«4 30 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 31, 1902. 
pleasures once or twice again before I hang up my rod 
for the last time ; "but it is not the salmon fishing that the 
strong, vigorous man most delights in. It is not the fish 
alone that he cares for; of course he wants them, but 
their value is enhanced to him by the difficulties and 
obstacles he surmounts in capturing them. There is no 
comparison between killing a fish from a canoe and fight- 
ing one perhaps a" mile or two down a rough-bottomed 
river, as he runs from one pool to another in his wild 
struggle to escape. To be sure, the angler tries to kill 
his fish in the pool in which it is struck, but sometimes 
it "gets the bit between its teeth" and starts out appar- 
ently with the determination to return to the sea from 
whence it came. It is hardly necessary to state that with 
a single gut casting line or leader, and none other should 
be used, any efforts to restrain the fish would be futile ; 
the frail strand would snap like a cotton thread. The 
only course to be pursued is to' follow the fish, and this 
the angler does to the best of his ability. Jumping from 
one boulder to another and stumbling over all sorts of 
rocks and ledges, he holds his rod aloft so as to keep the 
line as taut as possible, in order that it may not hang up 
in one of the numerous obstructions which line the path, 
he keeps on, sometimes at the top of his speed, until old 
salmo drops into deep water again and pauses for a rest. 
This is the critical moment. If the angler now forces 
the fight to the utmost, the salmon may be quickly con- 
quered, but if it is allowed to "get its wind," as it were, it 
will soon be ready to make another rush down stream, 
and if it does so, the chances are good for its' escape. The 
skillful fisherman, realizing the importance of speedy ac- 
tion, "gives the butt" most rigidly and fighting the quarry 
head and shoulders of the kingly fish when he leaps for 
the lure." (Sic.) 
Now as regards sinking the fly, I will say that occa- 
sionally it may not be advisable, but that it should not be 
practiced at all I must deny. In my experience the sal- 
mon rises slowly % not with a rush, for the fly, and almost 
always takes it beneath the surface of the water with a 
sort of sucking-in movement; but that it comes with a 
rush leaping with head and shoulders in plain sight in- 
ferentially above the surface; no, I never had the good 
fortune to meet such eager fish. 
Since writing the above I have had the curiosity to see 
what other anglers have said on this point. 
Genio C. Scott, in describing a bout with a salmon, 
says : "The fish did not take a fly as a trout does by rush- 
ing at it from beneath, but rose over the- fly, and took it 
on going back." The italics are mine. 
The author of "Salmonia" (London, 1829) in dialogue 
says: "You fish well, were common trout your object; 
but, in salmon fishing, you must alter your manner of 
moving the fly. It must not float quietly down the 
water; you must allow it to sink a little, and then pull it 
back by a gentle jerk — not raising it out of the water — 
and then let it sink again, till it has been shown in 
motion, a little below the surface, in every part of your 
cast." 
J. H. Walsh (Stonehenge) says: "The fly is worked 
very differently to the trout fly, which must always be on 
the top of the water to be effectual ; whereas, the salmon 
fly should always be sufficiently under the water to avoid 
making any ripple as it is drawn toward the thrower, and 
yet not so deep as to be wholly out of sight," 
Steelhead Salmonlin*Lake Michigan 
The National Museum has recently received from Mr. 
R. J. Sawyer, of Menominee, Mich., the head and tail of 
a steelhead salmon {Salmo gairdneri) . In his letter, dated 
April 26, Mr. Sawyer says : "I have sent you by Amer- 
ican Express the head and tail of, a 9^-pound salmon 
taken from the waters of Green Bay, a few miles north 
of Menominee, Mich. It was a very handsome fish, the 
flesh a good deep color, the markings very distinct. 
About twenty-one years ago I sent you a small specimen. 
Can you tell me when the last salmon were planted in 
these waters? Why is not more attention given to stock- 
ing these waters with salmon? This fish would indicate 
that they will do well here. This specimen was a female 
well filled with spawn." 
The parts received here indicated a healthy fish, and 
the few eggs attached to the head were apparently almost 
mature. The broad rainbow-like color on side of head 
was distinct, as were the crimson marks on the throat. 
During the years 1896, '97, '98 and 1900, the U. S. 
Fish Commission planted 212,000 fry of the steelhead sal- 
mon in Lake Michigan, and during 1898, '99 and 1900, 
io,335 yearlings were placed in the same waters. 
