810 
August 21, 1875. 
SALMON FISHING. 
(Atlantic Monthly.) 
One morning last March I was accosted by my friend 
the General, as follows: “How would you like to go 
salmon-fishing next June? Sir Hugh Allan has just in- 
vited me to bring two friends to his river, the Upsal- 
quitch, in New Brunswick, and I at once thought of 
you and Haines as the two most likely to appreciate 
such a chance.” 
The unexpectedness of this proposition added to its 
charm ; both Haines and I accepted it joyfully and 
quick'y, and the months intervening were passed largely 
in anticipating and preparing for our destined sport. 
Several delays occurred in getting off, owing to the 
backwardness of the season and the immense prepara- 
rations which the General deemed indispensable ; but 
on the 28th of June, having received intelligence that 
the salmon had commenced ascending the Restigouche 
River, of which the Upsalqnitch is a tributary, we started 
for Boston on a Sound steamer, with enough impedi- 
menta to supply a modest regiment. TTe reached St. 
John, New Brunswick, by the steamer from Boston, and 
passing Sunday and ^Monday there, took the railroad for 
Point-du-Chene near Shediac, and thence by the Gulf 
Port steamer Miramichi, arrived at Dalhousie, on the 
Bay of Chaleurs, after a three-days’ voyage. 
From Dalhousie we engaged two large wagons to 
transport us and our luggage to Metapedia, thirty-five 
miles. Our road lay along the borders of the bay and 
the banks of the Restigouche which forms it We could 
see now and then, after reaching the river, a salmon 
jumping, and the stream was so beautiful that we could 
hardly resist the impulse to alight and try a cast or two 
on the way. It was dark when we reached Metapedia, a 
very small town for its name, but having a fair hotel, 
built, I think, in anticipation of a much larger patron- 
age than it has received. We found to our joy that the 
first run of fish was at its height, and going to the cellar 
saw six noble salmon, killed that day by an English 
officer, who was stopping at the house, and Mr. Shaw 
the acting landlord. None of these fish were below 
twenty pounds, and the heaviest was about twenty -seven 
pounds. The confluence of the Metapedia River with 
the Restigouche at this point forms a succession of 
pools, four, I think, in both rivers ; and most of the fish 
taken here are large, the average weight in 1873 being 
above twenty-one pounds, in 1874 about nineteen 
pounds. The Jletapedia pools seem to be the first rest- 
ing-place of these fish on their journey from tide-water, 
about six miles below. 
The next day was the 4th of July, very cold, rainy 
and windy, with the thermometer at 40 degrees. Early 
in the morning Mr. Mowat, the guardian of the Resti- 
gouche and the Upsalqnitch, came down to see us. He 
said the Upsalquitch was, or should be, full of fish, and 
as we did not want to start for it that day. Re gave ns 
permission to fish where we were. 
Haines and I, in the utmost trepidation and haste, 
commenced getting ready amid the ill-concealed sneers 
of the surrounding natives, who regarded our split 
bamboo rods with distrust and aversion, and predicted 
misfortune to them should they get hold of large fish. 
Just as we were setting out our ardor was increased by 
the appearance of our English Captain, followed by his 
two Indians bearing three large salmon, the result of 
his earl}' fishing in one pool. He showed us the fly he 
had used, which had a dark, silver-tinseled claret body, 
with dark turkey wings, and selecting those we had 
nearest like it, we, with our Indians, sallied forth. 
It takes two Indians and one bark canoe to every 
fisherman. Aji Indian sits in each end, the fisherman 
in the middle; the canoo is paddled or polled to the 
head of a pool, where it is anchored by the man in the 
stern, he in the bow keeping it steady and straight in 
the stream with his paddle. As soon as possible after 
a fish is hooked the canoe is taken to the shore; one man 
remains by it and the other stays by the fisherman to 
gaff the fish when the time comes. 
Haines decided to try the Metapedia pool, and I went 
to the one below, where the Captain had been fishing. 
Arrived there I found Mr. Shaw in possession, but he 
said the pool was large enough for both of us, and so 
anchoring the canoe I made my first cast for salmon. 
