May 31, 1888. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



373 



an oversight the length and weight of rods was not taken 

 in this contest. Any person who may have them will 

 confer a favor by giving them to Mr. Gonzalo Poey, 

 Secretary, 114 "Wall street. 



Distance. Accuracy. Score. 



Prof. P. ,(. Silvernail 80 40 120 



James L. Breeze ...80 31 111 



James Rice, Jr 75 35 110 



Col. F. S. Pinkney 74 32 103 



Fred Mather 08 29 95 



C.H. Mowry 68 25 93 



James L. Cornell 65 26 91 



Minnow-Casting for Black Bass.— This class was on 

 the programme for the first day, but the contest was to 

 take place on land and the Polo Ground was occupied 

 then and it was postponed. Judges: John A. Roosevelt, 

 W. H. Wood; referee, Dr. Geo. Trowbridge. Open to ail. 

 Score — Average distance cast in feet. Accuracy, 40 

 points. Casts for accuracy to be made at a stake or mark 

 distant 60 feet. A stand 12 inches high in front, 9 inches 

 in rear, and of suitable size, was provided, to be used at 

 the option of the caster. The casts were added and 

 divided by fi ve. 



Length Weight W'ghtof Distance 



of rod. of rod. sinker. in Accu- Total 



Ft. Jn, Oz. Oz. Ft.& In. racy. score. 



145.09 

 181.03 

 54.03 

 168.04 

 156.08 



A. F. Dresel..- ..8.04 



Sydney Frey 8.04. 



W.T.Shackleford.7.0S 



P. C. Leonard.... 8, 01 



G Poey 9.00 



C. Of. Levison 8.06 



9 



8^4 



33 



170 



182:06 



7^3 



>)4 



127*^ 



Ed. Eggert 8.07 



77" i; 



Single-Handed Fly-Casting. — Light Rod Contest. — 

 Judges: James Beukard, J. L. Vallotton; referee, Dr. 

 A. Ferber. Open to all. Rods not to exceed 5 oz. in. 

 weight, nor ll|ft. in length. All rods with solid reel 

 seats will be allowed ioz. Distance only to count. Here 

 again the record was broken, Mr. Leonard beating his 

 own score of 88ft, made last year, which was the highest 

 overhead cast on record, made with a 5oz. rod. 



Length 

 of Rod. 

 Ft. In. 



R. C. Leonard 10 00 



H. W. Hawes 10 00 



T. B. Mills 10 00 



R. B. Lawrence 10 00 



J. L. Breeze 10 00 



Sames Rice, Jr 10 00 



Weight 

 of Rod. 



Oz. 



Distance 

 Cast. 

 Ft. In. 

 95 00 

 87 00 

 80 00 

 70 06 

 74 00 

 60 00 



a fly with a single-handed rod, and it was and is yet, but 

 at that time it was not exceeded in a public contest, 

 where the scores can be depended upon, and now we re- 

 cord the marvelous cast of 102ft., made with a single 

 hand and a cleanly retrieved line. There are always re- 

 ports of guides and others in the woods who can cast 

 1 00ft., but this is mere guess and is not done alongside of 

 a measuring line with watchful judges in a boat a few 

 feet from where the flies drop, and rival contestants on 

 the bank to see what is being done. The tournaments at 

 Harlam Mere have done much to stimulate the use of the 

 rod and to bring fly-fishing into favor. 



Heavy Bass Casting.— Judges: J. A. Roosevelt, W. H. 

 Wood; referee, G. Poey. Open to all, as per Rule 16. A 

 stand 12in. high in front and 9in. in rear, and of suitable 

 size, was provided, to be used at the option of the con- 

 testant. This cast took place on the land , inside of the 

 Polo Grounds, by courtesy of Mr. Arthur Bell, manager, 

 to whom the association is indebted for many favors. 

 The length and weight of the rods isnot recorded on the 

 official book, but they were such as are used in that 

 style of fishing: 



Average 



1st. 3d. 3d. 4th. 5th. Cast, 

 Ft. In. Ft. In. Ft. In. Ft. In. Ft. In. Ft. In. 



