266 FLY-FISHING. 



trout-rod. Assertions were common, and certificates 

 even have been given at public contests that compe- 

 titors have cast one hundred feet of line, and many 

 persons, especially those not thoroughly initiated, 

 imagine that they can readily manage seventy, eigh- 

 ty, or ninety. This matter was first brought to a 

 definite issue at the convention of the Sportsman's 

 Clubs of the State of New York, held in 1864, at 

 the City of New York, when a handsome prize was 

 offered for excellence in casting the fly, and rules 

 were carefully prepared to govern the trial. These 

 rules established general principles, and provide an 

 allowance, for length and weight of rod, and pre- 

 scribe certain distinctions as to whether the contest 

 is only as to distance, or as to delicacy and accu- 

 racy in addition. In the instance referred to, it was 

 determined that all these points were to be included. 

 No rod was admitted that weighed over one pound 

 or exceeded twelve feet and six inches in length ; a 

 gut-leader of not less than eight feet was required, 

 and to this three flies were to be attached. The 

 tackle and rods used by the competitors were, in 

 every instance, those that they were accustomed to 

 use in actual fishing, the lines being generally of 

 plaited silk, covered with the ordinary water-proof 

 preparation. The water was without a current, but 

 ruffled by the effects of a light breeze that died 

 away entirely ere the contest was over, and the stand 

 was a floating platform, level with the surface, and 

 upon which the waves occasionally washed so as to 

 wet the feet of the contestants. The distance was 



