370 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
: [Dzc. 4, 1884. 
drop a mite to poor wretches to whom life brought no holi- 
day, and he was taken to task for it. 
* The walk to the boat was occupied in reflections on the 
incidents narrated, Poor woman, perhaps she had once 
been comfortable and respected, and now her path was 
downward withont a break. But what of the child? My 
dog has apparently a better future than she, and is certainly 
better cared forin the present, Born to an estate which no 
effort of hers can raise her from, and worst of all, she does 
not seem to be aware of her misery, the most hopeless of all 
conditions. She accepts the situation and looks upon it as a 
natural one. Perchance, some years from now, when she is 
prematurely old by dissipation, some little barefoot child of 
hers will plead with the wayfarer for a penny to fill her 
“growler,” while the miserable mother will only regard it as 
a duty which she in turn had performed for her parent. The 
steamer’s bell broke the reverie, and after depositing rods and 
tackle in the stateroom, a stroll forward revealed an angling 
friend enjoying a cigar under the awning. We blew our 
clouds together, and talked of fishing of all kinds and in all! 
places that we knew of, when he asked: 
"Where are you bound for now, up on the Bigosh again?” 
“B’sosh | you’ve guessed it, can’t you imagine that I might 
be going somewhere else? Where do you drop your flies 
this month?” 
“A little business calls me away now, but next week a 
friend and I will start for Mackinaw, up through the 
northern peninsula of Michigan, to Ontanagon, around by 
Duluth, and thence by canoe down some of those small 
strvams into the Mississippi River, fishing all the way, that 
is, if we find it practicable to strike the head waters of some 
stream like the St. Croix, and it proves to be navigable. This 
will be a pleasant trip and will consume two months. Some 
day I will write it up for Forest anp STREAM if it proves 
to be as interesting as we expect. By the way, where is the 
Bigosh?” 
“That stream,” I answered, ‘tis one of the main tributaries 
of the Great Jimminy, and rises near Gewhilliken, from 
which place we take sole-leather conveyance fo the stream. 
Tf you should chance to get within a hundred miles of our 
camp, come and see us,” 
i then unburdened my mind to him concerning the misery 
thet | had met and could nof relieve, in fact, eowd only 
temporarily alleviate it, in one case with pennies which 
might go for bread after the growler was filled, and in the 
olher with fuel in the probable shape of gin. He was sur- 
prised that a second thought should be given to this matter, 
and intimated that he thought me too case-hardened to notice 
s0 common &# thing as squalid, wretched poverty in the city. 
“You can’t help it,” said he, “‘they are born to it, bred to it, 
and undoubtedly like it.” 
“All the worse,” said I, and after bidding him good night, 
and between that time and morning, when I saw Jack’s 
cheerful, boyish face light up with recoenition on the dock, 
J heard in the half conscious condition that passes for sleep 
in a stateroom near the engine, a thin, plaintive voice, whin- 
ing, ‘‘Please, Mister, give me a penny to fill me mother’s 
fvowler, I drupped one through the grating and she'll beat 
me when | get home,” and I said with Lear: ‘‘O, I have ta’en 
too little thought of this.” FRED MaTHer, 
TAKING SHAD WITH THE FLY. 
N our issue of Nov. 20 we made the statement (hat in no 
other river in America besides the Connecticut has there 
been more than occasional, and perhaps accidenta), capture 
of a shad with hook and line. We knew that the Connecti- 
cut is the river that anglers go to for shad fishing, and that 
we had seen many of them taking shad there. In the ab- 
sence of records from other rivers we made the assertion 
given above, which some of our correspondents very kindly 
correct. It is evident that one of our correspondents has 
made better use of the records contained in the former vol- 
umes of Fornsit AnD STRHAM than we did, for we did not 
take the trouble to look up all that has been written on the 
subject. 
iiditor Forest and Stream: 
I have read with some amusement the article in your paper 
for Noy. 20, 1884; also your editorial comments touching 
the same. ‘The statements therein contained are so at vari- 
ance with well-established facts, and my own experience, 
that I beg to call your attention to the following: 
Tn the very first number of Forssp AnD SrRmAM, page 138, 
appears a paragraph evidently written by Mr. Hallock, then 
editor. He says: “Flyfishing for shad was a favorite 
amusement of ows a dozen years ago in the Savannah 
River.” 
If you will also turn to Forest anp Stream, Vol. IL., 
page 172, you will find that the late Thaddeus Norris also 
speaks of their capture with bait on the Schuylkill, etc., etc. 
