432 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Juke 24, 1886. 



ENGLISH FLY-CASTING. 



THE sixth Fishing Gazette Tournament was held June 5. 

 The following report is taken from the Fishing Gazette 

 of June 12 : 



The Eichmond Piscatorial Society, and especially its 

 chairman and leading spirit, Mr. A. J. Little, are to be 

 heartily congratulated on the great success Which attended 

 their most complete and admirable arrangements for carry- 

 ing out the Tournament last Saturday. The weather, which 

 on the five previous occasions had always been bad, and 

 sometimes worse than bad, was perfect; no more charming 

 or appropriate spot could have been chosen, and we can as- 

 sure Mr. W. Cunard that his kindness in placing his river- 

 side grounds at Orleans House, Twickenham, at the disposal 

 of the committee, earned the thanks not only of the com- 

 mittee, whose task was thus greatly simplified, but also of 

 the whole angling fraternity. 



When we say that there were considerably over a hundred 

 competitors, from all parts of the country, it will be seen 

 that the judges and the committee had their work cut out ; 

 but by arranging that two or three competitions should take 

 place at the same time, the whole of the long programme 

 was got through without a hitch— in fact, too much praise , 

 cannot be given to the gentlemen who officiated. In conse- 

 quence of the absence of many anglers who intended to be 

 present, but could not resist the attraction of that carnival of 

 fly-fishing, the May Fly week, the fly-casting competitors 

 were very few in number. The absence of Mr. P. D. 

 Malloch, of Perth, was much regretted, as was also the fact 

 that Major Traherne, although present, was unable from 

 ill-health to compete. It was a very happy thought to 

 combine punting matches with the other attractions of the 

 Tournament; these contests were watched with great inter- 

 est, and it must have been a revelation to many visitors to 

 witness the wonderful expert manner in which some of the 

 Thames professional fishermen can handle that, in un- 

 practiced hands, most unwieldy and cumbersome thing, a 

 Thames fishing punt. The struggle in the final heat was 

 most exciting, Ned Andrews winning by five feet. 



As regards the results, it will be seen from the complete 

 list we give that while there were no phenomenal casts, the 

 figures show some wonderfully good all-around work and 

 some very close competition. A noteworthy fact was that 

 Mr. Slater, of Newark, against a field of 19 competitors, 

 most of them using the Thames style of casting ; carried off 

 the five guinea cup with a splendid cast of 177ft. Sin. — i. c, 

 60 yards all but 4in. from the reel, with a a-Joz. weight. 

 Before the competition he had in practice repeatedly thrown 

 over 70 yards from the winch ; but, as all who have tried it 

 will acknowledge, it is one thing to throw in private and an- 

 other in a public competition. As will be seen from the list, 

 Messrs. Blarney, Powell, Foster, Martin, H. M. Little, May- 

 hew, Beutiey, Larkins, all came to the front with some very 

 fine casts; but, unless we are much mistaken, in no style of 

 casting were the records beaten. In the fly-casting there was 

 a nasty "fishtail" wind against the competitors, and in 

 nearly all the competitions the casts were made directly up 

 stream, and every fly -fisher knows that this is the least 

 favorable position of any for recovering a long line, as the 

 stream drowns the line and brings it down on to you. We 

 regret that in the switch-casting competition there was a 

 complete difference of opinion between Mr. Kelson and Mr. 

 Burn as to what constituted a switch. In a little preliminary 

 practice which took place, Mr. Kelson declared that Mr. 

 Burn was making a very pretty cast, but it was a true Spey 

 cast and not an orthodox "switch." He maintained that 

 the fly should never be lifted from the water in retrieving 

 the line to make the switch; Mr . Burn, on the other hand, 

 was equally certain that his switch was the pure breed. A 

 sort of compromise was, after long contention, arrived at. 

