SALMON KIS1I1NC AT TIIK CLUBS 



30 1 



which cannot otherwise be reached. On 

 rivers whose midchannels are studded with 

 boulders, ladders with boards are often laid 

 out to the best casting stands, and from one 

 point of vantage to another, so that an 

 angler not especially expert in handling a 

 salmon on the line can do so with excellent 

 chances of saving him by simply following 

 the course of the ladders up and down the 

 pools, as the fish may happen to lead him. 

 This is salmon fishing made easy I Canoes 

 are generally used, but on the Godbout 

 there are "Castle Connell punts" some 

 twenty-six feet in length, which are very stiff 

 and safe, even under the crucial test of the 

 roughest water that any craft ought to ven- 

 ture into. On narrow rivers like the Jaquet 

 and Charles, which can be covered by a 

 maximum length of cast, no boats are re- 

 quired, and on the Nepissiguit the channel 

 pools are too strong and deep to be fished 

 from canoes, and have to be reached from 

 marginal rocks and ledges. 



Of course the style of gaffing a salmon 

 depends much upon whether the gaff is 

 handled from a canoe, a shelving beach, or a 

 steep ledge, and the length of handle varies 

 accordingly. For the rocks it may be ten 

 feet long, and the feat of getting a fish 

 securely on the iron under such disadvan- 

 tages - is difficult indeed. The ordinary 

 length of handle would be four feet. Some 

 anglers invariably beach their fish when 

 they can; others prefer to gaff from the 

 canoe. None choose the rocks. It is possi- 

 ble for the angler to gaff his own fish from 

 boat or beach, but not from a vertical rock. 

 Old anglers who have had unfortunate ex- 

 perience with bunglers and lost many fish 

 are chary of strange gaffers, or gillies, for 

 there is nothing more exasperating, after a 

 forty minutes' tussle with a strong fish, than 

 to have some slouch barely scratch him with 

 the point of the iron as he wallop's past an 

 arm's length off, thereby working up re- 

 newed energy which gives promise of a long 

 continuation of the fight. However, one 

 cannot always choose his own gaffing place. 

 Gravel beaches are not conveniently at hand 

 on most rivers. Neither can an angler 

 always keep out of the water when he fishes 

 from the shore. Says one old veteran: "I 

 never wade." Doubtless? But there are 

 rivers with precipitous shores where you 



would have to wade or swim to follow your 

 fish. On such wild waters a gaffer is indis- 

 pensable. In all contingencies place faith 

 on the Silver Doctor! It's a killing fly at all 

 times. 



One should never be in a hurry when he 

 wishes to fix a fish on his iron. Put the gaff 

 into the water as quietly as possible, and un- 

 observed by the fish, to the depth of sixteen 

 inches or so, and make the clip point up- 

 ward and inward, sharply, but without 

 jerking, endeavoring to hook him just abaft 

 the shoulders, which is the centre of gravity. 

 If hooked elsewhere in the body, the fish 

 gets a big leverage with head or tail, and will 

 make a ghastly rent in his flesh, if indeed 

 he don't flop off altogether. Never wire a 

 fish in the belly. Nothing is more unsightly 

 than a great gaping wound, especially if the 

 entrails protrude. I notice that a few old 

 anglers have adopted a big landing net with 

 a two-foot span, which has its advantages; 

 but one would think it clumsy to handle, and 

 likely to scare the fish. Veteran river men 

 invariably carry a billet with which to 

 whack the salmon on the head as soon as he 

 is lifted out of the water. It gives him a 

 speedy quietus and a better flavor when 

 eaten. Moreover, a thumping fish makes a 

 hideous noise in the bottom of a boat, and 

 scares other fish away. Few anglers think 

 of this. 



Lots of things are to be borne in mind 

 when one goes salmon-fishing. One object 

 is the reel. Keep your eyes on the drag, and 

 don't let the line backlash or overrun. An 

 unexpected jerk on a line will do this and 

 make mischief in an instant which, perhaps, 

 an hour of labor will not undo. "Striking" 

 a salmon will lose oftener than win. In 

 general, a heavy salmon hooks himself by 

 carrying down the fly in water which is 

 curly, else he is not hooked at all. To strike 

 a salmon on a taut line in streamy water 

 when well down stream would be fatal to 

 tackle. An old angler simply lifts the tip of 

 his rod gently, and so tightens the line at the 

 proper instant. In dead water, or a back 

 eddy, when the fly is well under the surface, 

 a smart stroke is not only admissible, but 

 necessary. When to strike, how to strike, 

 and whether to strike at all, are questions 

 of the moment, not of set precept. Cate- 

 gorically, the whole subject of salmon-fish- 