1 have capiured vast quantities of shad in the Potomac 
River, near this city, in September and October, a very smal] 
live minnow being used as bait. Ai one season (in the latter 
part of 1873, 1 think) enormous quantities were taken in this 
manner by anglers fishing from the south end of the Long 
Bridge, some specimens being apparently nearly full grown; 
the majority, however, being only about four or five inches 
in Jength. 1 at first doubted their identity, but upon submit- 
ting some specimens to the Smithsonian authoritics, was in- 
formed that they were genuine shad. 
During the summer months I devote much time to fly- 
fishing in this yicinity, white perch and sunfish beimg the 
game sought after, and I am frequently annoyed by having 
tiny shad, not two inches in length, greedily seizing the flies. 
I have frequently angled with the fly for large shad, but 
have never been successful, This | attribute to two causes— 
first, the scarcity of the fish; and, second, to the fact that the 
natural facilities which enable them to be readily canght in 
this manner in the Connecticut River do not prevail here. 
T could furnish other facts if necessary, but think the fore- 
going sufficient to upset the theory that ‘on no other river 
in America (except the Connecticut) has there been more 
than an occasional, and perhaps an accidental, capture of a 
shad with hook and line.” G, A. B. 
WasHinaron, D. C 
Hiditor Forest and Stream: 
You ave mistaken regarding the Conneceicut River being 
the only one producing shad that will take a fly or bait, Ten 
years aga several] friends and myself first took shad at the 
dam at Birmingham, on the Housatonic River, with both 
‘flies and bait. Ihave used worms, minnow, shrimp, and 
flies, and on all of these baits I have caught not one or two 
fish by acrident, but dozens of shad from half a pound to 
four pounds, und it is quite a,common thing for persons liv- 
ing in the vicinity of Birmingham te catch shad in the same 
manner. A.J. H, 
BrilcEpory, Vonu., Noy. 22, 
ECHOES FROM THE TOURNAMENT. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The introduction of his peculiar style of casting, by Mr, 
Il. L, Leonard, in the fly-casting tournament, held under the 
auspices of the State Sportsmens’ Association, at Niagara 
Falls, in 1882, and since generally followed in the fly-cast- 
ing tournaments by his pupils and his pupils’ pupils, has 
had a tendency, and I may say, has completely revoiution- 
ized the real objects, aims and rules of the tournaments 
as conducted under the rules of that association. Under 
those rules, only members of sportsmens’ clubs, regulary or- 
ganized, and members of the State association could partici- 
pate. It was a meeting of anglers for the purpose of receiv- 
ing and impariing such information in the art of angling as 
they bad been taught by the wary trout and bass in the 
varied waters upon which they had east their flies since last 
they met. The judges, except when the contestant was 
casting for distance, stood beside him, so that in case he had 
learned anything new that called for a different style of cast- 
ing from the old method, he could tell them why he so cast, 
they could then judge as to its merit, and not dock him in 
his points for doing a really good thing, because he had de- 
parted from the old system that had been followed so long 
as to have become a rule. 
The old points for judging were four, viz.: Accuracy, 
delicacy, style and distance, Under the new rules, scripture 
has been followed, ‘“‘and the last has become first,” and style, 
the real test of the contestant as an angler, has been kept 
out entirely; end a man’s ability to break the record in long 
casting, regardless of his apparent ability to catch a fish, has 
become the standard upon which he is judged; and as I said 
at the association banquet, in my poor judgment, we are 
educating men to become '‘bug chuckers” for prizes, rather 
than anglers with the fly. 
“But,” said Brother Mather and some others; ‘chow are 
you to judge these points? On distance there can be no 
question, for the buoy marks the spot where the fly strikes 
the water; the others must be a matter of judgment.” True; 
and so I conclude to save the judges’ brains (but it tried their 
eyes all the same), The rule in use at the last tournament 
on uccuraey, that each contestant should cast twenty-five 
time at a buoy four inches in diameter; if be struck the buoy 
with his fly it counted one, but if his fly fell one inch or ten 
feet from the buoy, it scored nothing. The rule in a dead 
calm would have shown better results, yet I doubt its giving 
any better satisfaction. Oan such a rule be satisfactory to 
the contestant or the looker on? I certainly heard many ad- 
verse criticisms, and the manifest injustice of it came under 
ny Own observation while acting as a judge in one of the 
contests, for the contestant who was fortunate enough to have 
a lull in the wind could hit the buoy, while the one who had 
a continuous breeze, if he did strike it, was simply fortunate, 
for the wind was so unsteady that the best judgment was 
often foiled by a lull or an extra puff of if. There is just 
wis. re I claim the rule isunsound and where judgment comes 
in play, for the one who goes out to practice choosesa calm, 
still day, that he may be able to make a long cast, and so 
gets little or no practice in the wind; while the angler gets 
his practice on the lakes and streams whilé fishing, and as 
was shown at the last tournament, will make a much better 
average in casting at a mark, if judged by the actual dis- 
tance of his fly striking the water from the buoy in every 
cast of his twenty-five, rather than by the number of times 
he actually strikes it. How then shall a just conelusion of 
the merits of contestants in fly-casting be obtained? My 
answer would be: 
Distance: Time five minutes; time to be taken when con- 
testant steps to the mark and says he is ready. Rod and 
flies shall then be in hand, and no allowance of time shall 
be given for untangling line or other pauses, except in the 
minds of the judges the delay is caused by pure accident, 
and not caused by the unskillfulness of the contestant, or 
from the fact that he has more line out than he can control. 
