CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



121 



oil these methods came the grabhook. 

 This latter method could not be employed 

 until some barrier was constructed which 

 would interfere with the passage of the 

 salmon toward their spawning ground. 

 When such a barrier was devised tlio 

 fish congregated in large numbers and 

 thus became endangered by two methods 

 of capture. Either, due to their attempts 

 to leap the obstruction, they became a 

 mark for the spearsmau, or while massed 

 below a weir under water they became 

 the unseen target for the unscrupulous — 

 so-called — ^sportsmen, or avaricious fish 

 vendor, neither class caring what method 

 they employed of catching the fish so long 

 as they got them. 



In about the year 1910 or 1911, the 

 legislature of California attempted to 

 check the use of grabhooks, but in fram- 

 ing the law, the wording of the protective 

 section has proved to be inadequate. The 

 section which has been the source of 

 many bitter controversies between the 

 officers of the law and the fellow who 

 wanted the fish reads as follows : 



"Section 634. Every person who, ex- 

 cept with sfiear or hook and line, said 

 hook and line to be used in the manner 

 commonly known as angling, takes, 

 catches or kills any salmon * * * jg 

 guilty of a misdemeanor." 



In so far as I know, we have no court 

 interpretation on this section, so the 

 matter is still in dispute. 



Passing from the illegal methods of 

 taking salmon resorted to by the un- 

 scrupulous fisherman, we have the spoon 

 hook and line method practiced by the 

 many clean true sportsmen, some of 

 whom come from distant places in the 

 state to take salmon. And not in- 

 frequently, the sportsman of this type 

 is rewarded by a big fellow taking the 

 spoon in his mouth, which results in a 

 fight that will often last for a half an 

 hour or an hour. Thus the angler is 

 rewarded by a sportsman ly encounter 

 which keeps him on keen edge until the 

 salmon is landed. 



Why salmon strike at a spoon is not 

 really known, for they apparently take 

 no food after entering a freshwater 

 stream, the stomach becoming useless so 

 that food would probably not digest even 



if introduced artificially into the stomach. 

 Then, we are prone to ask, "Why does 

 he strike?" His known fighting qualities 

 and unbounded determination to reach his 

 recognized spawning bed may be an ex- 

 planation for his actions. One seldom 

 ever hears of a salmon taking a spoon 

 until after he passes the town of Fire- 

 baugh, which leads to the inference that 

 he apparently does not strike a spoon, 

 after leaving the sea, until he meets with 

 interference on his journey to his spawn- 

 ing bed. The town of Firebaugh is some 

 six miles below Mendota weir, and very 

 few salmon are taken on hook and line 

 outside of a mile or two down the river, 

 from the latter town. But at the weir, 

 I have noted more than a hundred fish 

 taken in twenty-four hours, fairly caught 

 in the mouth with spoon hooks. 



Those salmon which pass the weir 

 travel up the river and pay little heed 

 to lures of any kind, until they reach 

 their final homes or spawning beds, in 

 and near the hills. After reaching the 

 cobble bottoms where they deposit their 

 spawn, they again strike the spoon hook ; 

 at this time they furnish the greatest 

 sport for the rod-casting enthusiast. 

 Not only is the angler kept constantly on 

 the alert, but he can find plenty of sal- 

 mon pools wherein he can "let fly" one 

 hundred and fifty feet of line and then 

 some. The good fishing usually extends 

 from the period prior to the time that 

 they deposit their eggs until sometime in 

 September : but individual salmon con- 

 tinue striking even on through the winter 

 months. 



Unless further protection is extended 

 to the salmon very soon, the thrill of a 

 salmon strike in the San Joaquin will be 

 history. We have been very properly 

 forced to give up the fall run of salmon 

 to the agriculturist, and now our spring 

 run is being depleted very rapidly. We 

 lose vast numbers of fry in the irrigating 

 ditches, as they travel down toward the 

 sea. Therefore, unless we extend our 

 best efforts to protect these fish quickly, 

 the salmon of the upper San Joaquin 

 River will pass into history as our elk 

 and antelope have done. 



S. L. N. Ellis. 