A. F. Dresel 170 00 184 09 193 08 178 03 175 11 181 OS 



Sydney Fry 107 04 166 09 173 02 177 03 159 08 168 10 



W. F.Shackleford.. 68 01 136 01 138 06 132 01 121 06 119 03 



David Harris 150 01 111 03 108 07 61 10 35 10 90 05 



Ed. Eggert 143 04 77 05 67 04 40 10 43 07 74 06 



Fly-Casting for Black Bass.— Judges: James Rice, Jr., 

 A. P. Vredonburgh; referee, Col. F. S. Pinckney. Open 

 to amateurs under Rule 2. Single-handed rod, not to ex- 

 ceed 11-Jft. in length. Only one fly required, to be fur- 

 nished by the committee, and to be tied on No. 2 sproat 

 hooks; distance only to count. There was considerable 

 fun in this contest, partly on account of the pouring rain, 

 which was the heaviest of the day, and partly on account 

 of the ties to be cast off in the wet. In the tie between 

 Messrs. Lawrence and Eggert, they cast over and the 

 former won with 79ft., against 71ft. 6in. by Eggert. The 

 two other ties were not cast off on account of the storm: 



Length Weight Distance 



of Rod. of Rod. Cast. 



Ft. In. Oz. Ft. 



J. L. Breeze 11 00 10>4 79 



C. G. Levison 11 00 9M 76 



Ed Eggert 11 06 10% 75 



Robt. B. Lawrence 11 00 10 75 



GonzaloPoey 11 00 8 72.6 



A. F. Dresel 11 03 10^ 71 



Prof. J. P. Silvernail 10 06 8J4 70 



Dr. Geo. Trowbridge 11 06 8>1 70 



Fred Mather 11 06 10 57 



Francis Endicott 11 06 10 57 



Each year it has seemed that the limit to which a fly can 

 be cast has been reached, and each year sees the record 

 broken in some class. When these tournaments began it 

 was thought that 70ft. was an enormous distance to drop 



NEW ENGLAND WATERS. 



THE desire to boom the hotels and camps, the railroads 

 and the stage routes, through stories of big catches 

 and big fish caught, is stdl strong in the mind of the 

 average writer in the daily papers, and special dispatches 

 bristle with big lies as usual this year. But in spite of 

 all this, up to the present writing (May 28) the fishing in 

 the Maine trout lakes has been poor. The water is un- 

 usually high, and chiefly snow and ice water at that. 

 There is a record of one' 51b. trout caught at Rangeley, 

 otherwise the fish have generally been small. This trout 

 was taken by a gentleman entirely unaccustomed to trout 

 fishing. Curious to note, it was remarked at Litchfield's, 

 when he was buying his outfit, that possibly bis success 

 would be better than that of an old hand. Considerable 

 success is noted this spring in taking landlocked salmon 

 in Rangeley Lake. Mr. W. G. Clark, of Attleboro, is 

 reported as taking one last week weighing 51bs., and one 

 of 6-pbs. is mentioned later. A lar^e number of others of 

 smaller size are noted. These salmon are the result of 

 planting by the Maine Fish Commissioners, and naturally 

 they are pleasad with the results. It is worthy of note, 

 however, that although these landlocked salmon have 

 been planted in the other lakes of the Androscoggin 

 chain, and that these lakes are all connected by quite 

 respectable rivers in point of size, yet but very few 

 salmon have ever been taken other than in Rangeley 

 Lake, the upper one of any considerable size. The theory- 

 is thai they work up over the dams of the Union Water 

 Power Company, but that they never come down. In 

 Weld Pond the catch of landlocked salmon is turning 

 one well this year, and many of the notables of the State 

 have been there. Commissioner Stanley always goes, 

 Judge Whitehouse of Augusta has been there. Dr. J. H. 

 Rollin of Philadelphia has taken a 41b. salmon. Dr. F. 



C. Dolly and S. H. Dolly have had excellent luck taking 

 eight salmon. 



Among the notable sportsmen of Boston, now at the 

 Androscoggin Lakes, maybe mentioned E. B. Haskell , 

 of the Boston Herald, Col. H. T. Rockwell, J. F. Priest, 



D. H. Phillips, W. B. Phillips, "Weston Lewis, H. A. 

 Priest, A. N. ParLin, F. E. Parlin, F. A. Magee, H. S. 

 Hall, Horace Haskins, J, F. Rogers, H. G. Hartshorn, E. 

