AX EXT THE SALMON. 91 



mettle against the temper of what Scotchmen call "wicked rivers," where the capture 

 of a heavy salmon is a test of true strategic cleverness and physical endurance rather 

 than of mere mechanical manipulation. Most of their fishing is done from canoes 

 or boats on glassy and streamy water, with two canoemen to handle the craft. 

 They have spent fortunes to secure their rivers and equip their sumptuous cottages 

 which have taken the place of primitive camps, and it has taken time and money 

 to reach the delectable ground. They do not propose to work their passage leading 

 the horse. Therefore, as has been stated, the boatmen do all the work. They 

 carry the gentleman's rod and wraps and rubber cushion to the canoe by the river 

 side, and make him snug on a seat amid-ships. Then they pole out to the middle 

 of the stream or the most likely portion of the pool, which they all know like a 

 book, and drop killick to hold the canoe in position. They suggest the most killing 

 flies, for they are thoroughly posted by critical observation, and the angler makes up 

 his cast accordingly, and pitches it at the spot to which he is directed. Boatmen 

 instantly detect a novice, and thenceforward lose no time in working their varnish. 

 They show him how to cast properly, and how to pump the rod in order to attract 

 the fish, and how to fasten to a rise. No person more able and ready to coach than 

 they. Sometimes they will take the rod in hand themselves, and deliver the line in 

 a way to astonish the tyro. If a fish fastens, they hand the rod back to the angler, 

 then up killick at once and follow the fish with the boat, snubbing or humoring it 

 according to its moods. These tactics amount to the play of an automatic reel, 

 and the angler has only to keep the tip of his rod well up, except when the fish 

 jumps; the boatmen "do the rest." If the fish jumps, the tip dips responsively. else 

 the salmon will free himself. Each crew takes personal pride in the achievements 

 of its canoe, and of the trophies it returns to the camp, all of which are credited 

 to the patron of the boat, whoever kills them. Usually the boatmen tire the fish 

 out in twenty minutes or so by skillful navigation, and gaff him alongside of the 

 canoe ; but if they have an experienced angler aboard, they will go ashore on 

 occasion, keeping deferential silence from start to finish, and venturing no suggestion 

 until the result transpires, when critical remarks are allowed to be in order. 



The foregoing is the vogue on many rivers. Boats are used wherever they 

 can be, because there are many pools or more properly swims which cannot other- 

 wise be reached. On rivers whose mid-channels are studded with boulders, ladders 

 with boards are often laid out to the best casting stands, and from one point of 

 vantage to another, so that an angler not especially expert in handling a salmon on 

 the line, can do so with excellent chances of saving him by simply following the 

 course of the ladders up and down the pools, as the fish may happen to lead him. 

 Canoes are generally used, but on the Godbout there are Castle Connell punts some 

 twenty-six feet in length, which are very stiff and safe, even under the crucial test 

 of the roughest water that any craft ought to venture into. On narrow rivers like 

 the Jaquet and Charlo, which can be covered by a maximum length of cast, no 

 boats are required, and on the Nepissiguit the channel pools are too strong and deep 

 to be fished from canoes, and have to be reached from marginal rocks and ledges. 



Of course the style of gaffing a salmon depends much upon whether the gaff is 

 handled from a canoe, a shelving beach, or a steep ledge, and the length of handle 

 varies accordingly. For the rocks it may be ten feet long, and the feat of getting a 

 fish securely on the iron under such disadvantages is difficult indeed. Some anglers 

 invariably beach their fish when they can ; others prefer to gaff from the canoe. 

 None choose the rocks. It is possible for the angler to gaff his own fish from 

 boat or beach, but not from a vertical rock. Old anglers who have had unfortunate 



