but
by the professional fishermen.

In taking the Pacific salmons, whether in the
bays or rivers, the spoon must be depended upon
chiefly. Bright feathers attached to the hook
are advantageous. In the rivers the best success
is usually to be had below falls which the fish
have difficulty in passing. We have noticed that
salmon may often be taken below the racks
placed in the streams near Government fish
hatcheries, where their progress was arrested
temporarily, when they could not be taken at

178 The Pacific Salmon

points some distance above, where they were also
abundant. Spokane Falls and the Falls of the
Willamette are localities well known to salmon
anglers.

There is no doubt that, under favorable con-
ditions, the Pacific salmon will take the fly, and
it is quite possible that the most attractive fly
has not yet been discovered. Much of the fly
fishing for salmon on the Pacific coast, however,
has really been for steelheads, the angler failing
to make the proper distinction.

Salmon may be taken with roe-bait in pools well
up in the head waters of the streams. In the
McCloud they are easily taken with the spoon,
while the young, before leaving the river, will rise
to the fly, and are often taken in the spring in
trout fishing. On several occasions the grilse
accompanying the run of large salmon have been
taken with the fly, some of them weighing about
four pounds.

In Washington and British Columbia, tidal-
water sportsmen take even the largest salmon
with the rod and spoon, while the late-running
silver salmon often take the fly.

The most southerly point on the Pacific coast
where salmon are taken, either commercially or

Salmon Fishing 179

for sport, is Monterey Bay, although a few have
been caught farther south.

Previous to 1893 few salmon were taken in
Monterey Bay by any kind of apparatus, but in
that year trolling for them was accidentally intro-
duced during the fishing for mackerel, and both
anglers and commercial fishermen were quick to
take advantage of the discovery.

This sea fishing has lengthened the salmon
season, both for sport and for commercial pur-
poses, and has permitted the marketing the fish
at a time when their food value is unsur-
passed.

It is surprising that fishermen were not previ-
ously aware that salmon entered the bay in con-
siderable numbers, and could be taken with the
hook in paying quantities ; but this was no doubt
due to the fact that salmon in this region do not
appear at the surface, jumping and leaping out of
water as they do when coming in contact with
fresh water. The object of the salmon in enter-
ing Monterey Bay is to feed on the sardines,
smelts, and squid that are found during the sum-
mer months, there being no streams of any con-
siderable size to attract them.

Salmon are taken in Monterey Bay in two

i8o The Pacific Salmon

ways — trolling with spoon, with and without bait,
and with baited hook attached below a heavy
sinker. Previous to the arrival of sardines,
smelts, or other small species on which salmon
feed, that is, in quantities to make bait easy to
obtain, sportsmen use rod and spoon ; but as
soon as bait is to be had, this method is aban-
doned for the sinker hook. As a substitute for
bait a bait-spoon is sometimes used, but a baited
hook is preferred. Sportsmen who make the
trip from San Francisco and elsewhere use split
bamboo rods of various makes, ranging in size
from ten to twelve ounces. Occasionally a fancy
and expensive rod is seen. A variety of lines
is used, both silk and linen, varying in length
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred yards ;
the spoons also vary in size, from Nos. 5 to 7. As
may be supposed, a great variety and many dif-
ferent sizes of hooks are used on the same size
of spoon, each angler carrying out his own ideas
as to the kind of hook best suited to his wants.
The average hook used in connection with a
spoon corresponds in size to a No. 14 cod trawl
hook with a slightly longer shank. Some use the
brazed treble hook ; this style is not a favorite
among the sportsmen. Mr. A. B. Alexander

Salmon Fisbing 181

states that the " Wilson " spoon, lately introduced,
is very effective. It is made in all sizes, No. 6
being most in demand. In shape it resembles
the shell of the razor clam, being long and
narrow, and rounded at each end. It is claimed
that this style of spoon cuts and sheers in the
water more than the ordinary spoon, and is more
attractive to the salmon. All fishing is carried
on from skiffs and small rowboats.

As before stated, as soon as bait is obtainable
the above apparatus is abandoned, and the sinker
and hook brought into use. This style of fishing
gear consists of a linen line, sometimes cotton,
size from nine to fifteen thread, with a five-ounce
lead sinker having a brass eye in each end to
which the line and snood are fastened. The
snood is from five to six feet in length, and
halfway between the sinker and hook is a
small brass box swivel, size No. 4, to admit of
the hook turning freely. The hooks vary in
size and shape according to taste of the fisher-
men using them. The average sizes are 8/0,
9/0, and 10/0, some eyed and others flattened.
The same kind of rods are used in both methods
of fishing.

A great many more salmon are taken with

1 82 The Pacific Salmon

baited hooks than with spoons, commercial fisher-
men seldom if ever using the latter. The pro-
fessional fishermen's trolling lines are rigged
somewhat differently from those used by the
sportsmen, although on the same principle. A
common bamboo pole answers every purpose, for
it is not sport that the fisherman is after, but the
greatest number of fish in the shortest time. A
fish being hooked, the pole is dropped and the
line hauled in hand over hand, skill being exer-
cised in manipulating it so as not to lose the
prize. Frequently no rod is used, the line either
being held in the hand, or made fast with a half-
hitch round the loom of the oar. The line is
generally cotton, thirty-two thread, from eighty to
one hundred feet in length; hook five inches
long, shaped something like a halibut hook, but
with the shank longer. In baiting the hook care
is taken to have the shank entirely covered, leav-
ing the barb and point bare, hence the object of
the extra length. The baits giving the best
results are sardines and smelts, and the whole
fish is used. The sinker is much heavier than
that adopted by the sportsmen, weighing about
four pounds, and being fastened to the line
twenty-five feet above the hook. The bait is

Salmon Fisbing 183

towed at a depth of at least twenty feet — some-
times the fish are much deeper.

The usual sailing speed in trolling is four miles
an hour, and the average size of fish taken is a
little over twenty pounds, although fifty pounders
are sometimes caught. The best of the season is
in June, but there is good fishing well into Au-
gust ; and sometimes salmon are taken here by
trolling throughout the winter, as in 1896-97.
The best fishing is usually to be had during the
forenoon, and twenty-five fish are considered a
good day's catch for one hook. Even the com-
mercial fisherman have some sport, as the fish are
gamey, nearly all jumping out of the water while
being hauled in.

Monterey is the only place on the Pacific coast
where an important number of market fishermen
use the hook and line for salmon. The fishing
has increased steadily each year since its begin-
ning, and in 1901 there were taken by this method
approximately 190,786 pounds of salmon, or about
10,000 fish in number, most of which were placed
in cold storage and shipped to various parts of the
East. About one hundred boats were engaged.

In the Eel River, in northern , California, there
is good salmon trolling in the fall. The fish are

184 The Pacific Salmon

taken in tide water, chiefly by professional fisher-
men, using from twenty to thirty boats ; but many
anglers come for sport fishing, and occasionally
capture fish weighing forty or fifty pounds. It
takes the sportsman an hour on the average to land
one of the larger fish.

Only a few salmon have been taken by trolling
in San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento River.

At Red Bluff and other points farther up the
Sacramento River, in places not over four hun-
dred or five hundred feet wide, farmers and other
people living in the vicinity place lines across the
stream, to which are attached seven or eight
spoons, equal distances apart, suspended from
the main line by snoods about two feet long, thus
forming what might be termed a surface trawl.
The current striking the line keeps the spoons in
motion, which answers the same purpose as a spoon
on a line handled from a boat. In this way six or
eight salmon are sometimes taken in a day on a
single line. No bait is used, and no fishing is
performed along the banks of the river with either
fly or spoon. At Battle Creek in the same region
salmon are frequently taken by casting a spoon
below the racks used in closing the stream near
the government fish hatchery.

Salmon Fishing 185

The Indians of Neah Bay, Washington, do a
considerable business in trolling for silver salmon,
and have been known to take as many as four thou-
sand fish in a day. The principal fishing grounds
lie off the mouth of the bay, in the vicinity of
Tatoosh Rock, and some two or three miles
farther south. The catch is mostly shipped to
a cannery at Port Townsend.

Early in the morning the Indians repair to the
grounds, remaining out all day, and sometimes
after dark, the weather permitting. The spoons
are about two sizes larger than those used else-
where on the coast, with no increase in the size
of the hook. Trolling lines are usually white
cotton, sometimes tanned, size thirty thread. A
complete fishing outfit consists only of a line one
hundred and fifty feet long and a trolling spoon.
Pieces of salmon and small herring are used for
bait.

In trolling, the canoe is paddled, except in very
light breezes, when the sail is set. The line is
held in the hand which grasps the upper part of
the paddle. When a fish is hooked the paddle
is thrown into the bottom of the canoe and a
straight overhand pull begins. The canoe being
light, her headway soon stops, which lessens the

1 86 The Pacific Salmon

strain on the line, thereby increasing the chances
of securing the salmon.

Salmon trolling is performed in the same way
and with the same kind of tackle off Seattle and
in other parts of Puget Sound. Sportsmen,
however, are much given to using rod and reel
and playing the fish, deriving more pleasure in
landing one fish in this way than in taking a
dozen salmon after the manner of the market
fishermen.

At Killisnoo, Alaska, the run of king salmon
that strike the coast readily take a spoon. They
come in to feed on the herring which annually
visit these waters. Spoons and lines of the same
pattern and size are employed by the Killisnoo
Indians as at Neah Bay, and the same kind
of bait is used. The fish taken are for home
consumption. At times when salmon will not
take a spoon at the surface, a baited hook lowered
to the bottom frequently induces them to bite.

There can be no doubt that there are many
places along the west coast where salmon could
be taken by trolling just as well as at Monterey
and off Cape Flattery. During the survey of
ocean fishing banks off the Oregon coast by the
Fish Commission steamer Albatross, two or three

Salmon Fisbing 187

salmon were hooked on the cod lines used in
testing the fishing grounds. These were taken
four or five miles off shore in probably thirty
fathoms. In a few instances salmon have been
hooked on common fishing gear from four to
six miles off the coast of Washington in thirty
to forty fathoms. One fishing captain took thir-
teen chinook salmon six miles off the Washing-
ton coast by trolling at thirty fathoms where the
soundings were forty fathoms, and another fisher-
man took one chinook six miles farther out. It
now seems probable that a thorough trial by deep
trolling all along our coast will show that the
salmon are " on soundings " during a considera-
ble part of the time they spend at sea.

Angling for Steelheads

The fishing season is not limited to the time
that the steelhead is in the rivers, for it may be
found in the lower tidal waters at almost any
time of the year. In the coast rivers of northern
California it may be taken from early in the fall
until midwinter.

There is especially good fishing for the steel-
head in the Russian, Navarro, and Eel rivers
north of San Francisco in the fall, and it may be

1 88 The Pacific Salmon

taken with the spoon or with a variety of flies.
Ten-pound fish are about the usual size, and each
may be depended upon to furnish a long fight
During the open season many anglers from
San Francisco fish for steelheads in Olema River
and about the head of Tomales Bay. The spoon
for taking the steelhead is much smaller than
that used for salmon in Monterey Bay, although
different sizes are found among fishermen, rang-
ing from Nos. 2 to 5. The lines are mostly silk,
fifty yards being about the maximum length.
Worms, grasshoppers, and minnows are used for
bait in spoon casting. Some anglers cannot be
induced to use bait, much preferring fly fishing.
Flies of the usual varieties found in anglers' fly
books are brought into use in fishing this
stream. Men and boys living in this locality, not
possessing the expensive tackle of the anglers,
fish with common bamboo poles, both with and
without reels; some have silk lines, but the ma-
jority use linen lines. Fishing is done almost
wholly from the banks of the river, wading the
stream, and from marshy points projecting into
the bay, and occasionally from a small boat or
skiff anchored off some favorite spot near the
shore.

Salmon Fisbing 189

During the run of steelheads in Eel River
many anglers from San Francisco find excellent
sport there. The river is fished by trolling from
a boat, whipping the stream with rod and fly,
and baited snelled hook. The bait changes with
the season, and in fly fishing a great variety is
used, repeated changes being made according to
the time of day and the condition of the weather.
The general favorite, however, is the small red
fly. A twelve-ounce split bamboo rod is mostly
used, both in trolling and fishing with fly. The
spoons used are the Wilson pattern, Nos. 3, 4,
and 5, and the average length of line is one hun-
dred yards ; it is of the best quality of solid
silk, Nos. 4 and 5 being the standard sizes.
Three feet above the spoon is a piece of sheet
lead wound round the line, weighing from four
to five ounces. In shallow parts of the river the
lead acts as a protection to the spoon, giving
warning to the fishermen when the hook is near
the bottom. Some fishermen attach a gut leader
above the spoon, but others claim that fish are
lost by it. It is said that large spoons take
large fish, and that it seldom happens that a
fish of any considerable size is caught on a small
spoon. A great deal of salmon roe is used for

190 The Pacific Salmon

bait, as well as pieces of salmon cut into nar-
row strips.

It has been stated that the steelhead does not
ascend the Sacramento as far as the McCloud,
but we saw one there in 1884. It was recognized
as a rarity by the men engaged in taking salmon
eggs for the government hatchery and was saved
for identification.

The mere fact that the steelhead belongs tech-
nically to the trouts and not to the salmons
should not affect its reputation as a game fish.
It is probably as gamey a fish as the Atlantic
salmon, and it is large-sized and fights well when
hooked. No one thought of calling it anything
but a salmon until the naturalists pointed out the
characters that identified it as a trout. To most
of the people of the west coast it is still a salmon.

A time is coming when there will be an army
of anglers fishing for the steelhead in all the
beautiful streams of the west coast from the
Russian River to the Straits of Fuca.

THE TROUTS OF AMERICA

BY WILLIAM C. HARRIS

THE TROUTS OF AMERICA

CHAPTER I

ANGLING, ITS ANTIQUITY AND LITERATURE — DIS-
TRIBUTION OF TROUTS AND CHARRS — CLASSIFICA-
TION—NATIVE TROUTS AND FOREIGN SPECIES
INTRODUCED TO AMERICAN WATERS

THE literature of ichthyology and angling is
as old, doubtless older, than the classics. When
Socrates was teaching philosophy in the aca-
demic groves of ancient Athens, and Diogenes
was still in prime cynical vigor, Herodotus, the
pioneer in ichthyic research, in the fifth century
before the Christian era, was engaged in stream
observation and in the study of zoology, direct
and comparative. Oppian, in the second century,
gave to the Roman world, in his " Halieutica,"
the first treatise on fishing, and earlier still, the
old Greeks practised the art of angling, for
Homer tells us: —

" Of beetling rocks that overhang the flood,
Where silent anglers cast insidious food,
With fraudful care await the finny prize,
And sudden lift it quivering to the skies."
o 193

194 Tbe Trouts of America

The Macedonians, before the age of Alexan-
der the Great, used a crude fly made of purple
wool with wings, which they called the "hippu-
rus " ; it was said to be of the size of a hornet,
marked like a wasp, and when manipulated,
buzzed like a bee; it was used to lure the
fishes of the river Astreus and those of smaller
streams, which were said by ^Elian to have been
"speckled fishes."

In the prophecies of Isaiah, chap. xix. ver. 8,
the unrighteous fishermen are warned in these
words : —

" The fishers also shall mourn and all they
that cast angles into the brooks."

In 1486, six years before the discovery of
America, Wynken de Worde, among the first of
English printers, published that famous work,
" The Booke of St. Albans " on " the dyssporte of
fysshyng" by Dame Juliana Berners or Barnes,
the Prioress of Sopwell in England ; it was the
first book on fish and fishing printed in the
English language.

From about the same period we have handed
down to us a canticle sung by the monks, the
words of which are redolent with the spirit of
angling : —

Antiquity of Angling 195

" The sun was setting and vespers done, the monks came one
by one,

And down they went through the garden trim in cassock and
cowl to the river's brim,

Every brother his rod he took, every rod had a line and hook,

Every hook had a bait so fine, and thus they sang in the even
shine,

' Oh ! to-morrow will be Friday, so we fish the stream to-day !

Oh ! to-morrow will be Friday, so we fish the stream to-
day ! ' — BENEDICITE."

The old dame, among her other unctuous sur-
roundings as Prioress of Sopwell, had the pike
and the carp, and, doubtless, the perch and tench,
in the ponds of the Priory, with the red-spotted
brown trout coursing a brook not distant. To
fish on Thursday for Friday's meals was not
only a delight but a necessity for these hooded
disciples of the craft, and the refrain of the old
canticle and the jollity of the air of it, accentu-
ated, as it doubtless was by the lifting of a fat
carp from the adjacent moat, or, perhaps, a lusty
trout from the near-by stream, stirred their blood
even as ours leaps to-day when the monarch of
the brook is braving skill and tackle.

Nearly two hundred years after the publica-
tion of " The Booke of St. Albans," Walton wrote
his angling idyl, "The Compleat Angler," and

196 The Trouts of America

from 1653, the year in which it was printed, to
the present time, about thirty-five hundred works
on angling, in various popular and edition-de-
luxe forms, have been published.

With these records before them, angling stu-
dents are inclined to believe that "the speckled
fish " lured by the ancient Macedonians with an
artificial fly or bug, were either trout or closely
allied to that genus. Also, that the prophet
Isaiah in the use of the words, "they that cast
angles into the brooks," had reference to a prac-
tice identical or similar to that of modern fly-
fishing, more particularly, as it was reported by
a correspondent of The American Angler, some
ten years ago, that he had found a varietal
form of the charr-trout in the upper waters of
the River Jordan.

Certainly no fishes of the fresh waters, except
possibly the small cyprinoids, or carplike min-
nows, have a greater or more general distribu-
tion, above latitude 40°, than those of the salmon
family, particularly the so-called trouts. Wher-
ever water exists of a temperature not higher
than 65°, the trout will be found, or can be suc-
cessfully planted and increased. In swiftly run-
ning, highly aerated waters they have been known

Distribution 197

to live, but not thrive lustily, when the temper-
ature is slightly over 70°. Such water condi-
tions exist all over the temperate zone, and
in the. elevated portions of the semi-tropical.
At the present day these fish are found on the
western coast of America from the Arctic Cir-
cle to the head of the Gulf of California, and in
the streams of the northern mountains of Mexico.
In the Old World they have been discovered as
far south as the Atlas Mountains of Africa, the
mountain streams of Persia, and in the Hindu
Kush or Indian Caucasus of the colossal range
of the Himalayas.

On the eastern coast of North America, the
red-spotted charr-trout (fontinalis) is found from
Labrador south to the head waters of the Savan-
nah, Chattahoochee, Catawba, and French Broad
rivers; and west and northwest of the Mississippi
we find at least twenty-three species of our so-
called indigenous salmon-trouts, some of them
leaping and flashing from the waters of Kam-
chatka, while their congeners are disporting in
the mountain streams of Arizona and in the
lakes of Mexico.

The many species of trout of the streams west
of the Mississippi are not considered indigenous

198 The Trouts of America

to North American waters, for it is now the con-
sensus of opinion among American ichthyolo-
gists that these fish originated in Asia, crossing
Behring Straits or the adjacent sea, and passing
southward and eastward to the Upper Columbia,
thence to the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers;
from the Missouri southward to the Platte and
the Arkansas, and from there being generally dis-
tributed over the Pacific slope from the Fraser
River southward. Be this as it may, and at best
it is merely an ichthyic theory ; we find the origi-
nal parent fish, after leaving their Asian Eden,
multiplying in Western waters into twenty-four
species of trout, all black spotted save one, the
Dolly Varden. East of the Mississippi thirteen
species and subspecies of the charr-trouts exist,
including the lake trout or togue (Namaycusti),
which is also found in the extreme northwest
as far as the Arctic Circle, and excluding the
Dolly Varden, which is a charr of the Pacific
slope.

In Great Britain and on the eastern continent
not less than ten species of trout and charrs are
known under specific classification. We find
non-migratory trout in the waters of Hungary,
Switzerland, France, Bavaria, Italy, Norway,

Distribution 199

Sweden, Siberia, Lapland, and in Algeria and
India; and migratory species along the shores
of Europe, Northern Asia, and even as far south
as the Crimea, and at the entrance of the harbor
of Sebastopol. From the geographical situa-
tion and climate of the Scandinavian Peninsula
it may be inferred that it is inhabited by a
greater number of species of salmonoids than
exist in other sections of the Continent or in
Great Britain.

Constant additions are being made in the dis-
covery of new species or varietal forms, and in
the opinion of many European ichthyologists the
hybrids of the charrs and salmon-trouts are adding
to the number of confused and complicated spe-
cies, until Glinther, one of the most prominent
fish savants, is obliged to confess : —

"We know no other group of fishes which
offers so many difficulties to the ichthyologist,
with regard to the distinction of species as well
as to certain points in their life history as this
genus (Salmo). . . . The almost infinite varia-
tions of these fishes are dependent on age, sex,
and sexual development, food, and the properties
of the water. Some of the species interbreed,
and the hybrids mix again with one of the parent

200 The Trouts of America

species, thus producing an offspring more or less
similar to the pure breed. . . ."

To add to this confusion in the identification
and classification of species, other potent factors
exist, of which the widely variant coloration is
not the least. Trout of the same species, when
found in widely separated waters, and in some
instances in the same habitat, very often present
striking differentiation in color and physique. I
have found three distinct forms and standards of
coloration in the same species of Rocky Moun-
tain trout, the cut-throat or black-spotted trout
(Salmo clarkii). Those of the Yellowstone River
have stout bodies and yellow coloration of rather
a dense hue ; those of the Gallatin River are not
so stout at the shoulders, and have a bright sil-
very coating, while the Elk Creek fish is more
clipper-built, has a cleaner run than his congeners
of the Yellowstone and Gallatin, with a more brill-
iant silvery sheen, barred with brown. Age does
not seem to alter these conditions, for a half-pound
fish, caught in either of the waters named, is as
characteristically marked as one weighing a pound,
and these streams are all in Montana and not dis-
tant more than three hundred miles, as the crow
flies, one from the other.

Distribution 201

All these fish are classed under the cut-throat
species because of the crimson slash appearing
on the under jaw or throat-latch ; but this mark-
ing is frequently indistinct and occasionally
absent, and to render confusion more pro-
nounced, these cut-throat trout frequently have
a faint, sometimes bright, pinkish lateral band
upon them, thus encroaching on the distinctive
marking of the rainbow series of fishes.

In Wood River, a few miles from Ketchum,
in southern Idaho, I have taken a trout with no
tracing of the crimson markings on the throat-
latch or lower jaw, but with a bright, broad band
of pink along the lateral line, and have not, as
yet, been satisfied as to its correct classification
— it may have been a cut-throat, or it may have
been a rainbow, for we are told by ichthyologists
that the three series of western salmon-trouts —
the cut-throat, rainbow, and steelhead — are only
provisionally retained as distinct, the prominent
differentiation between them being only in the
number and size of the scales and the apparently
diverse coloration of the fish.

Anglers all know that the male of the eastern
red-spotted trout (fontinalis} is much more
highly colored during the spawning season than

202 The Trouts of America

at any other period of the year. The same
is true of the sea salmon and all others of
the same family, including those of the Rocky
Mountains and other waters of the far West,
and doubtless nature has bestowed upon the
male trout increased beauty of coloration dur-
ing the erotic period to enhance his charms
and render his amours more fascinating to the
female.

Thus it will be seen that coloration is not
to be depended upon in distinguishing species,
there being seldom found a trout which in all
its stages of development will present an uniform
coloration. The prevailing marking of all young
salmonoids, trout particularly, is the dark bars
running transversely across the body. These
disappear when the fish reaches a length of six
to eight inches, and yet I found the trout of
Elk Creek, Montana, to retain these markings at
all stages of their growth.

Again, the properties of the water, its depth
and slowness or rapidity of current, have a visible
effect upon the coloration of trout. On the
Ontonagon River, Michigan, about twelve miles
north of the Wisconsin line, there is a quiet
stretch of water nearly two hundred feet in

Distribution 203

length, densely bordered by a growth of over-
hanging alders. Under these, and at a depth of
five or six feet, the trout lie in wait for falling
insects. These fish, when freshly taken from the
water, are found to be of dark coloration, the
vermiculations or mottlings on the back but
faintly outlined, yet the red or crimson spots are
more brilliant than ordinarily occurs. They are
stouter than usual at the shoulders, the body
broader and more aldermanic in its proportions ;
they are well fed, do not have to forage vigor-
ously for food, and rise to an artificial fly leisurely
and lazily. One hundred feet above this pool is
another, smaller and more shallow, into and out
of which turbulent rapids pour. Take a fish, as
I have done, from this swim, and he will be found
of lighter coloration, a slimmer and cleaner-cut
body, with the olive mottlings on his back clearly
outlined, and the red spots not so bright. Near
the head of the large pool named there is a little
rill that flows into the river over a shallow sand
bar, some ten inches in depth, and about five feet
broad. The trout from the deeper reaches of the
still water occasionally come on this bar, prob-
ably to bask in the sun, as there is apparently
no food there for them. In a few moments their

204 The Trouts of America

dark bodies assume a lighter shade, the anterior
streak of dirty white on their belly fins becomes
of a richer cream, and the wormlike markings
on the back change from blackish to dark olive
clearly and strikingly defined. These changes
in coloration are certainly involuntary and are a
provision of nature to protect them from their
enemies of the air and water.

Again, we find that the difference in size and
in the proportions of the body in trout of the
same age, present further difficulties in identi-
fication of species. The head especially is sub-
ject to great alteration as the fish grows to
maturity; the fins, according to Gunther, of
those inhabiting rapid streams, as well as still
waters, show considerable variations in form
and length; those of the fish in rapid water
being in almost constant motion causes the
wearing off of the delicate extremities, hence
the fin-rays are comparatively shorter, stouter,
and of a more rounded form. Moreover, one
and the same individual may pass a part of its
life in a lake, and enter a river at certain periods,
thus changing the form of its fins, as well as gen-
eral coloration, almost periodically.

Thus it will be seen that exact classification in

Classification 205

our fish fauna must be based upon anatomical
lines, the structure of internal organs ; for to de-
pend upon the difference in individual fishes in
shape, coloration, size of the head at certain
stages of growth, spread and shape of tail, or vari-
ation in weight, would be like building up a new
classification for the human family based upon
the phrenological lines of the head, size and flop
of ears, pedal spread, freckles or no freckles,
excessive youthful growth or height or rotundity
in individuals.

From this rich but somewhat incongruous
material at their command, ichthyologists have
classified the trouts of American waters into
salmon-trouts and charr-trouts. None of the
former is indigenous to the waters east of the
Mississippi River, and but one of the latter —
the Dolly Varden — is a native of the Pacific
slope. The lake trout (a large, coarse charr) is
found in Eastern waters, and northwest as far as
the Arctic Circle ; and in this connection anglers
should bear in mind that the word " trout " in
general use and so indiscriminately employed to
designate all species of their favorite fish, should
be discarded : the " trout " (Salvelinus), so called,
of Eastern waters are all charrs except the

206 The Trouts of America

imported species of salmon-trouts from abroad
and from the far West. The trouts proper (Salmo)
are the salmon-trouts of foreign importation, and
those indigenous to waters west of the Mississippi
River.

This classification of the trouts is based upon
anatomical differences of structure in the two
genera, the details of which will be given as each
fish is treated separately : they consist mainly in
the arrangement and location of the teeth. If an
angler is in doubt as to the proper generic status
of his trout or charr, he has only to put his finger
in the mouth of the fish, and if a single or double
row of teeth is found on the front and rear part
of the bone on the roof of the mouth, he holds in
his hand a salmon-trout ; if only a single patch
exists in the rear of the bone, he has a charr-trout
under inspection. It must be remembered, how-
ever, that sometimes these teeth are accidentally
lost, and that they disappear gradually with age,
and at times they will be found placed alternately
rather than in a double or single series ; but in all
species of our American trouts, the rule as above
given should be found sufficient for identification ;
the angler, if in doubt, being careful to examine
several fish of the same species. It should also

Classification 207

be stated that the surest external physical charac-
teristic which may be said to be constant in each
species and by which identification is assured, is
the size of the scales as shown in the number of
vertical series between the front of the dorsal
fin and the lateral line ; but as these scales are
almost microscopic in most of our American
trouts, and as the skin on the back of old male
trouts is apt to become spongy and thick, the
scales becoming invisible from being embedded
in the skin, this test is beyond the reach of the
ordinary angler on the stream.

The ichthyologist seeks for correct classifica-
tion of Salmonidae primarily in the number of
vertebrae; the number of pyloric appendages, or
blind sacs opening into the alimentary canal ;
the form of the preopercle or anterior gill cover ;
width and strength of the maxillary or upper
jaw; size of teeth and their arrangement and
permanence on the vomer — the bone on the
roof of the mouth ; the development or absence
of teeth on the hyoid bone at the base of the
tongue; size and number of scales, as above
stated ; development of the pectoral and caudal
fins ; the number of gill-rakers, a series of bony
appendages along the inner edge of the gill

208 The Trouts of America

arch ; and the rays and pines in the formation
of the fins.

It may be well before going farther to warn the
layman-naturalist and angler against the common
use of the phrase " salmon-trout" In every
section of the country, on the Pacific Slope as
well as on the Atlantic, whenever a big steelhead,
cut-throat, rainbow, or any other trout, sea-run or
otherwise, of unusual size is taken, it is baptized
at once a " salmon-trout," without designation of
species ; and the same popular name is given in
the Middle West and East to the Great Lake trout
or togue, which is purely a coarse charr-trout.
Popular and local nomenclature is becoming more
mixed and confusing with each fishing season, and
before many more pass away, our legislators will
be obliged to use the technical scientific names of
fishes that they may be identified for protection
under the law.

That the layman-angler may have a still clearer
perception of the present classification of the black-
spotted or cut-throat series of salmon-trouts, I
quote Jordan and Evermann, the editors of " The
Fishes of North and Middle America," published
by authority of the Smithsonian Institution : —

" It is not unlikely that when the waters of the

Classification 209

Northern Hemisphere are fully explored, it will
be found that all the black-spotted trout of Amer-
ica, Europe, and Asia are forms of one species,
for which the oldest name is Salmo trutta " (the
sea-trout of Europe and Asia).

CHAPTER II

THE SALMON-TROUTS — THE CUT-THROAT SERIES
— POPULAR AND TECHNICAL NAMES — SOMKA OR
MYKISS TROUT OF KAMCHATKA— COLUMBIA RIVER
TROUT — ROCKY MOUNTAIN OR CUT-THROAT
TROUT — YELLOWSTONE RIVER TROUT — TROUT
OF IDAHO AND WASHINGTON — RIO GRANDE
TROUT

EXCLUDING the German or brown trout, the sea-
trout of Europe and the Loch Leven form from
Scotland, all of which except the sea-trout have
been very generally introduced into American
waters, our indigenous salmon-trouts are named
and classed as follows : —

The Cut-throat or Columbia River trout, —

Salmo clarkii (Richards).

The Yellowstone trout, — Salmo clarkii lewisi (Girard).
The varietal form from Idaho and Washington (no popular

name), — Salmo clarkii gibbsii (Buckley).
The Lake Tahoe, Truckee, or " pogy " trout, —

Salmo clarkii henshawi (Gill & Jordan).
The Silver trout of Lake Tahoe, — Salmo clarkii tahoensis.
The trout of Utah Lake, — Salmo clarkii virginalis (Girard).
The Rio Grande trout, — Salmo clarkii spilurus (Cope).

210

Popular and Technical Names 211

The Colorado River trout, — Salmo clarkii pleu riticus (Cope).
The Waha Lake trout, — Salmo clarkii bouvieri (Bendire).
The Green- back trout, — Salmo clarkii stomias (Cope).
The Yellow-fin trout, —

Salmo clarkii macdonaldi (Jordan & Evermann).
The Salmon trout of Lake Sutherland, Wash., —

Salmo clarkii declivifrons (Meek).
The Spotted trout of Lake Sutherland, Wash., —

Salmo clarkii j or dana (Meek).
(All the above are varietal forms of the cut-throat series.)

The different forms of the steelhead series
are: —
The typical Steelhead or hardhead trout, —

Salmo gairdneri (Richardson).
(Called " Salmon-trout " on the Pacific Coast.)
The Kamloops or stit-tse trout, —

Salmo gairdneri kamloops (Jordan) .
The Blue-back trout of Lake Crescent, Wash., —

9 Salmo gairdneri beardsleei (Jordan & Scale) .
The Speckled trout of Lake Crescent, —

Salmo gairdneri crescentis (Jordan & Beardslee) .

The varieties of the rainbow are : —

The Rainbow trout or Coast Range trout, —

Salmo irideus (Gibbons).
The Brook trout of western Oregon, —

Salmo irideus masoni (Suckley).
The McCloud River (Cal.) trout, —

Salmo irideus shasta (Jordan).
The Kern River (Cal.) trout, — Salmo irideus gilberti (Jordan).

212 The Trouts of America

The Nissuee or no-shee trout, — Salrno irideus stonei (Jordan).
The Golden trout of Mt. Whitney, —

Salmo irideus agua bonita (Jordan).
The Long-headed trout of Lake Crescent, Wash., —

Salmo bathxcetor (Meek).

From this list it will be seen that we have
twenty-four forms of salmon-trouts in the waters
of North America, to which should be added three
imported species, — the brown or German trout,
Salmo fario, the Lock Leven trout, Salmo leve-
nensis, and the European sea-trout, Salmo trutta;
the latter has been recently introduced, but not to
a great extent.