 As there was nothing to enable one to judge as to the dis- 

 tance of Oft. behind the competitors not being exceeded, it 

 was agreed that no cast should count if the fly was returned 

 past the edge of the platform on which the competitors stood, 

 and to make it easy to decide this point, they stood some dis- 

 tance from the projecting end of the platform. It was 

 ha,rdly to be expected that a contest in which the competitors 

 both considered their opponent's style wrong woula lead to 

 a satisfactory result. Mr. Kelson complained that Mr. Burn 

 was doing the Spey cast all the time, and Mr. Burn com- 

 plained that Mr. Kelson's line several times went behind him 

 much beyond the 6 -feet limit, although his fly did not pass 

 the platform. We think, taking all things into consideration, 

 the result, although unsatisfactory, was the only one that 

 could have been arrived at; if the competition had been re- 

 peated any number of times, in each the loser would have pro- 

 tested Mr. Burn's casts were very neatly made and much 

 admired, and we are mistaken if Mr. Kelson's longest switch is 

 not the best on record. It is evident that a clear definition 

 of the switch will be necessay in future competitions. We 

 heartily wish Mr. Nicolay had been present to see his prize 

 competed for by Sir Randal Roberts and Mr. Kelson. The 

 conditions were that the competitors should cast on the grass 

 along a measured line a distance of at least 35 yards from 

 the spot on which they stood, and that they make the same 

 cast back again. A little diagram will best explain this: 



RECORD OF THE COMPETITIONS. 



FLY-CASTING, TROUT, SINGLE-HANDED ROD. 



No. 1.— Professional.— 1st prize, £3, three best casts; 2d, 

 £2, second three best casts; 3d, £1, third three best casts. 

 Judges, Sir P. H. Roberts, Bart., and Rev. George Sumner. 



Distance in Delicacy Accuracy. 



^1— 



H. Wilder S3 



H. Mansell 



Harry Wilder 59 



W. Bayes 59 



E. Andrews 53 



Feet. 



-2- 



58 

 51 



-3-, 

 5? 



60 

 51 

 52 



Points. Points. Total. 

 6 6 178 



10 

 15 

 10 



6 

 10 



1st prize, W. Bayes; 2d, Harry Wilder. 



HEAVY SPINNING BAIT-CASTING (ANY STYLE). 



No. 2.— Amateur, 2^oz.— 1st prize, R. B. Marston's, £5 5s., 

 longest cast; Id, Slater's rods, Sach's blacfe forest bottle, 

 Gaynor's baits, second loneest cast; 3d, Gregory's spinning 

 baits, cliff umbrella, Woodfi eld's tackle, third longest cast; 

 4th, fourth longest cast. Judges: Messrs. T. R. Sachs, Thos. 

 Huggett, and J. Woodall. 



Distance in Feet and 

 Inches. 



Longest. 



91.11 

 135. 3 

 Out. 

 Out. 

 F. 



Out. 



F. 

 135. 6 

 Out. 

 Out. 

 Out. 

 A hsent. 

 146. 5 

 Out, 

 125 11 

 Out. 



F. 

 Out. 

 92.11 



Out. 



F. 

 117. 2 



F. 

 150. 5 

 158. 3 

 Time. 



F. 



F. 

 166 3 



F. 

 Out. 



92.11 

 135. 3 

 117. 2 

 121 8 

 150. 5 

 170. 3 



Style. 

 Thames. 

 Nottingham 



128. 

 115. 3 

 117.11 

 177. 8 

 Time. 



F. 

 Out. 



135. 6 

 166. 3 



145. 5 

 152.11 

 135.11 

 177. 8 



92.11 



Nottingham 

 Thames. 



Nottingham 



Thames. 



Nottingham 

 Thames. 

 Thames. 

 Nottingham 



FLY-CASTING, SALMON (OVERHAND). 



No. 9.— Professional.— 1st prize, £3, three best casts; 2d, 

 £2, second three best casts. Judges: Sir Randal H. Roberts, 

 Bart. , and Rev. Geo. Sumner. Rod, 18ft. 



Distance in 

 Feet. 



W. Bayes "~Ti 72 71 



Henry Wilder.... 80 79 78 



Harry Wilder 80 79 78 



E. Andrews 84 83 82 



Delicacy. Accuracy. 

 Points. Points. Total. 



12 

 6 

 8 



15 



is 



10 

 10 

 15 



253 

 255 

 279 



N.B.— 18 noints allowed each for delicacy and accuracy. 1st prize, 

 E. Andrews; 2d, Harry Wilder. 



SPINNING BAIT-CASTING (FROM REEL). 



