A Sportsman 315 



course, must thereafter yield to the boat in a circling 

 route, from which he can hardly escape, carrying 

 in addition to the rod and reel strain that of dragging 

 the line across the waters. 



Should a large salmon — say of twenty-five pounds 

 weight or more — go directly away from the boat without 

 being diverted, it would most likely run out all the 

 line and part it, as occurred in two instances during 

 my experience. But the severe strain which can be 

 exerted from the reel and rod is almost sure to divert 

 the fish from its apparent fixed purpose of getting 

 away as far as possible from the boat on the route 

 it first determines upon. A sufficient pressure can 

 be put upon the thumb pad of the reel to part the 

 line, or tear out the hook if not firmly placed. A 

 danger also exists from the overrunning of the line 

 if the drag is not judiciously applied; also from the 

 line's sinking in the balance of line on the reel when 

 too much pressure is applied, particularly when 

 the line has not been firmly and evenly reeled in 

 before, from which cause an entanglement takes 

 place and the salmon is almost surely lost. 



A large shark occasionally takes the bait, too large 

 for handling, and taking to the bottom cannot be raised 

 by any strain from the rod, and has to be cut away. 

 A variety of other fishes will also often take the bait, 

 although if the salmon are present in force they will 

 take the bait almost exclusively. Among those mostly 

 taken while salmon trolling are the rock cods, from 

 four to twelve pounds in weight, which, unlike those 

 of the deeper offshore waters, of the usual color, are 

 a handsome fish varying in many degrees of red and 

 brown, and are excellent eating. Next most plenti- 



