448 
FOREST AND STREAM: 
(June 7, 1902. 
Random Notes of an Angler* 
A Few Words of Explanation. 
In my last paper I named certain qualities which are 
essential in the salmon fisherman. I said or endeavored 
to say that "A puny man with weak heart* small lung 
capacity and poorly developed muscular system, particu- 
larly of the arms and legs, would not last long on some 
of the wild Canadian rivers," etc. 
By some accident, the word "lung" was dropped out 
and so my meaning is very vague. I hope I did not omit 
it in my copy, for I should dislike to find I am growing 
careless, and I wonder what those who read the paper 
thought I was driving at. "Small capacity" means a good 
deal in many ways. 
For example, many who go out with rod and reel have 
a large capacity for certain lines of wet goods, and per- 
haps some of those who read the article believed that 
I meant that all anglers should be like them in that re- 
spect. No, that was furthest from my thoughts, and, en 
passant I will say that it is not always those who absorb 
great quantities of their favorite brands are successful 
salmon anglers. 
Habits of Fresh-Run and Long-Run Salmon Compared. 
I have stated that a fresh-run salmon will rise to the 
fly much more freely than will the fish which has been 
in the river a fortnight or more. In fact, the fish which 
has just come in from the sea will rise to almost any 
fly. and will, I am assured, even take the shrimp and sand 
launce if used for bait It has but lately left its feed- 
ing grounds and its desire for food ha« not left it. 
But after it has sojourned a few weeks in the river its 
habits change ; all food is rejected, its form and color un- 
dergo a transformation, and the graceful fish which was 
erstwhile of a silvery brightness, becomes a dirty brown, 
spotted, ugly shaped creature, the males particularly so, 
with their elongated hooked jaws and general rakish 
outlines. 
The longer the fish is in the river, the less valuable it 
becomes for food, the fatty curd being absorbed for its 
nutrition and the quality of the meat being considerably 
impaired in taste and texture. 
Together with this it loses a good share of its gamy 
qualities, although it is until the end of the season able 
to put up a good fight, though the struggle is more of a 
dogged exhibition of strength and stubbornness than the 
brilliant dash, the fiery elan which the new run fish al- 
ways displays. 
Its character changes in other ways. When just in 
from the sea the salmon gets about in a lively, devil-may- 
care, "here-we-are b»ys" way that is the delight of every 
angler; but after it has been in the river a while, it be- 
comes morose in a way, indolent and very suspicious of 
any advances that an angler ma}' make. 
There may be fifty salmon in a pool, and though the 
angler may offer all sorts of flies and with all degrees 
of patience and perseverance, he may fail to get a rise 
sometimes for an entire day, particularly if he has in- 
cautiously exposed himself to the view of the quarry 
he seeks. A careless splash of the line will often cause 
the fish to sink to the bottom, where they will remain 
as motionless as so many sticks of wood. I have known 
this to happen many times. 
I wMl let a single example suffice: 
How to Make Salmon Shy. 
Quite a number of years ago I used to occasionally fish 
that beautiful New Brunswick river the Nepisiguit. I 
had satisfactory success in most of the pools which were 
then available to me, but in the noble pool below the 
Pabineau Falls, which sometimes contained a hundred or 
more salmon in plain view, I never could get a rise. 
At first I thought this strange, for clambering up on 
the high rocks which guarded the pool and looking down 
into the deep, clear water, I could see very great num- 
bers of the fish, all lying motionless near the bottom ; but 
a few words of explanation from my canoeman soon 
caused my wonder to cease. 
On the rocky cliff which rose on the other side of 
the great pool an old fellow, who had been nicknamed 
"Sitting Bull," had erected a shanty, in which he lived 
a month or two in the best of the salmon season. From 
his lofty height he had full view of the river up and 
down, and when an angler approached the pool he had 
ample time to settle the salmon down comfortably before 
the intruder arrived. A few swishing casts in just the 
right way and place, and the pool was ruined for the day. 
I wonder if the old duffer is still in the flesh, and if 
not, I wonderif the scores of maledictions which were 
heaped upon his head by desperate anglers had any effect 
in the final "summing up." 
