THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 199 
THE VALUE OF TOURNAMENT CASTING 
3y W. F. Backus. 
Many anglers are inclined to ridicule the scores made at various 
casting tournaments, being of the opinion that records are so abnormal 
that they are of no use to fishermen when on the stream. This is a 
mistaken idea as I will try to prove. 
While many of the scores made are unnecessarily high, all tourna- 
ment casting brings the angler into such a thorough acquaintance 
with his tackle that he gets the very best out of it under all conditions. 
One of the most practical of all of the events on the casting pro- 
gram is the dry fly accuracy. In this event five 30-inch hoops are 
floating on the water at distances ranging from 20 to 50 feet from the 
casting platform. The caster is obliged to work his line out in the 
air and must drop his fly inside the hoop. The fly must float after 
dropping on the water until the judges call “score,’ when it must be 
retrieved without any unnecessary disturbance of the water. The fly 
is not allowed to touch the water between scoring casts, but must 
be kept in the air all the time. Three casts are made at each of the 
five rings, and for every foot that the hoops are missed one demerit 
is scored against the contestant. Should the angler miss the hoop 
on an average of one foot for each cast it would give him a total of 
fifteen demerits, or a score of 99 per cent. Even a score like this calls 
for very accurate work, and any one who can reach this mark will 
certainly get his share of the fish on any trout stream in the state. 
There is no question that on many of our streams the fish are 
becoming educated to the ordinary means of fishing with bait. The 
man who can put his fly exactly where he wants it and drop it 
gently, is the one who is going to get the most sport out of fishing 
in the future. I can imagine nothing which will give better practice 
than this dry fly accuracy event in a casting tournament. This event 
requires no special tackle as any one can use a rod which is gen- 
erally used for fly fishing. 
Another very useful event is the long distance fly casting with 
light rods. In this event the rod must not weigh more than 5% 
ounces, so that the average fishing rod is just the right caliber. The 
line used in this event is but very little different from the ordinary 
fishing line, the only difference being that most of the casters tie a 
very thin line to the back part of the main line, which helps a great 
deal in shooting the cast. With this equipment a number of the local 
men frequently reach a distance of 100 feet. Of course, there are 
but very few streams where such a length of line is necessary, but 
on some of our larger rivers it is up to the fisherman to get out a 
good long line, and if he can do 90. or 100 feet on the casting platform 
he will have no trouble in negotiating 70 or 80 feet on the river, and 
to be able to do this is decidely worth while. 
The same argument applies to bait casting, particularly in the 
accuracy events. The casting is done with small aluminum plugs 
weighing % and % ounce each, and a 30-inch target is anchored from 
60 to 100 feet away from the platform. To drop one of these very 
light plugs in the middle of a 30-inch target out 100 feet, with a very 
fast running reel to control at the same time, is a feat which requires 
a cool hand and a very keen eye. In both % and % ounce events, 
many of the casters will go through a program of ten casts and never 
miss a target a foot. Let this same caster take a regular bait casting 
outfit, with a wooden minnow weighing three-quarters or an ounce 