A few years ago the above forms of the cut-
throat were all known as Salmo my kiss, with vari-
ous subspecific names, and credit assigned to
Walbaum, as the first ichthyologist who classified
and named them ; but it has been found that the
true mykiss (a vernacular name, also called by the
natives "somka" and "salmon-trout") is confined
to the waters of Kamchatka, where it is said that
it differs from our native cut-throat by the ab-
sence of red slashes on the throat latch, and
by the small number of black spots sparsely
distributed on the body and fins. It is evi-
dently closely allied to the Atlantic sea-salmon,

HIS FIRST TROUT

Cut- Throat Trout 213

and, except for the mouth being slightly larger,
differs from it only in very few, if in any, other
characteristics.

It is my purpose, so far as I may be able, in
these monographs of American trouts and charrs,
to give brief life histories of each fish, with their
markings and coloration sufficiently individualized
that the angler, with these notes at hand, will be
able to distinguish on sight the species of fish he
has netted. With this object in view I have
avoided, so far as possible, the technical phraseol-
ogy which renders works on ichthyology uninter-
esting and often unintelligible to the average
reader of books on fish and fishing.

The typical American cut-throat, or Columbia
River trout (Salmo clarkii\ ranges in the coast-
wise streams of Puget Sound south to Elk River,
Humboldt County, California, and its various
forms eastward to the head waters of the Rio
Grande and the Utah Basin. I have taken a
subspecies in the Upper Missouri, and others are
reported as found in the highest sources of the
Kansas River ; another form is said to be in the
mountain streams of Mexico, and, as before stated,
the parent fish are believed to have originally
migrated from Asian waters. No true cut-throat,

The Trouts of America

however, has as yet been found in American
streams north of Wrangel, Alaska.

The Columbia River trout has a moderate-
sized mouth, the upper jaw not reaching posteri-
orly far beyond the eyes, and the body, as a rule,
is long, somewhat compressed, and the head is
rather short. The length of the body is usually
four times its breadth, and the head (from the
snout to posterior gill cover) is about as long as
the depth of the fish. The scales are small, and
there are about ten rays in the first dorsal, or back
fin, and the same number in the anal fin on the
posterior part of the belly. The red slash on the
throat is said to be always distinct, and there are
numerous round black spots on the back of vari-
ous sizes which often extend to the belly. While
the cut-throat is said always to have the crimson
or deep red blotch on the lower inner edge of the
mandibles (lower jaws), the general coloration is
extremely variable. The ichthyic authorities
state that only the male of this species has a red-
dish lateral band and patches of light red on the
body. If this be so, I had an unique experi-
ence among them in the Upper Spokane River,
Washington. I fished an entire morning and
caught a large number of these fish, a specimen

Cut- Throat Trout 215

of which was at once sent to Washington, D.C.,
for identification, where it was pronounced to be
the cut-throat trout (Salmo purpuratus was its
technical name at that time, more than ten years
ago). Every fish taken on my rod was exactly
alike in form and coloration, and each had the
broad crimson band along the lateral line.
Doubtless, the Spokane River has become de-
populated of these fishes, for apparently there
were no female cut-throats in it to continue the
species, as my companion's rod and my own cap-
tured not less than three or four score of these
trout, and, according to the authorities, there was
not a single representative of the gentle sex
among them. A somewhat similar experience
occurred on one of my Western outings on the
Bitter Root River in Montana.

The habits of the cut-throat trout are similar to
those of his Eastern brother, the red-spotted trout
(fontinalis). Wherever a pool existed, created by
an offshoot from the main stream, wherein a shelv-
ing rock or overhanging trees formed a sheltering
or shady nook, we always found a single cut-throat
of good size, sovereign of the domain from which
he had driven the grayling and the whitefish. In
the larger pools, caused by the subsidence of the

2i6 The Trout s of America

current in deeper water, he appeared to live in
harmony with these fish. The Montana grayling
and the cut-throat do not war upon each other;
the red-spotted trout of Michigan and the gray-
ling are antagonistic, and the latter fish is gradu-
ally becoming extinct, the most probable cause
being that the grayling spawn in the spring, and
the trout, spawning in the fall and having recu-
perated from its debilitating effects, and huge in
appetite after a winter's hibernation, devastate the
spawning beds of the grayling; for no lure or food
is so attractive to the salmon family as their own
ova. On the other hand, the grayling of England
(Thymallus vulgaris), when living in the same
water with the brown or German trout, a robust
fish growing to a large size, gets the upper hand,
and the trout decrease in numbers and somewhat
in quality. In Montana waters the river whitefish,
as well as the trout and grayling, apparently live
in amity, and all thrive apace.

Wherever the cut-throat lives in the lower
waters of streams or coastwise ponds or lakes,
with access to salt water, he may be found also in
the bays and tributaries, and doubtless ranges sea-
ward as far as the salmon. Under this condition,
a silvery coating is assumed and the black spots,

Cut- Throat Trout 217

with which the body is more or less dotted when
in fluvial or lacustrine waters, disappear, leaving
but few traces of his fresh-water garb. When
taken in salt water it is found to be of increased
size, upwards of twenty-five pounds, and is gen-
erally called by marketmen and anglers " the
salmon-trout," which causes greater difficulty in
an intelligent appreciation of the technical differ-
ences of the charr-trout and the salmon-trout.
The numerous local and variant names for the
same species of fish in different waters presents
the greatest bar to the increase of popular knowl-
edge of the fish fauna of American waters.

The cut-throat is an omnivorous feeder, but,
like all species of the same family, is cleanly in his
choice of food — he does not touch carrion of any
description. Minnows, insects, worms of all kinds,
grasshoppers, fresh meat, and above all the arti-
ficial fly, when properly and skilfully manipulated,
is most attractive ; for he is at all times, when the
water is clear, a surface feeder, but is not particu-
lar as to coloration or form of the feathered lure
presented to him. The angling tourist visiting
the native waters of this fish, to be assured of
success among the cut-throats, need only stock
his fly book with the standard flies used in luring

2i 8 The Trouts of America

the Eastern brook trout. If he visits the Yellow-
stone or any of the large rivers containing this
fish, it would be well, however, to have a fly rod
of not less than seven or eight ounces, as the fish
in such waters frequently attain a weight of six
and seven pounds ; the water gear used in the East
for trout will answer every purpose on a cut-throat
outing ; at least such has been my experience.

This trout is not, I think, as game as either the
red-spotted trout of the East, the rainbow, or the
grayling, nor is it as choice a table fish as fonti-
nalis. True, it is as muscular in its fight for
freedom from the hook as the first-named fish,
but its struggles are more brief, and unlike the
rainbow and the grayling, it does not leap from
the water on a slack line — a true test of the in-
telligence of a fish in its resources for escape.

The cut-throat spawns in the spring, sometimes
as early as March, but usually in May and June.
The nest is guarded by the male until the eggs are
all deposited, which are then left on the bed, sub-
ject to the ravages of other fish, the batrachians,
and larger water-beetles, which together destroy
not less than ninety per cent of the eggs. Happily,
the United States Fish Commission and those of
many of the states have established hatcheries,

Yellowstone Trout 219

from which the cut-throat is being distributed in
the West and very generally in the Eastern states,
particularly in New England, where they find a
favorable habitat and are increasing in numbers
and game qualities — a not unusual result among
transplanted fish. When their new environment
is adapted for them, they often, especially the
brown trout and the rainbow, increase in average
weight and develop traits of gameness they did
not possess in their home waters.

There is another peculiar condition under
which the cut-throat lives and thrives, that
requires attention in this brief monograph of
the fish. It has been reported from time to
time that the angler could catch in the waters
of the Yellowstone Park a trout from one pond,
and by a mere swing of the rod cook the fish
in the boiling water of an adjacent one, without
unhooking his quarry. It has been discovered
through the work of the United States Fish Com-
mission and the researches of Dr. Jordan, that the
waters of the geysers and other calcareous and
silicious springs do not appear to be objectionable
to fishes. In the Yellowstone Lake trout are
especially abundant about the hot overflow from
the Lake Geyser Basin. The hot water flows

220 The Trouts of America

for a time on the surface, and trout may be
taken immediately under these currents, and
they have also been known to rise to a fly
through a hot scalding surface. They also
linger in the neighborhood of hot springs in
the bottom of the lake. This is probably owing
to the abundance of food in these waters, but
the fact is evident that geyser water does not
kill trout. The Hot River which drains the
Mammoth Hot Springs flows into Gardner
River. Trout abound at the mouth of this
stream, and here, as in numerous other places
in the Park, the much-reported practice of catch-
ing a trout in cold and scalding it in hot water
is possible. These trout, however, are almost
invariably infested with parasitic worms, some
of them longer than the fish, causing it to
become leaner and flatter than the healthy ones,
and the sides and belly to show ridges and
lumps. The flesh, also, is redder in the dis-
eased fish, and the external color is likely to be
dusky or brassy.

As will be seen in the schedule previously
given, there are thirteen subspecies or varietal
forms of the cut-throats (clarkii}. Taking these
up seriatim, we reach first the trout of the Yel-

Yellowstone Trout 221

lowstone River (Salmo clarkii lewisi). This sub-
species presents no marked differentiation from
the type of the species above described, except
that its body is somewhat more robust, with fewer
spots on the belly : the red throat mark is always
present and the scales are small. This fish is
very abundant in the Yellowstone and its upper
tributaries, and the river adjacent to and for
miles above Livingstone, Montana, is a typical
trout water, reminding the angler on Eastern
streams of the broad reaches, pools, and " swims "
of the Lower Beaverkill, Willowemoc, and Never-
sink trout rivers of Sullivan County, New York.
The pools of the Yellowstone are not wadable, as
a rule, but every inch of them can be reached and
threaded with the flies from the outlying shores
and shallows; and the trout are found often in
the rapids, but more frequently at the foot of
them, waiting for drifting and drowning insects
or surface-washed food of a more substantial
character. The angler has ample room for his
back cast, and there are no overhanging branches
to hold his feathers in mid-air. This fish takes
the fly viciously, but contents itself with deep and
long surges in its efforts to escape the hook.
There is another form of cut-throat which owns

222 The Trout s of America

no popular name. It is evidently sui generis, and
has increased the difficulty of exact classification
in this conglomerate series of fishes, for it has no
red on its lower jaw, or teeth on the root of its
tongue. It is technically known as Salmo clarkii
gibbsii, and its habitat is in the tributaries of the
Columbia River between Shoshone Falls and the
Cascade Range ; and it has been also taken from
the Des Chutes and other rivers, also by Dr.
Evermann from Big Payette Lake, Idaho. It
is also found in Wood River, near Ketchum,
Idaho, where my rod certainly landed several
specimens previously referred to as trout non-
descripts. But if they are nameless wanderers
in Western waters, they are the peers in game
qualities of any of the trouts of that region.
They fight harder and longer when hooked than
any other species of the cut-throats for which I
cast the flies.

The Rio Grande trout (Salmo clarkii spilurus}
is more familiar to the anglers of the Middle
West, particularly those resident in Colorado,
with the exception of the Colorado River trout
(pleuriticus), than any other species of the cut-
throats, for spilurus appears in great numbers
in the Upper Rio Grande, and is abundant in all

Colorado Trout 223

the mountain streams of the state, ranging in
habitat southward as far as the mountains of
Chihuahua in Mexico. Its physical characteris-
tics are pronounced: the body is four times
longer than its depth ; the head three and a
half times shorter than the length of the body —
and it is heavy but short, the upper surface
being considerably concaved or decurved ; it has
a large mouth, the upper jaw reaching backward
beyond the eye, and the teeth on the roof of the
mouth are in two series. The first dorsal fin is
short in front, and the rear rays are long and
high, the last being nearly two-thirds the height
of the first one ; similar proportions exist in the
anal fin, the last ray being longer than the
others. This fish has numerous round spots on
the back, sides, and on the tail and fatty fins ; on
the body they are more profuse on or near the
fleshy part of the tail (peduncle). It grows to a
length of about thirty inches and is apparently
identical with the Colorado River trout (Salmo
clarkii pleuriticus). It differs, however, from
that fish in that the scales are less crowded on
the anterior part of the body and are longer.
Its technical subspecific name is derived from
two Greek words signifying " spotted tail."

224 The Trouts of America

The Rio Grande trout is an exceptional game
fish and a choice feeder; it takes the artificial fly
greedily and fights hard under restraint, and in
the opinion of a resident angler " is the best fish
that swims in any waters of the earth and is only
found in the cool and sparkling streams of the
Rocky Mountains." We question if this ardent
Waltonian has ever killed on a light rod the acro-
batic rainbow, or the frisky " lady of the waters,"
the Michigan grayling ; but be this as it may, the
Rio Grande trout is one of the most game of the
cut-throat series, and best of all, is not finicky in
the matter of form and coloration of the feathers
presented to him.

CHAPTER III

SALMON-TROUTS CONTINUED — COLORADO RIVER
TROUT — WAHA LAKE TROUT — GREENBACK
TROUT — YELLOW-FIN TROUT — LAKE TAHOE OR
TRUCKEE TROUT — TROUT OF LAKE WEBBER —
UTAH LAKE TROUT — SALMON TROUT OF LAKE
SUTHERLAND — SPOTTED TROUT OF LAKE SUTHER-
LAND—LONG-HEADED TROUT OF LAKE CRESCENT.

WHILE there are no great differences in physi-
cal characteristics between the Rio Grande and
the Colorado River trouts, the latter appears to
have attracted the attention of the anglers of
that section to a greater extent. He is the ob-
jective of nearly all their outings, and his game
qualities have been heralded in every sports-
man's journal throughout the country. This
trout is large, handsome, and extremely variable
in coloration, with a red lateral band nearly
always existent. In some instances the body is
profusely spotted, occasionally with large spots,
which are more numerous posteriorly, the head
being almost entirely free from them ; the lower
fins are generally red, occasionally orange, and

Q 225

226 The Trouts of America

the scales are small. It is abundant throughout
western Colorado, and southward as far as the
clear mountain streams of Arizona, and speci-
mens have been taken from still farther south-
ern waters that are similar to those found in
the Eagle and Gunnison rivers of Colorado.
The technical name of the fish is Salmo clarkii
pleuriticus, the subspecific being from a Greek
word meaning "side," in allusion to the red
lateral band.

The waters of Colorado are particularly adapted
to trout and their lustiness of habit and increase.
Dr. David S. Jordan, now president of the Le-
land Stanford Jr. University in California, was
deputed in 1889, by the United States Fish
Commissioner, to ascertain the general charac-
ter of the streams of Colorado and their adapt-
ability for the introduction of fish not found
there. In his elaborate report Dr. Jordan thus
writes of the waters of the state: —

" Most of the streams -of Colorado rise in
springs in or above the mountain meadows,
many of them having their origin in banks of
snow, which the clear weather of summer is not
sufficient wholly to melt. These streams are
clear and very cold. In their descent from the

THE OQUASSA. OR BLUEBACK TROUT

Salvelinus oquassa

THE SUNAPEE TROUT, OR GOLDEN SAIBLING
Salvelinus alpinus aureolus

THE GERMAN, OR BROWN; TROUT
Salmo fano^t «'

Colorado River Trout 227

snow banks, they are brawling and turbulent,
often so much so as to be unfit for fish life.
In their course through the mountain meadows
(very similar to the ' Alp pastures ' of Switzer-
land) the streams are usually of gentle current,
with many windings and with occasional deep
holes beloved of trout. Lower down most of
them pass to the valleys through deep canons,
some of them very deep and with many rapids."

With these facts before us, no surprise can
arise when we find in Colorado at least two
indigenous varietal forms of trout; and when it
is noted that the land-locked salmon, the rain-
bow, and the Eastern red-spotted trouts (fonti-
nalis) have been introduced into the waters of
the state, the last two species named thriving
vigorously, we can readily appreciate the ardor
of pursuit and the increase of membership of
the craft of anglers in this trout-gifted state.

The Colorado River trout grows to the ex-
ceptional weight of over nine pounds, several
specimens of that size having been caught by
Mr. Partello of the United States Army. The
average weight, however, will not reach more
than a pound, their size depending upon the
area of the water from which they are taken.

228 The Trout s of America

Their time of spawning is irregular; nominally
it takes place in the spring, but frequently gravid
females are found in the early days of August,
although a large majority are through spawning
by the middle of June.

This trout is an omnivorous feeder, taking
indiscriminately whatever is thrown to him, —
chunks of meat, grasshoppers, worms, white
grubs, and minnows, — but he has a weakness for
insects, hence takes an artificial fly with avidity,
particularly the Coachman, Black Hackle with a
peacock body, the June Spinner, and the Black
Prince. They take these imitations eagerly in
the rifts, which they seem to prefer when feed-
ing to the pools or deeper currents ; July is
the best month for fishing in all the waters of
the state, from which a number of these fish
have been taken by the United States Fish
Commission to the hatchery at Wytheville, Vir-
ginia, for the purpose of stocking Eastern streams.

The Waha Lake trout (Salmo clarkii bouvieri)
was first discovered by Captain Bendire, U.S.A., in
Waha Lake, a small mountain pond, land-locked,
in the state of Washington, to which it seems to
be confined, as it has not been found in any other
waters. It is singularly colored, with dark spots

Waba Lake Trout 229

only on the back fins, and on the tail, upon which
fin they are very profuse and small. The head is
shorter and deeper, and the snout shorter and
blunter, than those of other forms of the cut-throat
trouts, and the tail fin is moderately forked. The
anterior portion of the body is dusky bluish, not
silvery, and there is a red blotch, very conspicu-
ous, on the inner edges of the dentary bones.
The habitat of this fish being restricted and se-
cluded, but little is known of its angling qualities,
yet like all other members of the genus, it will
doubtless take the usual trout lures if presented
to them properly.

The cut-throats are represented in the Upper
Arkansas and South Platte rivers by the green-
back trout (Salmo clarkii stomias, the subspecific
title being from the Greek, signifying "big-
mouthed "). It is abundant in the waters named,
and in brooks and shallow places in lakes, but
seldom, if ever, reaching the weight of a pound.
It is closely allied to the other forms of clarkii,
but the black spots are much larger, and are
mainly located on the posterior part of the body ;
the head is broad and flat. Its flesh is deep red,
and the general external coloration is deep green
with a reddish tinge, sometimes extending on the

23 o The Trouts of America

sides. The subspecific name seems to be a mis-
nomer, as the mouth of the fish is small, not large,
as indicated in the Greek word. We know but
little of this fish, its game qualities not having
been described, nor does it appear that Waltoni-
ans seek for it or take any interest in its habits
or fighting qualities. Dr. Jordan, however, who
made a study of the habits of stomias, writes : —

" It seldom exceeds three-quarters of a pound
in weight, and is very common in the upper tribu-
taries of the Arkansas River, and in Twin Lakes.
It spawns in spring, in snow water if possible, and
it will leave spring water to find snow water. In
winter, however, they seek for warmer waters. It
is said that when the winter breaks up, these trout
are too blind to see bait. In color, the greenback
is green or even almost black on the back. The
lower fins and the throat are bright red, but there
is not much trace of the red lateral band, and in
some cases the black spots are ocellated with
paler. At spawning time, in May and early June,
the males have, much red, but later on the sexes
become similar. In specimens found about pools
there is often much red even in summer."

The yellow-fin trout (Salmo clarkii macdonaldi]
is supposed to be a varietal form of the Colorado

Twin Lakes Trout 231

River trout (pleuriticus) or descended from it. It
certainly possesses many physical characteristics
of that fish; the scales are about the same size,
and the fin rays nearly alike in number, but the
head and the gill covers are longer, and the two
fishes vary greatly in coloration, that of the yel-
low-fin being a light olive with a broad shade of
lemon-yellow along the sides, with no red on any
part of the body except the crimson slash on the
throat. On the posterior part of the body, and on
the dorsal and tail fins, there is a profusion of
small black dots giving the fish the appearance
of having been strewn with the contents of a
pepper castor ; on the head and anterior parts of
the body few or none of these spots are present.
This is a large, handsome fish, growing to a
weight of nine pounds (one specimen of thirteen
pounds has been reported), and is abundant in
Twin Lakes, Colorado, but is never found in
streams. It delights to bask in the sun on the
shallow gravel beds, and is seldom caught in the
deeper water. They feed largely upon the young
suckers which are numerous in the lake, and the
suckers in turn destroy large quantities of the
spawn of the yellow-fins. The flesh of this trout
is paler than that in other forms and somewhat

232 The Trouts of America

watery, hence it is not as good a table fish as its
congeners of Colorado waters. Before they mate
for spawning they take a trolling spoon or artifi-
cial fly very freely, as well as other lures, but just
before spawning and during that period they
refuse baits of any description.

One of the most interesting of this series of
salmon-trouts is the Lake Tahoe, Truckee, or
silver trout (Salmo clarkii tahoensis). It is easier
recognized as a special varietal form than most of
the other subspecies of the cut-throats, as the
head is longer and more cone-shaped, and the
spots are more individually unequal in size and
arranged differently. Its other characteristic
markings are : robustness of form, and greater
depth of body than prevails in other cut-throats ;
large head ; small eye ; teeth on the roof of the
mouth in two long series, alternating — and the
teeth on the root of the tongue are distinct in a
rather long series; large mouth, extending be-
yond the eye ; rounded gill covers ; caudal or tail
fin shaped like a new moon, lunate, having a broad
and rather shallow fork. The coloration is a
dark green on the back, belly silvery, with a broad
coppery shade on the sides and on the cheeks
and gill covers. Instead of the usual red or crim-

Lake Tahoe Trout 233

son slashes on the lower jaw, a yellowish hue pre-
vails, and there are slightly conspicuous orange
dashes between the branches of the mandible or
under jaw. The fins are of an olive color, slightly
reddish at or near the base, and the back from
the snout to the tail is profusely covered with
large black spots of unequal sizes; those on the
top of the head and on the nape are large, and on
the posterior part of the body run together form-
ing oblong blotches ; on the side of the head and
body there are very few spots ; the anal fin (on
the belly near the tail) has upon it numerous
round spots ; the dorsal and tail fins are densely
covered with oblong spots, smaller than those on
the body; the second dorsal or fatty fin is also
spotted. This fish grows to a weight of twenty-
five or thirty pounds, and spawns in the depth
of the lake.

I have entered more into detail as to the mark-
ings of this fish, than when describing other
forms of the cut-throats, because it is probably
sought for by greater numbers of anglers than
any other fish of the Pacific slope waters. Being
reached in a few hours from San Francisco, the
resident anglers of that city make Lake Tahoe
the Mecca of their outings, and no visiting angler

234 The Trouts of America

rounds up his fishing tour unless he essays these
big trout; the hotels at the lake are crowded
all through the season, for the fish are large
and numerous, growing, it is reported, to thirty
pounds, although the average does not exceed
two pounds.

There is another form of the Lake Tahoe cut-
throat, known technically as Salmo clarkii hen-
shawi, and locally as the "pogy" when mature,
and as the " snipe " when young. It seldom
grows larger than five or six pounds, and spawns
in the streams. The coloration and other char-
acteristics are very similar to those of the large
form ; the only striking differentiation being its
smaller size, less compressed head, and diverse
habits of spawning.

The method of fishing for Lake Tahoe trout
is somewhat crude, at least it was a few years
ago; but perhaps improvement has taken place
in the use of lighter tackle, particularly in the
water gear, the more general use of rods, and
the discarding of handlines and heavy sinkers,
which formed the favorite tackle for the cap-
ture of these large trout, both in trolling and in
still fishing. In the former method there was
generally attached to the outer end of the line a

Lake Taboe Trout 235

large spoon which was cone-shaped, having two
wings, and a series of gangs of large hooks, entirely
too large, as a rule ; sometimes, however, a single
hook or an eighteen-inch snood was used (the
proper thing). The handline was also too heavy
and coarse, and the local tackle was proven to be
out of keeping with the size and game qualities
of the fish, from the fact that several visiting
anglers have had more pleasure and taken as
many trout with comparatively light rods, reels,
and small spoons, as were caught by the guides
and local anglers. I have not heard that these
trout will rise to an artificial cast of flies, their
habitat being in the deep water, yet, in follow-
ing their tribal instinct, they will naturally come
into relatively shallow water preparatory . to
spawning, and at such times, if the law is open
and the conscience of the angler permits, they
could doubtless be lured with the feathers.

But if the Lake Tahoe trout taboo the fly, there
is within easy carriage distance of the lake a
grand water (Webber Lake) for the fly fisherman,
where the trout are surface feeders and great
fighters. It is closely allied to the Lake Tahoe
trout, which I have as yet failed to fish, but it
is difficult to believe that trout should so radi-

23 6 The Trouts of America

cally alter their habits as to become habitual
surface feeders when the type of the species, in-
habiting waters but a few miles distant, seldom,
if ever, come to the top of the water. Instances
have been known, however, when these individual
traits have been developed in trout, but the lakes
in which they lived were often widely separated.
I am rather inclined to believe that the trout
of Webber Lake are an entirely different sub-
species. Be this theory wrong or right, the fact
remains that the fish of Webber Lake rise freely
to the fly and fight bravely, and the angling tour-
ist visiting Lake Tahoe should not fail to see
the sister lake, and for his information I state
that the Black Hackle, red-bodied Brown Hackles,
and rather sombre-colored wing flies are the most
attractive. Strange to note, these fish which
spawn in streams do not rise well to the Coach-
man or any other flies dressed with light wings.

The Lake Tahoe trout is found in the follow-
ing-named lakes and rivers: Lakes Tahoe,
Pyramid, Webber, Donner, Independence, and
in the rivers Truckee, Humboldt, Carson, and in
most of the streams of the eastern slope of the
Sierra Nevada. They also inhabit the head
waters of the Feather River, west of the Sierra

Utah Lake Trout 237

Nevada, into which they may have been intro-
duced.

The trout of Utah Lake (Salmo clarkii virgi-
nalis, subspecific name from the Latin, "like a
virgin ") is a striking illustration of the adapta-
bility of fish to widely different chemical condi-
tions of water. This trout not only lives in an
alkaline lake, but thrives there, growing to a
weight of twelve or more pounds ; its back is
covered with small black spots from head to the
fleshy part of the tail, where they are not so
numerous, and the scales are slightly larger than
those of the greenback and Rio Grande trouts.
It is found in the lakes and streams in the Wa-
satch Range, particularly in Bear, Provo, Jordan,
and Sevier rivers and in Utah Lake. On the
trout of the last-named waters the dark spots are
few and small and are located almost entirely
on the back ; they are also paler in color
than is general with fish of the same species
found in the streams ; but, like all forms of the
cut-throat series, different colorations may be
found in nearly every fish examined. The Utah
Lake trout is said to be a good fighter on the rod,
and is highly prized as an edible fish in the sec-
tions of its habitat.

23 8 Tbe Trouts of America

Within the last few years two subspecies of
the cut-throat trouts have been discovered in
Lake Sutherland, in the state of Washington;
also a distinct species of the salmon-trouts in
Crescent Lake of the same state. As neither of
these fish has been sought or taken by any one
except an occasional angling tourist, and by their
discoverer, Professor Meek, an intelligent, practi-
cal, and diligent ichthyologist, whose interest
and zeal in his science does not blunt his love
of angling, I am dependent upon him for the
annexed notes of their characteristics, which ere
many years will doubtless become as familiar
to the anglers of the Pacific slope as the com-
mon cut-throat or the rainbow.

The salmon-trout of Lake Sutherland (Salmo
clarkii declivifrons) resembles very much the
blueback trout of Lake Crescent, described on a
subsequent page, and is easily recognized, ac-
cording to the authority of Professor Elliot, by
the sharply curved upper outline of the fore part
of the body, by the dark blue patch on the cheek,
and by the gape of the mouth, which is nearly
horizontal, more so than in any other trout.
Professor Meek states that it is a game fish,
" takes the fly and leaps out of the water."

Lake Crescent Trout 239

The other cut-throat, popularly called "the
spotted trout " (Salmo clarkii jordana), is also
found in Lake Sutherland, and may be distin-
guished from its congener of the same waters,
the salmon-trout, by the orange or orange-red
color of its fins, by the red on the jaw, and " the
number and blackness of its spots and the darker
back." It is one of the most active of trouts,
and repeatedly and rapidly leaps after taking
the fly.

The new species of salmon-trout found in
Lake Crescent, Washington (Salmo bathoecetor\
can be distinguished from others of its genus
of adjacent habitat, primarily by its long nose
and the absence of the red slash on the lower
jaw. It is also more slender, and the dentition
is much stronger than obtains in the other vari-
etal forms living in Lakes Sutherland and Cres-
cent. It lives in deep water, in some places over
seven hundred feet, and does not come to the
surface at any season of the year. The few
that have been caught were taken on set lines
within a foot of the bottom at a depth of about
two hundred feet. It is known locally as " the
long-headed trout."

CHAPTER IV

SALMON-TROUTS CONTINUED — THE STEELHEAD
SERIES — TYPICAL STEELHEAD — KAMLOOPS TROUT
— BLUEBACK TROUT OF LAKE CRESCENT, WASH-
INGTON—SPECKLED TROUT OF LAKE CRESCENT,
WASHINGTON

WE now reach the steelhead series of salmon-
trouts of which there are one species and three
subspecific forms, the type being commonly
known on the Pacific slope as the steelhead,
hardhead, and salmon-trout, and scientifically as
Salmo gairdneri. It is a large sea-trout growing
to weight of twenty pounds or more, and is
migratory like the salmon, ascending rivers to
spawn many hundreds of miles into the state
of Idaho and into other sections. I have
taken them from the Snake River of southern
Idaho weighing three to five pounds ; in those
waters they spawn in the early spring, and are
found in the lower parts of rivers in a spent
condition when the usual spring run of the
salmon commences. For a long time the steel-
head and the rainbow were, owing to the close

240

Steelhead Trout 241

intergradation of the two species, considered one
and the same fish ; but the investigations of Dr.
Gilbert in the Lower Columbia River convinced
him that both the young and the old steelheads
are distinct from the cut-throats and the rainbows.
It is proper to state, however, that two other ich-
thyologists have placed on record that the Colum-
bia River form of the typical steelhead seems to
pass into the rainbow southward, and into Kam-
loops northward, while in the Lower Snake River
of Idaho it appears to intergrade with the cut-
throats. With these confusing data before them,
we are not surprised at the hesitation of the
scientist to permanently determine the classifica-
tion of these fishes, nor at the angling layman
halting at the cross-roads of science.

The steelhead trout has scales relatively large,
near the size of those on the Utah Lake trout, but
on specimens taken from the Lower Columbia
the scales seem to be more or less small and
crowded. The body is relatively stout, but not
deep, and the fleshy part of the tail is very thick ;
the head is short, rather slender and smaller in
females, while the jaws in the males are some-
what prolonged. The upper jaw is narrow, the
small eye of the fish being located above and

242 The Trouts of America

about the middle of it ; the teeth are small, those
on the roof of the mouth are in two long, alter-
nating series ; the anterior gill cover is rather
wide and the others moderate in size. The tail
is wide, and on the young fish is somewhat forked;
in the adult it looks as if cut with a blunt pair
of shears. The flesh is pale, and the general
external coloration is an olive-green on the back
and silvery on the belly. In the fresh sea-run
fish taken in the salmon traps of Upper Puget
Sound, I observed that a deep blue tinge was
always present on the back, and on the head,
back, upper fins, and tails were more or less
black spots, but the belly was usually free from
them. Both sexes in the spring have a broad
flesh-colored median band, and there is a deep,
mellow red on the gill covers, and this coloration
is generally retained throughout the year. The
fins are not tinged with red, and no color slashes
of crimson are present on the lower jaw.

The steelhead inhabits coastwise streams from
British Columbia south to Santa Barbara County,
California, and those west of Sierra Nevada and
the Cascade Range. It is very abundant in the
Lower Columbia, the Russian, and Klamath
rivers. In edible qualities it is about on a par

Steelhead Trout 243

with the other salmonoids, which with the excep-
tion of the Pacific salmon (Oncorhyncus) and the
golden trout of the Mt. Whitney streams, are
inferior, I think, as table fish, to those of the
same family with a habitat east of the Alle-
ghany Mountains.

But if they are inferior as food fishes, the
steelheads certainly possess all the game quali-
ties of our Eastern trouts, and their large size,
when taken in the lower estuaries and at the
mouths of rivers, adds to the zest of capture.
They are fly-takers when in the streams, and
when found on shallow ledges of rocks and on
the bars in the lower waters. On taking a
natural bait the steelhead is apt to surge deep
and strong, but when fastened on the artificial
feathers, for which he rises eagerly, is an acrobat,
leaping repeatedly from the water. These aerial
flights naturally lead the angler to believe that
he is closely allied to the rainbow, the only trout
living in waters west of the Rocky Mountains,
with the exception of the stream steelhead, that
rose to my flies and leaped frantically into the air.

Like most of the salmonoids of the Pacific
coast this fish is rich in local nomenclature ;
the Russians call it somka, the Kamchatkans,

244 The Trouts of America

my kiss, the Indians, humaana, to which Ameri-
cans have added steelhead, hardhead, and salmon-
trout.

During the last decade ichthyic research has
been very active in the waters of the Pacific
slope, and in addition to radical changes in the
technical nomenclature of the salmon-trouts, two
new species have come to light, and one of the
charr-trouts of Eastern waters hitherto strange
to science has been differentiated and classified :
these new species will be described on subsequent
pages.

