152 OBSERVATIONS ON A SALMON RIVER 



Most of the amateur fishermen who were 

 enjoying the sport when I was there were 

 sportsmen from England, on their way to 

 Cassiar after big game, who had stopped en 

 route in the hope of taking a fifty-pound 

 salmon. They had every possible kind of 

 rod and tackle, most of it better adapted 

 to fly-fishing than to sea-fishing, for this 

 is sea-fishing pure and simple. I fished 

 with a light striped-bass rod, a Cuttyhunk 

 line, and with three ounces of lead, seven 

 feet from the spoon. The lead is necessary, 

 owing to the strong current, and does not 

 seem to bother the fish, for they are very 

 quick and have great strength. If you give 

 them the butt after their first grand rush, 

 they will generally jump three feet into the 

 air. If you fish with a fly-rod, they never 

 show, and are apt to take all your line before 

 you can stop them. The light-tackle fisher- 

 men spend most of their time repairing out- 

 fits and buying new lines and spoons. 



The fish feed on small bright herring, 

 which abound, and any bright spoon seems 



