THE SALMON FISHEB. 1 



and when it is low the outflow of the rivers makes 

 its precipitate passage to the sea by a series of rap- 

 ids and pools ; but whenever the tide begins to make,, 

 the whole vicinity of the inlet, or channel, at once, 

 swarms with impatient salmon, and as the channel 

 gradually fills with the growing flood the schools 

 press inward and upward from the outside, until 

 finally, when the tide is full, the stream becomes a 

 slack water canal of which every cubic foot is choked 

 with fish wedged tightly. In this extremity the 

 helpless salmon become an easy prey to bears and 

 other animals, as well as men, and one can lift them 

 out with his hands until he is tired ! Of course, 

 under such conditions, the problem of rod-fishing 

 requires no solution. At tide-water there is always 

 good fishing with bait and spoon, and in California 

 and Oregon and in Puget Sound, fishing by these 

 methods is much in vogue. There are exceptional 

 rivers, notably the Clackamas, in Oregon, where fly- 

 fishing may be practiced at certain times in special 

 localities, the fluvial conditions being more like 

 those of the Atlantic rivers. 



As has been mentioned, there are five varieties of 