For many years there was known but one
subspecific form of the steelhead series, the Kam-
loops trout (Salmo gairdneri kamloops). This is
a fine large fish, doubtless intergrading with the
typical steelhead, but differing from it in habits,
coloration, and in form. It is landlocked, and,
so far as is known of its habitat, is confined to
the lakes of British Columbia, particularly lakes
Kamloop, Okanogan, Kootenay, and other lakes
tributary to the Fraser River or to the Upper
Columbia. In form it is slender and graceful,
while the type of the species is rather stout, some-
what deep, with a thick fleshy tail formation.

(By " fleshy tail " is meant, not the fin, but the

THE CRUCIAL MOMENT

Kamloops Trout 245

peduncle, or that part in many fishes which is
finless, usually between the dorsal, caudal, or anal
fins ; in the trout it is the posterior part of the
body situated between and below the second
dorsal or fatty fin and the tail or caudal fin.)

The Kamloops trout has a large eye, a rounded
snout, and a rather large mouth, the upper jaw
extending backward beyond the eye; the first
dorsal fin is somewhat low, but the anal fin
(next to the tail fin on the belly) is larger than
usual in trouts, and the caudal fin is broad and
strikingly forked. The coloration is much
brighter than in the typical species, being very
silvery below the lateral line and with few spots ;
on the back a darkish olive prevails, and when the
fish is freshly taken from the water, on the middle
of the sides a broad band of light rose-pink is
present, covering about one-third of the entire
depth of the fish. Spots of the size of pinheads
are irregularly scattered over the back, being
more numerous posteriorly, with only a few faint
ones on the upper part of the head ; there are
also numerous small black spots on the dorsal
and anal fins, similar to those on the back, but
more distinct.

We have no detailed account of the actions of

246 Tbe Trouts of America

the Kamloops trout when restrained by the rod,
but there is no question as to its game qualities,
for its environment, pedigree, and structure indi-
cate the possession of these traits ; moreover,
being landlocked and seldom growing beyond
sixteen or seventeen inches in length, the
average weight not exceeding a pound, and
spawning in the small confluents of the lakes of
its habitat, no doubt can exist as to its rising
well to the surface-fly and fighting bravely for
freedom.

Within a comparatively few years, Admiral
L. A. Beardslee, U.S.N., an ardent angler and
close observer, while stationed in command of the
fleet at Port Angeles, Washington, found two
new species of salmon-trouts, each of the steel-
head type. Both of these fish were living in
Crescent Lake, Washington, and one, the blue-
back trout (Salmo gairdneri beardsleei\ was
caught in deep water, from thirty to fifty feet,
and Admiral Beardslee reports that when landed
it was found "puffed up with air." They fight
hard until brought to the surface, when they
give up at once and are easily netted or gaffed.
They have not been as yet taken with artificial
flies, the prevailing lure being a large spoon,

Beardske Trout 247

with a heavy sinker attached to the line, the
spoon spinning near the bottom of the lake. The
Beardslee trout from the description given by
Mr. George E. Mitchell of Port Angeles, is cer-
tainly a handsome fish. He states : —

" On the back there is a deep, dark blue ultra-
marine color of a peculiar transparency, dotted
with small round black spots from the size of a
pinhead to slightly larger; the two fins on the
back are dusky in color, with dots also, but trans-
parent; the tail fin is of the same coloration, and
the pectoral (breast fins) and belly fins are white
and sometimes faintly tinged with a pinkish hue
on the edges. Looking at the fish sideways, the
scales are iridescent, the red flash predominat-
ing. The head has very much the polish of
mother-of-pearl around the lower jaws, red and
pale blue colors predominating."

Mr. Mitchell might have added that the pale
pink band of the lateral line enhanced the beauty
of the coloration of the fish, which has no red
slashes under the lower jaw, as prevails usually
in the cut-throat species. The most prominent
differences in the typical steelhead and the trout
of Lake Crescent, independently of that of color-
ation, which is pronounced, is in the scales, those

248 The Trouts of America

of the Beardslee trout being larger, and the body
is cleaner built and less stout.

The third and final subspecies of the steel-
heads was also found in Lake Crescent, Wash-
ington, and is known as " the speckled trout of
Lake Crescent " (Salmo gairdneri crescentis). It
is more slender than the Beardslee trout, and can
be distinguished from it by the yellowish red
spots on the lower fins, the former having only
small black spots on the caudal and dorsal fins.
The speckled trout may also be known on sight
by a large black blotch on the cheek, below
the eye, and behind the premaxillary (bones form-
ing front portions of the upper jaw). I have
no personal knowledge of the fighting qualities
of this Lake Crescent trout, but from the sparse
reports received, would judge it to be an active
game fish with the leaping traits of the other
steelhead forms.

CHAPTER V

SALMON-TROUTS CONTINUED — THE RAINBOW SERIES

— RAINBOW OR COAST RANGE TROUT — BROOK
TROUT OF WESTERN OREGON — McCLOUD RIVER
(CALIFORNIA) RAINBOW — KERN RIVER TROUT —
NO-SHEE TROUT — GOLDEN TROUT OF MT. WHIT-
NEY (CALIFORNIA) — BROWN OR GERMAN TROUT

— LOCK LEVEN TROUT

FOLLOWING the latest approved system of grada-
tion in classification of the salmon-trouts, we now
reach the rainbow series, which, in my opinion,
are the typical game fishes of the salmon family
with the exception possibly of the Atlantic sea-
salmon and the wannanish or ouananiche of the
Lake St. John region of Quebec ; and many an-
glers believe that " inch for inch and pound for
pound " the rainbow is their equal in fighting qual-
ities when found in streams of moderate size and
depth like the Au Sable rivers of Michigan and
the waters of Essex County, New York. The
rainbow is, without doubt, one of the most mus-
cular and resourceful of fishes for its size, rising
freely to the artificial fly, leaping on a slack line,

249

250 The Trouts of America

and fighting literally to the death. They made
on my rod in the wild waters of the state of
Washington as sturdy a fight as the steelhead,
and a greater one than the cut-throat or the
Montana grayling, coming frequently into the
air and making longer and stronger surges
than the brook beauty of our Eastern mountain
streams.

I caught the rainbow on similar flies as those
that lure the black-spotted t routs and the Mon-
tana grayling. They were apparently more indif-
ferent to shades of color and form of dressings
than either of the last two fishes named, and
were equally numerous and eager for the feathers
in all conditions of the stream — the quiet pools,
the gentle rifts or rushing rapids, the long
stretches of either still or foaming reaches ; the
eddies below outjutting rocks, or the swift and
narrow waters between them, all yielded " the red-
sides," as they are often called on the Pacific
slope. It was also noted that they were much
quicker than other trouts in their movements,
particularly in seeking the shelter of shelving
rocks, reminding the angler, when first hooked,
somewhat of the mangrove snapper of the Gulf
waters, but under the restraining line they come

Rainbow Trout 251

grandly from the water, leaping sometimes over
two feet into the air.

Strange as it may appear, the rainbow when
planted in Eastern waters suitable for them, ex-
hibit greater game qualities than is shown in
their native habitat. This was the unanimous
opinion of every angler with whom I fished for
rainbow in Michigan and in Keene Valley, New
York; and these rodsters had cast the feathers
for the indigenous fish of the streams of the state
of Washington and other sections. In Eastern
waters, the rainbow appear to have acquired in-
creased strength and certainly greater leaping
traits, but this improvement in size and fight-
ing quality is not unusual in transplanted fish.
The introduced black bass from Western waters
grows larger in Eastern lakes, and holds its
own, when on the hook, with the parent fish in
waters west of the Alleghanies. The abhorrent
carp brought from Germany grows larger and
more rapidly in our Southern waters, while he
increases our repugnance to his flesh as food the
more we see of him. The imported brown or
German trout, which is rapidly becoming the
butcher of our mountain brook beauties (fonti-
nalis\ bids fair to grow to the inert bulk of a

252 The Trouts of America

Daniel Lambert among fishes, as it certainly is
the largest and tamest fighter of our fresh-water
salmonoids.

The rainbow is the hardiest of the salmon-
trouts, for it will thrive in water of a higher tem-
perature than is suitable for other species, and
does not appear to be afflicted with the ordinary
diseases of fish to the extent that other species
are. Fungus is not apt to ensue when the skin
of the rainbow is bruised ; this is, doubtless,
owing to its active habits in foraging for food,
as it seeks all sections and conditions of the
stream, though loving best the highly aerated
waters of a rapid current.

Although a gourmand in its appetite, it is
cleanly in feeding, liking best the live minnow or
the insect struggling for life on the surface; a
swimming grasshopper is irresistible, and no fish
rises so freely to a cast of artificial flies.

The differentiation between the rainbow and
the steelhead lies apparently and solely in the
scales ; those on the latter being always smaller
than in the typical " red-sides." Many intelligent
and observant anglers believe that the young rain-
bows, so called, hatched in the brooks from spawn
of the steelhead, remain in the mountain streams

THE STEELHEAD TROUT
Salmo gairdneri

THE RAINBOW TROUT
Salmo irideus

THE LOCK LEVIN TROUT
Salmo levinensis

Rainbow Trout 253

from six months to three years, going down to
the sea with the high waters of the spring, after
which they return to the streams to spawn as
typical steelheads. Those that are landlocked
or do not descend to the sea remain rainbow all
their lives. Be this angling theory correct or
not so, the only scientific rebuttal of it is the fact
that the scales are smaller in the steelheads than
they are in the rainbow, with a few other minor
differences.

There are one species and five subspecies of
the rainbows, the typical form being popularly
known as the rainbow or Coast Range trout
(Salmo irideus, specific name from the Latin, " a
rainbow "). It is a large, robust, short, and deep
fish, growing to a weight of thirteen pounds in
the Williamson River, and up to thirty pounds
when sea-run. The head is short, somewhat con-
vex, and "obtusely ridged above"; mouth slightly
smaller than in other trouts, and the eyes are
somewhat larger; the teeth on the roof of the
mouth are in two irregular series ; the tail fin is
slightly forked, the body, sides, and ventral fins
irregularly but profusely marked with black spots,
those on the tail being smaller than those on the
body and on other fins. The coloration is bluish

254 The Trouts of America

above and whitish on the sides, which also, in
both sexes, have a broad lateral band with reddish
blotches, the sea-run specimens being plain silvery.
If an angler chances to catch a rainbow in
Eastern waters, it will probably be where the
Eastern brook trout is also found, and the " red-
sides " can easily be distinguished from it by the
lateral band, more or less reddish, always on the
sides of both sexes, and by the presence of numer-
ous black irregular spots located on the body,
head, and fins ; those on the caudal fin being
somewhat smaller than the spots elsewhere. The
brook trout (fontinalis) has red spots; the rain-
bows do not have them. In this connection it
may also be well to state that if the Eastern an-
gler should chance to hook a German or brown
trout, or a Lock Leven, both of which are intro-
duced salmon-trouts, he will know the German
form by its almost square tail, looking as if it was
cut in a direct line by a sharp knife ; it may also
be recognized by its large scales visible clearly to
the eye, and by the big red spots, the largest of
which are just above the lateral line in an almost
straight row. The Lock Leven trout may be
known by its deep red flesh, and by the absence
of red spots, which do not appear until the fish is

Rainbow Trout 255

three or four years old, and then are faint in
color.

The habitat of the rainbow trouts is in the
mountain streams of the Pacific coast, the type
of the species being found in the brooks of the
Coast Range, in California, from the Klamath
River to San Luis Rey. So popular, however,
is this fish, not only among anglers but with
fish culturists, that it has been very generally
introduced not alone in the Eastern states, but
also in the waters of those states between the
Alleghany Range and the Rocky Mountains. The
United States Fish Commission has sent to Eng-
land shipments of the eggs of the rainbow which
have been successfully hatched. With the usual
conservatism of Englishmen, however, the anglers
of that country hesitate to place rainbow in waters
inhabited by the native brown trout, than which
the rainbow is vastly superior both as an edible
and as a rod fish.

Following the usual classification, " the brook
trout of western Oregon " (Salmo irideus masoni]
is the most prominent of the five subspecific
forms into which the species have been divided.
It is the common brook trout of the Lower
Columbia and of the coastwise streams of Oregon

256 The Trouts of America

and Washington, and is very similar to the
typical species (irideus). It is also the fish by
which Dr. Gilbert differentiated the rainbows
from the steelheads and the cut-throats ; the size
of the scales, as before stated, being the basis of
the Doctor's conclusions. Certainly it is less
slender than the cut-throat, and the snout is more
rounded, there is no red blotch on the lower
jaw, and no teeth at the base of the tongue ;
again, it seldom grows larger than a pound in
weight. Jordan and Evermann state that this
fish " apparently merges into the ordinary rainbow
southward, if indeed the two forms are dis-
tinguishable. We know of no diagnostic char-
acter, but further comparison is needed."

This fish is the one sought after by the
enthusiastic anglers of Seattle and Tacoma, and
I am told it rises fiercely to the artificial fly,
without any peculiar preference for form or
color; but doubtless there are anglers in the
cities named who are ready to " swear by " a
combination of colors that represent no living
thing on earth, in the air, or in the water.

The " McCloud River rainbow trout " (Salmo
irideus shasta, the subspecific from Mt. Shasta,
California) is of peculiar interest, as it was with

Rainbow Trout 257

this form of the rainbow t routs that the waters
of the Eastern and Middle Western states were
stocked, the first shipment from the McCloud
River occurring in 1870. Thus we have had
the rainbow in the East over thirty-one years, and
while many anglers and fish culturists are dis-
posed to believe that the plant has been a failure,
particularly as a food supply, other rodsters who
have essayed this fish in waters adapted to it, are
inclined to place it above all other trouts in game
qualities. True, many failures have occurred
when the fish has been placed in unsuitable lakes
or streams, especially where easy access to deep
water or to the sea occurs. It is by nature a
sea-running fish, but it will not, or rather does
not, go down to salt water when living in streams
several hundred miles from the ocean although
a free course lies before it. In this respect it
resembles closely the habit of our Eastern charr, —
the red-spotted form, — which always visits the
salt water when living in short coastwise streams,
the mouths of which flow into the estuaries or
bays, as occurs on Long Island and in several of
the Eastern states, Massachusetts particularly.

For many years the subject of the original
habitat of the salmon — whether in the ocean or

258 Tbe Trouts of America

in fresh waters — has been agitated and dis-
cussed by ichthyologists and fishermen. Does
not this trait of the salmon-trouts and charr-
t routs of going to salt water, wherever easily
accessible, throw some light on the subject ? It
seems to be equally instinctive with all salmonoids
to seek the sea after the spawning season is over,
as it is for them to seek the cold upper waters
to spawn, those habitually living in landlocked
lakes or inland fluvial waters distant from salt
water, having naturally lost their sea-going in-
stinct from its long disuse.

It is this species of rainbow by which the
anglers living east of the Pacific slope must
judge of the game and edible qualities of the
species; and as it thrives in many waters dis-
tant from its native habitat, we are not lacking
data upon which to form a correct judgment.
This fish is somewhat erratic in its likes and
dislikes of certain waters, particularly those of
the Atlantic east of the Alleghanies. We find
it thriving beyond the Mississippi as far west as
the Rocky Mountains, where it has been planted
very generally, and the Waltonians are one in
praise of its acrobatic and other game traits.
The same may be said of this subspecies wher-

Rainbow Trout 259

ever it has been introduced in the Western and
Northwestern states lying between the Mississippi
River and the Alleghany Mountains. I have
taken them in Michigan and found them superior
to any other fish of similar size in any water.
East of the Alleghanies there are some waters in
which they do not thrive, or disappear, from some
cause, entirely. On the other hand, there are
streams, particularly in northern New York,
where they grow in vigor of muscle beyond the
limit of gameness shown in the parent fish of the
McCloud River. Again, the mountain streams of
western North Carolina are peculiarly adapted to
them, and they grow therein to a large size and
great fighting qualities ; in New England waters,
where they have been recently introduced, they
are thriving well and yielding good sport on the
rod.

It would seem superfluous to describe the
markings and coloration of the Shasta rainbow,
for the broad reddish lateral band should be a
sign manual on sight; but the angler must remem-
ber that the cut-throat and steelhead trouts are
being very generally introduced into waters east
of the Sierra Nevadas, and that these fish also
display the same markings on the sides, and may,

260 Tbe Trouts of America

in some waters, be confused with the rainbow.
Hence, the following detailed description of
structure and coloration of the Shasta is re-
quired : —

The body is nearly four times its depth, and the
head is of the same proportion to the length of the
body; in the first dorsal and anal fins will be
found eleven rays, and the tail fin is more deeply
forked than in the cut-throat, while the steelhead
has a truncate or nearly square tail fin ; the scales
are larger than in the other two species named,
and the eye is larger than in the steelhead, the
mouth moderate in size. The coloration is bluish
on the back and silvery on the sides, and all over
the head, fins, and body above the median line
black spots appear, the belly being nearly free
from them. (The cut-throat has but few spots on
the head, with deep red fins, and the steelhead is
olive-green on the back and has no red on the
lower jaw.) The fins seldom show a red tinge,
but there is always present in both sexes of the
Shasta trout the broad red lateral band and
blotches, and to render identification more difficult
and confusing there is usually a dash of red on
the under jaw, similar to that shown under the
mandible of the cut-throat, which, unfortunately

Rainbow Trout 261

and most perplexingly to the angler-naturalist, is
not always present on the last-named fish.

The Shasta rainbow will rise freely to any of
the standard trout flies, and as it grows to a
stream weight of five or six pounds, it yields
exceptional sport, particularly in waters where
it is new to the angler's rod. The dressing of
the feathers, which it prefers when tied on No.
10 Sproat hooks, are those of the March Brown,
Coachman, and Brown Hackle used respectively
as tail or end flies and first and second droppers.

The habitat of this trout is in the streams of
the Sierra Nevada, from Mt. Shasta southward,
but it is best known in the McCloud River,
where the United States Fish Commission main-
tains a hatchery for trouts and the quinnat
salmon. It is very abundant, and subject to
many variations in form and color in its native
streams, but not to so great an extent in waters
to which it has been transplanted. The limit of
its range southward is not known, and it may be
that it intergrades with other forms of the rain-
bows in middle and southern California.

The Kern River trout (Salmo irideus gilberti)
is one of peculiar interest from the fact that it
has been found in no other water, and particularly

262 The Trouts of America

from its size and the grandeur of its environment,
the river coursing through a canon of great
depth, with the mountain sides on the west bank
rising nearly perpendicular some thousands of
feet. Adown its course the stream rushes
wildly over a series of broken rocks, sand bars,
cascades, and gigantic trunks of fallen juniper
trees, and then subsiding, here and there, into
deep pools. The trout may be found in all the
varied conditions of the stream, and as they reach
a weight of about eight pounds, the pleasure of
catching them on a light rod and a dancing fly
in such surroundings is incomparable, but to
reach their home waters is somewhat of an ardu-
ous, certainly a lengthy, journey. My recent
visit to the Kern River entailed a buckboard ride
of sixty miles from Visalia, California, and a mule-
back straddle from Mineral King, of three days,
over mountain ranges with narrow trails and
precipitous sides, and rattlesnakes startling the
mule every few hundred feet. Our party of
six averaged a snake to a man each day of the
trip, the revolver fired from the back of our
mules being the destroyer. The Kern River
country is the natural and densely populated
home of the rattlers.

THE DUBLIN POND TROUT
Salvelinus fontinalis agassi^il

THE MONTANA GRAYLING

Kern River Trout 263

The trout in Kern River is very similar in its
markings and coloration to the McCloud River
or Shasta trout; the scales, however, are smaller,
being about equal in size to those on the typical
cut-throat ; sides and body profusely spotted, and
the old fish have more or less orange between
the branches of the lower jaw, which marking is
faint or entirely wanting in the young fish. The
characteristic red lateral band is present at all
ages.

These fishes are very game, taking the fly on
the surface and fighting hard by deep and long
surges, a five-pounder taxing tackle and skill to
net. None of them jumped out of water when
hooked by me, but some anglers assert that
these fish always come into the air when re-
strained by a springing rod, and from the fact
that they are rainbows, the typical fish of this
species always jumping freely, I am disposed to
think that my experience was unusual, and that
the fish were not in a leaping humor during my
three days' outing on Kern River. This leads
me to condone the sometimes liberal statements
made by anglers as to the " how, when, and
where " they killed such and such fish, and the
peculiar antics the fins displayed before they were

264 The Trouts of America

creeled. Certainly fish as well as fishermen have
their " off days." But of one fact I am sure, the
Kern River trout will, when in a feeding humor,
take any fly that lures the charrs of Eastern
waters.

In the upper Sacramento River will be found
the " Nissuee," or, as the Indians call it, the " No-
shee " trout (Salmo irideus stonei), which is abun-
dant about eight or ten miles above the United
States hatchery at Baird, California. It is distin-
guished by its large size, specimens having been
taken weighing twelve pounds; by its small
scales and fewer teeth — those on the roof of the
mouth consisting of a single zigzag series. The
upper parts of the body are of a plain greenish
color; the black spots are few in number con-
fined chiefly to the posterior part of the body,
and on the back and tail fins (including the small
adipose or fatty fin) they are small and sparsely
distributed. This fish is said to rise freely to
the artificial fly.

The Kern River trout is believed by many
ichthyologists to be an intermediate grade be-
tween the rainbow, the steelhead, and the cut-
throat, and so nearly halfway between that it
cannot be said which species it is descended from.

Nissuee Trout 265

The " No-shee " trout, now under consideration,
is reputed to be, by the same authorities, an in-
termediate between the Kern River trout and
the McCloud River trout, the latter being slightly
different in appearance from the regular rainbow
trout. Just here it seems proper to give the
basis of specific classification, accepted by fish
savants : —

" If one kind of fish and all known variations
of it possess certain characteristics, and another
kind and all its known variations have other dis-
tinct characteristics, each will be called a species
and receive a scientific name."

In connection with the above lucid explanation
of specific classification, it is also stated : " That
when new variations of each species are found
with the variations approaching each other, it
will become more difficult to say where in the
scale each species ends and what the character-
istics of each species are. The more numerous
these links between species and the more com-
plete the scale between them, the more difficult
it becomes to say to what species a variety be-
longs. The species become merged into one,
and all varieties must be considered as one
species. This is what has happened to the cut-

266 The Trout s of America

throat and the rainbow trouts. These fishes are
connecting links halfway between, going to show
that the different species of American trouts,
apparently distinct and widely separated and iso-
lated geographically, are but nature's variations
of a common stock, with links connecting them
all."

These conclusions of the ichthyologists simply
confirm those of the angler-naturalists who have
grown gray in observing closely the habits and
markings of fish when angling for them in their
native waters ; and it may be added that coloration,
hitherto ignored as a factor in classification by
the scientists, seems to have much to do in the
identification, as distinct forms, of the salmon-
trouts of the Pacific slope.

The fifth and final subspecies of our native
rainbow trout series is " the golden trout of Mt.
Whitney," California. (Salmo irideus agua bonita^
the subspecific name, translated literally, is "beau-
tiful water," the name, of a cascade on Volcano
Creek, near which this trout abounds.) This fish
has the most beautiful coloration of any of the
salmon-trouts, and it is appropriately called the
" golden trout," for a golden or orange tinge of
different depths of color may be seen on all parts

Golden Trout * 267

of the body, on the gill covers, and on the breast
and anal fins. The popular name of this fish,
"golden trout," should not lead to its confusion
with the Sunapee Lake trout, which also has the
common name of " golden trout " ; the latter, for-
tunately, is a charr, and although a handsome
fish, it does not have the mellow richness of color
as is shown on the salmon-trout of Mt. Whitney.
A more detailed description of its coloration is
necessary to get even a partial conception of its
beauty.

Olive prevails above the lateral line, and light
golden hues more or less deep on the sides and
belly ; on the middle of the body, and along the
lateral line there is a deep scarlet stripe, broadest
under the dorsal and narrowing at either end, but
not reaching the head or the base of the tail fin ;
on the middle line of the belly there is a broad
scarlet band reaching from the chin to anal fin,
which is equally bright in its entire length, with
a fainter shade along the lower side from the anal
fin to tip of caudal. There is no crimson slash
on the throat, and the dark spots, large and well
marked, are seen on the posterior part of the
body, and on the tail fin ; these spots are smaller,
but also well marked on the dorsal fin, and a few

268 The T routs of America

smaller ones are scattered along forward to the
head in some specimens, but not in others. The
fins are variously and beautifully colored. On
the upper angle of the first dorsal a yellowish
white prevails, edged by a dark oblique streak,
while the rest of the fin is light olive in color with
four or five rows of small black spots. The pec-
toral or breast fins are of light orange, the ven-
trals deep orange with a faint blackish tip, the
anterior edge conspicuously and abruptly white as
in the fontinalis. The anal fin is dusky orange,
the tips of the rays blackish ; the tail fin is olive
tinged with orange on its lower edge, and pro-
fusely spotted with black. I have been par-
ticular in describing in detail the coloration of
this fish, which is the form that lives in the more
quiet waters above the last falls of Whitney's
Creek before it flows into Kern River, because I
have taken at the mouth of the creek a golden
trout and a Kern River form, another about six
hundred yards above the mouth and below the
lower falls, and about a dozen or more above the
falls. In these localities, the extremes of which
were hardly a mile apart, three fish of different
coloration and form were taken, yet they were all
rainbows. The Kern River fish weighed three

Golden Trout 269

pounds, was bluish in color above the lateral line,
and profusely black spotted, but with no golden
hues, and with distinct slashes of reddish orange
along the throat, and a well-defined pinkish lat-
eral band, a typical rainbow. Going up the creek,
which came roaring down the gorge, with the
same tackle and lures, a trout weighing half a
pound, orange-hued, but without the bright golden
coloration of one which I caught an hour after-
ward above the falls, distant only about five hun-
dred yards farther up the stream. I could not
understand at the time this singular confusion of
form and coloration caught in the same water,
and so near each other, except by concluding the
first fish, taken in the lower part of the creek near
its mouth, was a pure Kern River form ; the
second a fish of the same species visiting or liv-
ing in Whitney's Creek, the waters of which were
of a milky color having chemical constituents that
effected, slowly or instantaneously, the sensitive
color pigments under the skin of the fish. The
typical golden trout taken above the falls was a
perfect specimen, similar in coloration and char-
acteristic markings, as above described. Thus
my experience on this outing leads me to believe
in the dicta of American ichthyologists that the

270 The Trouts of America

golden trout of Mt. Whitney are descended from
the Kern River trout ; but how the progeny ever
managed to mount or leap the lower falls, at least
forty feet in height and perpendicular, is a mystery
yet to be unveiled.

This trout, with its gleam of gold, is a very
active fish, necessarily so below the lower falls,
where the stream is rushing over its rocky bed at
the rate of thirty miles an hour, with only, here
and there, a small pool averaging about two feet
in depth, hedged in by large and jagged masses
of rock ; and in these shallow holes, for they can
be called only by that name, this fish lies and
rises eagerly to the feathers dressed on the usual
standard patterns of the ordinary trout flies in use
all over the country.

The proper season to visit the Mt. Whitney
waters is from July to September; they are most
easily reached by rail, and within fifty miles of
the fishing grounds, the shortest route being via
Reno, to Mound House, thence to Pine station,
where guides and outfits can be had to ascend by
trail the Cottonwood Canon to the high Sierras
and to Mt. Whitney.

The habitat of the golden trout, according to
Dr. Gilbert, is confined to the mountain streams

German Trout 271

on the west side of Mt. Whitney that are trib-
utary to Kern River, and to its south fork; it
has been largely introduced into streams about
Owen Lake on the east side of the mountains,
waters that were formerly entirely destitute of
trout.

Of the three foreign species of salmon-trouts
transplanted to American waters, the best known
by anglers is the German or brown trout (Salmo
fario\ which were planted in our streams in 1883.
This fish, in its native waters, particularly those of
Great Britain, presents all the varied characteris-
tics of coloration and form that distinguish our
American trouts. In England, there appears to
be, at least, twenty trout living in streams not dis-
tant more than twenty-five miles from each other,
which the resident fishermen designate by names
such as "Tweed trout," " Teviot trout," "Ettrick
trout," etc., the source of the nomenclature being
the name of the river in which the fish lives.
These trout are all fario, but are readily distin-
guished one from the other by the shape and
bulk of the body and its distinctive coloration.

The brown trout was the fish caught and eaten
by the ancient monks, and so ideally treated upon
by Walton and Cotton, by the Prioress of St.

272 The Trouts of America

Albans in her quaint old English, and poetically
by Ausonius in the sixth century. It is the old-
est and best-known salmon-trout of the Eastern
Hemisphere, for there is hardly a county in Eng-
land without its trout stream, and it is well dis-
tributed over Scotland and Ireland and the waters
of the Continent.

The brown trout has lost popularity among
numbers of American fishing clubs and anglers
because of its rapid growth, large size, and
consequent ability and inclination to devastate
waters in which our smaller trouts live. Being
able to exist and thrive in waters of a higher
temperature than is adapted to other trouts, they
should never be placed in streams which the latter
inhabit. True, most, if not all, of our native
salmonoids are cannibals, in fresh or salt water;
but owing to the size of the brown trouts and the
practice of putting them in comparatively small
and shallow trout streams, where they can ravage
at will on fontincUis, planting of them should be
discountenanced and discontinued. One club, the
Castalia of Ohio, owning the grandest trout stream
in America, finding that the introduced brown
trout was destroying the Eastern red-spotted
charr (fontinalis), used, and may still be using,

Brown Trout 273

every means to destroy them ; and similar action
will be and should be taken by every lessor or
owner of water inhabited by our native trouts,
if the foreign fish has unfortunately been intro-
duced therein.

When the angler is fishing a trout stream,
particularly one east of the Appalachian Range,
he will be apt to hook a brown trout, and may be
at a loss, upon seeing the red spots on its body,
to distinguish it from the native red-spotted trout.
This is not difficult. The scales on the indige-
nous Eastern fish are nearly microscopical in
size, on the brown trout they are larger and
easily seen by the naked eyes ; the imported fish
is without the mottlings or wormlike markings
(vermiculations) on the back, which are always
prominent in fontinatis; and on the latter, the
red spots are present above and below the lat-
eral line, while on the former, they are larger, sel-
dom found below the median line, and there is a
row of them almost invariably along the middle
of the body. Again, the brown trout is a salmon
trout and fontinalis a charr : put your finger in
the mouth of the former and you will find on
the roof a double row of teeth running down the
central bone or vomer; in the mouth of the

274 The Trouts of America

charr you will find no teeth on the front part of
the vomer.

In the waters of the Eastern states the brown
trout grow very rapidly, averaging nearly a
pound increase in weight in a year, while in Eng-
land they are much slower in growth, hardly one-
third of a pound in the same period. In foreign
waters, particularly in Ireland, they reach a weight
of thirty pounds ; the largest growth in American
waters so far as I know is eleven pounds, and that
specimen was doubtless one of the original stock
hatched out in 1883, from eggs sent from Ger-
many in the late fall of 1882. They are reported
as growing faster and to a greater size and better
condition of flesh when foraging for and getting
regular meals of insects. This may account for
the rapidity of growth in American streams, where
insect life swarms below and above and around
the waters of the pools.

The brown trout is in its prime for the rod
from about the first of May to the middle of Sep-
tember, during which period it rises freely to the
artificial fly ; and in our Eastern streams it appears
to be indifferent as to the color and form of the
feathers, rising to any dressing ; better, however,
in the gloaming than in the brighter hours of the

Brown Trout 275

day, a habit equally prevalent among other trouts
and strikingly shown by the small-mouthed black
bass. In English waters the practice of the
brown trout of rising viciously to the surface at
any moving thing is acutely developed ; it is said
to rise at swallows skimming over the surface, and
that on one occasion a tame gull had its leg
broken by a fiercely rising fario. J. J. Armstead,
an English fish culturist, relates a singular inci-
dent in which it appears that " The biter was bit."
He says that he was standing by one of his ponds
when a large bee came along and took a " bee-
line " right into the water. Undismayed, the
insect went spinning along the surface. Sud-
denly there was a splash and the bee went down,
but in a few seconds rose to the surface somewhat
out of gear. In two hours afterward a trout
floated dead on the top of the water — a priori^
the bee stung the fish unto death ; a posteriori,
the fish killed was another fellow that died from
natural or other causes, and when dead arose to
the surface.

In Great Britain the pursuit of the brown trout
is earnest and reduced to a science. Innumerable
dressings of flies are in use, some with cork
bodies and fish-scale wings, and many without

276 The Trouts of America

these constituents are rubbed with vaseline and
other oily substances that the line may float natu-
rally in up-stream fishing, when the angler is dry-
fly fishing. The majority of American anglers
are content to dry their flies by switching them
six or more times in the air previous to drop-
ping them into the water. Gossamer leaders
and midget flies tied on hooks as small as Nos.
1 8 and 20 are in general use in Great Britain, and
the accepted method is fishing up-stream when
the fly floats as a dead one, and the casts neces-
sarily frequent, or the flies will float too near the
angler to be retrieved properly for the next cast.
Dry-fly fishing is not adapted to the swift-run-
ning American streams, but I have often prac-
tised it when wading down by leaving the water
and fishing the pool below from its foot. They
frequently spin the minnow for trout in England,
and when a deep troll is necessary the lead or
sinker is placed inside the minnow, a practice
which has never been followed with us, although
a good one for lake trout and other large fish of
different species.

The angling authorities of England recom-
mend thirty-two flies as the most attractive to
the brown trout, consisting mainly of the palm-

Brown Trout 277

ers, the duns, the spinners, the February Red, the
March Brown, the Alder, the Stone, the Sand-fly ;
these are said to kill always when the fish are
rising. It must not be forgotten that the flies
recommended in Colton's addenda to Walton's
" Compleat Angler," published in 1653, are even
now among the most deadly for trout, not only
in England, but in America.