No. 10— Amateur, l^oz.— 1st prize, silver cup, three longest 

 casts; 2d, oak and mounted salad bowl, fork and spoon and 

 Gardner's creel and Bullock's spinners, next three longest casts; 

 3d, Nottingham reel, Malloch's rod (if Malloch reel is used), 

 longest cast; 4th, silver-mounted claret jug. Judges: Messrs. 

 T. R. Sachs, Thos. Huggett^and S. P. "Woodall. Rod 14it. and 

 under. 



Distance in Feet and Inches. Total. 



-1- 



G. H. Hester Out. 



H. C. Beatley F. 



C. R. Larkins 97. 7 



F. Gratifield 121. 8 



A. J. Little F. 



M. H. Blarney 170. 3 



B. W. Hobden Out. 



R. T. Jackson F. 



H. P. Underwood.. 129 



H. W. Little Out. 



H. Thompson Out. 



W. H. L.Alfred.... Out. 



F. Stone 



R. F. Maybew Out. 



E. V. Powell 152.11 



H. E. Gaynor Out. 



D. Slater Out. 



A Hawes Out. 



G. Evans F. 



H. Dickinson 



Gil«on (not in time) 



Firs' prizp, D. Slater; second, M. H. Blarney ; third, H. W. Little; 

 fourth, E. V. Powell. 



SPINNING BAIT -CASTING (THAMES STYLE). 



No. 3.— Professional l%oz.— 1st prize, £3, aggregate three 

 longest casts; 2d, £2, aggregate next three longest casts; 3d, 

 £1, aggregate longest cast; 4th, 10s., third three longest casts. 

 Judges, Mr. Philip Green and Mr. F. C. Michells. 



Distance in Feet and Inches. 

 ^1 



J, Dobbin 98. 



B. Stevens 131- 



Henry Wilder (straight) 1 52 



J Langshaw 105. 



Harry W T ilder 102 . 



G. Osman 



G. Haines 137. 



T. Milbourne 128. 



F. Hammerton 



W. Milbourne 129. 



H. Holdway 153. 6 



F. Brown 91. 3 



E. Andrews 150. 8 



B. R. Bam bridge 117.2 — 



1st prize, E. Andrews; 2d, G. Haines; 3d, T. Milbourne; 4th, W, 

 Oldway. 



FLY- CASTING, TROUT, DOUBLE-HANDED ROD. 



No. 4.— Amateur.— 1st prize, framed fish picture, Francis 

 Francis's "A Book on AngliDg," three best casts. J udges: Sir 

 Randal H. Roberts, Bart., and Rev. Geo. Sumner. Rod 10ft. 



2 



90. 



123. 



311 







131. 



F. 



262. 







154. 





306. 







94. 6 



108. 3 



307. 



9 



144. 6 





246. 



6 



Absent. 









144. 



134. 



415. 







130. 



126. 6 



884. 



6 



Absent. 











127. 





250. 



125. 9 





279. 



3 



74. 6 





165. 







148. 6 



175. 



474. 



2 







147. 





F Granfleld 108. 5 115. 7 llfi 340. 



R. W. Hobden 114 . 4 112 . 4 107 2 333.10 



R. F. May hew 129 . 4 135.11 135.10 401.0 



H. Davis 132. 1 130. 1 129. 391. 8 



OR. Larkins 116.8 121.5 106.3 339.4 



E Lee 119. 3 115.10 132. 11 368. 



M. H. Rlaroev 101.8 109 . 2 105.11 316 .9 



H. W. Little.' 68 . 5 130 . 7 15?. 6 3M5. 9 



E. V. Powell (Malloch reel) 127. 9 125.8 11". 8 364.1 



A. .T. Little... - 148 . 7 148 . 7 



R. T. Jackson — — — — 



E. Middleton — — — — 



D. Slater 160 . 7 143 . 6 147 . 5 451.6 



W. Lock Absent. 



1st prize, D. Slater; 2d, R. F.Mayhew; 3d, H. W. Little; 4th, H. 

 Davis. 



SPINNING BAIT-CASTING (ANY STYLE). 



For accuracy in casting toward a fixed in ark. 

