Salmon Fishing 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 