The brown trout is, in American waters, rather
slimmer in build than our American red-spotted
trout, with a larger and more pointed head.
The back is dark green covered with well-de-
fined black spots, and the dorsal fin has both
black and bright red or vermilion spots; the
adipose, or fatty fin, is also beautifully decorated
with three red spots. Below the lateral line
the coloration is of a yellowish cast with a
greenish silvery background. The tail, or cau-
dal fin, is square, and on its edges there is a
reddish stripe; the other fins are orange in
color, the ventral and anal having a white stripe
on the under edge shaded with deep orange ;
the head, the under part of which is yellow, and
the gill covers are covered with dark spots, the
belly is pure white, above which is a deep yel-
low hue. The fish commence spawning in New

ay 8 The Trouts of America

York waters in November, and have been found
to continue to do so until February, the ova
hatching out in about sixty-five days at an
average temperature of forty-five degrees.

In Great Britain many experiments have been
made in crossing the brown trout with other
species, one of the most interesting being the
cross between fario with our native charr (fan-
tinalis). The progeny are marked like a zebra,
hence their name, " zebra trout," of which it is
said that at one time they lived in a stream at
Ringwood, New Jersey, on the estate of Hon.
Abram S. Hewitt, where they were the result of
a cross between our brook trout and the brown
trout as in England. These zebra trout are
barren and greatly subject to deformation ; they
rise viciously to the fly, leaping into the air for
it ; they also leap on a slack line when hooked,
the latter trait being one I have never seen
shown by our much loved red-spotted charr.
Crossing the salmon-trouts with the charr-trouts
results in mule fish, not breeders; but the inter-
breeding of the charrs with other of the same
genus brings forth fertile progeny, and crossing
the salmon-trouts with salmon-trouts has a
similar result.

Lake Leven Trout 279

Over the Lake Leven trout (Salmo levenensis),
there has been much discussion by English
anglers and ichthyologists, as to its being a
separate species from the brown trout, or a land-
locked sea-trout (Salmo trutta). No decision
has been reached and doubtless never will be;
fish inhabit an element in which we cannot exist,
hence our knowledge of their traits is mainly
derived by stream observation from the banks
of the waters, and in the tanks or pens of the
fish culturists ; a wild fish, however, roaming and
foraging in its native waters, is apt to possess
habits widely diverse from those of its imprisoned
congener.

Loch Leven trout were introduced from Scot-
land in 1885, and have been widely distributed
in the United States, and are now propagated
by many state fish commissions with success,
the foreign fish spawning about the same time
as the red-spotted trout. It is about equal in
fighting qualities to our Eastern species, rising
well to the artificial fly, with a peculiar qualifi-
cation of this habit in its native habitat, where
it seems that two trout of distinct colorations
exist, one silver and the other yellow. These
fish are said to rise to the fly on alternate days,

280 Tbe Trout s of America

neither encroaching upon the hours in which
his brother, or sister, is feeding. The Loch
Leven trout grows to the size of four pounds,
but the average is about a pound or slightly
over. They take the fly best and give great
play at three years of age.

The native habitat of this species of foreign
salmon-t routs is in Scotland, and the fish takes
its name from the now ruined castle in which
Mary Queen of Scots was confined by Queen
Elizabeth, and from the waters of the adjacent
lake — Loch Leven. This trout was brought to
America about fifteen years ago, and has been
planted in many waters in the Eastern and West-
ern states with a measure of success. It is a
beautiful and gracefully formed fish, and although
closely allied to the brown trout, it may be readily
distinguished from it by the absence of red spots,
which are always distinctly seen on the body of
the brown trout. However, it is reported that
faint reddish spots appear on the sides and back
of the Lock Leven form when the fish reaches
an age of about four years. This absence of red
spots when the Scottish fish is less than four
years old seems to be a matter of fact with Brit-
ish anglers ; but as the Loch Leven trout seldom

WHERE THE BIG ONES LIE

Sea- Trout of Europe 281

grows beyond three pounds and consumes four
years in getting to be about two pounds in
weight, but little confusion, in recognizing either
species, will occur over this red-spot theory, or
fact, as the case may be.

Another foreign salmon-trout, "the sea-trout of
Europe" (Salmo trutta, the specific name being
the derivative from which the word "trout"
arises), has been sparingly introduced and reared
in American waters. It must not be confused
with the native sea-trout, which is a charr, the
difference between the two fishes being plainly
indicated by the location of the teeth on the roof
of the mouth, as has been explained in a previous
chapter. Various popular names have been given
to this fish, such as "guiniad," "bull-trout," and
"salmon-trout." Its habits are similar to those
of our indigenous sea-trouts ; it is migratory, and
is found running up streams emptying into the
Baltic and North seas, and in those of Great Brit-
ain, being very numerous in Scottish waters ; it
also runs up the Seine and Loire in France,
where it is called truite de mer, and is not infre-
quently taken on the southern shores of the Cri-
mea. It hybridizes with other salmonoids, and
that fact is one of the primary causes of the great

282 The Trout s of America

diversity of European forms and colorations in
the salmonidae family. To this fish properly
belongs the name of salmon-trout. It is a game
fighter, yet is apt to take a troll of natural min-
now or an artificial phantom more readily than
the feathers placed ever so gingerly by the fly-
caster.

CHAPTER VI

THE CHARR-TROUTS, THEIR HABITS, EXTERNAL
MARKINGS, AND CLASSIFICATION — THE GREAT
LAKE TROUTS AND METHODS OF CAPTURE —
THE EASTERN BROOK TROUT, DEVELOPMENT
AND EXTENT OF THEIR SENSE OF SIGHT, HEAR-
ING, TASTE, SMELL, AND TOUCH

THERE are two genera of the salmonoids, popu-
larly called brook trouts, that are more highly or-
ganized than the salmon-trouts ; they are known
as charrs. They live and thrive in wild waters of
a temperature not more than sixty-five degrees,
and, in whatever stream they may be, they con-
stantly seek the higher reaches to spawn. If the
mouth of their home waters is not distant from,
and is in junction with, a salt estuary with no
physical impediment, so soon as the ice forms in
the stream the brook trout goes down into deeper
water, and subsequently migrates and adapts
itself to living in the water of the sea. Below
the southern line of the state of New York there
appears to be, however, a barrier of warmer water
into which the brook trout does not enter, in

283

284 The Trouts of America

despite of the strong natural instinct of the fish
to migrate to " bitter water," as the Germans call
it. In New England, Canada, and also along the
south shore of Long Island, one of these charrs
(fontinalis) goes down to the estuaries and feeds,
grows lusty, getting flesh of deeper salmon color
and a more robust form, and remains in his new
habitat until the instinct of spawning impels him
to migrate in the following spring inward and
upward. Other fresh-water fish find a congenial
habitat in salt water. This habit is strikingly
shown in the so-called pike of Chesapeake Bay,
which is the Eastern pond pickerel (Lucius
reticulatus) of the fresh waters east of the Alle-
ghanies. In some of the bays and estuaries of
the New Jersey coast this pickerel exhibits the
same inclination for a salt-water life. The black
basses also find the brackish waters congenial;
and this peculiarity is not confined to the large-
mouthed black bass of Florida, in the waters of
which state many of the fishes of the rivers and
numbers of those which habitually live in salt
water, interchange temporary habitats.

The most prominent external marking by
which the salmon-trouts and charrs may be dis-
tinguished apart, is the presence of red or crim-

Native Cbarrs 285

son spots on the body, the only exceptions being
the Great Lake trout with grayish markings, and
the Arctic trout (Salvelinus arcturus), upon which
no reddish spots have been found ; further inves-
tigation will, doubtless, show that this peculiarity
of the latter charr does not exist, for reversals of
stated facts have occurred frequently in ichthyic
annals, and such is more likely in this case,
as the Arctic trout has the most northern habi-
tat of any of the salmonoids, and only a few
specimens have been examined by specialists. I
have on a previous page differentiated the charr
from the brown trout, the only salmon-trout hav-
ing persistent red spots in our waters. The loca-
tion of the teeth has been previously described as
serving for a mark of identification ; those on the
hyoid bone (base of the tongue) are said to be
always present in specimens inhabiting streams
south of New York, while they are only occasion-
ally found on trout living farther to the north.

There are thirteen species and subspecies of
native charrs in American waters and two im-
ported species from Europe. They are classified
as follows : —

The Great Lake trout, — Cristivomer namaycush (Walbaum) .
The Siscowet, — Cristivomer namaycush siscowet ( Agassiz) .

286 The Trouts of America

The Brook or red-spotted trout, —

Salvelinus fontinalis (Michill) .
The Dublin Pond trout, —

Salvelinus fontinalis agassizii (Gar man).
The Dolly Varden trout ; Oregon charr ; bull trout ; malma ;

golet, — Salvelinus parkei.

The European charr; saibling; ombre chevalier; Green-
land charr, — Salvelinus alpinus.
The Long-finned charr, —

Salvelinus alpinus alipes (Richardson) .
The Greenland charr, —

Salvelinus alpinus stagnalis (Fabricius).
The Arctic charr, — Salvelinus alpinus arcturus (Giinther) .
The Sunapee trout, — Salvelinus alpinus aureolus (Bean).
The Oquassa trout or blueback, —

Salvelinus oquassa (Girard) .

The Naresi trout, — Salvelinus oquassa naresi (Gunther).
The Lac de Marbre trout, —

Salvelinus oquassa mars font (Garman) .

The imported species are : —

The Swiss Lake trout of Lake Geneva, — Salvelinus lemanus.
The European charr or saibling, —

Salvelinus alpinus (Linnaeus) .

The first of this series of fifteen charr trouts
is the Great Lake trout (Cristivomer namaycush
— the generic name is from the Latin, crista,
" crest," vomer, " vomer," in allusion to the struc-
ture of the bone on the roof of the mouth ; the
specific title is an Indian name). This charr is

Great Lake Trout 287

rich in baptismal nomenclature ; it is, in addition
to the name of Great Lake trout, called Mackinaw
trout in the region of the Great Lakes. In other
sections of the Northwest it is known as the
" namaycush " ; it is the " siscowet " or " sisko-
witz " in some parts of Lake Superior, and in the
northern part of New York it is sometimes called
" lake salmon." At Green Bay, Wisconsin, those
that have salmon-colored flesh and black bodies
are called " black trout " ; those with white flesh,
" lake trout " ; around and in Traverse Bay, Michi-
gan, the variety taken in shallow water, being
long and slender in form, is called " reef trout,"
and when larger it is known as "a racer," and
specimens of another variety are called " pot-
bellies." At Grand Haven, Michigan, they are
known as shoal-water and deep-water trout, and
" buckskins " is the name given them around
Thunder Bay in Lake Huron. Coming east we
find that " togue " is the general name in most
sections of New England, except in Maine where
" lunge " is the accepted appellative with a good
many fishermen. In Canada we hear applied
the name of " forked-tail trout " ; " lunge " in
New Brunswick, and " tulade " very generally
in the Eastern Provinces; in other sections the

288 The Trout s of America

names, " tyrant of the lake," " silver lunge," and
" black salmon " prevail, and last, not least, the
euphonious title of "masamacush" represents the
Indian idea of the proper name for the Great
Lake trout.

As a compensation for this mass of popular
and confusing names, this fish is without doubt
the most easy of recognition, for it stands alone
as a charr in its characteristic structure, of which
the bone on the roof of the mouth is the most
striking; it is a raised crest armed with teeth,
lying behind the vomer and free from its shaft,
and a finger placed in the mouth of the fish will
at once reveal this crest, also the presence on the
base of the tongue of a strong band of teeth,
coarse and sharp like a wool card.

The head of the lake trout is very long, the
upper part somewhat flattened, the mouth is
large; tail well forked and the adipose or fatty
fin is comparatively small. The coloration
varies greatly; sometimes it is a dark gray, then
pale, and occasionally specimens are taken that
are nearly black ; this coloration is frequently
seen when lake trout are confined in the pens of
fish culturists. Over the entire body will be
found pale spots, which are sometimes tinged

Great Lake Trout 289

with red, and on the head are usually seen worm-
like markings somewhat similar to the mottlings
on the back of fontinalis. It is a large fish,
growing to a reputed weight of one hundred
pounds ; but the average of those caught by hook-
and-line fishermen during a long summer's out-
ing will average hardly six pounds.

The lake trout comes to the surface very
early in the spring, and in states where the law
permits, the angler trolls for them on or near the
top of the water, the fish making a " boil " and
taking the lure viciously, but rarely jumping into
the air, unlike the brook trout, which, when de-
ceived in its judgment as to the position of the
bait, and missing it, will often make a graceful
archlike curve as it reenters its element. The
proper tackle for surface trolling consists of a
very light sinker, a twelve-thread cotton line, a
No. 5 spoon, from which is taken all the gang
hooks, and a single No. 8 substituted, the latter
to be attached to the lower end of the spoon by
a snood six to eight inches long (the use of
treble gang hooks is to be abominated at all
times and for any fish) ; a good multiplying reel
and an eight-ounce rod, not longer than nine
feet ; the bait a golden shiner or any other of the

290 The Trouts of America

cyprinoids (carplike), and a large one of six or
eight or even ten inches, if the lake trout run
big, is most seducing to them. Many anglers
do not use the spoon, relying entirely upon the
attractiveness of the natural bait; but my experi-
ence has convinced me that the revolving wings
or flanges of a bright spinner draws the atten-
tion of fish to the bait from a long distance, and
that, when reaching it, they take the minnow
voraciously, seldom striking at the spoon.

The question as to the lake trout taking an
artificial fly when cast on the surface has been
a vexed subject of discussion among anglers.
In my judgment and experience it is merely
one of where we find the lake trout. If at the
mouths of large rivers, such as the Nepigon, or
in comparatively shallow waters over ledges of
rocks in the lakes, during the early spring
months, or in the case of the river just named
or similar ones, some miles upward from their
mouths, the lake trout will surely take an artifi-
cial fly. This has been verified by anglers of
high standing and of undoubted good faith,
who used flies dressed on No. 8 hooks and of
the patterns known as Seth Green, Bishop, and
Silver Doctor.

Great Lake Trout 291

The deep-water troll requires more elaborate
tackle than that used in surface fishing. Attach
a cone-shaped sinker to the end of the reel line
of not less than three and from that weight up
to sixteen ounces, the size being dependent on
the character of the bottom of the water you
are fishing and the style of fishing you pre-
fer— a long or a short line; if the bottom is
full of rocks, jagged in shape or crowded in
position, your line should be strong and your
sinker comparatively small ; the same holds good
if on smooth bottoms when you fish " slow and
far off " ; if you have a penchant for fishing with
a short line, your sinker must necessarily be
heavy. You will need no rod ; the line held in
the hand will enable you to be more sensitive
to the slightest touch of the lead on the bottom,
which you must feel as your boatman rows
slowly and regularly along. If, however, you
wish to use a rod, lay it down within convenient
reaching distance, holding the line in your hand,
and when you feel the pluck of a fish and fasten
it well, take up the rod, being careful to keep
the proper strain on the fish when lifting the
rod. Three feet above the sinker attach a
single or double twisted leader (average weight

292 The Trouts of America

of fish that are feeding should determine its
character) and two other leaders placed above
the first, from six to ten feet apart, the distance
to be judged by the depth at which the lake
trout are taking the bait. A gang of three
hooks is usually placed at the end of each leader,
but a lip hook and another larger one are to
be commended as more sportsmanlike. Place
swivels wherever needed, and let your sinker
line be three feet long and weaker than the reel
line, so in case of getting hooked among the
bottom rocks or a snag you will only lose the
sinker. Bait with a large minnow as suggested
in surface trolling, and above all things charge
your boatman to row slowly and with a cadenced
movement.

" Baiting a buoy " is a favorite method with
some fishermen, and it is very similar to the
English practice of "ground baiting." Anchor
a buoy strongly in deep water, and when it is
in position throw over and around it cut pieces
of meat or fish of any kind; in one instance in
the Fulton Chain, New York, a hind quarter of
venison was successfully used. Bait the buoy for
two or three days, then let a day or two inter-
vene, and fish on the following one. An ingen-

Great Lake Trout 293

ious angler when fishing at a buoy, after his boat
is fast to it, throws over at regular intervals
of a few minutes a handful of white beans
which, as they sink, appear to attract the fish.
Use a heavy sinker, bait with a dead minnow
and keep it in motion by jerking or jigging
it up and down for a foot or eighteen inches
from the bottom.

There is another form of the lake trout popu-
larly known as the " siscowet " or " siskowitz "
(Cristivomer namaycush siscowet), which is said
to be only found in Lake Superior. It has a
shorter head, but the same general coloration
as its cousin the lake trout, and there are no
material structural differences between the two
fish other than the shortness and breadth of
the head and the unusual fatness of the flesh of
the siscowet ; the deeper the water in which the
fish is found the greater the richness of the
flesh. The market fishermen of Lake Superior
recognize two species or forms of the siscowet,
one living in water six hundred to a thousand
feet in depth, of which Mr. R. O. Sweeny states
that at this enormous depth the pressure on the
wooden pieces of the nets used in catching the
siscowet causes these symmetrical blocks of

294 The Trouts of America

wood, sunk only a few hours before, to become
so crushed and broken as to be useless there-
after. The fish at this great depth feed on
myriads of worms that swarm on the blue clay
bottoms of certain parts of the lake, and get so
fat that when brought to the surface and re-
lieved from the great pressure, seem ready to
burst; in fact, some of the fat vesicles become
ruptured, as indicated by the floating oil on the
water at and around the spot from which the
fish have been taken. This fish is caught by
the rod-and-line fishermen, by still fishing, and
occasionally at baited buoys.

We now reach the charrs proper and undefiled
in their beauty of form, velvety richness of color-
ation, the chosen of anglers and the gourmet.

As will be seen from the schedule pre-
viously given, the American charrs consist of
two genera, five species, and eight subspecies or
varietal forms. Of the first genus (Cristivomer),
there are one species and one subspecies, which
are popularly known as the Great Lake trout.
The other genus (Salvelinus) includes all the
charr t routs except the two named above. This
genus is subdivided into four species, and again
differentiated into seven subspecific forms: that

Division of Cbarrs 295

of fontinalis into one subspecies, the Dublin
Pond trout from its resemblance in structure
and markings to the Eastern brook or " speckled
trout"; that of alpinus into four forms, from
their anatomical similarity to the saibling or
the charr of northeastern America and of
Europe. These four subspecies may be distin-
guished from fontinalis on sight by the absence
of the dark mottlings or wormlike markings
on the back, which are always present on the
"speckled trout." These saiblings are popularly
known as the long-fined charr, the Greenland
charr, the Arctic or Floeberg charr (all of
Arctic habitat), and the Sunapee trout. The
fourth species (Oquassa) has two subspecific
forms, so classified because they are anatomical
analogues of the typical Oquassa or blueback
trout of Maine; they are popularly known as
the Naresi trout (Arctic America) and the Lac
de Marbre trout of Canadian lakes. The Dolly
Varden trout (Salvelinus parkei\ a native of
Western waters, but recently introduced to
Eastern habitats, is a species unto itself and
has no close relatives as yet discovered, if we
except the malma trout of Kamchatka, which,
in fact, is the type of the species; it is techni-

296 The Trouts of America

cally known as Salve linus malma, and has not
been found in any other waters than those of
Kamchatka.

The spawning habit of trout (fontinalis) are
similar to those of other members of the salmon
family. At the approach of winter they go up to
the head waters, or as near them as the conditions
permit; in fact, from the time they leave the
deeper lower waters, to which they resort after
spawning, they head up-stream constantly, taking
advantage of every rise in the brook. The repro-
ductive instinct impels them to do this, and as
the warmer months come this feeling grows
stronger and stronger, and although they seek in
hot weather the health-giving spring hole and the
cool depth of a pool and remain there for some
time, they are apt, as soon as a greater volume of
water pours over the shallow rapids, to look for
other comfortable quarters, but always higher up.
It is the practice of experienced and observing
fly fishermen who have from day to day noted the
haunt of a large trout, and missed his presence
there, to seek for him in the next likely pool
up-stream.

Arrived at the spawning ground in October or
later on, the female shapes with industrious care

The Brook Trout 297

a little nest in the gravel, fanning it clean with
her tail and removing the larger pebbles in her
mouth ; the male, all the while, moving slowly and
gracefully above, below, and around his mate, as if
to let her see and admire the gorgeous bridal
robe of olive velvet and gold with which nature
has adorned him. After displaying for a few
moments with a natural vanity the beauty of his
nuptial array, approaches her, rubs his body
against her side; and soon after she enters the
nest, emits a few eggs, which the male fertilizes
by ejecting milt upon them. This process
continues until the reproductive act is ended.
Scarcely five per cent of the ova of the female is
productive, owing to several causes, the main one
being the destruction of the eggs by the hordes of
minnows and other spawn-eating water animals ;
the trout, both male and female, leaving the ova
unprotected immediately after spawning.

The type of the thirteen varietal forms of the
charrs is the brook beauty of the Atlantic slope
— Salvelinus fontinalis, " living in springs." It
is the fish beloved by American anglers, an
ichthyic confuser of the savants of the last
decade in their desire to reduce the charrs of
our waters into one polymorphic species, which

298 The Trout s of America

has resulted in multiplying them ; the objective
quarry for the skilled and the tyro in their
mountain outings ; and the favorite fish of the
old masters of the art in America, Thad Norris,
Seth Green, Prime, Inskeep, and others. We
do not and can not wonder at their choice when
we take this charr in hand and glance at its
symmetrical form — a cleaver of the water —
and the varied hues of its mellowed coloration,
diffused in softness of tone over its entire body,
with no jarring flash of color to mar its fulness
of beauty.

In structure fontinalis is fitted for its wild
life in the tumultuous mountain brooks, fitted
to breast the rushing rapids, wherein it poises,
self-contained in body, and apparently in spirit;
motionless often in a ten-mile torrent, awaiting
the drowned or struggling insect or more sub-
stantial food surface-washed by a rise of water.
Impelled by the spawning instinct, it seeks the
upper waters in the last days of summer and
early fall ; its vigor of muscle enables it to get
to them, bruised and somewhat torn of fine sym-
metry though it be by its nuptial-seeking jour-
ney. It will leap over and sometimes swim up
the centre of three feet of water of a dam over

The Brook Trout 299

which a downpour twelve or more inches in
volume is ceaselessly passing, and, in strong con-
trast with this muscular attainment, and appar-
ently enjoying the relief from a morning's work,
like a schoolboy in his noonday's recess, this
trout can be seen in a quiet pool above the
dam disporting and leaping leisurely and lazily
from the water ; and I have found them when at
play — it can be called by no other name — to
disdain all feathered or natural lures; they are
having a holiday, and a full stomach would, as
it were, handicap their acrobatic enjoyment.
When the nuptial season is over, our mountain
charr goes down-stream to deeper water, often
fifty to one hundred miles below the spawning
bed, to recuperate from the effects of reproduc-
tion, and early in the spring months can be taken
miles below the confluents in which it repro-
duced its kind and lived the greater part of its
life.

No other fish known to anglers possess habits
so free from grossness as the brook trout of the
East. His primary need is oxygen, and he seeks
it where it is found in greatest quantities — the
upper reaches of strongly aerated mountain
streams. There you will find him in the full

300 The Trouts of America

fruition of game qualities. Cast a fly to him,
and when hooked he seems to know, unlike his
congener of larger waters, every rift, nook, rooted
hole, and protruding or shelving boulder of his
rock-ribbed environment ; and this knowledge of
his home waters is put to practical use, — roots,
rocks, holes, and shallows are frantically sought
as resources of protection or escape ; and when
you hold him, seemingly exhausted, hard and
fast in your hand, to take the hook from the
mouth, he will draw his muscles tense and
strong in a final effort for liberty, — no other
game fish, to my knowledge, make this powerful,
convulsive struggle after capture and apparent
exhaustion.

It is in a stream like the one described above
that trout are compelled to forage vigorously
and industriously for food, often on restricted
pastures ; and the wear and tear of vitality when
living in precipitous waters is constantly at
work on the muscles and the arterial system ;
neither can find rest where no deep pools
abound to which the fish can retire for security,
repose, and digestion ; moreover, if a relatively
deep shelter from the boiling waters exist here
and there, it will doubtless be preempted by a

The Brook Trout 301

larger fish of the same ilk, the autocrat of the
pool, whose simple presence is a sign mark —
" No trespass here."

Gifted with aesthetic proclivities, and as, we
have seen, at the same time exhibiting those of
the athlete, the trout has been accused of being
a coarse, if not a gross, feeder, because he has
been known to eat small water snakes. True,
he is somewhat of a glutton, for I have seen a
trout on more than one occasion take a fly with
the tail of a minnow protruding from his mouth.
We also know that, with the stomach apparently
filled to repletion, they will rise lazily to a fly
and flop it with the tail to drown or disable it
and then leave it floating down-stream. But
this only shows that the choicest of the trout's
menu is irresistible to our water sprite, and he
may be in this respect likened unto the gourmet,
who dallies with dainty bits when he is gorged
with the daintiest of them. Moreover, our
stream beauty will not touch carrion of any
description; his food must be of the air born,
or of the stream fresh and pure, and as to his
eating snakes, snakes eat trout, big and little, if
they can capture and swallow them, but it is to
be doubted very much if our charr could be

302 Tbe Trouts of America

tempted to eat a crumb of garlic, or even a piece
of carp when dressed, condimented, and cooked
in the German style. He is like all land animals,
including the genus homo ; when hungry he will
eat whatever he can get if the food be not
repulsive from over ripeness, and it must not be
forgotten that this quality is sought for by many
epicures among us, who are blase in all things,
including appetite.

The technical description of this charr by
ichthyologists agrees substantially with the ob-
servations of anglers of stream experience. The
body is long, little compressed, only slightly ele-
vated, its curved lines symmetrical and tapering
posteriorly to its large, nearly square, and power-
ful tail fin. The eye is also large, albeit the fish
is said to be near-sighted ; the head is big but not
long, and the snout somewhat blunt, the space
between the eyes being rather broad. The mar-
ring feature of this clipper-built fish is the large
mouth, almost cavernous ; looking at it in pro-
file, it will be found that the upper jaw reaches
backward beyond the eye. This condition is
characteristic of fontinalis, and with the dark
vermiculations on the back will serve to distin-
guish it at once from the other charrs. The col-

Tbe Brook Trout 303

oration is striking; the red spots, sometimes
ocellated with blue, are brighter or fainter under
the influence of a dark or light, temporary or per-
manent, habitat ; they are seldom seen on the
back, but those on the sides are always present
and irregularly placed, and unlike those on the
German or brown trout they are seldom, if ever,
located in a regular row just above or slightly
below or directly along the lateral line. The belly
is usually a creamy white, and all of the body
in the male fish during the spawning season
becomes clothed in a rich orange-gold, a fit
bridal robe for this pride of the rills. The tex-
ture and appearance of the skin is somewhat
velvety, and the mottled fins on the back, with
the distinctive light bands on the belly fins, in
contrast with the orange-golden hue of the sides,
justifies the angling phrase so often heard on the
stream — " the glow of the trout."

The coloration of this charr presents curious
contrasts. Some become dark and dingy as they
grow old and blind ; others again have been
found without red spots when living side by side
with their congeners of brilliant ones ; and others
are born albinos. The cause of a uniform black
or blackish coloration in fishes living in surface

304 The Trout s of America

streams is due to the action of the nerve of the
eye on the color glands, for when the fish be-
come blind they always assume a dark coloration ;
when the nerve of the eye ceases to act, the color
glands lose their motive powers. Through our
eyes we receive perceptions of color, shades, or
tints, which are transmitted to the brain; in
fishes through the same medium, the nerve of the
eye, these impressions act upon the color glands,
and are of course involuntary and entirely beyond
the control of the fish. Upon dark-colored fishes
living in cave-streams or underground lakes, a
similar cause and a like effect constantly exists ;
the fish cannot see, for they live in perpetual
night. Why trout are found in their native
waters on which the glare of the sun or the sub-
dued light of the forest gloom are constant condi-
tions, the fish being without the characteristic
red spots, and now and then assuming the abnor-
mal coloration of the albino, is a difficult matter
to explain ; it doubtless arises from the defective
action of the nerve of the eye upon the color
glands, or petals, which lie under the scales and
which open and shut when under the influence
of color tints conveyed to them through the
delicate nerve of the eye ; certain nerve fibres in

Coloration 305

such cases producing the red spots on the trout
and the diseased condition of others resulting in
albinos. We find partial parallels in the man
who is color blind, or the occasional human
albino, and in the negro whose skin is gradually
turning white, instances of which are heralded
in medical journals. I have dwelt somewhat at
length upon this subject of change of coloration,
as many otherwise intelligent anglers persist in
believing that this change of color is voluntary
and subject at all times to the whim or will of the
fish. They are in error.

In this connection it seems apropos to allude
to the preservation of the color of a live trout
after capture, that it might be mounted as a
souvenir of a delightful or memorable outing.
The receipts I give for what they are worth, as
my experience in this matter is entirely confined
to dressing the fish carefully, wiping it dry, and
coating the body with glycerine, which preserves
the life color to a slight extent. Our foreign
brethren of the rod have given this subject con-
siderable thought and practice; one of them,
living in Germany, advises that the fish be han-
dled as little as possible after capture, to kill it
before extracting the hook by tapping it sharply

306 The Trouts of America

on the back of the head with a round, heavy
stick, then wrap the trout at once in a sheet of
waterproof paper and pack it tightly, the back fin
up, in fresh grass. Another, of England, believes
in covering the fish with tissue paper immediately
after capture, then rolling it in a damp cloth and
packing it in a box or basket with soft packing.
A St. Louis, Missouri, angler wrote to me : " To
restore the brilliant coloring of trout after they
have been on ice for a number of days, you must
place them in strong brine with plenty of cracked
ice in it. Let them remain in this bath five to
ten minutes, and then wash carefully in the brine
until all the adhering slime is removed. After
drying they will be fully as brilliant as when first
caught."

To fish a trout stream with success the angler
should not only possess a knowledge of the
habits, but also an intelligent idea of the scope
and acuteness of the senses and intelligence, of
the quarry he is seeking. Unfortunately, in our
efforts to acquire this knowledge we can only
depend upon unsatisfactory observations, and to
some extent on analogy, using our own senses as
a basis.

Some authorities state that a trout is a very

Sight 307

near-sighted fish, and limit their range of vision
to eight or ten yards. If this be so, and it is a
very close estimate, open to dispute, the trout has
much weaker eyes than the black bass, which I
have seen come to my flies from a distance of at
least forty-five feet, making a plainly discernible
wake across a shallow reach of the river. The eye
of the trout is, doubtless, well adapted to the ele-
ment in which it lives. It has no eyelids, but, in
lieu of them, the skin of the head passes over
the eye and becomes transparent. The cornea,
the admitter of light, is flat, not convex as in the
higher animals, — a wise provision of nature for
the protection of the eye in the battle for life
waged at all times among fishes. The reflective
apparatus of the eyeball of a fish, as in land ani-
mals, is the lens, which is of considerable density
and size. It is a powerful agent in reflecting the
rays of light, and were it not for the density of
the medium in which it lives, the trout would
doubtless be gifted with acute vision at long
range; but the power of the eye in fishes can
only be imperfectly estimated by observation of
their actions from the banks of a stream or other
places; it can only be conjectured as to what
effect the water, as a medium, has upon the organ

308 Tbe Trouts of America

of sight in a fish. The shadow, as we see it on
the surface of the water, of a passing bird, from
which apparently the trout will shy and seek a
shelter-hole, may not be the shadow, but the object
itself which alarms the fish, for it is not an un-
usual experience on a trout stream to sztfontinatis
leap two feet at least into the air in its efforts to
seize an insect fluttering over the pool. Looking
from below or from above at an object through
water as a medium, it seems to possess character-
istics widely different from those it has when
seen through the air; this was verified by an
ardent angler of my acquaintance, who wanted to
find out how an artificial fly appeared in its
varied hues, to a fish looking at it from below.
He filled the bath-tub with water and laid on his
back at the bottom, having previously instructed
a friend to cast a White Miller, a Black Hackle,
and a Yellow Sally on the surface of the water.
He came out of that tub no longer an earnest
colorist of feathered lures, as he had formerly
been ; for he found that the three flies, of strongly
contrasted coloration, appeared to his eye nearly
all alike, differing only by hardly perceptible
shades. To the eye of the fish things might
have been reversed.

Sight 309

No angler has ever caught on a mountain
stream, or in any other water, a blind or partially
blind trout, that was in good physical condition ;
it was starving because it could not see to feed.
Observe a number of trout in a stream with
their heads up current ; how they dart here
and there at every small object that floats by
them, at a distance often of ten to twenty
feet, and then nose it, and, if unfit for food,
turn tail upon it; but if an insect, alive or
drowned, comes down with the current, they
will seize and swallow it with avidity. In this
case there is a combination of the two senses —
sight and taste.