The split bamboo worked beautifully, and, after making 
one or two casts, Air. Shaw, who was but a short dis- 
tance from me, called out that he had a fish, and look- 
ing around I saw his rod bent half double, heard his 
reel whirr like a mill, and the next instant saw his fish, 
fifty yards away, jump six feet out of water. A half- 
hour’s play brought him to gaff, and I resumed my own 
operations. AJter a few casts I saw a break in the water 
below my fly, which Peter, one of my Indians, assured 
me was caused by a salmon. Giving him, as I had been 
instructed, about five minutes’ rest (it seemed an hour) 
after his fruitless exertion, I made another cast, letting 
my fly go down just above where he rose, and this time 
he came in earnest. 
I saw the boil m the water as he took the fly, the line 
started slowly from the reel as he turned downward, a 
foot or so of his broad taU appearing in the air waiving 
a farewell to me, and then, forgetful of all I had been 
told to do at this point, the instinct of the trout-fisher 
overcame me, and I struck, hard and sharp. The fish, 
a large one, was going away from me to the bottom of 
the stream, and the result of my striking as I did was 
very much as though I had attempted the same thing 
with my line attached to a runaway horse. Aly line, 
with about half my leader, flew back high over my 
head, and at once realizing and cursing my folly, I put 
on a new leader and fly and resumed fishing. In half 
an hour, Shaw having killed another meantime, I had a 
rise, hooked my fish, and snapped off my fly in exactly 
the same way I had done before, being unable in my 
excitement to resist striking as the fish turned. Peter, 
at this, began talking to Andre, his fellow Alicmac, in 
their native tongue, and I am sure was indulging in the 
most imfavorable criticism on my skill, which I cut 
short by telling them we would return to the house. 
After they landed me I went up to the Aletapedia pool 
to see what success had attended Haines, and found he 
had just killed a fish of about twelve pounds, over which 
he felt very proud, of course. Leaving him there I 
went to the house, where he soon joined me, bringing 
with his first salmon one of thirty-two pounds, the 
largest that had been taken on the river that season. 
He was a magnificent fish in shape and color, and had 
taken the fly within five yards of the canoe, just as 
Haines was reeling up his line to go in. 
We found the General had improved our absence by 
arranging for a ton or two more of provisions, and gain- 
ing the active friendship, which was afterward extend- 
ed to all of us, of .Tohn Alitchell, an Irishman of gigan- 
tic proportions, a contractor for a portion of the Inter- 
colonial Railway, a sportsman by instinct, and capable 
of forming in five minutes from first sight the bitterest 
enmity or most devoted friendship. 
In the afternoon, according to agreement. Alitchell 
took the General to the lower pool; my Indians paddled 
me to the same spot, while Haines remained a; the house 
to cultivate one of the under guardians of the river, 
Ferguson by name, who evidently had doubts concern- 
ing our party. 
I hooked two fish and snapped off two more flies, 
through my confounded propensity to strike loo soon, 
and fell still farther in the esteem of Peter and Andre 
The General, who had never even seen a fly thrown, and 
who, with an exertion which almost made him black in 
the face, could heave out about ten feet of line, was pa- 
tiently laboring near me, when at last he had a rise, and 
Mitchell shouted, “ Holy Aloses, isn't them fireworks!” 
The fish made a double jump out of water, showing his 
glittering sides, and darted off, making the reel sing, and 
rousing the General to an activity of which I had deem- 
ed him incapable. After a manful struggle he landed 
his fish, and immediately after another one, when, as it 
was Saturday night and nearly six o’clock, I gave up 
and started for shore. 
One of the fishing regulations of Canada provides 
that from six P. m. each Saturday until six a. m. the fol- 
lowing Alonday, all tideway and other nets must be 
lifted, and fishing of eveiy kind stopped on all salmon 
rivers. The penalty for violating this law is immediate 
confiscation of the fishing implements of the ofiendmg 
party and a fine besides, all collectable by the river 
guardian, who may bring him to justice. At 6:30 p. m. 
of this Saturday the General was still belaboring the 
river, when, instigated by Haines, Ferguson, the guard- 
ian, went down the bank of the stream, peremptorilly 
ordered the General ashore, and shortly after appeared 
at his house bearing his two rods, his gaff and fly-hook. 