 [The mark was placed about 35 yards from the competitors, 

 the object being to cast the bait as near to it as possible.] 

 No. 11. — Amateur, l%bz.— First prize, three-piece glued fly- 

 rod, William's tackle book, aggregate three nearest casts; sec- 

 ond, Major Traherne's spinning rod, reel and line, six rod rests, 

 aggregate next three, nearest casts; third, Sage's photographs, 

 C. H. Cook's line and rings, aggregate nearest cast. Judges, 

 Messrs. T. R. Sachs, Thos. Huggett and J. F. Woodall. Rods, 

 14 feet and under: 



Distance in Feet and 



Inches. Total. Style. 



^1 2 3-> 



H.Taman 11. 3 18. 9 21.11 51.11 



H. O. Adams 29. .... 



M. H. Blarney 16. 4. > 15. 6 



Distance in Feet. 

 -1 3 3- 



Delicacy 

 Points. 



Accuracy 

 Points. Total. 

 — 105 



G. M. Kelson.. ... 105 —. . 

 N. B.— Mr. Kelson broke his rod at the third cast. 



FLY-CASTING, TROUT, SINGLE-HANDED ROD. 



No 5.— Amateur.— 1st prize, Farlow & Co.'s fly rod. and 

 Bulmer's casts and cast box, three best casts; 2d, Thos. Grant 

 & Rons, case of tonic liqueurs, second three best casts. Judges: 

 Sir Randal H. Roberts, Bart., and Rev. Geo. Sumner. Rod 

 12ft. and under. 



Distance in Feet. 

 r~l 2 3-^ 



H . W. Little 62 61 61 



5fl 

 65 

 62 



58 



m 



62 



Delicacy Accuracy 



Points. Points. Total. 



8 6 198 



15 10 301 



6 6 S06 



6 18 211 



6 10 218 

 Mr. 



E. Middleton 59 



R. F. Mayhew 66 



R. B. Marston 63 



G. M. Kelson 65 



N B.— 18 points allowed for delicacy, and IS tor accuracy. 

 Marston scored Cull points for accuracy, Mr. Middleton tlie most tor 

 delicacy. 1st prize, G. M. Kelson; 2d, R. B. Marston. 



SPINNING BAIT-CASTING (FROM REEL). 



No 6 —Professional, 1%oz.— 1st prize, £3, aggregate three 

 longest casts; 2d, £2, aggregate next three longest casts; 3d 

 £1. Aggregate longest cast. Judges: Messrs. Philip Green and 



F. C. Mitchells. , . T , „ tsi 



Distance m Feet and Inches. Total 



r-1 



J. W. Martin 142. 7 



G. Coxen 98. 



B. R. Bambridge Out 



R. Coxen 89. 4 



H. Man sell 



F. Brown Out. 



E. Andrews I 35 - 3 



J. Foster 131. 4 



W. H.L.Alfred 22.11 9.11 14.8 



G. Evans 5. 6 20.11 4. 2 



H. O. Beatley 14. 3 12 6. 7 



A. J. Little 39. 4 10. 2 10. 4 



G. H. Hester 24 . 6 6 . 8 9 . 7 



E. V.Powell 9.11 7. 4 6. 6 



11. E. Gavnor 4. 5 17. 4 13. 5 



D. Slater 4. 8 9.10 4. 3 



R. T. Jackson 8. 4 10. 8 11. 9 



H. W. Little 10. 1 4. 1 13. 9 



H. Beatley 10 1 1.7 10. 



R. W. Hobden 21.0 26.10 40.0 



a R. Lnrkins 8 7 36. 1. 4 



R, F. Mavhew 29. 5 12. 6 4.10 



H. Thompson 13. G 10 9 11. 3 



F. Granfleld 26. 5 10.11 12. 2 



H. Davis 20. 21. 5 6. 4 



E. Lee 11. 29 4 10 . 2 



Wheatstone 15. 8 2 .0 12. 5 



35 fi 

 47. 6 

 30. 7 

 32.10 

 59.10 

 40. 9 

 23. 9 

 35. 2 



18. 9 

 30. 9 

 27.11 

 21. 8 

 87.10 

 45.11 

 46. 9 

 35. 6 



19. f, 

 50 9 

 50. 6 

 29 8 



Thames. 