Again, and from the angling standpoint, why
does the farmer's boy who bushwhacks the trout
from behind the bushes, or the cautious angler,
adopting somewhat similar methods, catch more
fish than one who splashes down-stream, when
every bottom pebble, sand bar, or rock is glinting
with the reflected light of a bright noonday's sun ?
Remember, also, that when fishing up a small
stream in a dashing rift, the tumult of which
drowns all possible noise made by wading against
the current, that trout will come down, scurrying
past the fisher's feet, from the eddies on either

The Trouts of America

side of the rift — localities where the heads of the
fish may be up or down or across stream, — they
evidently could not hear the tread of the feet,
as no vibration took place, and the roar of the
rushing rapid drowned the sound of the splashed
water by the feet and legs ; hence the conclusion
that they must have caught a glimpse of the
angler or seen the threatening movement of the
rod in the forward cast.

The old fly fisherman, knowing the acuteness,
if not the compass, of the sense of sight of the
trout, when fishing down-stream, always leaves
it as he approaches a likely-looking pool, and
makes a detour around to reach the lower
end, and then casts his feathers, first upon the
comparatively still waters below, then upward
and across until he has corduroyed the " swim "
with his trailing and fluttering flies. The result,
as a rule, is marked and encouraging.

I sometimes think that the trout and the black
bass have an intuition of the presence of an
angler on the banks of a pool. They may not
be able to see him clearly, but his form on the
bank, even when the sun is full in his face, makes
an impression, it can hardly be called a shadow,
on the water which informs the wary fins that an

Hearing 311

unusual condition exists above, more particularly
if the rod is in action. This intuition in the fish
is not more extraordinary than that inspiring
some old anglers, especially those of salt water,
" to strike " when there is no indication of " the
pluck " of the fish at the bait. Something unac-
countable, yet felt, is going on down in the depths,
perhaps a slight touch of the reel line by a pass-
ing fish or the gentle mouthing of the lure, with-
out strain or movement, by a surfeited fish — the
rodster knows not what, but a turn of the wrist is
made and the scaly one boated.

Although the organ of hearing in fishes is but
imperfectly developed anatomically, its acuteness
is much more marked than that of sight, but only
through the water as a medium, and then only by
concussion on the surface of it. Boisterous singing
or loud talking, the volume of which is diffused
in the air, does not alarm fishes ; but the slightest
disturbance, stamping of the feet or dropping an
oar on the bottom of the boat, will agitate and
drive them from their feeding-grounds. They do
not seem to be affected by noises originating in
the water, for you can knock two heavy stones
against each other under the water, and the trout
remain placid and continue their feeding; yet

The Trouts of America

tread ever so lightly on the low bank of a pool,
and the fish are affrighted.

Again, fish do not seem to hear any sound pro-
duced by concussion on the bottom of a pool, of
which my personal experience gave an instance.
In a shallow and small indentation of the Schuyl-
kill River (Pennsylvania), where some years ago
fly fishing for black bass was glorious, I had
moored my boat to a stake, the upper end of
which protruded about two feet from the water.
Having occasion to visit the little craft, I noticed
three or four eight to ten inch bass lying in
repose some twenty feet away from the stake, and
in somewhat deeper water. Experimentally, I
struck, with a short, heavy stick that was at hand,
the top of the stake very hard, at least a dozen
times, and doubtless created a strong concussion
between the bottom of the river and the stake.
To my surprise the fish remained undisturbed.
Going ashore quietly, I selected a flat stone, and
threw it into the water, at least fifty feet from the
spot where the bass were lying, and on returning
stealthily to the boat, found they had disappeared.
In the first instance no vibrations on the bottom
and thence upward were caused by hammering
the stake, and in the second, sufficient concussion

Smell and Taste 313

arose from the surface contact of the stone with
the water to alarm the fish. Since this experi-
ence, I have been very cautious in wading a trout
stream, always sliding, as it were, instead of walk-
ing on the bottom of it ; stepping and splashing
the water, hither and yon, creates a concussion
whenever you lift your feet above the surface for
another step forward. From the above facts it is
evident to me that the hearing of fishes is devel-
oped only by concussion, except, perhaps, when
they are feeding on the surface of the water, or
leaping from it.

The angler cannot resist the belief that the
senses of smell and taste are well developed in
trout. They eject the artificial fly, if the hook is
not fast in the flesh at the instant they note its
non-edible nature, or when they feel the gritty
impact of the hook. They will not eat 'impure
food, and they have the faculty of perceiving
odors, and various scents attract or repel them.
This has been verified from the earliest days of
our art, when ancient rodsmen used diverse and
curious pastes and oils, which were seductive to
fish ; in Walton's day and long after this practice
was followed and the records tell us of its success.
When I was a boy and the Schuylkill River was

3 14 The Trouts of America

swarming with the small white-bellied channel cat-
fish, than which no more delightful breakfast food
ever came out of the water, the only bait used to
catch them was made of Limburger cheese, mixed
with a patch of cotton-batting to hold it firm on
the hook. No other lure had the same attraction
for them, because, no doubt, of the decided odor
of the cheese.

The so-called fifth sense, that of touch, is as
acute in trout as it is in many other fresh-water
fish. Find one in the shadow of a bank or shelv-
ing rock, and touch him with a feather, and there
is nothing to be seen but a thread of silver and
gold as it flashes out of sight; on the other
hand, and under somewhat similar conditions, if
the trout is in deep repose (that is, asleep, for no
other word expresses its depth, and fish, like
all other animals, must have their periods of abso-
lute rest), you will be able to pass your hand, if
gently done without touching the body, from the
tail forward until your fingers reach the shoulder
of the fish, when a sudden grasp will cause its
capture ; this is called " tickling a trout," and the
practice existed long before the advent of Walton.
In one detail of the manner in which it is done,
I have never had much confidence — the tickling

THE MICHIGAN GRAYLING

FIRST 'DORSAL FIN OF MICHIGAN GRAYLING
Reduced one-half. From a 1J Ib. fish

Touch 3 i 5

part, wherein one of the fingers must scratch or
tickle the belly of the fish, to make the hypnotism
more complete.

In the foregoing notes I have taken our Eastern
brook trout (fontinalis) as the object lesson, that
fish being best known to me, but all that has been
written will apply equally well to the other species
of charr-trouts living in fluvial waters. The
reader will, I hope, take what I have written as
the expression only of opinion, based on personal
experience and observation. I do not intend it
to be in the least degree dogmatic.

CHAPTER VII

THE CHARR-TROUTS CONTINUED ; THE DUBLIN POND
TROUT — THE DOLLY VARDEN TROUT — THE SEA
TROUT, "SALTERS"— THE SAIBLINGS — THE ALPINE
OR EUROPEAN CHARR OR SAIBLING — THE GREEN-
LAND CHARR — THE LONG-FINNED CHARR — THE
FLOEBERG CHARR— THE ARCTIC CHARR — THE
SUNAPEE TROUT — THE OQUASSA TROUT — THE
LAC DE MARBRE TROUT.

TAKING the other charrs seriatim, we first
reach the Dublin Pond trout of New England
waters (Salvelinus fontinalis agassizii\ which is
similar in structure to the brook trout (fontinalis),
but differs from it in coloration, being pale gray-
ish and almost without red spots, thus resembling
the lake trout or togue. It is found mainly in
Dublin and Centre ponds in New Hampshire,
and Mr. A. H. Thayer, a resident angler, writes
that the young fish are " as beautiful as a bar of
mother-of-pearl." The adult fish living in deep
water are much darker, with more brilliant red
spots. These fish have somewhat peculiar traits
as viewed from an angling standpoint ; the young

316

Dolly harden Trout 317

will take the fly when in shallow water from
about May 20 to June 10, and then again
in the spawning season from September 15
until November i. The early summer rise to
the surface and their sudden disappearance on
or about the tenth day of June is strikingly
similar to the habit shown by the cisco or lake
herring, which is also one of the salmonoids.
The large Dublin Pond trout are seldom taken
by any baits, no matter how deftly handled or
alluring, only two or three having been boated
any one season.

The Dolly Varden trout (Salvelinus parkei\
with its coarser and more popular name of " bull-
trout," is widely distributed in the western waters
of the Rocky Mountain watershed ; it is found
as far north as Alaska, and south to the upper
Sacramento River, thence eastward to Montana
and Idaho waters. This trout has a stout body,
which is deep and less compressed than that of the
speckled trout of the East. It may also be known
by the size of the adipose or fatty fin, which is
unusually large, and the round red spots on the
sides, those on the back being paler and smaller ;
this characteristic has not been observed in any
other species of charr-trouts, the Dolly Varden,

318 The Trouts of America

however, being the only one of them with a native
habitat west of the Mississippi River. This
peculiar marking will enable the Western angler
to distinguish the Dolly Varden from our Eastern
trout (fontinalis), which, perhaps, has been pro-
fusely planted in his stream, and do a like ser-
vice to the Eastern angler, should he meet with
the Western charr in the waters east of the Alle-
ghanies, where it will probably be planted, if not
already introduced in isolated cases.

The Dolly Varden is somewhat quaint and
rich in its popular nomenclature. It was so called
by the wife of a hotel keeper on the Sacramento
River, who, seeing the bright coloration of the
fish for the first time, exclaimed, " Why, it is
a Dolly Varden ! " in allusion to the variegated
garb in which Charles Dickens clothed one of his
heroines. It also has the names of Oregon charr,
bull-trout, red-spotted trout, malma, and golet.
The general color of this trout is olivaceous, and
the fins are dusky with the whitish strip in front,
as appears on those of the Eastern charr; but
the Dolly Varden is without the wormlike mark-
ings on the back, like those on fontinalis.
Sea-run specimens, growing to twelve or more
pounds, are silvery with the red spots either faint

Dolly Varden Trout 319

or lost entirely. I have seen in a small brook
flowing down from the Sawtooth Mountains of
southern Idaho, at least two thousand miles from
the sea, as the rivers run, a Dolly Varden weigh-
ing not less than six or seven pounds, which in
the shallow water showed plainly all its distinc-
tive and resplendent coloration. This trout was
probably a sea-run specimen, which, like fontinalis,
on its return from salt water had dropped its
robe of silver for one of more brilliant colors,
which it had worn when in its adolescence and
living in a spring-water habitat.

None of the salmon-trouts or charrs rises more
freely to the artificial fly than the Dolly Varden ;
when of a pound or so in weight, they have been
taken with trout flies tied on No. 8 Sproat hooks,
and the Dun fly and March Brown are generally
alluring; these fish, however, are not fastidious
in their feeding habits. In Alaska they swarm
around the mouths of rivers, and a short distance
up-stream is the best locality for fly fishing,
although they have been taken with flies in salt
water along the comparatively shallow but some-
what abrupt shores. The average of the fish
so taken seldom exceeds a pound, and I have
yet to learn, and possibly will, of a sea-run speci-

320 The Trouts of America

men of ten pounds having been taken with a
feathered lure, unless its attractiveness was reen-
forced by a bright, spinning spoon.

The Eastern charr that goes to the sea is
fontinalis, the Western one is the Dolly Varden.
The effect of their sojourn in salt water is shown
in their rapid growth, a more rounded, thicker
body, and the striking change in coloration.
When they return from their ocean migrations,
they have lost all their characteristic colors that
adorn them in a fresh-water habitat, and become
silvery in coloration, but assume, when belated, as
has been stated, in returning to salt water, their
original markings and colors. There is no
anatomical difference in the structure of the
Eastern sea-trout from that seen in the Eastern
speckled trout, hence the former has no specific
classification other than Salvelinus fontinalis ;
although deprived, as it has been, of this distinc-
tion, it displays to the angler qualities on the rod
that entitle it to a high grade among game
fishes. It is a persistent and eager riser to the
artificial fly, and grows to a weight of six or
seven pounds ; and when taken, as it often is, in
a salmon pool the angler is apt to mistake its
strong surges for those of a small but sprightly

Sea-Going Trout 321

salmon, until the absence of aerial flight enlightens
but disappoints the rodster, who is absorbed and
perhaps attuned to fever point in search of his
first salmon.

Along the New England shores, particularly
those of Massachusetts in Barnstable County and
in the salt estuaries and bays of Long Island, on
both the north and south shores, the river-trout
will be found in salt water, remaining there for
some months and returning to fresh water when
the spawning instinct impels them. These fish
also undergo to some extent the same change
in form and coloration as prevails among the
sea-trout of more northern sections, whose visits
to fresh waters seems to occur only twice a yean
once in the early summer months and again in
the fall to spawn, after which returning to the
sea and remaining there through the winter. In
many northern localities, however, they are found
in the bays and at the mouths of rivers during
nearly the entire summer months, coming in and
falling back as the tide ebbs and flows, and
rarely ascending the streams. In Massachusetts
these salt-water migrators are called " salters " ;
in all other sections, " sea-trout."

There are one species and four subspecies of

322 The Trouts of America

the so-called trouts, which are recognized spe-
cifically as saiblings — the charrs of Europe,
Salvelinus alpinus. These fish were originally
found in the cold, clear lakes of the Alpine region
and of Northern Europe, and, when subsequently
discovered in America, they inhabited like waters,
and will not thrive in any others. By the name
of "saibling" they are universally known in
Germany ; in France as the " ombre chevalier,"
and in England as " charrs," and among American
anglers the name of " trouts " without distinction
of species is generally given them. The saibling
is very thoroughly distributed in Northeastern
America, and new varietal forms are not in-
frequently discovered in the waters of New
England and Canada; at the present time the
varieties are: the long-finned charr, the Green-
land charr, the Arctic charr, and the Sunapee
trout, in all of which the anatomical differences
appear to be slight, but the coloration varies
greatly.

The type of the saiblings, as we find them in
American waters, is the " European charr " or
" saibling," Salvelinus alpinus. It is either gray-
ish or greenish on the back, and the belly is red,
particularly in the male during the spawning sea-

Tbe Saibling 323

son; the lower fins are margined with a white
strip, as in fontinalis, but unlike it, the back is
not marbled or vermiculated. On the sides of
the body are round, red spots and the scales are
" infinitely little," hardly if ever seen by the
ordinary naked eye, there being about two hun-
dred of them placed along the lateral line from
the gill covers to the base of the tail fin. All
forms of the saiblings rise freely to the fly, if any-
thing being more sprightly in rising and in their
eagerness more frequently missing the feathers,
than our brook trout. The ordinary gear and
flies used in fishing im fontinalis will lure these
saiblings, except the Sunapee trout, which are
generally taken from deep waters by still fishing
or trolling. But little is known of the three
Arctic saiblings, the long-finned charr (Salvelinus
alpinus alipes\ the Greenland charr (Salvelinus
alpinus stagnalis\ and the Floeberg charr (Salve-
linus alpinus arcturus\ The first (alipes) is
noted for its very high or long-rayed fins, for
its forked tail and the very small size of the
adipose fin ; the second (stagnalis) for the dark
green, with lighter green streaks, on the back,
for its greenish upper fins and lower pink ones;
the third (arcturus) for the absence of red or

324 The Trouts of America

pinkish spots on the body. I have no authen-
tic reports of the game qualities of these charrs,
but doubtless they rise freely to the flies and
resist capture bravely.

Perhaps no fish has been the subject of so
much discussion as the Sunapee trout, and the
pages that have been printed on the subject of
its original habitat, whether native born, for-
eign, or a hybrid, would fill an octavo volume
with pros and cons, and at the end of it all we
would be no wiser. So close is the structure of
the Sunapee trout to the other saiblings that
Professor T. H. Bean was compelled to resort to
its peculiar and beautiful coloration that an
appropriate technical name might be found for it,
although the coloration of a fish, by strict
ichthyological law, is not a factor in classification.
This trout is scientifically known as Salvelinus
alpinus aureolus, alpinus being the specific title
of the saibling, and aureolus, "golden." As
it is commonly called by New England anglers
and others the " golden trout," confusion, as I
have before stated, is apt to arise owing to the
similarity of name with that of the true golden
trout of Mt. Whitney, California.

The Sunapee trout is only found, within our

Sunapee Trout 325

present knowledge, in Sunapee Lake, Dan Hole,
Carroll Co., both in New Hampshire, and in
Flood's Pond, Ellsworth, Maine. These waters
are very deep and pure, and contain large num-
bers of landlocked smelt and crustaceans, upon
which the trout feed to such repletion that they
do not rise to surface food of any kind, certainly
most infrequently, if at all, to the artificial fly;
but on the trolling spoon, or live smelt in still
fishing, they show grand fighting vigor.

Their coloration is resplendent in orange,
brown, and golden tints ; on the back a clear
olive sometimes shading into brown prevails ; the
belly shows shades of white to orange, pink, and
red, and in the spawning season, in the males, a
dazzling and brilliant orange pervades the region
below the lateral line. The distinguished struc-
tural markings of this fish are the teeth, which
are present in a broad row at the base of the
tongue ; the small head, large fins, and bent form
of gill-rakers ; the absence of mottlings on the
back also serves to differentiate it from the brook
trout. The Sunapee trout is a good feeder,
taking a live smelt preferably, but any other small
fish with which the hook may be baited and
lowered sixty to seventy feet ; ground baiting for

3 26 The Trouts of America

several days before fishing being most fruitful in
scores.

The habits of the oquassa or blueback trout
(Salvelinus oquassa) are somewhat similar to
those of the Dublin Pond trout and the lake
herring ; they can only be seen in the lakes and
streams between October 10 and 20, after
which they disappear until the same period of
the following year. The cisco or lake herring
comes to the surface when the May flies are
swarming, usually for about thirty days, from
May 20 to June 10, and the Dublin Pond
trout during the same period. Would it not be
well for our fish savants, when in doubt as to the
strict classification of the trouts, with their slight
and often perplexing similarities of structure,
to give some consideration to their habits when
these are constant ? If this was permitted as a
factor in classification, a pertinent query would
be — Is the cisco or lake herring a trout, or is
the Dublin Pond fish a cisco? Both are mem-
bers of the salmon family.

The blueback seldom, if ever, grows beyond
twelve inches in length; it has a more slender
and graceful body than the brook trout, and its
forked tail is a distinguishing mark of the species,

The Blueback Trout 327

The name " blueback " is taken from its color on
the back, which is bluish black; the spots are
red and round, and usually confined in location
to the sides of the body ; the head is quite small,
more so than any other of the native trouts, and
the scales are also very small, although close
observation will show that they are larger along
the lateral line. Mr. H. O. Stanley, Fish Com-
missioner of the state of Maine, states that the
blueback is much hardier than the brook trout ;
that the spots are yellow, red, and black, and
more brilliant ; that he has " known them to lie
on the ground all night and be alive next morn-
ing." They visit the streams in large schools,
the same as the herrings and smelt, and spawn on
the same ground as the brook trout. Their
habitat during the balance of the year, from
about November i to October 10, is in the deep
waters of the Rangely Lakes, Maine, from which
they are said to pass as the spawning season
approaches from Lake Oquassa to the Kenne-
bago River in large numbers, in obedience to the
reproduction instinct. A short distance above
its mouth the Kennebago receives the outlet of
Lake Oquassa. The blueback leaves the Ken-
nebago to the left and runs toward Oquassa

328 The Trout s of America

Lake, where its bridal voyage comes to an end.
About the middle of November it goes into
Mooselookmaguntic Lake, and is seen no more
until October of next year. The oquassa trout
is not an angler's fish; a few have been caught
in summer with the garden worm as bait, and
they have been taken with the same lure while
on their spawning ground, but they give the
angler the impression that the bait only annoys
them, and they attack it merely to drive it away
from their beds.

There are two subspecific forms of the blue-
back trout : one the Naresi charr (Salvelinus
oquassa naresi) with an Arctic habitat ; the other
the Lac de Marbre trout (Salvelinus oquassa
marsoni\ the latest discovery in the line of
charrs, living in a lake of the same name as the
fish and doubtless numerous other Canadian
waters. The first (naresi} is distinguished by its
very small red spots, greenish back, deeply forked
tail, and deep red lower fins. It is found in Dis-
covery Bay and Chamberland Gulf of the Arctic
region. I have no record of it as an angling fish.

The Lac de Marbre trout is somewhat closely
allied to the blueback trout, but grows to a
greater size ; it is readily distinguished from it by

Lac de Marbre Trout 329

the large mouth, four teeth strongly hooked on
tongue, and strong ones on lower edge of jaw
for nearly its entire length, also by its coloration
and deeply forked tail. It is dark brown on the
back with an iridescent tint of blue, shading into
whitish, tinged with yellow below the lateral line ;
the top of the head is blackish and the cheeks are
silvery. There seems to be some conflict of
opinions among anglers as to the methods of
luring this fish. Some contend that it is a deep-
water trout and will not rise to a fly and this
appears to be the case with the first specimens
caught in Lac de Marbre; but in other waters
they come to the fly and take it freely in the fall
of the year, although none have been so taken
in the summer months. It is said to leap
repeatedly from the water when hooked (no other
Eastern charr to my knowledge has this trait),
and fights desperately. It is about a third larger
than the brook trout, weight for weight, and
grows to three pounds and upward.

CHAPTER VIII

METHODS OF FISHING FOR TROUT — FLY FISHING AND
BAIT FISHING — UP-STREAM OR DOWN-STREAM—
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS — HOW A TROUT BROOK
IS FISHED — THE GRASSHOPPER CAST— FLIES TO
BE USED — DRY AND WET FLY FISHING — FLY FISH-
ING AT NIGHT — FLIES USED IN LAKE FISHING

THERE are two accepted legitimate methods of
fishing for trout, all others being barred by the
ethics of the art. Trolling with a spoon or any
other bait, and fishing through the ice are looked
upon by the fly fisherman as coarse and unsports-
manlike, and they certainly are, when compared
with the deft handling of a delicate cast of feathers.
Trolling and ice fishing are merely yanking half-
starved trout from the water ; fly fishing, born of
skill and experience, lures the brook beauty to the
surface by manipulating naturally the choicest
morsel of his menu and causing it to fall upon the
water, gently fluttering, as a snowflake falls on a
calm winter's day. Moreover, when casting an
artificial fly, the angler by a gentle turn of the
wrist seeks to impale the hook; in trolling the

330

Methods and Equipment 331

boatman finds the fish, and the trout hooks itself.
When wading down a trout stream with its alter-
nating rifts and brown quiet pools, the experienced
angler gently drops the feathers atop the one or
across the still bosom of the other ; he knows the
resting and feeding places of his quarry, and calls
that knowledge into play every dozen steps he
takes down the galloping and frolicsome stream.
The two legitimate methods of fishing for trout
are fly casting and worm fishing with a light rod
and delicate water gear. I am not so ironclad in
opposition to bait fishing for trout as are many of
my brother anglers. It is an art in itself, and a
knowledge of the habits of the fish and of the
stream in which it lives is as necessary for success
as they are in fly fishing; and there are days when
fontinalis will not rise to the surface. A trout
taking the worm when cast on a light rod, must
be handled as skilfully as when he is on a hook
dressed with feathers. True, he is apt to fight
deeper, but as he seldom shows his body when
restrained by a fly rod unless forced to do so by
the muscular angler, and, when hooked, never
leaps in the air of his own sweet will, it is difficult
to define the degree of pleasure experienced in the
one method and not in the other. But just here

33^ The Trouts of America

comes in the aesthetic nature of the fly fisherman.
He contends that he gets the greatest enjoyment
from the beauty and seclusion of the environment
of a trout stream, and that one potent factor in
the delight of a trout outing, is the mere act of
casting the fly and seeing the fish rise to the sur-
face for it. He also abhors the handling and im-
paling of a squirming worm, and objects to taking
it from the mouth, tongue, or from the gullet,
where it is often found embedded.

Fly fishing for trout is followed by the great
majority of anglers, and their methods of fishing
a stream are somewhat diverse. In slow-moving
waters, the best course is to fish up-stream, and in
swift-running ones down-stream, being careful, as
before stated, to make a detour when a likely pool
is reached, and fish it from the lower end to its
head. In fishing up-stream, the cast of flies comes
quickly down on the current, which compels con-
stant and fatiguing casting, but this can partially
be avoided by directing the flies diagonally up and
across. Trout in a current always poise with
heads against it, and common sense suggests that
they are less likely to see the angler below them,
than when he is fishing down-stream ; yet it may
be with a trout's eyesight, as it is with ours, we

£ * "

WHERE EXFERTNESS IS NEEDED

Methods and Equipment 333

cannot see far or clearly through an agitated sur-
face of water, and it would naturally follow that
down-stream fishing does not alarm the fish to
the extent that it is credited to do. Certainly
atmospheric conditions disturb or lessen the acute-
ness of sight in trout. On a bright day, with the
sun rays illuminating every sand bar, rock, or
pebble of the stream, the trout are timid, and will
not rise to the most deftly placed artificial fly ; but
as the chasing shadows pass over the pool, causing
dark patches, here and there, the trout in these
shaded spots become alert for the drifting bug or
falling insect. Under such conditions the experi-
enced angler seldom fails to score, although when
starting out the day appeared to be an unpro-
pitious one. On dark days and at night trout, as
a rule, rise freely ; on bright days they are shy.

It has been, for a long period, a matter of
discussion whether trout would rise during a
thunder-storm or when an east wind is blow-
ing. The pros and cons have been discussed
until the subject ceases to be of interest, and
has become about threadbare. It is, without
question, a fact that these fish bite most freely
when a rain storm is in its incipiency, when
the first drops spatter upon the water; also

334 The Trouts of America

that they are not alarmed at low, rolling vol-
umes of thunder, but when it becomes more
intermittent and resounds in sudden claps, the
fish retire to the deepest holes that can be
reached by them. This peculiar trait is easily
understood and explained. When the thunder is
low or deep, but regular in intonation, the
atmosphere is not agitated with vibrations suffi-
ciently strong to affect the surface of the
water; on the other hand sudden and loud
thunderclaps produce concussions that alarm
the fish, causing them to scurry to a place of
safety.

This subject of thunder-storms affecting the
rising of trout, naturally suggests a few words
on the effects of other atmospheric conditions.
For instance, as to what wind is most favorable
for trout fishing; a question that has been dis-
cussed since angling began as a pastime, and,
as it appears, the east wind is most decried.
In nine instances out of ten, when the angler
is wading down a wooded trout stream, a strong
wind changes its direction to almost all the
points of the compass, whirling around bends,
dashing through tree intervals, and circling in
eddies, tempered or strengthened at every few

Methods and Equipment 335

hundred feet of the brook. Hence the decriers
of an east wind have only the direct effect of
such an air current upon the temperature of
the water as an argument in their favor. A
sharp, chilling east wind in the early days of
the season, say in March or in cold April
weather, is hardly a factor in lowering the tem-
perature of the water, from which, in a tardy
spring, the snow water has hardly run out and
the partial chill of winter still remains. Later
on, when the foliage is in its fulness of greenery,
when the bees are buzzing, and the stream is
in its normal fishing condition, it will require
some days of constant northeast gales to lower
the temperature of a trout brook, particularly if
it is dashing, dancing, or rippling along its devi-
ous course over pebbles, boulders, fallen trunks,
and other obstructions.

I never joint my rod when the air is chilled
by unseasonable winds, not that their prevalence,
unless continued for several days, will lessen
scores, but rather from the feeling that fontina-
lis should only be lured when the air is mellow,
the stream joyous in its flow, and the fish ram-
pant in leaping and in full vigor of fight. No
genuine trout angler can be responsive to the

33 6 The Trouts of America

charm of the pastime when, in the cold days of
early spring his teeth are apt to chatter, limbs
stiffen, and fingers in their rigor, like bars of
iron, fail in their firm grasp of the handpiece
of the rod. And then, again, the trout, what
sluggish, inert things they are ! coming to the fly
so lazily and sucking it in so leisurely that an
angler, slow as a snail in striking, could never
miss a rise or fail to impale the hook. But
anglers, of all men, are most widely apart in
opinion and practice. Some, whom I have
known for years, and they are good fishermen,
contend that an east wind is a favorable one,
and that they never fail of success during a
thunder-storm. Others, again, say they can never
catch a trout during the prevalence of a north-
west wind nor when it veers from the west to
north, but a blow from northeast always fills the
creel.

Trout seem to have an instinctive foreknowl-
edge of a rise of water which will enable them
to ascend with less discomfort and more rapid-
ity to the higher reaches of the stream for the
purposes of spawning; and that the rise will
furnish them with a greater supply of surface-
washed food. Knowing this fact, experienced

Methods and Equipment 337

trout anglers often defer their visits to the
stream until there has been a rise of water in
it, and not unfrequently, when on an outing, the
early morning salute to their host will be im-
mediately followed by the query, "Did it rain
last night ? " The answer will determine the
outline of the day's occupation — a delightful
hour or more on the stream, overhauling of
tackle, or reasserting the contents of their fly
books, or the charm of swapping fish improb-
abilities with their fellow-guests.

Assured of the proper condition of the water,
the angler approaches it with caution, having
previously and carefully adjusted his tackle.
Stepping quietly into the stream, either in the
boil of a rapid or on the shallows near the
bank, but never into or near a pool, his first
cast will be up and across stream, the current
taking the line and swooping it down ; when at
full tension it is allowed to remain in the water
a few minutes. This is merely to get the lower
gear in perfect working condition, although it
should be nearly so before fishing if the angler
has provided himself with a leader box, with its
layers of moistened felt, and if he has carefully
straightened out the snoods of his flies. After

The Trouts of America

a half-dozen casts for this purpose, if there is
a rift or rapid before him, he will cast about
forty feet of line (a longer one is seldom neces-
sary), being careful to place the flies on the lip
of every little eddy caused by immersed stones,
or larger ones made by protruding rocks — not
forgetting that when "on the feed" trout are
found in all portions of a rapid, wherever five
or six inches of water comes tumbling down ;
hence fish every part of the boiling current. If
a fish is hooked, it will be without warning,
for the rise is not apt to be seen in the rough
water; the first intimation of the presence
of the trout will be the eager "pluck" of the
fly, which on your part must be immediately
followed by a turn of the wrist from left to
right, a movement known as " the strike " in
angling parlance. When a trout is fastened in
rapid water he should be led, if possible, into a
quiet reach and there killed, but if no still
water is at hand, the fish should be held hard
and killed quickly. He must not be allowed to
cavort at will where submerged stones and rocks,
some of them, perhaps, with sharp edges, line
the bottom of the stream.

Descending the stream, the angler sometimes

Methods and Equipment 339

reaches a pool of several feet in depth, presenting
a broad and still surface of perhaps twenty-five
feet in length and fifteen in breadth. The
"swim," as the English rodsters call it, will
at times show a large boulder at its upper end,
or a freshet-washed bank with an overhanging
tree, the dirt-denuded roots of which lie beneath
the surface and cannot be seen.

Under such a condition I usually make two or
three long casts, placing the flies at the foot of
the rapid, and at the spot where it subsides in
gentle ripples on the surface of the pool. (The
reader will kindly note in this connection that I
am giving my own methods of fishing a trout
stream, not those of other anglers, but few of
whom fish alike.) After making these casts at
the foot of the rapid, I leave the stream and walk
around and below the pool, keeping at least
twenty feet from the shore, and reentering the
brook forty to fifty feet beyond the foot of the
quiet water, being careful, however, to fish above
and below the entering spot, if favorable condi-
tions exist.

When fishing a pool from below, long and fine
casting, as a rule, produces the best results, and
your flies should traverse every inch of it, particu-

34° The Trouts of America

larly under the shelving bank, if such exists, and
in the circling eddy below the big boulder at the
head of the pool. Often I fish a pool from above
before going below it, making the "grasshopper
cast," of which more anon, but, in doing so, care
is used in standing as much in the shadow as
possible, or only casting when a cloud throws a
passing depth of color over the pool ; casting in
bright sunlight is time wasted, although fifty to
sixty feet of line may be used. Fishing the pool
from above has frequently resulted in a good
score, and thus encouraged I have often fished
the same pool immediately after from below,
making previously the detour described, and
have frequently added two or more good fish
to the creel. But the average best result is
had from fishing a pool from the foot of it.

Here and there on a trout stream will be
found, comparatively long, still stretches where
only a gentle current prevails. They are, as a
rule, of uniform depth, seldom reaching above
the thighs. Such waters, I think, the most diffi-
cult of any to successfully fish, but in them usu-
ally lie the largest trout living in the stream.
Long and most delicate casts are requisite, and
just here comes in the value of " the grasshopper

Methods and Equipment 341

cast " to which is attached a history which will
be given briefly.

Up in Boone County, New York, there was a
fine trout stream and a club of anglers. Its
president was D. W. Cross of Cleveland, Ohio,
now deceased. The writer was his guest at
the club, and we fished always in company, often
side by side, for the stream was broad. One
day, on the brook, he said to me: —

" I know of but one man who makes the grass-
hopper cast as well as you do, and he is my
brother."

" What do you mean ? What is a grasshopper
cast ? " was the reply.

" Why, my good fellow, don't you know ? there,
you have just made one ! "

Now I had been making the cast for twenty
years, and was ignorant of the name and method
of making it, but not of its merits ; for it had
taken many a hefty black bass for me years
before out of the Schuylkill River. I can tell
you what it is, not how to make it ; it is beyond
analysis and my power of description. It is a
long throw, from the angler's standpoint, between
fifty and sixty feet, and when the forward cast is
made, the line first strikes the water at the spot

342 The Trouts of America

where the slight knot or loop attachment con-
nects the reel line with the leader. Striking the
water at this point, the leader is thrown upward
and forward making a curve -—^, and the end fly
falls very gently on the surface, followed by the
dropper (I use only one), hence the name, "grass-
hopper cast."

The long, still stretches should be fished fine
and thoroughly, particularly where the water has
washed under the banks, and wherever there is a
shadow thrown by an overhanging bush or tree.
There, at midday, trout will be found avoiding
the glare of the sun and reluctant, because of it,
to forage, and appease the gnawings of a growing
appetite.

