ioo The Confessions of a Poacher. 



by this kind of pollution in a month than the 

 most inveterate moucher will kill in a year. 



It is only poachers of the old school that 

 are careful to observe close times, and they do 

 their work mostly in summer. Many of the 

 younger and more desperate hands, however, 

 do really serious business when the fish are out 

 of season. When salmon and trout are spawning 

 their senses seem to become dulled, and then 

 they are not difficult to approach in the water. 

 They seek the highest reaches to spawn and stay 

 for a considerable time on the spawning beds. 

 A salmon offers a fair mark, and these are ob- 

 tained by spearing. The pronged salmon spear 

 is driven into the fleshy shoulders of the fish, 

 when it is hauled out on to the bank. In this 

 way I have often killed more fish in a single day 

 than I could possibly carry home even when 

 there was little or no chance of detection. 

 There is only one practicable way of carrying 

 a big salmon across country on a dark night, 

 and that is by hanging it round one's neck and 

 steadying it in front. I have left tons of fish 

 behind when chased by the watchers, as of all 