Accuracy, delicacy and style: Time five minutes. Accu- 
racy to be judged not by casting ata fixed object, but rather 
by the contestant’s ability to lay out his linea reasonable 
fishing distance, with, across and against the wind, casting 
at floating objects thrown upon the water by the judges in 
the places they desire him to cast. 
Delicacy: To be cast at the same time, and judged by the 
lightness, not only of the flies lighting upon the water, but 
also the manner in which they are taken from the water. 
Style: To be judged from the manner in which the rod is 
handled while casting for accuracy and delicacy, and to 
develop more fully the contestant’s familiarity with his 
rod and his style in using it, devote two minutes to accuracy 
and delicacy and three in developing his style; or, in other 
words, his proficiency in the angler’s art, casting with both 
hands, to the rear, right and left, underhand to avoid a sup- 
posed overhanging tree or hank; releasing bis flies from any- 
thing to which the hook is supposed to have been caught, 
and his manner as well as method while doing these, whether 
gracefully or awkward, the work done with the arm or rod, 
etc. Another rule of the State Association that has been 
dropped by the Rod aud Reel Association 1 deem is of vital 
importance, and that is the allowance for difference in length 
of rod. The angler has his rod, or probably rods, to suit 
himself, and adapted to his height and strenglh; the rods he 
uses for fishing, He cannot afford to have one set for fish- 
ing and one for tournaments; so, perforce, he must enter with 
the one he has, and unless he is a large man with a heavy 
bass rod, he cannot hope to contest with any prospect of 
success against a rod made for that purpose alone. So that, 
as a rule, the angler nist enter a contest handicapped or 
stay sway; and it is evident from the list of entries for the 
past two years that they, as a rule, stay out. I have 
always thought the allowance of five feet to the 
foot excessive. In testing rods of different lengths and 
weights I have come to the conclusion that a proper and fair 
handicap would be three feet to the foot, and two feet to the 
ounce. The judges to have power to rule out all rods evi- 
dently made light in the butt or handle to obtain unfair 
advantage in the handicap for weight. How many of the 
light weight rods that have been used in the tournaments for 
the past two years have been practical fishing rods? The 
whole reduction in weight has been taken from the handle; 
in fact, nearly all of the light rods have been made to win in 
long casting, and not for angling. The rods have the body 
and stiffness of an eighf ounce rod, with a handle just long 
enough for the reel and hand, and that in some instances 
mude of cork, and in all cases, so small that no man could 
swing them for an hour on stream or Jake, for the lack of 
weight at the butt would tire his arm, and the smallness of 
the handle would cramp his hand, In brief, let us have a 
tournament for anglers with the fly. ‘Rods, reels, lines, and 
flies to be practical, such as are in general use for that pur- 
pose, Rods handicapped so that any angler can enter any 
contest with the rod he uses when he ‘goes fishing,” All 
contestants to cast from a bridge or float sufficiently far from 
shore that they may cast in any direction. And with rules 
under which all contestants will stand upon their merits as 
anglers. ‘Then shall we interest the angling fraternity and 
to this end. 
The laws of nearly, or quite all the States prohibit the tak- 
ing of any game fish in inland waters in any manner (except 
for propagation or stocking depleted waters) except with 
hook and line. Our game constables, who are charged with 
the duty of secing that the laws are obeyed, are few, far 
between, and human, Fishermen, who fish for meat, will 
often resort to illegal means to take a big ’un, rather than go 
without his meat. While the angler, who casts his fly for 
the enjoyment he obtains rather than the pounds of fish he 
may take, acts as a fish warden also, and that he may now 
and then have added to his pleasure of casting his fly in quiet 
nooks, the occasional variety of hooking a fish, will do all 
that lies in his power to stop the illegal taking of fish; and 
not only that, but he will, by force of example, get others 
to try his method, and in a few years « host of anglers will 
Spring up, creating a public opinion that will effectually 
enforce our Jaws, and then we may hope to see many of our 
ae — 
now depleted streams restocked, aud soon’ teeming again - 
with finny denizens, where we may, of au afternoon, with- 
oul, as now, going miles by rail and buckboard, hope to 
cast our flies to some purpose other than that of practice. 
Ina Woop. 
