PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. 91 
3 inches long are also popular. Copper, copper and silver, and brass 
spinners of the Siwash and Victoria patterns are very effective ; while 
red beads, feathered hooks, or a piece of silvery salmon skin placed 
on the hook as an additional bait often add to the attraction of a 
spoon. 
Quite generally the fishermen use single hooks on their spoons. 
Various lengths of line are used, but on the average about 60 feet for 
outside lines and 40 for inside are used. As fish can be landed much 
quicker with a short line, the fishermen generally shorten their lines 
to 20 or 30 feet when the fish are biting rapidly. Quite heavy lines 
are used from the pole to the sinker; from there extends a length of 
light line, and then a piece of wire, to which the spoon is attached. 
The sinker, which is usually between 2 and 3 pounds in weight when 
fishing from a power boat and about 1 pound when a rowboat is 
employed, is attached to the line about 18 feet from the spoon. 
The best fishing times are in the early morning and evening, 
without regard to tidal conditions. The low slack water is always 
favorable to good fishing. 
These fish are delicate flavored, but do not keep well, it being 
necessary to rush them to market if they are to be sold in a first-class 
condition. : 
Considerable numbers of these fish are taken by both American and 
Canadian fishermen on Swiftsure Banks, off Cape Flattery. As 
complaint had been made in 1914 that these fish were immature and 
were unfit for canning because of their appearance after being out of 
the water some hours, H. T. Graves, acting commissioner of agri- 
culture for the State of Washington, which department is concerned 
with the wholesomeness of food products, made a thorough investiga- 
tion of their fitness for food. In a letter to the Pacific Fisherman, 
Seattle, Wash., and published in that journal under date of August, 
1914, he states, among other things, the following: 
The question, therefore, for us to determine was to ascertain their value as a food 
product. The condition of these fish arriving at the various canneries was carefully 
noted; samples were selected for bacteriological analysis. 
The fish when first taken from the water are very soft when compared with the 
other salmon. After they have been out of the water 12 hours the fish easily separates 
from the bony structures, and in the course of ordinary handling in the time which 
elapses between the hour of taking from the water until they are offered for packing 
at Sound canneries, which is anywhere from 12 to 48 hours, they become badly broken 
up and present a rather ugly and distasteful appearance, to say the least. 
We found that many different methods of handling were being experimented with 
by the fishermen and by Puget Sound canneries, but without any noticeable effect. 
While from a physical observation one would imagine these fish as received at the 
Sound canneries to be unwholesome, a bacteriological examination by Dr. E. P. 
Fick, State bacteriologist, indicated that putrefaction was not present, although some 
of the specimens did contain a rather high bacteria count. 