Long-Run Salmon Shy and Suspicious. 1 ] 
Yes, the long-run fish is suspicious of man and cares 
but little for his feathered lures ; and it takes more than 
a 'prentice hand to deceive him. 
A salmon lying in a summer pool in which the water 
is bright and clear, can often discern the approach of an 
angler long before he is within casting distance. Of 
course, as already stated, in the early part of the 
season when the water is high and dark or after a heavy 
rainfall, one needs not to be over careful in approaching 
the pool, but later, I have had my best success when I 
kept as much out of sight as possible and made long casts 
with smaller sized flies than those used on darker, deeper 
water. 
In no other field sport are judgment and constant study 
of existing conditions more essential. 
How Not to Rise a Salmon. 
I once saw a couple of fishermen on the Big Plaster 
pool in the Margaree River, Cape Breton, trying to wile 
from its translucent depths one of the fine salmon which 
the pool undoubtedly contained. It was mid-summer, and 
the volume of water running was small, so small in fact 
that if a salmon reached a pool he was obliged to stay 
there until rain came and raised the river. It was quite 
shoal around the edges and the fishermen therefore lost 
no time, but boldly waded in and after thus givingj the 
pool a nice stirring up, they began casting with the 
brightest and largest salmon flies that ever emanated 
from a Halifax tackle store. 
Well, did they expect to get a fish? Of course they 
did, and wondered after they had for a couple of hours 
slashed and splashed over the smooth surface of the pool, 
why they did not get a rise. 
Rise ! Instead of rising, the salmon were, no doubt, 
making their utmost efforts to get down under the bot- 
tom of the pool, away from such foolishness. After 
watching them awhile and seeing that their pertinacity 
was good, but their judgment was bad, I left them and 
moved down the river. 
On the next morning, however, I repaired to the pool 
which was a favorite one with me, and, making long, 
light casts with as small flies as I dared to use, I rose a 
nice 10-pound fish and killed him, and later rose and 
hooked a larger one, which, after a few minutes' play, 
I lost, the small hook tearing out of the tender mouth 
on account of the barb being very short. 
Why Does the Salmon Come to the Fly? 
The salmon in fresh water is a sociable fish; it loves 
company, and _ the more there are together, the better 
they seem to like it I have seen as many as fifty lying 
together in a large pool, and their movements were timed 
together. They moved up or down, to the right or to 
the left as if they were one fish; with such concert of 
action it well may be seen that it is difficult to move one 
from its mates with a feathered lure, no matter how well 
it may be presented. Why they come to the flies at all 
I confess I am still in doubt, and I have studied them for 
years to be able to form a decided opinion. 
Not only this, but I have made it a point to get the 
views of other anglers and guides, and have tried in every 
way to draw out what knowledge they possessed. 
I found that among them there seemed to be a pre- 
vailing opinion that the salmon comes to the fly in sheer 
play, although many have expressed the belief that the 
bright colors attract the fish something In the way the 
red rag excites the bull and some other animals. 
If flies of gaudy color only were cast there might be 
something in this theory, but the fact that grays and other 
sombre colors and even blacks are used quite as fre- 
quently, to all of which salmon in their caprices rise, 
would seem to render the theory valueless. 
By Nature Cruel, 
The fact is, all rapacious fishes are by nature cruel, and 
anything that has the appearance of being about to es- 
cape from them they strive to seize. Often have I seen 
a salmon rise to a curly bright dead leaf which had fallen 
into the river, and which after drifting down into the 
pool was quietly wafted across its surface by the breeze. 
At a particular juncture a salmon saw it moving and 
recognized it as something that seemed likelv to escape 
it and so seized it; not for food, for the fish was not 
feeding, but simply to gratify a natural desire to kill, 
I once saw a small snake, less than a foot in length, 
lying on the warm pebbles on the edge of a salmon pool. 
It took alarm at my approach, although it undoubtedly 
had never before seen a human being, and sliding into 
the water, it started to swim across the pool. I watched 
it with interest during the passage and wondered if it 
would reach the other side. 
