NOTES AND QUERIES. 



rUnder this Department Heading queries relative to Angling, Ichthyology and Fish Culture, 

 L^ * will be answered.] 



» Casting the Minnow." 



Mr. Fred. Gardner, of Chicago, kindly sup- 

 plements his instructive and interesting arti- 

 cle on "The Art of Modern Minnow Casting," 

 published in our March issue, with the annexed 



notes : 



The right to left cast should be started with 

 the elbow touching the body, and with the fore- 

 arm at a 45 degree angle. The rod should be 

 brought up and past the face and the bait re- 

 leased on the upward spring of the rod, just as 

 the 45 degree angle is reached on the opposite 

 side. This in order to let the bait go up and 

 out, instead of taking a downward course. 

 The same principle applies in the left to right 

 •cast, placing the fore-arm at right angles di- 

 rectly across and touching the body, starting 

 at about the same angle and with the same 

 movement as described in the right to left cast. 

 We have demonstrated beyond cavil that arm 

 force is entirely unnecessary with the properly 

 constructed bait-casting rod. Simply a wrist 

 and fore-arm movement being necessary in or- 

 der to cast bait. 



In reference to the date of casting with the 

 minnow single handed, I note what you say 

 about meeting an angler at Three Lakes, Wis., 

 in 1884, who practiced this method. I have no 

 doubt single-handed casting was practiced long 

 before Dr. Henshall wrote concerning it, but 

 as he was the first one to introduce this style 

 of angling to the public, we therefore consider 

 him the father of the sport. His methods, 

 however, have been so improved upon that his 

 style would hardly be recognized nowadays, as 

 described in his book. This result has been 

 attained, not only by better implements, which 

 are now being manufactured, but also the 

 amount of practice which the expert anglers 

 have given to the sport. 



The change which has transpired in the style 

 of casting from a round-arm movement to an 

 overhead cast has been brought about, at least 

 in this part of the country, from necessity. 

 We fish almost entirely from boats, thus com- 

 pelling an overhead cast so as to avoid strik- 



ing any companion that may be in the boat. 

 I will say that on one occasion, while drift- 

 ing the Kankakee River last summer, there 

 were six of us in one boat, not over 14 feet 

 long, casting continually while drifting the 

 river, and not once did our lines become en- 

 tangled. We were unfortunate in not having 

 a camera with us, in order to have this specta- 

 cle on record. 



Standard Flies. 



We have been recently shown a letter from an 

 accomplished amateur fly-tyer to an English 

 angling brother, who has in view the publica- 

 tion of an illustrated work on artificial flies, and 

 wrote to our friend on this side of the water 

 for information as to standard American pat- 

 terns. The reply was as follows : 



"You ask me about our standard flies. I 

 very much regret to say that we Americans 

 have no standard or orthodox patterns of flies. 

 We have what we call ' Standard,' that were 

 originally copied from the English styles, but 

 thej^ have now become so changed and dis- 

 torted that in many cases the original parent 

 would find great difficulty in recognizing his 

 own child. This is due to the actions of un- 

 scrupulous dealers, and to the ignorance and 

 'don't care' of the fisherman. For instance : 

 ' ' A fisherman orders a certain number of 

 ' golden spinners ' from a dealer who just 

 happens to be out of that particular pattern of 

 fly. He orders them from his fly-tyer, who 

 just at that time is out of golden-colored silk. 

 He, without the slightest compunctions, ties 

 up the flies with orange colored silk or mo- 

 hair. The dealer, even if he recognizes the 

 change, accepts the flies without the slightest 

 hesitation, taking it for granted that his cus- 

 tomer does not know how the fly should be 

 tied. In due course of time, the flies are de- 

 livered to the fisherman, and accepted by him. 

 probably with only a glance at them. Thus, in 

 time, the fly-books of the fishermen and the 

 stock of the dealers throughout the country 