The fish received from Mr. Sawyer and one sent to 
the U. S. Commission of Fish and Hatcheries by the 
Michigan Commission, about two weeks ago. are the 
only ones of which we have record from Lake Michigan. 
In the western end of Lake Superior, however, the steel- 
head salmon has become quite common, the catch of one 
season being about 2,200 fish. Lake Huron has also been 
stocked with the steelhead. 
The Steelhead (Salmo gairdneri). 
sharply, he soon brings it to the gaff, and then with 
what a feeling of exultation and pride does the conqueror 
gaze upon and even caress the silvery beauty that he has 
fought for and won so gallantly. 
Yes, that is salmon fishing that the true sportsman 
enjoys; it is the real thing. 
/ Perseverance a Great Requisite. 
Another requisite in the salmon fisherman is patience, or 
if you prefer, perseverance. He must be content to cast 
his fly sometimes for hours at a stretch without obtaining 
a rise. 
There may be fifty salmon in the pool, over which his 
flies are dragged, and not one of them will move a fin at 
his offerings; but he must persevere in casting, and change 
his lure as often as seems desirable. The stubborn angler 
who declares that "the salmon must take a certain fly, for 
they will get no other from him, so there now," is not as a 
rule very successful. It is to be remembered that the surface 
color of the pool is constantly changing. Where there 
was a large bright patch a half-hour ago, the movement 
of the sun has cast that spot in the deep shadow of the 
trees on the shore. So with passing clouds and the move- 
ment of the breeze which ripples the surface and conse- 
quently darkens it. 
A Change of Flies Necessary. 
It is to meet these varying conditions of the water that 
a change of flies is necessary. No one in his senses would 
think of offering a large, bright fly in clear, shallow water, 
and most salmon pools are shallow, i«f they are not five or 
six feet in depth. 
On the contrary, he would present a small, dark fly, a 
fairy or black-dose, or possibly an unobtrusive Montreal, 
but let the water become dark and the butcher, silver-doc- 
tor, Jock-Scott, Popham and Durham-ranger will be 
desirable. Of course there are no hard and fast rules, for 
a salmon will often come to a fly which an hour before 
he had ignored. 
A change of flies, therefore, is usually necessary, but 
the angler must be guided by judgment and careful ob- 
servation of the conditions which .prevail. At the begin- 
ning of the season, when the water 1 is high, it is 'dark- 
colored, but in the summer as the volume of the streams 
decreases more and more, the water becomes clearer, and 
consequently the changed condition will require different 
treatment by the angler, both in methods of fishing and 
in the choice of flies. 
Fishing with a Sunken Fly. 
Much has been said about sinking the fly for salmon, 
and many curious statements have been put in print in 
relation to it. Dawson says, in "Fishing With the Fly," 
"The rule with some anglers is to let the fly sink a little; 
my rule is never to let it sink at all, When a fish strikes 
I want to see. him. There is no movement that so thrills 
and delights me as the rush of the salmon, for the fly, To 
me, half the pleasure of a rise is lost if I don't see the 
Opinions from other writers might be quoted, but I 
will forbear. 
Now, while fishing with the sunken fly is the proper 
method in most waters, there are some streams in which 
there is a uniformly steep pitch, which makes quick water 
even in the pools. 
In the Indian River, which empties into Margaret's Bay, 
N. S., the water is so quick that it is almost impossible 
to sink a fly, and the fish come to the surface for it, as it 
is dragged across the eddies and swirls. 
But Indian River is peculiar. It is only three or four 
miles in length, from the bay to the lakes at the head of 
the stream. The salmon in it are always fresh-run— 
they could not well be otherwise when they can traverse 
the whole river in a single day — and they are ready, like 
all other fresh-run fish, to come to the lure unhesitatingly. 
The lower . or first pool is on one side of the post road 
which winds along the shore to Halifax, and on the other 
side is the salt water of the bay. 
I recall another stream which has for several miles a 
current similar to that of the Indian River, and that is the 
Big Levogle, a tributary of the Miramiche, and on this, 
too, a surface fly is successful. 