The General came next, looking very crestfallen and 
despondent. He called us off one side, and said, “W ell, 
boys, that confounded Ferguson has robhed me of my 
tackle, and I’m going home to-morrow morning; I’ve 
done all I came for, killed a salmon, and you can take 
the things and go on, and have a good time.” TVe en- 
deavored to change his decision, and after a long discus- 
sion succeeded by threatening to accompany him if he 
insisted on leaving, and the General brought himself 
down to commencing negotiations with Ferguson for 
the recovery of his tackle. By a course of flattery and 
a final appeal to his generosity he succeeded in “ bor- 
rowing’’ it for the trip, with the promise that he would 
return it when he came back. The General was so 
elated with this successful issue of his troubles that, in 
honor of it and of the day. he immediately gave invita- 
tions to all the inmates of the hotel to attend an enter- 
tainment he proposed giving that evening. It came off 
as advertised, and was a most brilliant success. 
The next morning, true to his promise, Alitchell had 
his scow and men ready; plenty of willing hands helped 
us on with our luggage, and bidding farewell to our 
friends, we started the horse, not, however, before 
Alitchel, as a last tender remembrance, had presented us 
with two bottles of sherry, which he said we might need 
before returning. 
It took us all day to get twelve miles, which brought 
us to the first fall, above which we found we could not 
get our scow. So there we halted, made camp, and 
passed the night among swarms of mosquitoes, midgets 
and black flies. Fortunately, the last-named always 
cease operations at dark, though they try to make up 
for it by beginning very early mornings. 
At 4 A. M. Alonday, with Peter and Andre I started for 
the second falls, about five miles up stream, thinking 
there I would surely kill m}' maiden .salmon. Two 
hours’ poleing brought us there and over the faU, which 
is more properly a long rapid. The way in which the 
Indians took the canoe up this was admirable. At the 
top of the falls were two beautiful rocky pools, very 
deep under one bank, and shoaling gradually up stream, 
where the water flowed with a quiet ripple, just the place 
for salmon to enjoy a rest after ascending the turbulent 
rapid. From one of these pools Alowat had taken, the 
season before, eighteen fish as fast as he could land 
thein, but this morning I could find none there. This 
we learned afterward was owing to their being scared 
by the coming down stream of the logs which had been 
put in the headwaters the winter before. 
After faithfully and vainly trying the pools wa started 
for camp, and the excitement of running the rapids al- 
most consoled me for my bad luck. At the camp I 
found the General reposing after a most exciting and 
successful conflict with a beautiful salmon of eighteen 
pounds, the handsomest one I ever saw, and fresh run. 
The fellow was very different from the Restigouche fish 
we had seen, being short and broad, and of a brilliancy 
of silveriness utterly indescribable. He had kept the 
General busy for three quarters of an hour, and had 
nearly used him up before giving in. From this fish we 
made our breakfast. 
After breakfast I summoned Peter and Andre and 
asked them if they felt too tired to take me to the 
pool at the mouth of the Upsalquitch, which, being 
formed by that river and the Restigouche, we decided 
was included in our water. We embarked, and in less 
than an hour had gone down the six miles and were at 
the Upsalquitch pool, which is long and deep, with a 
fine beach on one side, and terminating in a long stretch 
of smooth and very swift running water of an average 
depth of six or seven feet. Half a mile of this brings 
you to a gradual turn in the river (the Restigouche), 
where the water deepens for quite a distance without 
actually forming a pool, with an abrupt bank at least 
seventy-five feet high on one side, and a good beach on 
the other. Just as we came to the pool proper we saw 
a salmon jump, and I clrew a happy augury from the 
sight. Anchoring the canoe at the head of the pool, I 
began casting, having on a small fly with a yellow tail, 
black body, and mallard wings. I had not to wait long 
when, with about fifteen yards of line out, I had a strike, 
and summoning all my resolution, kept perfectly quiet 
until the fish made his first halt at the bottom of the 
riven. Then, giving a sharp and gentle twitch, to my 
intense joy I felt my first salmon firmly hooked, and my 
lost manhood partially restored. The fish was very 
active, 1)ut did not seem particularly strong. I soon got 
ashore, and a few moments later Peter gaffed and held 
up by the giUs a creature which I recognized from de- 
scriptions as a “ mended kelt,” that is, a fish which had 
been very late in spawning the preceding fall, had re- 
mained in the river all winter, and on going down to 
the sea in the spring to recuperate, had met some of his 
kind on their way to fresh water, and turning back had 
gone with them. My fish was nearly three feet long, 
but weighed only fourteen pounds, and was almost 
black, with a head disproportionately large. As he was 
mortally wounded by the gaff, we killed him and gave 
him to some Indians who were passing down the river. 
This was not the fish we had seen jump, and, inspire 