When it reached the middle of the pool, I saw, greatly 
to my surprise, a salmon rise, seize the snake and drag 
,:t down. 
No, it was not a large sea trout, for I saw it distinctly, 
and saw it was a salmon; beside, there were no sea 
trout in the pool whatever, it being a small one and 
well up the river. 
Now the salmon did not want it for food, but simply 
seized it because it was something that was getting 
away. And I believe that a fly is taken very often for 
the same reason. 
You may drag it many times across the pool in every 
direction and it will fail to attract the attention of the 
salmon, but at last you give it a certain motion at just 
the right spot and in the right glint of light, and the lure 
is taken. 
That the snake above referred to was not eaten I 
proved in less than half an hour by killing the salmon 
that had dragged it down, and which happened to be the 
only fish in the pool. This propensity in rapacious fishes 
for seizing things which seem to be on the point of es- 
caping from them is well marked, and it may easily be 
studied in that valuable educational institution, the New 
York Aquarium. 
Let the observer take • a position near one of the big 
glass tanks in which there are a number of large trout — 
and there are a good many large and handsome ones — at 
feeding time in the afternoon, and he will have a good 
opportunity for study. 
Fifty or more good sized minnows are thrown into 
the tank and for a few minutes the trout keep themselves 
quite busy. 
I have watched them closely, and though it may seem 
incredible I could easily detect a cruel expression come 
into the eyes of the fish and almost fancied I could see 
a frown on their foreheads. 
Well, after those trout have disposed of a number of 
minnows they become quieter, and some of the minnows, 
instead of remaining at the surface of the water in their 
wild yet hopeless endeavors to escape, settle down into 
the water and even swim among their monster enemies. 
If they move quietly they will attract no attention, and 
I have seen them get down to the bottom and stay there 
hidden among the stones. 
But if one of them makes a hurried movement, a lit- 
tle quick dart as if to get away to safer quarters, it is 
seized in an instant, even though the trout that captures 
it may be full to repletion. 
I have seen this occur time and again, both among 
brown trout, _ rainbow trout and the common spotted 
trout It is invariably the attempt to escape which at- 
tracts attention, and as all these are structually almost 
identical with the salmon and consequently have similar 
habits and instincts, the inference is obvious that they 
will all act the same when they are feeding. 
Edward A. Samuels, 
{to be continued.] 
Maine Fishing. 
Upper Dam, Me., May 31.— There are a number of fish- 
ing guests here, and about as many disappointed have 
left. All agree that the weather is something abomina- 
ble. Cold for the season is no name for it. It has rained 
about all the time for a week, but Thursday morning 
clapped the climax. The mountain tops were white with 
snow, fallen during the night. The wind blew down the 
lakes a gale, loaded with snow squalls. The great fall 
of rain has raised the lakes to an uncommon pitch. Two 
gates of the dam are open and the pool is feather white 
with foaming water. But after all, some fishing is being 
done above the dam, and two or three boats have ven- 
tured to anchor in the pool below. Mark Hollingsworth, 
of Boston, has taken a 4-lb. trout. A. C. Man son and 
his son, of Boston, got a few small trout Wednesday, but 
gave up in disgust and went to Richardson's Ponds, ac- 
companied by E. C. Crosby and son Carl, of Bath, Me. 
There they caught more cold weather and snow squalls 
than trout. Friday morning they came down the lake 
three miles in a stiff, northwest gale, landing here in sea- 
son to take the 6 o'clock boat for Bemis and Boston. 
J. H. Cockey, of Lynn, Mass., got a big salmon Wed- 
nesday, and sent it to a taxidermist to be mounted. Mr 
Daggett, of Washington, D. C, who is managing the 
making and printing of the postal cards for the Govern- 
s ment, under the big Rumford Falls contract, caught an- 
other large salmon Wednesday. It will be remembered 
that this season is the first of Mr. Daggett's fishing in 
Maine. He says that he hopes it is far from the last. 
Prof. J. F. Moody, of Auburn Edward Little High 
School, has had good luck trout fishing. 
W. T. Farley, of Boston, caught thirteen trout Thurs- 
day. H. C. Day, of Auburn, Me., is playing him a good 
second on that line. 
