

Salmon and Trout Fishing 



BY CHARLES A. BRAMBLE 



Many a newfangled pastime springs into 

 popularity, becomes the rage, and then passes 

 into oblivion, but those who learn the use of 

 rifle, gun or rod master arts that will be as at- 

 tractive to them in middle life as they were in 

 youth. Some like the gun better than they like 

 the rod, others scorn everything but the grooved 

 barrel, but, whatever their predilection, they 

 have chosen well. 



Men will spend more time and money on 

 salmon fishing than on any other sport, except- 

 ing, perhaps, yachting and big game shooting, 

 which shows that it throws its spell over them. 

 Unfortunately, salmon rivers are comparatively 

 few, so that competition has caused their value 

 to rise enormously, and not many waters are 

 open to the wandering angler. 



Three regions, however, yet remain free to 

 whomsoever will, barring the cost of reaching 

 them. The first and most accessible of these is 

 the island of Newfoundland. None of the 

 island rivers are leased, and — it may be added — 

 are protected as effectually as they would be 

 under private control. During the open season 

 the millionaire and the cobbler may fish the same 

 pools, though, as good sportsmen, they should 

 not do so at the same time, for the rivers are 

 generally small. Without going into the details 

 that any guide-book gives, I will only say that 

 all the best waters may be reached either by the 

 Newfoundland railway or by steamer from 

 St. John's, and will pass on to a consideration of 

 the outfit experience shows to be the most 

 suitable. 



The rivers being as a rule short compared 

 with those of the mainland, the fish run smaller, 

 hence a large, powerful rod is out of place. 

 Fifteen and a half feet may be looked upon as 

 the limit in length, and lots of sport is to be had 

 with one even two feet shorter. A fourteen-foot 

 rod, with a reel carrying sixty yards of enam- 

 eled line, forms a good combination on a small 

 river, and I have killed fish up to eighteen 

 pounds in weight with just such an equipment, 

 though the books insist on at least ioo yards of 

 line being on your reel when you go salmon- 

 fishing. I suppose there are times when the 



extra length might come in handy, but on the 

 few occasions when I have been run out and 

 broken, the agony would only have been de- 

 layed a very few seconds by an additional 

 twenty yards of line. The end would have been 

 the same. 



The reel should always be a narrow one, of 

 large diameter, with a simple click, and pref- 

 erably a revolving plate handle. Multiplyers 

 are out of place, and generally betray the 

 novice. It is not necessary nor even desirable 

 to use a very light reel, as a moderately heavy 

 one balances the rod better. 



Most old fishermen know that the hook has 

 far more to do with a man's success than either 

 the rod or the reel. A soft hook that will 

 straighten out under a heavy strain, or a blunt 

 one that will not penetrate under reasonable 

 pressure sufficiently to cover the barb, causes 

 many a disappointment. I know of few more 

 painful moments than those I have suffered 

 when the fly has come back in my face after 

 playing a good fish. Sometimes, of course, it 

 was just simply hard luck, and so to be accepted 

 in a sportsmanlike spirit, but more often it was 

 some defect in tackle that caused the mishap. 

 There is but one hook that is, to my mind, 

 trustworthy for this sport, and that one is the 

 O'Shaughnessy. I would not now use a Sproat, 

 nor a hollow-point Limerick, for any considera- 

 tion, as I have lost all faith in them after ex- 

 haustive trials. The Pennell is, no doubt, a 

 good hook, but that it has any real advantages 

 over the O'Shaughnessy I do not credit. Double 

 hooks are of value when a fly as small as No. 6 

 must be chosen — when the river is running low 

 in July and August — but otherwise, it is a mis- 

 take in judgment to use them. One hook often 

 acts as a lever to force the other hook from its 

 hold, and if such other was the only one to get 

 home in the first instance, the fish is lost. I con- 

 sider a double hook, excepting in the smaller 

 sizes, a clumsy, unsportsmanlike article, and 

 there are many who agree with me. 



Next to a poor hook a bad gaff is likely to 

 lead to trouble. It is surprising what faulty 

 patterns are to be found in the tackle shops. 

 Complications are to be avoided like sin, and 

 all jointed or telescopic patterns are eschewed 

 by old hands. Nothing equals a plain gaff with 



