388 Big Game Fishes 



have been on the lookout for them, and when the 

 assurance is given, telegrams to San Francisco, 

 New York, and other places are sent, and anglers, 

 devotees to this sport, are soon speeding to the 

 various points, and the season begins. 



The professional fishermen have no sentiment, 

 and it seems a carnal sin to see hundreds of the 

 finest fish jerked in with literal ropes and beaten 

 about the head with sinkers weighing a pound or 

 more. They troll for them with heavy lines down 

 thirty or forty feet, where the gamy fish bite eagerly 

 at smelt or herring; and the men in the course of 

 the season reap a rich harvest. The sportsman 

 will have none of this; he approaches the game 

 with all the deference worthy the king of game 

 fishes. The angler who would take the salmon 

 in its home must discard all the preconceived 

 ideas he may have had from experience or reading 

 regarding salmon in the rivers of the East, as it 

 is another matter here and to all intents and 

 purposes another fish ; and the non-multiplying 

 salmon reel, the delicate line, and long, beauti- 

 fully bending rod are worse than useless, though 

 it would be an interesting experiment to try this 

 tackle on the fish in its haunts in the open sea. 

 The tackle I would suggest is a rod of split bam- 