 Nottingham. 

 Coil'd in hnd 

 Thames. 

 Thames 

 Thames. 

 Nottingham. 

 Thames. 

 Thames. 

 Thame*. 

 Nottingham. 



Nottingham. 

 Thames. 



Nottingham. 

 Nottingham. 

 Thames. 

 Thames. 

 Nottingham. 

 Nottingham. 

 Thames. 



EffStfnrfe^* D. ' SlaterV second, H. Beatley; third, O. R. Larkins; 

 fourth, E. V. Powell. 



SPINNING BAIT-CASTING FROM LINE COILED IN HAND. 



No. 12.— Professional.^ %oz.— 1st prize, £3, aggregate three 

 longest casts; 2d prize, £2, aggregate next three longest casts. 

 Judges: Messrs. Philip Green and F. C. Michells. Rod, 14ft. 

 and under. . ' 



Distance in Feet and Inches. 



92 9 



101. 6 

 111. 6 



Total. 



182. 9 

 95. 

 187. 6 

 219. 6 

 85. 1 



35 yards. 



They must cast first from A to B, and then from B to A. 

 Both competitors easily exceeded the 35 yards, and Mr Kel- 

 son threw over 40 yards— in fact, he made some far better 

 casts than he had done in the previous salmon casting con- 

 tests, the wind having almost died away. 



It was not till after seven o'clock that the various events 

 were brought to a close, and then followed the distribution 

 of the prizes, at which Mr. Little presided in his usual genial 

 manner. Subsequently, at a cold collation, Mr. Little pro- 

 posed the health of "The Queen," and then that of "Mr. and 

 Mrs Cunard, " mention being made of their kindness m grant- 

 ing the committee the use of the grounds. The Rev. George 

 Sumner responded to the toast of ' c The Judges. ^ex- 

 cellent management of the Richmond Piscatorial Society 

 was commented on by Mr. Spreckley, and a cordial vote of 

 thanks to the Society was acknowledged by Mr. Little, ine 

 services of Mr. Davis, the hon. secretary, who has been inde- 

 fatigable in promoting the affair, were eulogized and the 

 health of "the Ladies," proposed by Sir Randal Roberts, and 

 replied to by Mr. H. Clifford Taman, terminated the proceed- 



1U Mr Sage, of Twickenham, took instantaneous photos of 

 competitions; but we very much regret to learn that all the 

 instantaneous photographs of incidents m the animated 

 scenes on the river and on the ground taken by him have 

 been destroyed by fire in a rather mysterious manner. 



99. 1 

 Out. 

 Out, 

 98. 9 

 Absent. 

 62. 5 

 115. 

 139. 



-3 , 



92.10 

 Out. 

 78. 3 

 1C6. 6 



131. 

 136. 9 



354 . 6 

 96. 

 78. 8 



294. 7 



128.11 

 381. 3 

 407. 1 



1st prize",'j. FosterV2d', E.' Andrews; 3d, J. W. Martin; 4th, R. Coxen. 

 SPINNING BAIT- CASTING (THAMES STYLE). 



No. 7.— Amateur, l%oz.-lst prize, silver cup, aggregate 

 three longest casts; 2d, Allcock & Co.'s fishing tackle Rout- 

 lege's reel, two straps, aggregate next three longest casts ; od, 

 Liverpool Angling Association's prize, Lambert 6c .Butlers 

 Jessamine tobacco, punt rod and reel, aggregate longest cast. 

 Judges: Messrs. T. R. Sachs, Thos. Huggett and J. F. Wood- 

 all. Length of rod 14ft. and under. 



Distance in Feet and Inches. Total. 



G. H. Hester 



H. P. Underwood. 



G. Evans 



R. W. Hobden. 

 F. Granfleld.... 



91. 





105. 



8 



120. 



4 



116. 



5 



118. 



4 



185. 



3 



141. 



9 



135. 



9 



137. 



8 



92 









4 







85. 



8 



134. 



6 



121. 



5 



111. 







160. 



5 



105. 







147. 



6 



168. 



2 



114. 2 

 94, 



146. 4 

 160. 