A LIGHT BAIT-ROD. 
fiditer Forest and Stream; 
Your correspondent “‘W. G.,” of Springfield, Mass,, in 
your issue of Oct. 16, asks for the experience of any angler 
using light rods. I have used during the past season a split 
bamboo rod weighing 5} ounces. It has a solid reel-seat, 
three-quarters of an inch in diameter, below the hand. With 
teel-bands the rod would weigh about 44 ounces, It is 8 
feet 6 inches in length and is made in two sections of equal 
length. Hach section is made of four strips of bamboo and 
the rod is nearly square. The sides are not quite tlat, but 
slightly round, having the same curye as the original stock 
from which they were cut. The corners are slightly rounded 
The rod has given good satisfaction in bait-fishing for black 
bass. Itis very strong and elastic and handles pleasantly 
ever With a one-ounce sinker dangling at the end of the line. 
It Keeps its shape well, and when hela horizontally does not 
show much of a downward curve. Itis more elastic than a 
three-section rod, and will make a long cast with less exer- 
tion than is required with a heavier rod, For playing a 
two-pound black: bass it is all that is required; a heavier rod 
could not doit better, I believe it would give the best of sat- 
isfaction in handling fish of more than twice that weight, 
hut cannot speak from experience, not having had the pleas- 
ure of hooking any monsters the past seasan, 
In very swift currents where a sinker of 14 ounces and 
upward would be required, I think a heavier rod would give 
better satisfaction; also where the bottom is very vocky, and 
you get fast on an average nine times in ten cases, the long 
heavy rods will answer better, as they enable you to make 
hard pulls in different directions; but for the legitimate use 
of a bait-rod, such as casting and playing a game fish of ~ 
moderate weight, I consider the above described rod prefer- 
able to the heavy one. A three-section rod must be heavier 
to have the same strength and elasticity. 
E. A, Lopoup. 
Norristown, Pa., Nov. 27, 1884, 
SMALL FLIES. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your article and Mr, Prime’s letter to Mr, Marston in ref- 
erence to small flies, in Forest AND SrrwaAm of Oct. 6, 
recalls the following experience: 
Jn Vermont, near where I spent last and the previous five 
summers’ vacations, is 1 pond of above five acres extent, 
owned by a farmer, who very kindly gave me permission to 
fish there, and as it contains some large trout, I have each 
summer enjoyed some pleasant afternoous there fishing. The 
only times I fished there this summer there happened to be 
no wind, and in consequence the water was like glass, and, 
the sun being out clear and bright, I rigged my cast with the 
finest of drawn gut leaders and flies fully as small as those 
Mr. Marston sent over. Mr. Harris showed them to me 
before he sent them to Mr, Prime. 
1 cast with the smail flies until I became discouraged ; 80, 
just for the novelty, I put on for a tail fly one tied with a 
small loop at the head, a bass Hy tied on a No. 4sproat hook, 
and before making a cast I thought its own weight would 
break the leader. Jt seemed absurd to loop so large a fly on 
suco a leader, but I lengthened out the line, and when the 
fly dropped about sixty feet from the boat a trout rose, the 
first that afternoon, and missed; rose again, was hooked and 
landed, and by careful fishing I caught three more on the 
large fly, all of an average of 13 pounds. j 
1 tried the same tactics tive times after that and each time 
with the same resull, although I never caught more than 
four trout in an afternoon. Now, in future, when small 
flies fail I shal! try larger, even if there is no ripple, and per- 
haps if a fine leader is used they may be found the most 
succcssful for some waters. C, G. Leyrson. 
Brooxtiyy, N. Y. 
LONG-DISTANCE CASTING. 
if WISH to say a word in favor of long casting, especially 
as some anglers speak and write so disparagingly of it, 
declaring it impossible to hook a fish at any very great dis- 
iance, ete. ) . 
Last spring, Mr. T. B. Mills, Mr. Harry Prichard and I, 
went fora day’s fishing to a pond in which, Mr. Prichard 
told us before we started, that the trout, if any, were a great 
distance from shore; in fact, in the middle of the pond 
where the channel was. | 
When we prepared to fish, Mr. Prichard started his line 
out with the ‘‘Wye cast,” for which he is so famous, and 
which a great many anglers who cannot cast in that way, 
claim must scare the fish, because the fly is the last thing to 
touch the water, anil after five or six throws be succeeded in 
getting out at least eighty feet of line, and to the surprise of . 
both Mr, M, and myself, a trout rose, and 1m a very short 
time Mr. Prichard hooked six but landed only four, two 
escaping while being reeled in. The four trout weighed 
about six pounds TJ believe Mr, Prichard sent one or two 
of them to Dr, Fisher at the time he was so ill last spring. 
Mr, Mills and J did not baye a rise, for the reason that at 