Mr. and Mrs. Harriman and Miss Jane Coombs, of 
Bath, Me., and Harry Coombs, of Lewiston, are at the 
Midway. Mrs. Harriman has caught a good salmon, but 
the weather has made it almost impossible for ladies to 
be out. 
Dr. S. W. Jenkins, of Williamsport, Pa., is here for his 
third trip. Says he shall fish "every minute" while he 
stays. He caught three trout soon after getting off the 
steamer. 
W. K. Moody has caught two salmon, one of 4^ 
pounds, and one of 3 pounds, and 18 trout. 
With good weather and the water down 2 or 3 feet, 
the fish in the whole Rangeley region would be much 
improved. But altogether the spring fishing season in 
northern Maine has been the coldest and roughest ever 
known. C. P. Stevens, of Camp Vive Vale, at the Nar- 
rows, who has fished these lakes for 21 years, declares 
it to be the worst ever experienced. Special. 
Fish and Fishing. 
Late Salmon, 
The Inspector-General of Fish and Game for the Prov- 
ince of Quebec appears to have solved the mystery sur- 
rounding the apparent refusal of the salmon of many of 
the far northern rivers of Labrador to take the fly, He 
claims that they are sought too early in the season and 
that their inclination to seize the lure of the angler seldom 
makes itself apparent until the very end of the Open sea- 
son. He avers that nowhere in the Dominion of Canada 
is Salmo salar more eager for the flv, less shy, or more 
numerous than in the rivers of the Labrador coast, and 
very considerately remarks that these fish cannot be 
blamed for heeding the fly at such time only as the con- 
ditions of their habitat have accustomed them to look for 
& The run of the salmon in these rivers is so late that 
Mr. de Puyjalon states that few nets are set by the fish- 
ermen at the mouths of the streams and in the adjacent 
bays before the ioth of July, and that though an occa- 
sional fish may be taken by the fly in that month, the 
best of the sport is only to be had in August. As the 
season ends on the 15th of August, he strongly urges that 
it should be extended, for the north shore rivers, to the 
- 15th of September, at least so far as the coast of Labrador 
is concerned. If his premises are correct it is of course 
only reasonable to suppose that anglers will not go to 
the expense of visiting these distant streams, while the 
season remains closed to them from ten to fifteen days 
after the fish first take the fly. On the Washecootai 
River, forty-six miles to the east of the Natashquan, Mr, 
de Puyjalon found that the fisherman who leases the 
right to set his nets at the foot of the Falls, had not yet 
arrived there for the season on the 25th of July, and 
that the fiy-fishing does not commence there before the 
end of the month, at which date the best of the sport in 
the south shore streams is over. The Cocoshepee. or 
Leander River, offers no fly-fishing before the end of July 
or beginning of August, and the best results are ob- 
tained from the middle of August to the middle of Sep- 
tember. The inspector declares that the failure of the 
many attempts made by anglers in recent vears to take 
the salmon of the St. Paul or Eskimo River with the 
fly is due to the fact that they were nearlv a month too 
early upon their fishing grounds, and he 'illustrates this 
fact in a recent report by showing that Mr. Simard, a 
surveyor, who was there much later, caught ten fish in a 
very short time. This river is now leased by Mr. James 
Hill, the_ well-known railway man. It issues from a large 
lake, which very few white men have ever visited, and in 
former times fairly teemed with salmon, so much so that 
the nets at the mouth of the stream frequently yielded 
from 700 to 800 barrels of the fish every year. Their 
present yield is from fifty to seventy barrels, less than* 
10 per cent, of what it was. There is no doubt that the 
large numbers of salmon taken in these nets is rapidly 
tending to the depletion of the river, but the local net- 
ters refuse to see it in this light, and lay all the blame 
for the diminution in the number of fish at the door of 
their Newfoundland neighbors, who are also making un- 
doubted encroachments upon the fish supply of Labrador 
by their excessive use of trap-nets. 
Close Seasons. 
Ouananiche fishermen have long been under the im- 
pression that the close season commenced too early, and 
this idea has been largely borne, out by recent expert 