In fishing at the foot of a fall or dam where
the white water is foaming, the flies (dark ones)
should be cast on a short line, say twenty to
thirty feet, and as near the wood or stone work of
the dam as possible, for trout often lie between the
dam and the volume of down-pouring water ; here
and there interruptions may occur in this volume,
which will enable you to get your flies beyond it.
Don't be afraid that the trout will see you, if the
extent of the foot space of the dam be small and
the water is churning into flecks of foam.

Methods and Equipment 343

The habits of "rising trout" are apparently
governed by their environment. In rapid streams
they rise fiercely, seizing the fly with a dash and
ejecting it at once when they find out its inedible
nature, showing their sense of taste to be acute.
Under such conditions the strike must be im-
mediate, but gentle, and at the first sight of the
swirl made by the eager fish ; if you wait for the
" pluck " or feel of the bite, you will, nine times
in ten, lose your fish; he has ejected the steel
and gone on his way, unsuspecting and uncon-
cerned. If, perchance, this same trout passes
down-stream to live a few days in a quiet and
relatively deep pool, his entire nature seems to
change; he is now a sedate, sober fish, feeding
daintily on the insects falling constantly from the
overhanging alders, rising very slowly to the fly
and taking it leisurely, then turning a slow tail,
and only feeling or tasting the non-edible thing
it has mouthed after the turn of the wrist has fas-
tened it into the flesh. Such fish are a glory to
the slow striker. Hence, on the one hand, if you
see the swirl made by the mad rush of a trout in
the boil of a rapid, strike at once ; on the other,
go slowly, take a moment for consideration before
the turn of the wrist is made, or else your fish

344 The Trouts of America

will be lost; he has probably held the fly in the
mouth loosely, being sure of its possession and
too languid or indifferent to mouth it.

When a trout is fastened on the hook in a
comparatively deep and still water, and if he is
of average stream size, the spring of the rod, " its
yielding resistance," will kill after you have him
well in hand, being careful, however, that he does
not rush into a root-hole, around a bottom snag,
or in the thick water grass or lily pads. If he
does get among the latter, don't yank, but keep
a strong steady pull upon the line; and if that
does not make him yield, sit down and wait, with
a slack line, just like a mule driver sometimes has
to do with his mule — he tires it out, or rather calls-
it into action, by inaction and patience. I know
of no other methods by which an entangled line
by a fighting trout can be released, unless the
water be shallow and you wade out and gill the
fish with your forefinger.

As the season advances, say toward August,
examine the banks of the pools for little springs
which are frequently found trickling down ; at
such points trout are apt to gather in pairs, pre-
empting the spot to secure for themselves a cooler
temperature, and the greater likelihood of drifting

Methods and Equipment 345

bugs on the spring water. Hesitate and examine
the situation before approaching and fishing the
pool. If trout are rising, note the form and gen-
eral coloration of the insects fluttering over and
falling into the water. Don't differentiate shades
or tints of color, but scrutinize the shape of the
body, and the general make-up of the insect.
The trout may not be color-blind, yet we cannot
believe that he can tell the difference in tint be-
tween orange and yellow, if you have such dressed
on your fly-hook. Rather deceive him by the
natural movement you give to the artificial, which,
in my experience, is a warranty of good scores, if
the fish be in a rising humor. In my opinion,
form, not color, when properly manipulated, is the
greatest factor in a big creel product ; and a half
worn-out, jagged fly, dishevelled, with wings or
hackles all awry, leaving a discernible wake, not
too heavy, behind it as it is trailed with a lifelike
action over the water, is more seductive than
those of spider form, a May fly imitation, or any
other make of artificials, dressed however beauti-
fully artistic they may be. This matter brings
up the subject of flies generally used in trout
fishing.

Many anglers, when stream fishing, string on

346 Tbe Trouts of America

their leaders a half-dozen flies of variegated colors,
alleging as a reason therefor that the captious
trout has a wider range of colors from which to
choose, hence capture of them is more likely to
be effected. It is to be noted, however, that these
fishermen are short-line casters, and fish the shal-
low rifts closely, but often successfully. Three
flies constitute the usual cast of most trout
anglers, and the general use of this number, no
more or no less, cannot be explained satisfactorily,
although many rodsters contend that a trio of flies
attached at proper intervals to the leader can be
played upon the water more naturally than a
lesser or greater number ; but it must be remem-
bered that our feathered lures, as we manipulate
them in fishing rapid streams, are extremely un-
like living bugs in action or appearance, particu-
larly when we draw the artificials up or across a
five or a ten mile current, where a bug in life
would have to possess the muscular power of a
leviathan of the deep to maintain the position
and action given by our restraining lines. I use
only two flies, a practice induced no doubt by ex-
perience on a black bass water, where a couple of
fish weighing upward of five pounds are a heavy
test of a light fly rod. As my casts average,

Methods and Equipment 347

wherever possible, forty or more feet, I place the
first and only dropper about three feet above the
end or point fly, and by recalling the line, gently
lifting the point of the rod just before the forward
cast ceases, both flies fall upon the water at the
same time, and before the reel line touches it.
In making very long grasshopper casts this recall
of the line is not necessary.

Thaddeus Norris, the author of the first sys-
tematic treatise on angling in American waters,
published thirty-eight years ago, has ably covered
the subject of flies to be used, and the manner of
handling them ; in fact, has given us the science
of the art in a couple of terse paragraphs. It
would be well if his words rung in the ears of
every angler when on a trout stream or preparing
to go there.

" Don't bother with a lot of flies. Here are
four that will serve all purposes : one is the Red
Spinner; the second a Black Gnat; the third is
the Coachman; the fourth and the best of them
all is the Red Palmer or Red Hackle, as it is
indifferently called.

" Now for the secret. Take the Red Hackle as
the standard and you will understand. If you
throw it out and just drag it on the water, as most

348 The Trouts of America

people do, what do you suppose a trout will take
it for? Why, just what it is — a bunch of hair,
no more, no less. You drag it along, and the
hairs close on the shaft of the hook; it is just a
dead mass, not resembling a fly, or a caterpillar,
or anything else. But suppose, instead of this,
you work your wrist very gently up and down, so
as to let the electric hairs of the hackle expand
and close with the stream ; what then ? Why the
thing looks alive, looks like a drowning insect,
and the trout goes for it directly. It is the same
with winged flies exactly. There is no use hav-
ing wings to a fly if you simply drag it through
the water in one direction."

" Uncle Thad," as he was familiarly and lov-
ingly called by his contemporary stream anglers,
was evidently neither a " formalist " or " colorist "
in the matter of flies, but put his faith in the
proper manipulation of the feathers on the water,
as all good and worthy anglers do in the present
era, a halcyon one for " the art contemplative,"
and its devotees, for skill and experience are now
the primal factors of a full creel.

We sometimes hear the phrase " cocking a fly."
It is a term used in England to express a cast
that puts the artificial fly in a natural position,

Methods and Equipment 349

that is, floating on the surface with its wings up
or "cocked." Many English-made flies (Ameri-
can also) are dressed with upright wings, and
to put them on the water " dry " is a killing prac-
tice, particularly on streams that are much fished.
To place artistically a cocked fly on the surface,
a horizontal cast seems to be requisite, as the
overhead method is apt to topple the fly over on
its side. It will be noted that a cocked fly, as
above stated, should be cast " dry." This leads to
the much-discussed subject, particularly in Eng-
land, of the merits of dry and wet fly fishing.

Fishing with a dry fly is more in use in Eng-
land (with one fly only) where the streams are
somewhat sluggish, than in America, although a
few of our experienced anglers have practised it
for many years. The process is simple, as it con-
sists in merely switching the flies a half-dozen
or more times in the air, before placing them on
the water. It is practised with greatest success
when fishing a pool from below, but is practically
of no value when fishing down-stream in wild
water. The flies and lines in use for dry fishing
have been somewhat elaborated ; both are fre-
quently well oiled to increase their floating
quality, and the flies are made with corked bodies

35° The Trouts of America

and with wings of fish scales for the same pur-
pose. An English writer thus sums up the
merits of dry-fly fishing : —

" It is certain that no more delicate and skil-
ful method of capturing a created thing, no more
difficult exercise, has ever existed, than that of dry-
fly fishing. It is not only the nicety of the opera-
tion at the time of casting a single fly so that it
alights, whatever may be the difficulties of place
or wind, in a particular spot with complete cer-
tainty and proceeds to float down over a rising
trout with wings erect and natural motion, but
there is also the beautiful perfection with which
the insect is imitated by the fly-dresser, and the
lightness of the tackle to which it is attached."

Fishing for trout with the fly at night has be-
come quite a fad with many anglers, and, as a
rule, so killing is the practice in the East that the
laws of New Jersey prohibit it from 9 P.M. to day-
light. Dark nights produce the best results, but
before the moon rises and after it sets are also
likely hours. The methods followed are similar
to those used in day fishing, although, strange to
note, dark flies are equally as fruitful in scores
as light ones, particularly when casting into the
foam of a fall or dam. When the stream is

THE CUT-THROAT, OR WAHA LAKE TROUT
Salmo darkii bouvieri

THE GREAT LAKE TROUT
Cristivomer namavcush

•TrfE DOLLY VARDEN TROUT
Salvelinus parkei

Methods and Equipment 351

low in midsummer, the best results are obtained
at night, which is the reverse of what the angler
gets when fishing the same stream during the
day. The rod should be at least seven ounces in
weight and the water gear of greater strength
than that used in day fishing, as you cannot give
your fish any leeway in a small and blackened
pool, perhaps lined with water grass and over-
hung with bushes, the outlines of which you can
hardly see. The trout are bolder, naturally, at
night, and come to the fly with an eager rush ; and
it seems as if all the senses they possess, except
that of taste, were quiescent or lacking acuteness.
Notwithstanding, you must strike quickly at the
first feel of the "pluck," or else the fly will be
ejected. Larger flies should be used than in the
daytime ; the splash of them on the water attracts
the trout, who seem to be on the qui vive for
falling insects of large size, particularly grass-
hoppers. The most delightful fishing for trout
I ever had at night was when using a large Black
Hackle tied on a No. 4 Limerick hook. I took
eighteen fish that averaged over half a pound.
The trout evidently mistook the Black Hackle for
a cricket, for passing along the stream by a path
that led close to the bank, a few evenings subse-

352 The Trouts of America

quent, I noticed, at the pool which I had fished,
overhanging bushes, which were brushed with
the shoulders as I trudged campward, and from
them black crickets were jumping and numbers
of them falling into the water.

In many waters, particularly the smaller streams
of New York and other Eastern Middle states,
large, gaudy flies are not the most alluring, and
knowing anglers use sombre-colored ones, such
as the Alder, Gray Drake, Cinnamon, Cowdung,
Yellow-bodied Professor, Coachman, and others
similarly dressed. The wings and tails should
be small, and the reds, yellows, and greens of sub-
dued shades. A very killing artificial on any
trout waters and in all sections, I have found to
be a nondescript without a name, although it is
somewhat similar to a tailless Professor. It has
a dull yellow body with one spiral winding of
black silk ; very small brown, gray, or cinnamon
wings, with little white spots on them; no tail,
and it is tied on a No. 14 Sproat hook and even
smaller ones. I have found flies, almost minute,
dressed on hooks Nos. 18 to 22 to be killing,
when all others failed to allure. They are partic-
ularly serviceable when, as the shades of evening
thicken, the trout are seen leaping and evidently

Methods and Equipment 353

feeding on midges or mosquitoes, and large flies
tied on Nos. 10 to 12 hooks fail to attract them.
When fishing in lakes large, gaudy flies are
generally used — those tied on Nos. 4 to 8 hooks
and of such patterns as the Silver Doctor, Parma-
cheene Belle, Montreal, Coachman, Lord Balti-
more, etc. When moving in the boat from place
to place, a deep troll with large flies is often suc-
cessful.

2A

CHAPTER IX

CASTING THE FLY — HOW IT IS DONE — THE SWITCH
OR SPEY CAST — HANDLING A HOOKED TROUT —
BAIT FISHING — SELECTING FISHING TACKLE, RODS,
REELS, LINES, LEADERS, ETC.

THE art of casting a fly cannot be taught either
verbally or by written instructions. Diagrams
will not aid the tyro, nor daily and studious visits
to a fly-casting tournament. The first is too rigid
to even indicate the supple action of the wrist of
the caster, or the graceful flow of the line from
the tip of the rod; the latter outrages all prin-
ciples of the art by the strenuous efforts of the
contestants to shoot the flies to the outermost
reach, and in doing this their gyrations and often
grotesque attitudes place a libel and a disgrace on
the gentle art of angling. The young angler
must be patient and observing, and seek for every
opportunity to accompany an experienced fly-caster
on the stream. Let him be content for days to
use bait and follow his fly-fishing companion at
a distance of several hundred feet, all the while
with his eyes open and his intelligence at work.

354

Casting the Fly 355

My first attempt at casting flies, over half a
century ago, was under peculiar conditions. I
had followed Horace Inskeep, a veteran angler of
Philadelphia, for a week or more down the streams
with a fly rod and fly-fishing water gear in use,
but with a garden worm as bait. One day, when
the stream was high and I was alone upon it, the
strap holding the box of worms became loose, and
was engulfed and carried down by the swollen,
though comparatively clear waters. The dilemma
was perplexing and annoying ; but in a few
moments I chanced to remember that a fly book,
which I always carried well stocked but had
never used, was in my coat pocket, and, then and
there I rigged up a cast of flies and have never
used bait since that eventful day. Close and
daily observation for over a week of Brother
Inskeep's methods had imparted " the knack," and
I placed the flies measurably well at the first
cast. It is entirely a knack, and a tyro must
catch it quickly or not at all. I have seen a
youngster cast a fly cleanly upon the water on
the first two or three attempts ; and then, again, I
have noted that some contestants at tournaments,
with their output of seventy-five to ninety feet,
are lacking in the first principles of the art. The

356 The Trouts of America

power to cast a long distance is with them muscu-
lar, and their use of the muscles of the entire arm
is distressing to the stream fisherman.

But if the art of casting a fly cannot be taught
by printed instructions or by word of mouth, a
hint or two may be of use ; for instance : —

Let the young angler make his first attempts
in the current of the stream with a line that is
slightly longer than the rod. When the line is
down-stream and at full tension, a gentle spring
of the tip of the rod, made by raising the hand
piece an inch or two, and at the same time giving
a quick turn of the wrist from left to right (a
movement that is, or should be, involuntary), and
then quickly lifting the rod so that the tip will be
slightly behind the right shoulder, will effect
what is called " the back cast." As the rod
reaches the shoulder position a pause of one to
three seconds, to allow the line to extend back-
ward, must be made, and the rod then sprung to
the front as described in the backward movement ;
this is called " the forward cast." The spring of
the tip of the rod should be snappy, but not
violent, and just how to do this and allow the
proper lapse of time before making the forward
cast, constitute, I think, the main difficulty in

Casting tbe Fly 357

acquiring a correct casting style ; and even
when learned must be constantly practised before
perfection is reached. Many stream fishermen
swing their rods back and forth, using their entire
arm in the movement, and manage to get their
flies some distance on the water, but they fail
sadly in accuracy ; and this quality, only to be
acquired by the method described above, is essen-
tial to filling the creel. An old stream fisherman
should be able to place his flies at a distance of
forty to fifty feet within the circle of a silver
dollar, five times out of six, and send them out of
his sight, around the projecting angle of a rock,
shore-fastened at a bend of the stream, provided,
of course, the wind is not unfavorable ; but to
reach this high mark of excellence and accuracy,
the angler must have years of experience in actual
stream work.

Some years ago, when fly-casting tournaments
were more frequently held in public, the switch or
Spey cast became popular, but is not so much so at
the present day, although every angler uses it, in a
modified degree, when a requisite back-cast is pro-
hibited by the presence of wood or brush growth
on the banks or other obstructions. It is made as
follows. With the line at full stretch down-stream

3S8 The Trouts of America

and the hand grasping nearly the extreme end of
the butt, the rod is raised so that as much of the
line is cleared from the water as possible, then a
forward stroke is made sufficiently strong to lift the
entire line from the water and to cause the fly to
alight a short distance in the rear of the caster;
then, placing the rod well back, as in the forward
cast of the ordinary method, a strong switch of
the rod to the front will cause the line to roll out
rapidly ; the leader and flies, as the line goes out,
making a leap as it were and alighting upon the
water in the manner of the grasshopper cast
before described.

The ambitious tyro, after he has caught the
knack of casting and become master of his rod,
will learn from stream experience the varied casts
known as the left-handed, the side cast, the under
cast, the horizontal, etc. The necessity of the use
of them depends entirely upon the character of
the stream, and it is when fishing one that the
angler is brought face to face with their value,
and can quickly acquire a knowledge of them.
Words would be wasted in an attempt to describe
how the casts are made.

When a trout is fastened on a fly rod, it should
be brought to the net as quickly as possible,

Casting tbe Fly 359

Humanity alone would prompt this, for if the
trout does not feel pain, because of the impalement
of the hook in the jaw where a minimum of its
nervous system exists, it certainly must suffer in
a degree, and not a slight one, from enforced cap-
tivity, the final result of which he evidently fears
will be death. Why else his frantic struggles to
escape ? Besides, a trout quickly killed and
creeled will retain its natural color and the choice
flavor of its flesh much longer than one dallied
with on a springing rod. To bring a trout
quickly to the creel, it is not necessary to yank
him incontinently out of the water, for the strain
of the tense arch of the rod will soon bring him
to the exhaustion stage, when he can be quietly
netted, killed, and creeled ; albeit he may recover
suddenly when seemingly exhausted, and make a
final struggle to escape from your hand, as you
take the hook from his mouth.

In playing a hooked trout you must feel him
constantly; your rod with its elastic give and
take quality will greatly aid you in doing this.
When necessary, as a trout runs toward you,
which infrequently occurs, back away and reel up
rapidly; and when you have him well in hand, and
the line is retrieved on the reel to a little more

360 The Trouts of America

than the length of the rod, slide the net under
him at the first sign of exhaustion. Above all
things keep cool, and play the fish without flurry.
Our old master of the craft, Izaak Walton, nearly
four hundred years ago, said to Venator on the
stream : —

" Why, now, let me tell you, you lost that fish
by your own fault, and through your own eager-
ness and haste."

Bait fishing and fly fishing, as I have written,
are alike legitimate and sportsmanlike. The ad-
vocates and followers of the first method are fully
equal in number to those of the latter, and when
we hear the remark, as not unfrequently happens,
" Oh ! / never fish with bait, / always use flies,"
uttered in a tone consequential and somewhat
contumacious, we can discount the speakers'
qualities as a man, and put a low estimate upon
his skill as an angler ; a good and gentle one
never brags or holds himself above the humblest
of the craft.

When fishing for trout with bait, a fly rod with
light water gear should always be used ; in fact,
the tackle should be in no manner different from
that handled in fly fishing, except the substitution
of a single hook for the feathers. Fishing with

Casting the Fly 361

bait down a stream for several seasons gives sub-
stantial experience to the future fly fisherman.
He will acquire a thorough knowledge of the
water where the trout lie, their hours of feeding,
when on the rifts, and when in the pools; the
situation of the bottom and surface flowing
springs near which the trout love to lie; the
character of the banks, the trend of the trees and
bushes, where the boulders, logs, and other ob-
structions are located in the current, and last, not
least, if he has the true instinct of the fly fisher to
be developed in the future, he will note all the
phases of insect life fluttering over and born of
the water or on the overhanging bushes.

The bait fisherman will find no difficulty in
catching trout when a qualified freshet is on a
slightly clouded stream. A fly-fishing rod and
tackle, with a No. 6 Sproat hook, baited with a
moss-scoured garden worm, which is to be al-
lowed to trail down the current, guided here and
there, to the most likely places, will usually fill
the creel, if the fish are there and on the feed.
But on a bright sunny day, when the water is
low, a different finale is apt to occur. Under such
a condition, the bait fisherman must bring into
play all the caution and finesse of the fly-caster

362 The Trouts of America

to insure success, and he is mainly handicapped
by the frequency of his hook catching on the
bottom, compelling him to disturb the water by
wading into it to release the hook.

We now reach the subject of the outfit of the
angler, or to use a more modern and comprehen-
sive, but from a phonetic standpoint, rather inap-
posite, term, his impedimenta, the rod, the line,
the hooks, baits natural and artificial, and camp
equipage generally. Of flies we have treated in
previous chapters and in the succeeding one.
Of the rod I feel impelled to say to the young
trout fisherman as I recently did in Outing: —

" In selecting a rod, choose one that fits you
best. Select it as you would a coat, a pair of
shoes, or a cane to walk with. You select those
because they fit you, and you feel at home in the
use or wear of them. Does the rod fit you as
you swing it into the air ? Does it balance well
in your hand, or is there a catch or interruption
of the harmony that should exist between you ?
If so, discard it at once. Many anglers assert
that if a rod don't fit them, they grow to fit the
rod, that while they prefer a stiff one (or vice
versa), they work into a whippy one, and do good
and pleasing execution with it. This will do very

Casting the Fly 363

well for the old hand, who has become sun-dried
in all the ' tricks of the lure,' and can deliver a
fly daintily fifty feet from the end of a bean pole,
but young anglers should take heed. Time and
application only can make a perfect angler, if
such there be, and there is nothing that will act
so thoroughly as a set-back to the tyro as a rod
out of joint with the man who uses it."

In selecting your fishing tackle for the first
outfit, and until you have found by experience
what is best for your use on the stream, you will
necessarily have to depend upon your tackle
dealer, hence be careful in choosing one that is
entirely reliable, and who is also a fly fisher from
love of the pastime. When purchasing a rod,
tell him that you want one of six ounces and not
over ten feet, made in what is now called " tourna-
ment style," a strong caster with plenty of the
springing quality, but with corresponding back-
bone. This will answer both for bait and fly
fishing. A good, hand-made split bamboo will
cost twenty to thirty-five dollars, but you can get
one turned in a machine for from sixty-nine cents
to fifteen dollars ; the lower-priced ones are worth-
less.

When selecting a reel, examine its mechanism,

364 The Trouts of America

which is most durable when least complicated;
hence place no confidence in novel and intricate
reel devices until fully tried on an outing. The
eye may be pleased, and the judgment seduced
by an attractive, and apparently practical, " throw
off " ; a peculiar click device, a new thumb
button for a drag, or a non-revolving handle — all
of which may be placed before you, if not recom-
mended, by the dealer. Hence, be careful in
your selection, and do not hesitate to ask your
older angling friends as to the qualities of a reel
that may have attracted your attention. See that
the spool of the reel which you select revolves
freely and smoothly, without jar or clatter ; that
the rivets and screws fit tightly; that the reel
plate lies snugly in the reel seat of your rod ; that
the cross-bars are securely riveted, or screwed,
and at proper distances apart; that the click
sounds full and clear, which is measurably an
indication that the mechanism is well put to-
gether and the material good. For either fly or
bait fishing for trout, the old-fashioned, simple
click-reel, holding thirty yards of line, is the
favorite among anglers, and I have never used
any other on a trout stream. However, the auto-
matic reel is much liked, and such old anglers as

Casting the Fly 365

Reuben Wood, and others, used and highly
recommended it, but many fly fishers are so
built, that they want to give the trout all the
chance it has for liberty, after being hooked, and
the automatic reel does much of the work, partic-
ularly in retrieving, that is incumbent upon the
angler to do, if he is in full sympathy with the
fish that he has fastened. If he is not, he goes
afishing merely for the pleasure of killing some-
thing, just as we sometimes see children, having a
similar instinct, kill flies on the window-pane in
the gloaming, for the sport of it.

In selecting a line you cannot go astray, for
the enamelled silk waterproof is the best you can
get, both for bait and fly fishing ; you will want
not less than thirty yards of the size known as " E."

In buying leaders, select those that are made
of the best gut ; the strands should be perfectly
round, and transparent, and colorless as glass ;
" it should be hard to the teeth, and free from
unravelled fibres and knotty roughness." I quote
the words of an old angling friend who knew
what he was talking about. For fly-fishing pur-
poses I use leaders of nine feet, but for bait fish-
ing, six, or even three, feet will be a sufficient
length.

3 66 Tbe Trouts of America

There is said to be over two thousand artificial
flies, of various colors and forms, including the
nondescripts, used by anglers in both hemi-
spheres. To acquire even a knowledge of the
names of these would entail hard study, and
when acquired, would be more ornamental than
useful. To become familiar with their compara-
tive killing qualities, the best hours and seasons
for using them, the atmospheric condition under
which they are most effective, their integral
make-up, with their multitudinous shades of
color, would entail years of application, and con-
stant intercourse with the members of the craft,
many of whom evolve a new combination of
feathers every time they visit a trout stream. As
before intimated, the tyro should enter upon his
novitiate with a few dozen standard flies in his
book ; selecting hackles tied palmer fashion, and
winged flies of contrasting colors.

Natural and artificial baits for trout are of
many diverse kinds. Of the natural, the common
garden worm and the live minnow are the most
enticing. Of the artificial, the phantom minnow
for trolling, or use in rapid water, is the only one
that gives satisfaction, according to the expe-
rience of many excellent anglers, who sometimes

Casting tbe Fly 367

forget themselves, and go atrolling for our be-
loved fontinalis.

Of the many makes, sizes, and trade-marks of
hooks three seem to have gained prominence
and favor with the majority of anglers — the
Sproat, Limerick, and Carlisle. Among fisher-
men who follow fresh-water fishing exclusively,
opinions are divided as to the relative values of
these makes, and I am inclined to say to the
young angler : " Don't bother about names of
hooks, or split hairs over angles of draft. All
the makes named above will catch a fish cleverly,
if firmly hooked and properly handled."

CHAPTER X

HOW TO TIE ARTIFICIAL FLIES

To make one's own flies is not only an accom-
plishment, but often a neccessity. Occasions arise
when an angler exhausts his supply of a certain
fly at which the trout are rising eagerly. This
frequently occurs on the stream and is a sad mis-
hap, if the rodster has not taken with him a few
loose feathers, a small spool of silk, a skein of col-
ored floss, and a piece of shoemaker's wax. How
to tie a fly must of course be learned at home ; but
when on the stream, this knowledge enables the
fisherman to quickly dress a fly, crude though it
may be, that will answer the demands of the
hungry trout.

I propose, briefly as possible, to state how the
angler may learn the art of fly-tying, the material
necessary to use with a description of the dress-
ings of most of the flies in use on trout streams.

At the beginning it is well to provide yourself
with a tin box in which to keep materials to pre-
vent them from being scattered about, and per-

368

VISE.

How to Tie Artificial Flies 369

haps lost. I use a tin cash box, 7 x 10x4 inches,
and find it answers very well.

The next step is to lay in the necessary tools,
consisting of a small jeweller's vise, with
jaws not exceeding a half inch in width,
the vise having an attachment to fasten
it to the table ; a pair of sharp-pointed
embroidery scissors, a pair of long pointed
pliers, with a small steel stiletto, com-
pletes the list. If you find difficulty in
obtaining the small stiletto, you can
substitute a large needle, and you might
also add to your stock of tools a pair of
spring steel nippers (apply to your tackle dealer for
them), although I seldom use either of these tools.
As to materials, you should obtain a
supply of Sproat hooks of assorted sizes,
and some silkworm gut ; a skein or
two, each, of several colors of silk floss
(which should be waterproof, if possi-
ble) ; and a like quantity of many colors
of fine chenille. These, together with
a spool of ordinary sewing silk, is about all you
will need in the way of materials, outside of
feathers, to begin work.

At almost any of the poultry stands in our

2B

PLIERS.

37° The Trouts of America

large markets you will find at least one employee
who saves all the hackles he can obtain, as he
has probably long since learned their value to
fly-tiers, and often makes quite a tidy little sum
over his weekly wages at the expense of very
little time and trouble. The feathers you will
need for a beginning are inexpensive ; a few cents
is all they should cost. Red and white hackles,
— those from the neck of capons and game
cocks are the best, but it is advisable to get as
many varieties as possible, as no fly can be made
without these hackles. You will also need some
colored tail feathers from turkeys and pigeons,
while the mallard duck will furnish you with
some desirable feathers from his gray breast and
a few dark brown shaded ones that grow on the
body just back of the shoulders. All these will
be found useful, as well as some from the guinea
hen, and some white and assorted chicken tails.
Now that your stock of feathers is in hand, it
would be well to visit your fishing-tackle dealer
and ask his assistance in getting some gold and
silver tinsel and mohair in various colors. The
latter you will not need at the start, but will find
use for it later on. These, together with a small
piece of shoemaker's wax, will be all that is

How to Tie Artificial Flies 371

necessary to commence with ; but after you have
mastered the art, many suggestions of little odds
and ends will come to you that will be useful.
Cultivate your tackle man ; if he is unselfish and
kindly disposed toward you, he can assist in
many ways and help to obtain the many little
things, such as scarlet ibis, wood duck, and blue
and yellow (dyed) swan, or egret feathers, which
you will need later on.

As the description of different flies will call
for green, scarlet, crimson, or some other dyed
color, you will be obliged to dye some, or pay
your tackle dealer a good price for them.

As it is no harder to make the reversed or
turned-back wing, than the plain winged flies,
and as they have a much better appearance, we
will begin with that style of wing. The "light
Montreal " is a simple fly, therefore a good one
to begin the first lesson. Its description is as
follows : tail, two or three fibres of gray mallard ;
body, scarlet silk floss ribbed with gold tinsel ;
legs, scarlet hackle ; wings, gray mallard. If the
description of a fly does not say how a hackle is
tied, it is always understood to be tied at the
shoulder only.

Fasten your vise properly to your work table,

372 The Trouts of America

and place in it a No. 8 Sproat hook with the
shank pointing toward the right. (This size
hook is a very convenient size to work with.)
The hook should be seized in the jaws of the vise
by the bend only. Now break off from twelve
to fifteen inches of your binding silk, and wax it
thoroughly with your shoemaker's wax by draw-
ing the thread over it eight or more times. You
can do this better by folding a small piece of
leather, and, placing your wax in the fold, draw
the thread over it. The pressure of your thumb
and fingers while holding the leather will wipe
off all superfluous lumps of wax that adhere to
the thread, and leave it nice and smooth. This
method has another advantage in keeping your
hands clean of the wax, as the feathers, silk, and
^M""' r "• j other materials would otherwise

/r^ i

I \ stick to the fingers, or other

^a^" / portion of the hand.

\^s» Your thread now being prop-
FlG' *' erly waxed, give it five or six

turns around the hook, being sure to carry it up
to the extreme end of the hook as in Figure i.
This is contrary to all methods of the profes-
sional fly-dresser, as it is his custom to leave a
little space at the end of the hook, but it is just

Haw to Tie Artificial Flies 373

at this point that the gut generally breaks, and
if a wrapping or two of thread is placed between
the gut and the hook, it will act as a cushion and
prevent the gut from chafing on the sharp end
of the shank.

Now we are ready to lay on the gut, which
should have been soaked a few minutes in luke-
warm water, and bind it on with the binding silk,
all the while keeping quite as much strain on the
silk as it will stand without parting. The gut,
owing to its having been soaked, will be soft and
the strain on the silk will make little indentations
in it, and these, together with the sticky wax, and
the few turns of silk between the gut and the
shank of the hook, will hold it firmly. It would
be well, however, to test it by giving a strong,
steady pull at the gut after it is fastened on.

Before you put on the last two or three turns
of the binding silk, place the end of a strip of
tinsel, two or three fibres of gray mallard feather,
and the end of a short piece of silk floss so that
these last wrappings will fasten them. The floss
should be prepared first by untwisting it. As
silk floss is only of two strands, this is easily
done by parting the strands at one end and sepa-
rating them, and then lay together again with-

374 The Trouts of America

out twisting. Your work at this stage will have
the appearance shown in Figure 2.

FIG. 2.

Now take a gray mallard feather and lay its
convex side up, with the end extending out over
the snood, and wrap it on with the binding silk
as in Figure 3. This feather should extend out

FIG. 3.

over the snood far enough to allow it to reach
the bend of the hook, when it is turned back for

How to Tie Artificial Flies 375

a wing. By laying this feather on and wrapping
it the full length of the body, it fills out the body
and takes the place of wool or some other mate-
rial that otherwise you would have to use.

Next take the end of your silk floss and wind
it, without twisting, around the hook, making the

FIG. 4.

body of your fly of good shape by giving an
extra wind where necessary. Stop about an
eighth of an inch from the end of the shank to
allow room for legs, and fasten it by two or three
turns of the binding silk. After this wind your
tinsel over the silk, first giving it two or three
turns around the bend of the hook and fasten it
by a turn or two of the binding silk. Now take

376 The Trouts of America

a hackle feather, which for this fly must be dyed
scarlet Hold it at the extreme point by the
thumb and finger of one hand, and with the
other thumb and finger stroke down the fibres of
the feather toward the butt, thus leaving the point
standing out by itself. Catch this point now to
your fly by a couple of turns of the binding silk,
and your work should look like Figure 4.

We have now reached the point where the
most difficult work of fly-tying begins, that of

putting on the
hackle properly.
Take your hackle
feather by the
stem and wind it
once around the
hook; wind from
you. Then with

FIG your left thumb

and finger smooth

back toward the bend of the hook the part that
is wound. Hold it in that position and give your
hackle a second turn, then repeat the holding back
process and another turn. Continue this until you
have sufficient hackle on to form the legs of your
fly and fasten the end by two turns of your bind-

How to Tie Artificial Flies 377

ing silk. Now pick out with your stiletto the
fibres that have been wound under and cut off
the end of the feather not used, giving four or
five turns with the binding silk to hold it se-
curely. At this point your fly should look like
Figure 5.

