SALMON FISHERIES OF PACIFIC COAST. 33 



their operations to the use of nets during the annual spawning runs, 

 which last but a small portion of the year, began to follow up the 

 fish both before and after the spawning run and soon discovered 

 that they were to be found in certain regions throughout nearly 

 every month in the year. 



The Monterey Bay, Cal., trollers use 48 cotton line generally. A 

 few inches below the main lead an additional line is added, with a 

 small sinker on it. This gives two lines and hooks, and as the main 

 line has but the one lead, and that above the junction with the branch 

 line, it floats somewhat above the latter, which is weighted down 

 with a sinker. The main stem is about 20 fathoms in length, while 

 the branch lines are about- 5 fathoms each. These lines cost about 

 $3.50 each. No spoon is used, but bait almost invariably. A few 

 fishermen use a spread of stout steel wire, 4 feet long, with 5 or 6 

 feet of line on each end of the spread, two lines and hooks. 



On the upper Sacramento River (mainly at Redding and Kes- 

 wick) some fishing is done with hand lines. A small catch was made 

 here in 1908, but none were so caught in 1909. 



Even as early as 1895 trolling was carried on in the Siuslaw River, 

 Oreg., for chinook and silver salmon. At Oregon City and other 

 places on the Willamette River a number of chinook salmon are 

 caught by means of trolling each year, mainly by sportsmen. A 

 spoon is quite generally employed in place of bait. The fishermen 

 claim that the salmon are not feeding at this time, as their stomachs 

 are shriveled up. 



For a number of years the Indians living at the reservation on 

 Neah Bay, Wash., have annually caught large numbers of silver and 

 chinook salmon in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A few white fisher- 

 men also engage in this fishery at the present time in the same waters, 

 while others troll for the same species, but more particularly silvers, 

 in parts of Puget Sound proper. The ordinary trolling line, with a 

 spoon instead of bait, is used. 



The most remarkable trolling region is in southeast Alaska. For 

 some years the Indians here had been catching king salmon for 

 their own use during the spring months, and about the middle of 

 January, 1905, king salmon were noticed in large numbers in the 

 vicinity of Ketchikan. Observing the Indians catching these, sev- 

 eral white fishermen decided to engage in the pursuit, shipping 

 the product fresh to Puget Sound ports. They met with such 

 success that 271,644 pounds, valued at $15,600, were shipped. The 

 next year several of the mild-cure dealers established plants in 

 this region, thus furnishing a convenient and profitable market for 

 the catch, and as a result the fishery has grown until, in 1910, 204,823 

 king salmon and 6,000 coho salmon were caught and marketed. The 

 length of the fishing season has also lengthened until now the busi- 

 ness is prosecuted vigorously during about seven months in the year, 