I have no desire to be considered as trying to teach 
salmon fishing, for that is furthest from my thoughts. I 
believe that no amount of written instructions can make a 
"complete angler," for experience is the best and only 
teacher. But I may without great immodesty state that 
my practice is to get out my lure into all the best-looking 
spots, beginning on the near-by ones and working out 
further and further. I permit the fly to sink two or three 
inches and then drag it in short jerks, each movement be- 
ing about five or six inches, and repeating this until the v 
whole water is covered. 
With a little practice one may discern the silvery gray 
fish rise from the bottom and move for the fly, but it takes 
a fairly good eye to see when the lure is about to be 
seized, and though in nineteen times out of twenty the 
salmon will hook himself when he takes the fly, the angler 
should have a quick wrist to strike at exactly the right 
moment in order that the barb may be fixed deeply and 
securely. Edward A. Samuels, 
[to be continued.] 
"A New Shad from the Ohio.'* 
The titles of the illustrations given in connection with 
the description of the new Ohio shad, described by Dr. 
Barton Warren Evermann, in our issue of May 24, should 
have read as follows: 
Fig. 1. — Ohio shad, Alosa ohiensis Evermann; female. Drawing 
from the type. 
Fig. 2. — Ohio shad, Alosa ohiensis Evermann; male. Drawing 
irotiy one of the cotypes. 
Fig. ;!. - Alabama shad. Alma alahanice Jordan & Evermann: 
male, Drawing from the type, 
Fig. 4. Alabama shad, Alosa alalhinuv Tordan & Evemiaun; 
female. Drawing from the type. 
Fig. 5. —Common shad, Alosa saj>idi$.tiina (Wilson); male. 
Fig, 6.— Common. gfjgjL Alosa, sapidissima (Wilson^} female. 
While the steelhead salmon seems to thrive in our in- 
land lakes, the Columbia River or Quinnat salmon does 
not seem to do so. It, too, has been introduced into the 
Great Lakes, but the results are discouraging. 
The steelhead salmon, Gairdner's trout of the books, is 
a good game fish, and furnishes fine sport to the anglers 
of the Columbia River and its tributaries. In 1892 the 
writer had the pleasure of fishing for "salmon" in the 
Spokane River, about ten miles north of the city, being 
a guest of Mr. Knight, of Spokane, on a two days' trip 
to Granite Lake. Several good fish were taken, my prize 
being an eight-pound female steelhead on a seven-ounce 
steel rod, the combination giving fifteen minutes of 
anxiety and real pleasure such only as successful angling 
can give. The fishing W as done, in a succession of rapids 
by trolling. Mr. Nelson, ■ of Spokane, caught a male 
fish for me of about the same size as my female, and 
the pair were preserved in alcohol and brought to Wash- 
ington, and are among the museum collections. Along the 
banks of the Spokane were numerous Indian lodges, near 
which were to be seen salmon drying. These for the most 
part seemed to be steelheads. B. A. Bean. 
TJ. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. 
Iowa Fishing* 
Humboldt, la., May 22. — Another season of fishing has 
just opened in Iowa (May 15), and if the same amount 
of enthusiasm was shown all over the State as was shown 
here, upon the opening of the season, there must have 
been a great turn out. 
Last fall Fish and Game Warden Lincoln stocked the 
Des Moines River at this place with 25,000 small fry. 
but they will not have much effect upon the fish supply 
till some time later. Good catches of pickerel and rock 
bass are made, while catfish and black bass are caught 
in small numbers. Every year there has been a pre- 
ponderance of some certain species; last year it was the 
worthless bullhead, and this year it is the rock bass. 
The height of the water in the river is the greatest fac- 
tor affecting the supply of fish. Low water means poor 
fishing, high water good fishing, and as there has been 
but little high water so far, fishing has been nothing ex- 
tra. High water in June is what fishermen are wanting 
now. 
Minnows are the principal live bait at present, while 
spoon hooks are used with good results; frogs and grass- 
hoppers will come later on in the season, with the catfish 
and black bass (probably the gamiest fish of Iowa) fishing. 
The reports from the lakes in the northern part of the 
State, which are noted for their fishing, say that there has 
been rather poor fishing. 
Probably one of the greatest hindrances on the Des 
Moines River and its tributaries, is the big dam at Bona- 
parte, situated in the extreme southeast part of the State, 
across the Des Moines River, about thirty-five miles 
from where the river empties into the Mississippi. This 
is one of the most noted dams in the West, and law suft 
