These notes are from the Oregon Sportsman.
…. on the coast streams, the trout now decline the fly because of the abundant store of salmon eggs, which are spawned by the Chinook and river salmon, now coming in abundantly. Salmon eggs bought in a Portland market and taken down to Seaside rf Tillamook are too stale to tempt the big cut-throats of the Trask or Wilson. One may drop his hook with a bait of these stale eggs among a plainly visible school of big trout and see them sail away in disgust. They are already overfed and over particular. An angle worm is likely to be a more successful bait in such cases, and a little piece of the flesh of the too-abundant sculpin may always be considered a hopeful bait for these sea-run trout. They will take a medium sized spoon or spinner occasionally in the lower waters near the sea, and trolling from a boat these beautiful sunny days of Indian Summer is delightful sport, if less productive in quantity.
The “quinna” or Jack salmon have given but little sport this season, coming in later than usual; and they are now mostly spent, stale, and unfit for food.
The silver salmon are now running abundantly in all the coast rivers and bays, and give fine sport trolling. They are in fine condition too, and at this time, in the beginning of their run, scarcely inferior as table fish, to the best Chinook, and far superior the the Chinooks now to be had in market, which are hardly fit for food.
There have been for three weeks past in our markets unusually fine humpback salmon in large numbers, and as is always the case with these fish in their best condition, entirely innocent of the hump which becomes very pronounced as the fish reaches spawning time, in which condition it is almost worthless for food. Silver, chum (or dog) and humpbacks are better baked than fried in slices. Skillfully cooked thus, the fish being baked whole, there is no reason for contempt of either of these three as a delicious table fish The season for the three varieties named is a very short one, either for the sport of catching them by trolling or for utility as food, and a month in fresh water renders a fish of either of these three families a thing to avoid. Sea trout usually follow up the salmon in large schools and after the next big gain there will be find trout fishing with bait in the lower Columbia and coast streams, put the flies and fly rod may be laid away till next June.
It may be wiser, however, to see that your rod is laid upon some perfectly level shelf, with no weight of any kind piled upon it, and see to it that its joints are not tightly bound by the cords at either end of the case containing it (unless it is in a rigid wooden form in which each part has its own groove) or you will fid it so warped next spring as to be disappointing or useless.
More still to come from this October 1913 edition….
Jay Nicholas
