When to Get Them 



tain. The glorious uncertainty attending the 

 biting of fish is a prominent feature of salmon 

 fishing. The runs are so much dependent on the 

 height of water, cloudy days, and many other 

 mysterious features, that it would be difficult to 



say w T hat is the best season for salmon, 

 leason* * n tne ma j or ity f rivers the first run is 



composed of large females that arrive 

 about the middle of May, very rarely taking the 

 fly until they are well up the rivers. Most salmon 

 anglers therefore like to be on the ground early 

 in the hope of landing large fish. Every succeed- 

 ing run is of smaller fish. The Canadian leap- 

 ing salmon is, from every standpoint, best caught 

 early in the season; from June 15th (like the 

 trout) it is more plentiful and more gamy. In 

 short, the best time of season is influenced mostly, 

 if not entirely, by the plentiful supply of surface 

 food, brought forth directly under the influence 

 of the warm weather, after the long cold of win- 

 ter. The greater part of the food of fish, such 

 as insects, worms, caterpillars, and their like, 

 has lain dormant throughout the cold months, 

 to again move more actively as the sun gives its 

 warmth; accordingly, the fish feed without stint as 

 the summer advances to hot weather. 

 Weather Fishing is in a measure curtailed ; food is 

 overabundant, they become satiated, 

 feeding at night, lying still during the noonday 

 hours. As the fall approaches, toward the ad- 

 vance of cold weather, they again become active 

 in search of food, and rise to the lures with avidity. 

 225 



