LET US GO AFIELD 



being smaller than a genuine salmon, will rush 

 more, leap more, and be more active. Again, it 

 will make extremely long runs; I have never seen 

 any trout take off as much line at one run as the 

 steelhead does. 



Of course, in this sort of fishing the shoes are 

 heavily hobnailed. Beyond that the angler does not 

 wear very much of a costume. Waders would be out 

 of the question; to be carried down in breast-high 

 waders would mean death in that stream for any 

 swimmer. Stripped to overalls and undershirt and 

 wading shoes, these men go into battle for battle 

 it is in any just description. It is no wonder that 

 the Rogue River takes a certain toll each year; 

 but the veterans of the game do not find in it 

 anything extra hazardous, and rather laugh at the 

 idea of any apprehension on their account. Indeed, 

 man is a curiously adaptive animal ; he will become 

 accustomed to any clime, to any occupation, to any 

 hazard. The Rogue River angler, like the soldier 

 accustomed to war, becomes hardened to the game 

 and thinks nothing of it. 



In play on the rod when actually hooked, the 

 steelhead is a combination of all the artfulness, 

 courage, and strength which exist anywhere in game 

 fishes. He will rush like a muskellunge, tug like a 

 black bass, sulk or rush like a salmon, and leap like 



62 