If your hackle does not wind on evenly and
too many fibres are wound under, unwind it be-

FIG. 6.

fore you cut off the end and rewind it, and you
will find it will go on all right. This winding of
the hackle will need more practice than all the
rest of the work. Now turn back your wing to
its proper position, give it one wrap of the bind-
ing silk and two half-hitches, and your fly will be
complete as in Figure 6.

When the work is finished, put a touch of
shellac to the knot to prevent it from slipping

378 The Trouts of America

and to make it waterproof. Don't tie your bind-
ing silk at all until the fly is finished, then put a
couple of half-hitches only, for if you have put
a proper amount of shoemaker's wax on your
binding thread you will not need any knots, as
when you drop the thread at different stages it
will stick of its own accord and not become loose.

We will now try an ordinary brown hackle or
palmer fly with a red silk body. Wrap on your
snood as before explained, and carry your bind-
ing silk well down to the bend of the hook.
Attach a short piece of gold tinsel, and after giv-
ing it two or three turns around the bend of the
hook, fasten it and cut off the end. This tinsel
is not absolutely necessary, but a slight show of
the bright metal at the end of the body of all
flies gives a finish and makes a better-looking
lury.

Prepare your hackle (a brown one) by stroking
back the fibres, so as to leave the point free, and
fasten it right above the tinsel. Then, after
having fastened a piece of red silk next to the
hackle (the silk should be split as described be-
fore), carry your binding thread forward to the
end of the shank. This may be accomplished
by giving it two or three turns around the body.

How to Tie Artificial Flies 379

Now wind the body with the silk floss, being
careful to stop about one-eighth of an inch from

MM.

FIG. 7.

the end of the shank to allow room for the head.
At this stage your work should be like Figure 7.
Now seize the hackle by the stem, and wind
it spirally around the body, gradually working
toward the head
(see Figure 8), at
each turn press-
ing back the
fibres with your
left thumb and
finger to pre-
vent them from
being caught

under the next turn. You will find that in this
process your hackle will go on much easier and

FIG. 8.

380 The Trouts of America

with less chance of the fibres becoming wrapped
under than it did in winding of the hackle at the
shoulder only as on the previous hook. When
you reach the end of the body, give two or three
turns of the hackle at this point to allow a little
fulness, then fasten the end with several turns
of your binding silk, which must be wound

FIG. 9.

evenly and nice to form the head. Now compare
your work with Figure 9.

In fastening the binding silk you may either
use a half-hitch or two, or tie an invisible knot,
which is much nicer. This is made as follows :
Hold the binding silk with your right hand about
an inch and a half or two inches from the end of
the hook ; hold it toward the right and with your
left hand bring around the end over the head
of the hook, thus forming a loop as in Figure
10. Now catch your thread with your right

How to Tie Artificial Flies

381

hand at about the point marked A, and give it
four turns around the head of the hook as shown

FIG. 10.

in Figure n. Place your left thumb to hold it
tight and poke the end of the snood through the

FIG. n.

loop four times to untwist it ; then take the loose
end and draw it tight. After this, cut off the

382 The Trouts of America

loose end close up, and give it a coat of shellac,
and your palmer fly is complete.

When you have learned to do what I have
described up to this point, and practised enough
to be able to do it well, you may call yourself a
fly-tier, as the fancy flies are but slight variations
from the standard ones. The very fancy and
gaudy ones used for salmon and sea-trout are
certainly very difficult to dress properly, but after
you have had practice, it will come to you without
much difficulty.

As a specimen of the variations we will next

take up the Royal Coach-
man. Wrap your snood
as usual, and give a slight
show of gold tinsel at
the butt. Select three
strands of peacock herl
and fasten them the same
as you did the hackle
feather in tying a palmer ;
take the three together
and wind them around
the shank of the hook

for a short distance, then catch the ends with
two turns of the binding silk; with two turns

How to Tie Artificial Flies 383

more catch in some bright red floss, and hold-
ing the loose strands of herl along the shank,
wind the silk over both of them and the shank
about three times; fasten the floss, cut off the
end, and carry your
binding silk up to the
head, when your work
should appear like Fig-
ure 12. Now carry
out the balance of the
body with the peacock
herl, put on the legs, FlG- '3'

and tie back your wings, and the fly is made, as
shown in Figure 13.

Having described, in as simple a manner as
possible, the method of dressing ordinary flies,
I will now give a list of those flies in general use,
making comments from time to time, when oc-
casion requires, of any special style of dressing.
I will not give an additional list of feathers and
materials required, as all this knowledge may be
gained from the descriptions of the flies.

Brown Palmer or Hackle. — Body, red silk floss
ribbed with gold tinsel; legs, brown hackle
wound whole length of body. This fly may be
varied by using for the body yellow or green

384 The Trouts of America

silk floss, peacock or ostrich herl. Where the
herl is used there should be only a slight show
of tinsel at butt. The fly may be further changed
by adding to any of these variations a tail of
either scarlet ibis or yellow feathers.

Gray Palmer. — This fly is dressed in the same
manner and with all the variations as in the
brown palmer, using gray hackle instead of brown.

Ginger Palmer. — Body, yellow silk floss ribbed
with silver tinsel ; legs, pale ginger hackle wound
whole length of body.

Grizzly Palmer. — Body, orange silk floss ribbed
with gold tinsel ; legs, white hackle wound whole
length of body.

Coch-y-bon-dhu (Marlow Buzz). — Body, bright
green peacock herl, with a slight show of gold at
butt ; legs, brown hackle wound at shoulder only.

Abbey. — Tail, two or three fibres of golden
pheasant tippet feather; body, red wound with gold
tinsel ; legs, brown hackle ; wings, gray widgeon.

Grizzly King. — Tail, red; body, green ribbed
with gold tinsel ; legs, furnace-gray hackle ;
wings, gray mallard.

Professor. — Tail, scarlet ibis ; body, yellow silk
floss ribbed with gold tinsel ; legs, brown hackle ;
wings, gray mallard.

Artificial Flies 385

Rube Wood. — Tail, brown mallard; tag, red
silk floss with a turn of gold tinsel ; body, white
chenille; legs, brown hackle; wings, gray mal-
lard.

Dusty Miller. — Tail, two or three fibres of
gray mallard; body, dark gray mohair, ribbed
with narrow gold tinsel (this ribbing is some-
times omitted); legs, gray hackle; wings, dirty
gray turkey.

Light Montreal. — Tail, gray mallard; body,
scarlet ribbed with gold tinsel ; legs, scarlet
hackle; wings, gray mallard.

Dark Montreal. — Tail, scarlet ibis ; body, crim-
son mohair, ribbed with gold tinsel ; legs, crimson
hackle; wings, wild turkey.

Queen of the Waters. — Body, orange silk floss
ribbed with gold tinsel ; legs, brown hackle wound
whole length of body ; wings, gray mallard.

King of the Waters. — Same as Queen, except
with red silk floss for body.

Cahill. — Tail, gray mallard; body, mouse-col-
ored mohair, with slight show of gold at butt;
legs, brown hackle; wings, side feather (not
barred) from wood duck.

Green Drake. — Tail, lead color (blue heron);
body, white ribbed with black silk; legs, brown

2C

386 Tbe Trouts of America

hackle ; wings, side feather (not barred) of wood
duck dyed yellow.

Gray Drake. — Tail, gray mallard ; body, white,
ribbed with black silk ; legs, gray hackle ; wings,
gray mallard.

March Brown. — Tail, Scotch grouse ; body,
dark brown, ribbed with yellow silk; legs, Scotch
grouse ; wings, Scotch grouse.

Shoemaker. — Tail, side feather (not barred) of
wood duck ; body, alternate bands of salmon and
lead-colored silk, wound over with gut; legs,
brown hackle; wings, gray mallard and wood
duck (not barred).

Oak Fly. — Body, orange, ribbed with black
silk; legs, brown hackle; wings, mottled brown
turkey. (The wing coverts of the quail make a
good wing for this fly.)

Grannom. — Tag, green silk floss with slight show
of gold tinsel; body, gray mohair picked out at
shoulder to represent legs ; wing, pale gray turkey.

Seth Green. — Body, green silk floss, ribbed
with yellow silk; legs, brown hackle; wings,
light brown mottled turkey.

Brown Hen. — Tag, red silk floss; body, pea-
cock herl; legs, brown hackle; wings, dark
mottled brown turkey.

Artificial Flies 387

Stone Fly or Caddis. — Tail, brown mallard;
body, olive-colored mohair, picked out at shoul-
der to represent legs ; wings, curlew or light
feathers from wing of night heron.

Spider. — Body, lead-colored silk floss with
slight show of gold tinsel at butt; legs, black
hackle ; wings, wild turkey.

Alder. — Body, peacock herl with slight show
of gold tinsel at butt ; legs, black hackle ; wings,
mottled brown turkey. With lead-colored wings,
this fly is also called a gray alder.

Hare's Ear. — Body, mouse-colored mohair,
picked out at shoulder to represent legs ; wings,
lead color.

Pale Blue Dun. — Tail, a few fibres of pale blue
feather; body, mouse-colored mohair; legs, gray
hackle ; wings, pale lead color.

Iron Blue Dun. — Tail, English starling ; body,
blue-gray mohair, ribbed with yellow silk; legs,
brown hackle ; wings, starling.

Beaverkill. — Body, white silk floss, with slight
show of gold tinsel at butt; legs, brown hackle
wound whole length of body ; wings, blue heron.

Red Fox. — Tail, two fibres of gray mallard ;
body, dirty red mohair; legs, brown hackle;
wings, lead color.

388 Tbe T routs of America

Cowdung. — Body, orange mohair, with slight
show of gold tinsel at butt ; legs, ginger hackle ;
wings, light curlew.

Coachman. — Body, peacock herl ; legs, brown
hackle; wings, white.

Royal Coachman. Body, peacock herl, with a
band of bright red silk floss around the middle ;
legs, brown hackle ; wings, white.

Golden Spinner. — Tail, two fibres from ginger
hackle ; body, yellow silk floss, ribbed with
gold tinsel; legs, brown hackle; wings, blue
heron.

Red Spinner. — Tail, two fibres from brown
hackle; body, red silk floss ribbed with gold;
legs, brown hackle; wings, blue heron.

Jenny Spinner. — Tag, brown silk floss ; tail,
black fitch hair (two or three fibres from glossy
black hackle will do in place of fitch hair) ; body
divided into three parts, upper and lower parts
brown silk floss and middle part white silk ; legs,
gray hackle ; wings, pale lead color.

Blue Bottle. — Body, blue chenille ribbed with
black silk; legs, black hackle, wings, dark lead
color. Certain parties claim that the body of this
fly should be made of a peculiar shade of steel-blue
silk floss. It is impossible to describe this shade,

Artificial Flies 389

and a specimen of the fly must be seen ; ask your
tackle dealer to show you one.

Bee. — Body, yellow chenille, with a band of
black silk floss around centre ; legs, brown hackle ;
wings, blue heron.

Dark Fox. — Tail, gray mallard ; body, dark
lead-colored mohair, picked out at shoulder to
represent legs ; wings, lead color.

Black Gnat. — Body, black ostrich herl ; legs,
black hackle; wings, dark lead color from the
darkest feathers of the blue heron. This fly is
often tied with black wings, but I think this is
wrong. When it is tied on a No. 10 or smaller
hook, as is generally the case, the legs may be
omitted. This fly is sometimes tied with an orange
silk floss tag; it is then called Me Bride's black gnat.

Claret Gnat. — Body, claret-colored mohair,
picked out at shoulder to represent legs (some-
times claret hackle is used for legs) ; wings, lead
color.

Black Midge. — Body, black silk floss ribbed
with fine silver tinsel ; legs, black hackle ; wings,
dark lead color.

Light Claret. — Body, claret silk floss, with slight
show of gold tinsel at butt ; legs, claret hackle ;
wings, blue heron.

39° The Trouts of America

Dark Claret. — Same as the light claret ; except
that black hackle is used for legs in place of claret.

Yellow Sallie. — Body, pale yellow silk floss
ribbed with gold tinsel ; legs, pale yellow hackle ;
wings, pale yellow.

Yellow May. — Tail, yellow ; body, yellow silk
floss, with slight show of gold tinsel at butt ; legs,
yellow hackle; wings, gray mallard dyed bright
yellow.

Jenny Lind. — Tail, bright blue ; body, deep
yellow silk floss ribbed with gold tinsel; legs,
claret hackle; wings, bright blue.

McBride's Professor. — Tail, scarlet ibis; body,
yellow silk wound with gut and peacock sword at
shoulder ; legs, brown hackle ; wings, mixed wood
duck (not barred) and mallard all dyed yellow.

Black Ant. — Tag, black ostrich herl ; body,
black silk floss with black ostrich herl at shoulder;
legs, black hackle ; wings, grayish blue.

Scarlet Ibis. — Tail, scarlet ibis ; body, red, ribbed
with gold tinsel ; legs, scarlet ; wings, scarlet ibis.

Raven. — Body, dark green, ribbed with gold
tinsel ; legs, black hackle ; wings, black.

White Miller. — Body, white silk floss, ribbed
with silver tinsel ; legs, white hackle ; wings, pure
white.

Artificial Flies 391

Blue Professor. — Tail, scarlet ibis; body, bright
blue silk ; legs, brown hackle ; wings, lead color.

Cinnamon. — Tail, two fibres of cinnamon-col-
ored feather; body, cinnamon silk floss ribbed
with silver tinsel; legs, brown hackle; wings,
cinnamon color. This fly is sometimes dressed
with peacock-herl body, and is then called cinna-
mon with peacock body. A good cinnamon-
colored feather is very difficult to obtain. The
wings and tail of the Bird of Paradise are the only
good colored ones the writer knows of. The name
sounds expensive, but in reality these birds are
cheap, as, after the said plumes have been pulled
out for millinery, purposes, the bodies become
worthless, and may be purchased for a few cents.

Lowery. — Tag, yellow silk ; body, peacock
herl ; legs, brown hackle ; wings, cinnamon color.

Jungle Cock. — Tail, scarlet ibis ; body, red,
ribbed with gold tinsel ; legs, claret hackle ; wings,
jungle cock rump hackle.

Epting. — Tail, two or three fibres of ginger
hackle ; body divided in three joints, lower joint,
red silk floss, middle joint, orange silk floss, and
upper joint, bright yellow silk floss, all ribbed
with gold tinsel; legs, black hackle; wings, wid-
geon or teal.

\
392 The T routs of America

Adirondack. — Tag, yellow silk ; tail, a few
fibres of black hackle or black seal fur ; body,
reddish brown mohair ; legs, orange hackle ;
wings, white, with jungle cock shoulders.

Nearly all the foregoing flies may be varied
and made a little more elaborate by adding
shoulders of jungle cock, as in the last two,
Now we come to the fly that is tied any way and
any how. No two dealers or professionals dress
it alike. The Silver Doctor is used everywhere on
all streams, and is, I might say, about the most
popular fly in use.

For ordinary trout fishing the Silver Doctor is
not dressed so elaborately as for bass or salmon.
The one for trout is tied as follows : —

Tag, gold-colored silk floss ribbed with silver
twist ; tail, a few fibres of golden pheasant tippet ;
body, red, and ribbed quite closely with silver tin-
sel (the body is sometimes of silver tinsel, ribbed
with red silk or wool) ; legs, blue hackle ; wings,
strips of blue, yellow, barred wood duck, dark
turkey, bustard, scarlet ibis, and white ; head, red
wool. In tying this fly for large trout or bass
add a few legs of guinea over the blue hackle.

Ashy. — Body, orange ; legs, a peculiar ashy
shade of hackle wound the whole length of body.

Artificial Flies 393

Bob BarnwelPs Ashy. — Body, yellowish green
mohair ribbed with peacock herl and a strip of
yellow mohair laid along each side; legs ashy
hackle wound whole length of the body; head,
red wool.

The amateur will have great trouble in procur-
ing the peculiar shade of hackle for the two last
flies. It would be well to buy an " ashy " from
some reliable house, and keep it handy to match
the feather at the first opportunity.

The Francis. — Tail, dark gray hackle ; body,
peacock herl ribbed with heavy cord of red silk
floss ; legs, dark gray hackle tied part way down
the body; wings, two dark gray hackle feathers
matched.

Magalloway. — Tail, short fibres of yellow and
blue macaw; body, lower half brown mohair and
upper half black ostrich herl ribbed with gold
twist; legs, gray hackle; wings, brown feather
from peacock primary; head, black ostrich herl.
In using the brown primaries of the peacock, the
amateur will have great trouble to get them to lie
gracefully. A feather of the same shade is found
in the two upright feathers of the wings of the
mandarin duck. The fibres of the latter are not so
harsh as the peacock, and are much easier to tie.

394 The Trouts of America

Bemis Stream. — Tail, golden pheasant top-
ping; body, brown mohair, ribbed with gold tin-
sel; legs, brown hackle; wings, strips of brown
peacock and dark and light bustard ; head, black
ostrich herl.

Oquassac. — Tag, yellow silk floss ; tail, sprigs
of argus feathers and golden pheasant topping;
body, claret mohair, ribbed with pink silk floss;
legs, claret hackle ; wings, argus feather (pri-
mary) ; head, black ostrich herl.

Tinselled Ibis. — Tail, a few fibres of barred
wood duck and scarlet ibis; body, silver tinsel
ribbed with gold twist; legs, scarlet hackle;
wings, matched scarlet ibis feathers, with strips
of barred wood duck on each side.

Chateaugay. — Tail, a few fibres of brown mal-
lard; body, lemon-yellow silk floss ribbed with
gold twist; legs, ginger hackle wound from tail
to shoulder; wings, strips from widgeon and
argus ; head, black ostrich herl.

Mooselookmaguntic. — Tail, a few fibres of argus
pheasant ; body, equal parts of gray squirrel fur
and light green mohair ribbed with gold twist ;
legs, brown hackle ; wings, gray speckled turkey
dyed yellow, with a strip of argus on each side ;
head, green ostrich herl.

Artificial Flies 395

Rangeley. — Tail, a few fibres of barred wood
duck and scarlet ibis ; body, dark claret mohair
ribbed with gold tinsel ; legs, dark claret hackle ;
wings, strips of wood duck (barred) mixed with a
little wild turkey and scarlet ibis.

Deacon. — Tail, gray mallard ; body, yellow mo-
hair ribbed with silver and gold tinsel ; legs,
yellow hackle wound from tail to shoulder ; wings,
gray mallard ; head, black ostrich.

Blue Jay. — Tail, scarlet ibis; body, scarlet mo-
hair ribbed with gold tinsel ; legs, scarlet hackle ;
wings, matched feathers from English blue jays,

Dark Argus. — Tail, fibres of yellow, white,
scarlet ibis, and wood duck ; body, lower half red
silk floss ribbed with silver tinsel, upper half
bluish gray chenille ; legs, crimson hackle, with
blue hackle over; wings, matched feathers from
back of red-breasted argus.

Black Prince. — Tail, scarlet ibis ; body, silver
tinsel ; legs, black hackle ; wings, black.

Parmachenee Belle. — Tail, scarlet ibis mixed
with white ; body, pale yellow mohair ribbed with
gold ; legs, scarlet and white hackle mixed ;
wings, mixed scarlet ibis and white. In putting
on the legs of this fly, wind on the scarlet and
white hackle together.

396 The Trouts of America

Prouty. — Tag, orange silk floss ribbed with
silver twist ; tail, golden pheasant topping, with a
few fibres of English blue jay ; body, lower half
silver twist, upper half black ostrich herl ribbed
with silver twist; legs, yellow (dyed) furnace
hackle wound over upper half of body; wings,
mixed teal and yellow feather and a little
scarlet ibis and red macaw; head, black ostrich
herl.

June Spinner. — Body, black ostrich herl wound
with silver tinsel ; legs, black hackle ; wings, black.

Cupsuptuc. — Tail, golden pheasant topping ;
body, silver tinsel wound with gold twist; legs,
bright scarlet hackle wound from tail to shoul-
der ; wings, mixed fibres of brown turkey tipped
with white, brown mallard, golden pheasant tail,
and guinea hen ; head, black ostrich herl.

Doodle Bug or Kadoodle Bug. — Tag, green silk
floss ; tail, gray mallard dyed pale yellow ; body,
lower half pale yellow, upper half orange and
ribbed with gold twist ; legs, brown hackle wound
full length of body; wings, brown turkey.

Conroy. — Tag, peacock herl from sword feather;
body, crimson silk floss ; legs, green hackle, with
guinea hackle over ; wings, matched feathers from
the white-tipped tertials of mallard duck.

Artificial Flies 397

Turkey. — Tail, scarlet ibis ; body, yellow mohair
ribbed with gold tinsel; legs, brown hackle;
wings, brown turkey.

Saranac. — Tail, golden pheasant topping ; body,
claret silk floss ribbed with gold and silver twist ;
legs, claret hackle wound from tail to shoulder;
wings, matched golden pheasant's tippets with
strips of brown mallard and argus pheasant on
each side.

Lightning Bug or Firefly. — Body, lower third,
yellow silk floss, upper two thirds gray mohair,
ribbed with gold tinsel ; legs, gray hackle wound
full length of body, with grouse hackle at shoul-
der ; wings, brown turkey.

Wood Duck. — Tail, wood duck; body, bright
yellow mohair ribbed with silver; legs, bright
yellow hackle; wings, matched wood duck
feathers.

Hopatcong. — Tail, scarlet ibis and yellow ; body,
silver tinsel ; legs, black hackle wound full length
of body; wings, brown turkey with jungle cock
shoulders.

Ferguson. — Tail, scarlet ibis and yellow ; body,
yellow silk floss ribbed with gold tinsel; legs,
green hackle; wings, brown turkey, scarlet ibis,
yellow, and peacock swords.

398 The Trout s of America

Round Lake. — * Tail, fibres of golden pheasant
tippet and two fibres of blue macaw ; body, lower
half orange, upper half claret mohair; legs,
orange hackle; wings, brown turkey matched
feathers with jungle cock shoulders.

Lord Baltimore. — Tail, black ; body, orange silk
floss ribbed with black silk; legs, black hackle;
wings, black with jungle cock shoulders.

Whitney. — Tail, green ; body, green silk floss
ribbed with silver; legs, green hackle, wound
from tail to shoulder (sometimes wound at shoul-
der only), under wing, yellow, over wing, night
heron; head, peacock herl.

Governor Alvord. — Tail, scarlet ibis ; body, pea-
cock herl ; legs, brown hackle ; wings, blue heron
with under wing of brown peacock.

Tuxedo. — Tag, red silk floss ; tail, bright yellow;
body, silver floss ribbed with gold twist; legs,
orange hackle ; wings, curlew, with narrow strip
of bright yellow on each side.

Silver Miller. — Tail, scarlet ibis and yellow ;
body, silver tinsel ribbed with gold twist; legs,
yellow hackle; wings, matched white feathers.

Pelee Island Ibis. — Tail, black ; tag, black
ostrich herl ; body, red silk floss ribbed with
gold; wings, matched scarlet ibis.

Artificial Flies 399

Gogebic. — Tag, scarlet silk floss; tail, scarlet ibis
and white ; butt, black ostrich herl ; body, yellow,
ribbed with fine gold twist; legs, scarlet hackle
wound from butt to shoulder; wings, white
matched feathers with small ibis on each side.

White Moth. — Tail, scarlet ibis; body, white
chenille; legs, white hackle; wings, matched
white feathers.

I have now given a description of about all the
standard flies used for trout. Of course there
are many others, some used only in certain parts
of the country, and others designed and used only
by private parties and their friends.

Such knowledge as I possess of fly-tying was
derived from the practical teachings of Samuel
P. Kellogg of Elizabeth, New Jersey, who was
undoubtedly one of the most skilled of amateur
or professional fly-tiers, as he was certainly one
of the best informed in the natural history of our
feathered fauna. He is now deceased, and the
cause of his death should be a warning to all
who keep a stock of fly materials. He died
from poison produced by the incautious use of
arsenic.

INDEX

Abbey fly, dressing, 384.

Adirondack fly, dressing, 392.
Alaska salmon —

Annual yield of salmon, 175.

Blueback salmon range, 161.

Exhaustion and death of salmon
in brooks, 169.

Humpback salmon range, 163,
169.

Quinnat range, 155, 156.

Silver salmon, 164.
Alder fly, dressing, 387.
Aleutian Islands salmon, 157.
Alford, salmon fishing, 26, 121-122.
American braided line, inferiority

of, 57-

American split bamboo rod, salmon
fishing, 78.

Angling, antiquity and literature of,

4, 193-196.
[See also names offish^\

Arctic trout [Salvelimts arcturui\
285, 286, 295, 323.

Armstead, J. J., trout fishing, bee-
sting incident, 275.

Artificial flies, tying and dressing,

368-399.

\_See also title Flies, and names
offlics^

Ashy fly, dressing, 392.

Asia, trout origin, 198.

Atkins, Mr., salmon spawning experi-
ments, 31.

Atlantic rivers, acclimatizing Pacific
salmon, 173.

2D 401

Atlantic salmon —

Differences from Pacific species,

153-154.
Distinguishing small salmon from

grilse, 12.

Extermination and decrease in
various rivers, 37-46; pre-
ventive methods, 40-41.
Fishing, see Atlantic salmon fish-
ing.
Food, 32, 35-36.

Fresh water, decrease of ap-
petite in, 21-24, 27.
Fry, see that title.
Grilse, see that title.
History and habits, 3-36.
" Kippers," 124.
Migration, 27-29, 145.

Fresh water, habits as to as-
cent of rivers, 19-21.
Return to native rivers, 29—31.
Numbers in proportion to grilse,

14-18.

Parr, see that title.
PennelFs " Proved Facts," 5-7.
Size, see subheading Weight and

size.

Smolts, see that title.
Spawning, 27.

Extracts from Pennell, 5-7.
Penobscot salmon, 31.
Vacillating characteristics, 3-4.
Weight and size, 32-35.

Diminution in size indicating
deterioration of river, 46.

402

Index

Atlantic salmon [continued] —
Weight and size {continued] —
Table estimating weight by

length, 33-34.
Young, see Parr, Grilse, and

Smolts.

Atlantic salmon fishing —
Bait, see that title.
Canadian rivers, see that title.
Casting the fly, see that title.
Fishing the pool, 99-113.
Flies, see that title.
Hours for, 4, 130-134.
Illegal fishing, enforcement of

laws, 39-42.

Intuition of danger, 144-145.
Large salmon, encounters with,

122-127.

Logs, angling among, 145-147.
Mist on the water, 134.
Netting, 28, 29.
Rising fish, 136-143.
Season for angling in Canadian

rivers, 145.

Sleep of salmon, 135-136.
Sport of angling, 127-129, 148.
Striking, playing, and landing,

114-129.
Gaffing, 120.
Length of time required,

anecdotes, 122-124.
Tackle, see names of tackle^ Lines,

Rods, etc.

Thunder-storms, 134.
Water, best stages for fishing, 144.
Wounded fish taking the fly, 23-

24, 142.

[See also names of river s.~\
Attacus cecropia, gut produced

from, 6l.

Baird, salmon hatching station,
171.

Bait —

Atlantic salmon fishing, 4, 143.
Salmon rising to any object

alleged, 24-26.
Varying bait to suit humor

of fish, 4.
Pacific salmon fishing, 180, 181,

182.

Steelhead angling, 188-189.
Trout, bait fishing, 331, 355, 360-

362, 366.
" Baiting a buoy," method of lake

trout angling, 292.
Battle Creek, salmon fishing, 184.
Bean, Professor T. H., name for

Sunapee trout, 324.
Beardslee, Admiral L. A. — salmon-
trout species, 246.
Beaufort Moth fly, salmon fishing,

83, 89.

Beaverkill fly, dressing, 387.

Bee, artificial, dressing, 389.

Belle Isle, Strait of, salmon fishing in
rivers north of, 52.

Bemis Stream fly, dressing, 394.

Bendire, Captain, discovery of Waha
Lake trout, 228.

Berners, Juliana, Prioress of Sop-
well, book on fishing, 194-

195-

Black Ant, dressing, 390.
Black bass —

Introduction into eastern waters,
251.

Intuition of danger, 310.

Salt-water habitat, 284.
Black Gnat, dressing, 389.
Black Midge fly, dressing, 389.
Black Prince fly, dressing, 395.
Black-spotted trout, see Cut-throat.
Blueback salmon [ Oncorhynchus
nerka~\ 161-162.

Characteristics, 161.

Index

403

Blueback salmon [continued] —

Names of, 161.

Size and weight, 162.

Value as food, canning, etc., 175.
Blueback trout, see Oquassa trout.
Blueback trout of Lake Crescent
[Salmo gairdneri beards-
leet] 211.

Characteristics, 246-248.
Blue Bottle, artificial, dressing, 388.
Blue Jay fly, dressing, 395.
Blue Professor fly, dressing, 390.
Bob Barnwell's Ashy fly, dressing,

393-
" Booke of St. Albans," first book on

fishing, 194.

Britannia fly, salmon fishing, 89.
British Columbia, annual yield of

salmon, 175.

Brook Pool, salmon fishing, 109.
Brook trout of western Oregon

[Salmo irideus masoni\

211.

Characteristics, 255-256.
Brook or red-spotted trout \_Salve-

linus fontinalis\ 286.
Angling, 306.

Antagonism to grayling, 216.
Colorado rivers, introduction of

trout into, 227.

Coloration, 201-202, 303-305.
Preservation of color after

capture, 305-306.
Description, 302-303.
Distinction from brown trout,

273> 277.

Favorite fish of anglers, 297-298.
Food, 300-302.

Habits and range, 197, 298-300.
Hearing — concussion, 311-313.
Intuition of danger, 310.
Muscular powers, 298, 300.
Sight, 304, 307-310.

Brook trout {continued] —
Smell, 313-314.
Taste, 309, 313.
Touch, 314.
Brookes, R., treatise on angling,

1740,4.

Brown, N., salmon angling, 123.
Brown Fairy fly, salmon fishing, 85,

88.
Brown Hackle or Palmer fly, making,

378-382, 383.

Brown Hen fly, dressing, 386.
Brown trout, see German or brown

trout.

Bull trout, see Dolly Varden trout.
Butcher fly, salmon fishing, 88, 89,

142.

Caddis fly, dressing, 387.
Cahill fly, dressing, 385.
California rivers —
Salmon culture, 171.
Steelhead angling, 187.
Canadian rivers —

Fresh salmon visitation in autumn,

9-10.

Salmon fishing, 42-52.
Season for angling, 145.
{See also names of river sJ\
Carp imported from Germany, 251.
Cascapedia River, salmon fishing,

124.
Casting the fly —

Atlantic salmon fishing, 91-98.
Bank, casting from, 93, 95.
Boat, casting from, 92, 93, 95.
Overhand casts, 91.
Underhand casts, 96-97.
Wading, 95, 96.
Lines, see Casting lines.
Tournaments, 354, 355, 357.
Trout fishing, 339.

Grasshopper cast, 340-342.

404

Index

Casting the fly [continued] —
Trout fashing [continued] —
Learning to cast a fly, 354-

358.

Switch or Spey cast, 357.
Casting lines or leaders —
Atlantic salmon fishing —
Care of line, 66.
Durability of line, 66-67.
Length of gut, 61.
Procuring gut, 60.
Silk whipping, avoiding, 62.
Tying — directions for mak-
ing knots, 62-66, 72.
Trout leaders, selection of, 365.
Causapscal fly, salmon fishing, 83.
Chain of Rocks, salmon fishing, 25,

27, US-
Chaleurs Bay, rivers of —

Salmon migration, 20.

Salmon netting, 28.
Charr-trout —

Classification, 205, 285-286.

Distinguishing from brown trout,
273. 277.

Dolly Varden, see that title.

European charr, see that title.

Great Lake trout, see that title.

Habits, 283.

Hearing — concussion, 311-313.

Identifying, 206-207, 273, 277,

. . 285'
Intuition of danger, 310.

Jordan River, variety found in,

196.

Markings, 284-285.
Migration, 283-284.
Sight, 306-310.
Sleep, 314.
Smell, 313-314.
Spawning habit of fontinalis,

296-297.
Species, 285-286, 294-296.

Charr-trout [continued] —
Species [continued] —

Cristivomer genus, 285, 294.
Imported species, 286.
Salvelinus genus, 286, 294-

296.

[See also names of species.]
Taste, 309, 313.
"Tickling a trout," 314.
Touch, 314.

Chateaugay fly, dressing, 394.
Chesapeake Bay pike, salt-water

habitat, 284.

China, quinnat range, 155.
Chinook salmon —
Canning, 175.
Trolling, 187.

Cholmondeley Pennell, see Pennell.
Cinnamon fly, dressing, 391.
Clackamas River, salmon hatchery,

172.

Claret Gnat, dressing, 389.
Clarkii, cut-throat trout species,

210, 220.

Classification of fish —

Basis of, 265.

Coloration, 202-204, 324«

Habits of fish as factor, 326.

Trout, see that title.

[See also names of various fish.]
Coachman and Royal Coachman flies,

dressing, 382-383, 388.
Coast Range trout [Salmo irideus]

211.

Characteristics, 253-254.

Range, 255.

Coch-y-bon-dhu fly, dressing, 384.
" Cocking a fly," 348-349.
Colorado River trout [Salmo clarkii
pleuriticus] 21 1.

Angling, 225, 228.

Description, 225.

Food, 228.