 94.10 



143. 9 

 161. 6 



172. 9 



197. 5 

 350.11 

 94 



397.11 

 437. 6 

 324. 6 



77. 4 

 220. 2 

 376. 3 

 426.11 



488 . 5 



Points. 

 13 

 6 

 15 



8 



15 

 12 

 18 

 8 



Harry Wilder — 



Henrv Wilder 90. 



H Holdway — 



T. Milbourne 86. 



W. Milbourne 108. 



E. Andrews 85. 4 



1st prize,, W. Milbourne; 2d, T. Milbourne. 



FLY-CASTING, TROUT, DOUBLE-HANDED ROD. 



No. 13.— Professional.— 1st prize, £3, three best casts; 2d, 

 £2, second three best casts. Judges: Sir Randal H. Roberts, 

 Bart., and Rev. Geo. Sumner. Rod 10ft. and under. 



Distance in Feet. Delicacy Accuracy 



2 3-^ Points. Points. Total 



W. Bayes 77 74 57 



Henry Wilder 60 48 57 



Harry Wilder 56 57 58 



F. . Andrews <S2 60 58 



B. R. Bambridge... 50 48 45 

 1st prize, W. Bayes; 2d, Harry Wilder. 



FLY-CASTING, SALMON (SWITCH). 



Six feet only allowed behind the competitor for the rod or 

 line to extend. 



No 14.— Amateur.— 1st prize, C. Farlow & Co.'s trout 

 spinning rod, Sach's black forest bottle. Judges: Sir Randal 

 H. Roberts, Bart., and Rev. Geo. Sumner. 



Distance in Delicacy. Accuracy. 

 Rod Feet. Points. Points. 



^1 2 3-^ Total. 



G. M. Kelson 17.08 92 91 85 6 8 282 



C. M. P. Burn... 18. 00 73 74 76 12 12 247 

 N B —Mr. Burn lodged an objection to Mr. Kelson on the score that 



his line struck the water repeatedly behind the pier. 1 his C'hiee hon 

 was laid before Mr. Marston, who was on the float, and reported to 

 Mr. A. J. Little. 



SINGLE PUNTING. 



235 

 193 

 201 

 196 

 148 



Marsh.. • — _ 



H is 3 c i prfel,°E:'v. Powell; 2d," H. C. Beatley; 3d, M. H. Blarney. 

 FLY-CASTING, SALMON (OVERHAND). 



No 8-AMATEUR.-lst prize, framed fish picture, first three 

 best casts. Judges: Rev. Geo. Sumner and Mr. R. B. Mars- 



t0n ' Length Distance in Delicacy Accuracy 



u of feet. Points. Points 



E o d __t % 3-^ Total. 



Sir R Roberts ...16.10 ,78 91 9 9 269 



G N M B.-18°points' each allowed for delicacy and accuracy. These 

 casts were made against the wind. 



2(1, 



C U LeeT 4,Henr^Wilder.' "The final heat was a splendid race, 

 E. Andrews winning by 5ft. only. 



SPECIAL COMPETITION. 

 SALMON FLY-CASTING FOR MR. J. A. NICOLAY'S PRIZE, £5 5S. 



Judge: Rev. George Sumner. (The conditions have already 

 been described in our notice of the tournament) Mr. G. M. 

 Kelson cast 109ft. out and 123ft. home. Sir Randal Roberts 

 cast 107ft. out and 109ft. home. "Down and up agam on the 

 same line according to the conditions agreed upon for the 

 Nicolay prize." 



The London Assays: "The popularity of the thing in 

 the United States, however, soon attracted the attention of 

 enthusiasts on this side of the Atlantic, and five years ago 

 Mr R B. Marston, editor of the Fishing Gazette, invited bis 

 readers to offer prizes, or compete for those given. In this 

 way the anglers of London, if one may coin a worn for the 

 occasion, became tournamental. * * * At the first tour- 

 nament it rained and blew a hurricane. Nothing could be 

 more discouraging than that day; but the author of the 

 scheme, notwithstanding, persevered, and carried it on year 

 after year, until on Saturday, on the Thames side, at Twick- 

 enham, in the grounds of the Orleans House, a crowning 

 success was achieved. * * * When, as with the 'event, 