Index

405

Colorado River trout [continued] —
Similarity to Rio Grande trout,

223, 225.

Size and weight, 227.
Spawning, 228.
Colorado rivers, adaptability for fish

life, 226-227.

Coloration of fish, difficulty of classi-
fication, 200-204, 324.
Columbia River —

Centre of salmon fishery, 175.
Quinnat range, 155, 156, 158.
Salmo clarkii gibbsii range,

222.

Silver salmon, 164.
Steelhead classification, 241.
Columbia River trout \_Salmo clarkii\

210.

Description of, 214.
Range, 213.
Connecticut River salmon, illegal

netting, 38.

Conroy fly, dressing, 396.
Cotton, C, see Walton and Cotton.
Couch, J., salmon angling, 122.
Cowdung fly, dressing, 388.
Cox, N., salmon fishing, bait, etc., 4.
Crescent Lake, see Lake Crescent.
Cristivomer namaycush, Great Lake

trout, 285, 286.
Cristivomer namaycush siscowet, Sis-

cowet trout, 285, 293.
Cunard, Sir B., salmon fishing on the

Grimersta, 49.

Cupsuptuc fly, dressing, 396.
Cut-throat or black-spotted trout
[Sal mo clarkii\ 210, 220.
Angling, 217-218.
Coloration, 200, 201.
Columbia River trout, see that

title.

Differences from rainbow and
steelhead, 201.

Cut-throat trout [continued] —
Food, 217.
Geysers, trout living in hot water,

219-220.
Habits, 215.
Spawning^ 218.
Varieties, 210-211.
[See also names of varieties.'}

Dark Argus fly, dressing, 395.
Dark Claret fly, dressing, 390.
Dark Fox fly, dressing, 389.
Dark Montreal fly, dressing, 385.
Dawson, king salmon fishing, 156.
Deacon fly, dressing, 395.
Dee, salmon fishing, 128, 135, 136.
Deveron River, salmon fishing, 30,

3*'

Dog salmon [Oncorhynchus keta~\

165, 169.
Dolly Varden trout \_Salvelinus

pafkei] 286, 295.
Characteristics, 317-319.
Distinguishing from Eastern

trout, 318, 320.
Fishing, 319.
Names of, 286, 317, 318.
Native of Pacific slope, 198, 205.
Salt-water migration, 320.
Doodle Bug, dressing, 396.
Dry and wet fly fishing, 349-350.
Dublin Pond trout \_Salvelinus fon-
tinalis agassizii] 286, 295.
Characteristics, 316-317.
Dun Wing fly, salmon fishing, 109.
Durham Ranger fly, salmon fishing,

85, 88, 89, 104, no.
Dusty Miller fly —
Dressing, 385.
Salmon fishing, 109, IIO.

Eastern charr [Salvelinus fontinalis\
320-

406

Index

Eastern charr {continued] —
Angling, 320.
Distinction from Dolly Varden,

318,320.
Eastern continent, trout species, 198-

199.
Eel river —

Salmon trolling, 183.
Steelhead angling, 187, 189.
Elk Creek trout, 200, 202.
Elk River, cut-throat range, 213.
Epting fly, dressing, 391.
Esquimaux River, salmon fishing, 51.
European charr or saibling \_Salve-

linus alpinus] 286.
Angling, 323.
Characteristics, 322-323.
Species, 322.

[See also names, Long- finned,
Greenland, Arctic, and
Sunapee.]
European sea-trout \_Salmo trutta~\

212.
Distinction from native sea-trout,

281.

Names, habits, etc., 281-282.
Evermann, see Jordan and Evermann.

Fairfax, T., hours for angling, 130.
Fairies, flies for salmon fishing, 85,

88.

Feathers for fly-making, 370.
Ferguson fly, dressing, 397.
Firefly, dressing, 397.
Fishing, see names of fish.
Fishing the pool — salmon fishing,

99-" 3.

Flat Rock Pool, salmon fishing, 136.
Flies —

Atlantic salmon fishing, 79-90.
Anglers' theories, 79-80, 106.
Attaching fly to leader, 64-

66, 72.

Flies [continued] —

Atlantic salmon fishing \cont.] —
Casting the fly, see that title.
Change of mind in salmon as

to flies, 82, 106-113.
Color of flies, 85-88.
Size of flies, 81-85.
Statement of flies used in fish-
ing, 1896, 109-110.
Varying conditions, use of

different flies, 88.
Below and above water, aspect

of flies, 308.

Casting the fly, see that title.
Macedonian " hippurus," 194.
Trout fishing, 330-332, 345-

353-
Brown trout fishing in Great

Britain, 276-277.
"Cocking a fly," 348-349.
Colorado River trout, 228.
Cut-throat trout angling, 217-

218.

Dolly Varden trout, 319.
Dry and wet fly fishing, 349.
Great Lake trout angling,

289.

Lake fishing, flies for, 353.
List of flies in use, 383-399.
Night fishing, 350-352.
Norris, T., extract from writ-
ings, 347-348.
Tying and dressing flies, 368-

399-
Types of flies to use, 346-347,

352-353, 366.
Webber Lake trout, 236.
[See also names of flies]
Floeberg charr [Salvelinus alpinus

arcturus] 285, 286, 323.
Fontinalis, red-spotted charr-trout,

197.
\_See Brook or red-spotted trout.]

Index

407

Forrest rod, salmon fishing, 77, 78.
Francis fly, dressing, 393.
Fraser River —

Blueback salmon range, 161.

Centre of salmon fishery, 175.
Fry, Atlantic salmon —

Extracts from Pennell, 5-6.

Habits and characteristics, 6.

[See also Parr, Smolts, and Grilse.]

Gaffing salmon, 120.

Gallatin River, trout coloration, 200.

Galway, salmon fishing, 128, 129.

Gardner River, trout, 220.

Geneva Lake, Swiss lake trout, 286.

German or brown trout \_Salmo

farid\ 212.
Angling in America and Great

Britain, 274-278.
Bee sting incident, 275.
Characteristics, 254, 271, 277.
Distinguishing from red-spotted

charr, 273, 277.
Distribution, 272.
Food, destruction of other fish,

272.

Size, 251, 272, 274.
Spawning, 277-278.

Crossing experiments, 278.
Geysers, trout living in hot water,

219-220.
Gilbert, Dr.—

Golden trout habitat, 270.
Steelhead forms, 241.
Steelheads and cut-throats, dis-
tinction between, 256.
Ginger Palmer fly, dressing, 384.
Godbout River, salmon fishing, 48,

49, 51-

Gogebic fly, dressing, 399.
Golden Spinner fly, dressing, 388.
Golden trout of Mt. Whitney [Salmo

irideus agua bonita\ 212.

Golden trout of Mt. Whitney [cont.~] —
Coloration, 266-268.
Confused with Sunapee trout,

267, 324.
Range, 270.
Season, route to Mt. Whitney

waters, 270.
Golden trout of Sunapee Lake, see

Sunapee trout.

Golet, see Dolly Varden trout.
Governor Alvord fly, dressing, 398.
Grand Cascapedia, salmon fishing,

46-47.
Grand Haven, Michigan, names for

Great Lake trout, 287.
Grand Romaine, salmon fishing, 47.
Grannom fly, dressing, 386.
Grasshopper cast, trout fishing, 340-

342.

Gray Drake fly, dressing, 386.
Gray Palmer fly, dressing, 384.
Grayling, relations to trout and

whitefish, 216.
Great Britain, trout —

Brown trout angling, 275-278.
Dry and wet fly fishing, 349-

35°-

Nomenclature of trout, 271.
Species of trout, 198.
Great Lake trout [Cristivomer

naniaycttsfc] 285.
Angling, 289.

"Baiting a buoy" method,

292.

Flies, 289.
Trolling, 289, 291.
Characteristics, 288-289.
Markings, 285.
Names of, 208, 287-288.
Range, 205.

Siscowet trout, see that title.
Great Lakes, attempt to acclimatize
salmon, 173.

408

Index

Greenback trout [Salmo darkii

stomias] 21 1.
Characteristics, 229.
Jordan's writings, 230.
Green Bay, Wisconsin, names for

Great Lake trout, 287.
Green Drake fly, dressing, 385.
Greenland charr [Salvelinus alpi-
nus stagnalis\ 286, 295,

323;
Grilse, Atlantic salmon —

Distinguishing from small sal-
mon, 12.

Female development, 13.

Migration, 18, 19.

Numbers in proportion to salmon,
14-18.

Restigouche River, see that title.

Return from salt water, 7, 10, n.

Size and weight, n, 13, 18, 19, 32.

Spawning, extracts from Pennell,

5-7-

[Sec also Atlantic salmon.]
Grimersta River, salmon fishing, 49,

i35» H3-

Grizzly King fly, dressing, 384.
Grizzly Palmer fly, dressing, 384.
Gulf coast, food of salmon, 36.
Gunther, variations in trout species,

199.
Gut, see Casting lines.

Hackle fly, 378-382, 383.
Hackles for fly-making, 370.
Hard-head trout, see Steelhead.
Hare's Ear fly, dressing, 387.
Herodotus, ichthyic research, 193.
" Hippurus," Macedonian fly, 194.
Hooks —

Atlantic salmon fishing —

Attaching hook to leader, 64-
66, 72.

Pennell' s writings, 70.

Hooks [continued] —

Atlantic salmon fishing [cont.~] —
Qualities necessary in perfect

hook, 70.

Sizes of, diagram, 73.
Turn-down-eyed hook, 71.
Trout fishing, 367.
Hopatcong fly, dressing, 397.
Hours for salmon fishing, 4, 130-134.
Hudson River, salmon introduction
and illegal fishing, 38-41.
Humpback salmon [ Oncorhynchus

gorbuscha~\ 162-164.
Characteristics, 162-163.
Exhaustion and death in brooks

of Alaska, 169.
Range, 163.
Spawning, 163.
Huxley, Professor, salmon food, 32.

Ice fishing — trout fishing method,

33°-
Idaho, Salmo darkii gibbsii, 210,

222.

Indians — salmon fishing, 9, 22.
Reef-net fishing, 176.
Silver salmon trolling, 185.
Spearing, 176.

Inskeep, H., fly casting methods, 355.
Iron Blue Dun fly, dressing, 387.

Japan, silver salmon range, 164.
Jenny Lind fly, dressing, 390.
Jenny Spinner fly, dressing, 388.
Jock Scott fly, salmon fishing, 84, 88,

100, 102, 104, 105, no.
Jointed rods, salmon fishing, 78.
Jordan, Dr. —

Colorado rivers, adaptability for

fish introduction, 226.
Greenback trout, 230.
Jordan River — charr-trout variety
found in, 196.

Index

409

Jordan and Evermann —

Brook trout of western Oregon,

256.

Trout species, 208.
Judge's Pool, angling among logs,

146-147.

June Spinner fly, dressing, 396.
Jungle Cock fly, dressing, 391.

Kadiak, centre of salmon fishery, 175.
Kadoodle Bug, dressing, 396.
Kamchatka, somka or mykiss trout,

212, 243.
Kamloops trout [Salmo gairdneri

kamloops\ 211.
Characteristics, 244-246.
Kellogg, S. P., fly-tying, 399.
Kennebec River divested of fish by

dam erection, 37.
Kennedy, Mr., salmon fishing, Grand

Cascapedia, 47.
Kern River country, description of,

262.
Kern River trout [Satmo irideus

gilberti\ 211, 261.
Characteristics, 263.
Golden trout, 268-270.
Species, 264.

Sporting qualities, 263-264.
King of the Waters fly, dressing,

385.

King salmon, see Quinnat.

"Kippers," definition of, 124.

Kowak River, abundance of hump-
back and dog salmon, 163.

Lac de Marbre trout [Salvelinus
oquassa marstoni~\ 286,

295-
Characteristics and angling, 328,

329.
Lady of Merton fly, salmon fishing,

IIO, III.

Lake Crescent —

Blueback trout, see that title.
Long-headed trout, 212, 239.
Speckled trout, 211, 248.
Lake Geneva, Swiss lake trout, 286.
Lake Oquassa, blueback trout mi-
gration, 327.

Lake Superior, steelheads, accli-
matizing, 173.

Lake Sutherland spotted trout
\_Salmo clarkii jordand\
211.

Characteristics, 239.
Lake Sutherland trout [Salmo
clarkii declivifrons\ 211.
Characteristics, 238.
Lake Tahoe, Truckee or " pogy "
trout \_Salmo clarkii hen-
shawi} 210.
Characteristics, 234.
Method of fishing, 234.
Range, 236.

Lake Tahoe, Truckee or silver trout
[Satmo clarkii tahocnsis}

2IO.

Markings, 232-233.

Method of fishing, 234.

Range, 236.

Lake trout, see Great Lake trout.
Lakes, flies for trout fishing, 353.
Leaders, see Casting lines.
Light Claret fly, dressing, 389.
" Light Montreal " fly, making, 371-

378,385.

Lightning Bug, dressing, 397.
Lines —

Atlantic salmon fishing —
American braided line, 57.
Care of line, 58-60.
Casting lines, see that title.
Landing salmon, light and
heavy lines compared, 1 18.
"Olinea,"58.

410

Index

Lines [continued] —

Atlantic salmon fishing {cent.] —
Selection, 58.
Tapered line, 58.
Casting lines, see that title.
Trout fishing, 365.
Lob worms — bait for Atlantic

salmon, 4.
Lock Leven trout [Salmo lcvenensis~\

212.

Characteristics, 254, 279-281.
Introduction and distribution,

279, 280.

Species, doubt as to, 279.
Locke, J., salmon fishing, 26, 90.
Logs, angling among, 145-147.
Long-fumed charr [Salvelinus al-
pinus alipes} 286, 295,

323.

Long-headed trout of Lake Crescent
[Salmo bathc£cetor\ 212,

239.

Lord Baltimore fly, dressing, 398.

Lower Snake River, steelhead classi-
fication, 241.

Lowery fly, dressing, 391.

Lucius reticulatus. Eastern pond
pickerel, 284.

McBride's Black Gnat, dressing, 389.
McBride's Professor fly, dressing, 390.
McCloud River trout [Salmo irideus

shasta} 211.
Coloration and structure, 259-

261.
Introduction into Eastern and

other states, 257-259.
Range of, 259, 261.
Sporting qualities, 261.
Macedonians, angling, 194, 196.
Magalloway fly, dressing, 393.
Malma trout, see Dolly Varden trout.
March Brown fly, dressing, 386.

Marlow Buzz fly, dressing, 384.
Maxwell, Sir H.—

Indifference of fish to color, 86.

Vertical position of sulking fish,

126.

Mechanicsville dam, 39.
Meek, Professor, trout of Lake Suth-
erland, 238.
Metapedia River, salmon fishing —

Dam construction, 30.

Haul of salmon in 1886, 22.

Size of grilse, 13.
Mingan River, salmon fishing, 49.
Miramichi River, salmon migration,

20.

Mitchell, G. E., description of blue-
back trout, 247.

Moisie River, salmon fishing, 49.
Monterey Bay —

Quinnat range, 155.

Salmon fishing, 179, 183.
Montreal flies, dressing, 385.
Mooselookmaguntic fly, dressing,

394-

Mount Clairy, salmon fishing, 30.
Mount Whitney trout, see Golden

trout.

Mowat pool, salmon fishing, 107.
Mykiss trout, 212, 244.

Naresi trout [Salvelinus oquassa

naresi] 286, 295.
Characteristics, 328.
Natashquan River, salmon fishing,

49-
Nepisiguit Gray fly, salmon fishing,

89, 1 08, no.
Nepisiguit River —
Grilse, weight of, 13.
Salmon fishing, 115, 136.
"Nests," salmon, 159.
Nicholson fly, salmon fishing, 88, 89,
no.

Index

411

Nissuee or no-shee trout [Salmo
irideus stonei] 212.

Characteristics, 264.

Classification, 265.
Norris, T., trout fly fishing, 347-348.
No-shee trout, see Nissuee trout.
Norton sound, quinnat range, 155,

156.

Norway, salmon fishing, 127, 128.
Nushagak River, quinnat range,

Oak fly, dressing, 386.
Olemancheeboo River, salmon fish-

ing, 50.

" Olinea " line, salmon fishing, 58.
Ombre chevalier, 286, 322.
Oncorhynchus genus, Pacific salmon,

153-

[Sec Pacific salmon.]
Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, humpback

salmon, 162.

[See Humpback salmon.]
Oncorhynchus keta, dog salmon, 165,

169.
Oncorhynchus kisutch, silver salmon,

164.
Oncorhynchus nerka, blueback sal-

mon, 161.

[See Blueback salmon.]
Oncorhynchus tschaiuytscha, quinnat

salmon, 154.
[See Quinnat salmon.]
Ontonagon River — coloration of

trout, 202.

Oppian, treatise on fishing, 193.
Oquassa trout or blueback [Salve-

linus oquassa] 286, 295.
Habits and characteristics, 326-

328.

Species, 286, 328.
[See also names, Naresi and Lac
de Marbre.]

Oquassac fly, dressing, 394.
Oregon —

Brook trout of western Oregon,

see that title.

Salmon culture, 171, 172.
Oregon charr, see Dolly Varden

trout.

Orvis, C. F., gut strand in possession
of, 61.

Pacific salmon [ Oncorhynchus'] —
Acclimatizing, 1 72-1 74.
Blueback salmon, see that title.
Canning, 175.
Cultivation, 170-172.
Differences from Atlantic species,

153-154.

Dog salmon, 165, 169.

Economic importance of, 175.

Feeding in fresh water, 167-170.

Fishing, see Pacific salmon fishing.

Humpback salmon, see that title.

Quinnat salmon, see that title.

Silver salmon, 164.

Spawning, exhausted condition
of fish, 168-170.

Steelhead, see that title.
Pacific salmon fishing, 177-187.

Annual yield, 175.

Bait, 1 80, 181, 182.

Centres of salmon fishery, 175.

Flyfishing, 178.

Indian methods of taking salmon,
176.

Sea fishing, 179.

Spoon, 177-181.

Surface trawl, 184.

Tackle, 180-181.

Trolling, 177-187.
Pale Blue Dun fly, dressing, 387.
Palmer flies, making, 378-382, 383,

384-
Parmachenee Belle fly, dressing, 395.

4I2

Index

Parrs, Atlantic salmon —

Changing to smolt stage, 32.

Migration as smolts, see Smolts.

Spawning, 6.

Pelee Island Ibis fly, dressing, 398.
Pennell, Cholmondeley —

Hooks for salmon fishing, 70.

" Proved Facts in the History of
Salmon," 5-7.

Weight of marked grilse, 32.
Penobscot salmon —

Decrease, 38.

Spawning, 31.
Pickerel [Lucius reticulatus\ salt

water habitat, 284.
Pike of Chesapeake Bay, salt water

habitat, 284.

" Pogy " trout, see Lake Tahoe trout.
Popham fly, salmon fishing, 88.
Professor fly, dressing, 384.
Prouty fly, dressing, 396.
Puget Sound —

Blueback salmon range, 161.

Centre of salmon fishery, 175.

Cut-throat trout range, 213.

Humpback salmon range, 163.

Silver salmon, 164.

Steelhead, markings, 242.

Trolling for salmon, 186.

Queen of the Waters fly, dressing, 385.
Quinnat salmon [ Oncorhynchus
tschawytscha~\ 154-161.

Angling, 186.

Characteristics, 154-155, 157-
158.

Eggs, 1 60.

Migration, 157-158.

Names, 154, 156.

" Nests," 159.

Range of, 155.

Sexual differences, 158.

Size and weight, 156.

Quinnat salmon [continued] —
Spawning, 158-160.
Transplanted to France, etc., 174.

Rainbow trout —

Coast Range trout, see that title.
Colorado, introduction of trout,

227.
Difference from cut-throat and

steelhead, 201, 252-253.
Hardiness, 252.
Sporting qualities, 249-251.
Varieties, 211, 249.
[See also names of varieties. ~[
Rangeley fly, dressing, 395.
Rangeley Lakes, habitat of Oquassa

trout, 327.
Rattlesnakes, Kern River Country,

262.

Raven fly, dressing, 390.
Red Fox fly, dressing, 387.
Red Spinner fly, dressing, 388.
Red-spotted trout, see Brook trout.
Reef-net fishing, Indian method of

taking salmon, 176.
Reels —

Atlantic salmon fishing —

Improvement in manufacture

of, 67.
Multiplying and click reels,

68.

Width of, 68-69.
Trout fishing, 366.
Restigouche River, salmon, 29, 124.
Grilse —

Female, lack of, 13-14.
Weight and size, 13.
Migration of smolts, 9, II.
Number and percentage of sal-
mon and grilse taken by
club, 1881-1900, 16-17.
Protection and lease of river,
43-44-

Index

413

Rio Grande trout [Salmo clarkii

spilurus] 210, 222.
Abundance of, 222.
Characteristics, 223-224.
Similarity to Colorado River

trout, 223, 225.
Rods —

Atlantic salmon fishing —

American split bamboo rod,

78.

Forrest rod, 77, 78.
Jointed and spliced rods, 78.
Selection, 73-79.
Weight and length, 74-77.
Trout fishing, 366.
Round Lake fly, dressing, 398.
Royal chinook salmon, name for

quinnat, 156.
Royal Coachman fly, making, 382-

383, 388.
Rube Wood fly, dressing, 385.

Sacramento River, Nissuee trout, 264.
Salmon fishing —

Indian methods, 176.
Quinnat range, 155, 156.
Surface trawl, 184.
Saibling, see European charr.
St. Anne de Monts River, salmon

fishing, 48.

St. Croix River, salmon decrease, 38.
St. John River, salmon fishing, 50, 51.
St. Lawrence River, salmon fishing,

42, 173-
Salmo, trout, 206.

[See Trout.]
Salmo bathcecetor, long-headed trout,

212, 239.

Salmo clarkii, cut-throat trout, 200,
210. [See Cut - throat
trout.]

Salmo clarkii bouvieri, Waha Lake
trout, 21 1, 228.

Salmo clarkii declivifrons, Lake
Sutherland trout, 211, 238.
Salmo clarkii gibbsii, 210, 222.

Range, 222.
Salmo clarkii henshawi, Lake Tahoe

trout, 210, 234.
Salmo clarkii j or dana, spotted Lake

Sutherland trout, 211, 239.
Salmo clarkii lewisi, Yellowstone

trout, 210, 221.

Salmo clarkii macdonaldi, yellow-
fin trout, 211, 230.
Salmo clarkii pleuriticus, Colorado

River trout, 211, 226.
Salmo clarkii spilurus, Rio Grande

trout, 210, 222.
Salmo clarkii stomias, greenback

trout, 211, 229.
Salmo clarkii tahoensis, silver trout

of Lake Tahoe, 210, 232.
Salmo clarkii virginalis, trout of

Lake Utah, 210, 237.
Salmo fario, brown or German trout,

212, 271.

Salmo gairdneri, typical steelhead,

165, 211, 240.

Salmo gairdneri beardsleei, blue-
back trout, 211,246.
Salmo gairdneri crescentis, speckled

trout of Lake Crescent,

211, 248.
Salmo gairdneri kamloops, kam-

loops trout, 211, 244.
Salmo irideus, rainbow trout, 21 1-

253.
Salmo irideus agua bonita, golden

trout, 212, 266.
Salmo irideus gilberti, Kern River

trout, 211, 261.
Salmo irideiis masoni, brook trout,

211,255.
Salmo irideus shasta, McCloud River

trout, 21 1, 256.

Index

Salmo irideus stonei, Nissuee trout,

212, 264.
Salmo levenensis, Lock Leven trout,

212, 279.

Salmo mykiss, cut-throat trout, 212.
Salmo salar^ Atlantic salmon, 3,

153-154.

[See Atlantic Salmon.]
Salmo trutta, sea-trout of Europe

and Asia, 209, 212, 281.
Salmon, see Atlantic salmon, and

Pacific salmon.
Salmon fishing —

Atlantic salmon fishing, see that

title.
Canada and Norway compared

with Scotland, 127-129.
Pacific salmon fishing, see that

title.

Tackle, see Rods, Lines, etc.
United Kingdom, value of fish-
eries, 42.
Salmon-trout —

Black-spotted, see Cut-throat.
Classification, 205, 210, 266.
Cut-throat, see that title.
Foreign species, 212, 271-282.
[Set also German, Loch Leven,

and European sea-trout.]
Identifying, 206-207.
Rainbow trout, see that title.
Steelhead, see that title.
Technical and popular names,

2IO-2I2.

Use of phrase " salmon trout," 208.
Salvelinus, charr-trout, 205.

[See charr-trout.]
Salvelinus alpinus, European charr,

286, 322.

Salvelinus alpinus alipes, long-
finned charr, 286, 295, 323.
Salvelinus alpinus arcturus, Arctic
trout, 285, 286, 295, 323.

Salvelinus alpinus aureolus, Sun-
apee trout, 286, 324.

Salvelinus alpinus stagnalis, Green-
land charr, 286, 295, 323.

Salvelinus fontinalis, brook trout,

286, 297.
[See Brook trout.]

Salvelinus fontinalis agassizii, Dub-
lin Pond trout, 286, 316.

Salvelinus lemanus, Swiss Lake
trout, 286.

Salvelinus oquassa, Oquassa trout,
286, 326.

Salvelinus oquassa marstoni, Lac
de Marbre trout, 286, 328.

Salvelinus oquassa naresi, Naresi
trout, 286, 328.

Salvelinus parkei, Dolly Varden
trout, 286, 317.

Saranac fly, dressing, 397.

Scandinavian Peninsula, species of
salmonoids, 199.

Scarlet Ibis, dressing, 390.

Schuylkill River, hearing and smell-
ing senses of fish, 312,

3I3-3H.

Sea-trout, see European sea-trout.
Seals living without food, 168-169.
Seth Green fly, dressing, 386.
Shasta rainbow, see McCloud River

trout.

Shoemaker fly, dressing, 386.
Sierra Nevada waters, McCloud

River trout range, 261.
Silkworm, procuring gut from, 60.
Silver Doctor fly —
Making, 392.
Salmon fishing, 85, 88, 100, 104,

106, 107, no, 142.
Silver Miller fly, dressing, 398.
Silver salmon [Oncorhynchus ki-

sutch~\ 164.
Trolling for, 185.

Index

415

Silver trout, see Lake Tahoe trout.
Siscowet trout [Cristivomer namay-
cush siscowet} 285.

Deep-water haunts, 293-294.
Sleep of fish —

Atlantic salmon, 135-136.

Charr-trout, 314.
Smolts, Atlantic salmon —

Changing from parr stage, 32.

Extracts from Pennell, 6-7.

Growth, rapidity of, 10.

Migration to salt water and
return, 6-u, 18, 19.

Return from salt water as grilse,

see Grilse.

Snakes, Kern River country, 262.
Somka trout of Kamchatka, 212, 243.
Sopwell, Prioress of, book on fishing,

194-195-
South Platte River, greenback

trout, 229.

Spawning, see names offish.
Spearing salmon, Indian method, 1 76.
0 Speckled fishes," Macedonian

angling, 194, 196.

Speckled trout of Lake Crescent
[ Saint o ga irdneri crescentis~\ 211,

248.

Spey, salmon fishing, 128.
Spey cast, 96-97, 357.
Spider fly, dressing, 387.
Spliced rods, salmon fishing, 78.
Spokane River, cut-throat trout fish-
ing, 214, 215.
Spoon —

Atlantic salmon taken at Chain

of Rocks, 143.

Pacific salmon fishing, 177-181.
Steelhead fishing, 188, 189.
"Sporting Fish of Great Britain,"

extracts, 5-7.

Spotted trout, see Lake Sutherland
spotted trout.

Stanley, H. O., hardiness of blue-
back trout, 327.
Steelhead, hardhead trout \_Salmo

gairdnert] 21 1, 240.
Characteristics, 165-167, 241-

242.
Classification, 211, 241.

Belonging to trout species,

165, 190.

Differences from cut-throat and
rainbow species, 201, 241,
252-253.

Fishing, 187-190.
Great Lakes, acclimatizing sal-
mon, 173.
Names, 243-244.
Range, 242.
Sporting qualities, 243.
Value as food, 175-176.
Varieties, 211, 240.
[See also names of varieties.']
Stit-tse trout [Salmo gairdneri kam-

loops~] 211.

Stone, L.,salmon hatching, 1873, 171.
Stone fly, dressing, 386.
Stormontfield on the Tay —
Grilse, weight of, 32.
Smolt migration, 8.
Striking salmon, 114-120.
Sturdy, E., table estimating weight
of salmon by length, 33-

34-

Sucker River, salmon fishing, 174.
Sunapee trout [Salvelinus alpinus

aureolus] 286, 295.
Angling, 323.
Characteristics, 325.
Coloration, 325.
Confused with Mount Whitney

golden trout, 267, 324.
Range, 325.

Sutherland, Lake, see Lake Suther-
land-

416

Index

Swiss lake trout of Lake Geneva
[Salvelinus lemanus] 286.
Switch or Spey cast, 357.

Tackle —

Atlantic salmon fishing, 53-90.
Examination of tackle, 53-54, 73,

121.

Pacific salmon fishing, 180-181.
Trout fishing, see that title.
[See also Lines, Rods, etc.]
Tahoe, see Lake Tahoe.
Teeth, distinction between salmon-
trout and charr-trout,
206.
Thunder Bay, name for Great Lake

trout, 287.
Thunder-storms —

Atlantic salmon fishing, 134.
Trout fishing, 334.
"Tickling a trout," 314.
Tideway River, salmon fishing de-
terioration, 44.

Tinselled Ibis fly, dressing, 394.
"Tippets," attaching fly to, 64,

72.

Togue, see Great Lake trout.
Tools for fly-tying, 369.
Traherne, Major —
Flies, changing, 88.
Hours for angling, 133.
Rods for salmon fishing, 76-77.
Undercasts on the Spey, 96.
Traverse Bay, Michigan, names for

Great Lake trout, 287.
Trawl, surface, salmon fishing,

184.
Trolling —

Salmon, 177-187.
Trout fishing, 330.

Great Lake trout, 289, 291.
Trout [Salmd] —

Charr-trout, see that title.

Trout [continued'] —

Classification of species, 189-209.
Based on anatomical dif-
ferences, 204-208.
Teeth and scales, 207, 208.
Coloration, 200-204.
Effect of properties of water,

202.

Differences in size and pro-
portions, 204.

[See Charr-trout and Salmon-
trout.]

Distribution, 196-198.
Fishing, see Trout fishing.
Great Britain, see that title.
Native and foreign species in
American waters, 197,
198, 205, 206.
Salmon-trout, see that title.
Salt-water migrators, 320-321.
Steelhead, see that title.
Use of terms "trout" and
"salmon trout," 205-206,
208.

[See also names oj 'species .]
Trout fishing —

Atmospheric conditions, 333-337.
Bait fishing, 331, 355, 360-362,

366.

Casting the fly, see that title.
Fishing a trout stream, 337-345.
Flies, see that title.
Fly-fishing methods, 330-332.
Hooked trout —

Handling, 358-360.
Resistance of fish, entangle-
ment of line, 344.
Strain exerted, table, 57.
Methods, 330-331.
Pools, fishing, 344-345-
Rise of water, trout habits, 336-

337-
Rising trout habits, 343.

Index

Trout fishing [continued] —
Tackle, selection of, 362-367.

First outfit, 363.

Flies, see that title.

Hooks, 367.

Leaders, 365.

Line, 365.

Reel, 363-365-

Rod, 362.
Up-stream and down-stream,

332-333-
Troy dam, 39.

Truckee trout, see Lake Tahoe trout.
Turkey fly, dressing, 397.
Tuxedo fly, dressing, 398.
Tweed River, numbers of grilse and

salmon, 15-16.
Twin Lakes, Colorado, yellow-fin

trout, 231.

Upper Arkansas river, greenback

trout, 229.

Usk Grub fly, salmon fishing, 83.
Utah lake trout [Salmo clarkii vir-

ginalis~\ 210.
Characteristics, 237.

Vicaire, J., flies for salmon fishing,
80-81.

Waha Lake trout \_Salmo clarkii

bouvieri] 211.
Characteristics, 228-229.
Discovery of, 228.
Walton and Cotton —
Brown trout, 271, 277.
Hooking fish, 360.
Washington state, salmon culture,

171.

Webber Lake, trout fishing, 235-
236.

Wells, H. P.—

Salmon fishing tackle —
Gut, obtaining, 60.
Hooks, 70.
Trout fishing, strain exerted by

trout, 56-57.

Wet and dry fly fishing, 349-350.
White Miller fly, dressing, 390.
White Moth, dressing, 399.
Whitney fly, dressing, 398.
Williamson, A. —

Sleep of salmon, 135.

Sport in Canada and Scotland,

127.

Wilmot, S., sleep of salmon, 135.
" Wilson " spoon for salmon fishing,

181.

Wood Duck fly, dressing, 397.
Wood River —

Salmo clarkii gibbsii, 222.
Trout classification, 201.
Worde, W. de, first book on fishing
published by, 194.

Yellow-fin trout [Salmo clarkii mac-

donaldt] 21 1.
Characteristics, 230-232.
Yellow May fly, dressing, 390.
Yellow Sallie fly, dressing, 390.
Yellowstone Park, geysers, trout

fishing, 219.
Yellowstone River, trout fishing and

coloration, 200, 221.
Yellowstone trout [Salnio clarkii

lewisi} 210, 221.
Yukon River, quinnat range, 155,

156.

" Zebra trout " — brown trout cross-
ing experiments, 278.

F. C.

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