 R. Hunnewell, J. W\ Cttmmings, Thos. Cimningham, L. 

 W. Bradstreet and others. The movement of sportsmen 

 toward the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick waters 

 promises to be large, but the cold weather and the back- 

 wardness of the season is keeping them at home longer 

 than usual. Sometimes it will be more thoroughly be- 

 lieved that the best fishing, especially for trout, does not 

 immediately follow the departure of the ice. It has long 

 been well understood that the trout does not rise to the 

 fly till the temperature of the water is changed from ice- 

 water to something like the mildness of spring, and the 

 sportsmen who are getting a little sick of the fresh fish 

 business, trolling, and the anythiug-to-get-them plan, are 

 coming around to the idea of going a little later, when 

 the trees have begun to leave and the snow is out of the 

 woods. I met a gentleman on the street the other day, 

 and I was a little surprised to meet him, for he had fled 

 the city with the news of the going out of the ice from 

 the Maine lakes for several years in succession, and it 

 was very natural to suppose that he was enjoying the cold 

 weather and the icewater in the stern of a canoe with a 

 trolling rod in his hand at the very time jl met him. On 

 my expressing surprise that he was not with the early 

 trollers, he remarked that he had got sick of trolling. 

 "After all it suits me about as well as still-fishing for 

 cod," he said, "and I am about done with it. I made up 

 my mind last year, though I was one of the first to start, 

 and was at our camp as soon as the ice went out, that the 

 next time I went it would be when the weather was 

 some warmer and a chance for fly-fishing. This year I 

 am going about the middle of June, and am going to try 

 Kennebago as well as otvr lake, black flies or no black 

 flies." 



At Bangor there have been some wonderful days with 

 the salmon. Wednesday and Thursday were the most 

 exciting days ever known there in the line of catching 

 salmon. Nine were taken in the evening and nine the 

 next morning. Half an hour after the salmon began to 

 rise the news was in Boston. Since then the fishing has 

 been fitful, and only a few fish have been taken. But at 

 that time the pool seemed to be alive with salmon. They 

 rose to the rudest of fishing gear, as well as to the best, 

 but the number of fish taken was far less than the num- 

 ber hooked, owing to the crudeness of the outfits and the 

 want of experience in handling. The rule is to work up 

 through the rapid water as near the dam as the strength 

 of the oarsman will admit, and then when the fish is 

 struck to let go the anchor and down stream, fish and all, 

 at lightning speed, and play and land the fish in the 

 smoother waters a mile below. But so great was the 

 crowd of boats and the choice of position so valuable that 

 some of the more covetous tried the experiment of un- 

 gainly tackle and the landing of the fish in the rapid 

 water by sheer main strength and strength of tackle. 

 But almost invariably such fish were lost. Think of at- 

 tempting to land a great salmon, with the water running 

 feather white, by full strength of tackle, held in a boat 

 above; something must give away, and generally it has 

 proved to be the mouth of the fish. Fortunate it is that 

 the mouth of the salmon has not the strength of that of 

 the blue fish, else the fresh fish business at Bangor would 

 flourish for a season, and then the salmon pool would be 

 worthless again. Bangor is quite a large city. Suppose 

 for a moment, good reader of the Forest and Stream, 

 that it should suddenly turn out that great salmon, worth 

 nearly a dollar a pound, could be taken in the East River 

 or off some of the wharves in Boston. What a crowd 

 there would be of both the lame and the lazy! Wouldn't 

 everybody be there? Muckers, Dagos, Coons and Pigtaib 

 would all be there. Such is somethin g of th e state of 



affairs at Bangor when it is announced that the salmon 

 are rising. That salmon pool below the dam is certainly 

 one of the most remarkable in the world for the number 

 and size of the fish caught. At the same time it is one of 

 the most accessible, and hence one of the worst overdone. 



Special. 



An Arboreal Fly Disentangles. — Exeter, Ontario. 

 — I have done a considerable amount of fly-fishing with 

 the artificial fly and like many others have often met 

 with an accident in not looking out for trees and branches 

 overhead, and getting the leader and flies caught in a 

 branch, in some cases a rather queer place to get at to 

 free them again, particularly where a tree or bush over- 

 hangs the river; and I see some of your correspondents 

 get in the same fix, besides doing a tall amount of 

 swearing, should they lose a fly that the fish are taking 

 to. Now I have got up a little tool that acts like a charm 

 that will take down the leader, fly and all, and not hurt 

 a feather, either from over your head, sidewise and in 

 any position, at a distance of 5 to 15 feet away from you. 

 Can be made by the quantity and sold for about 75 cents; 

 and can be carried in the vest pocket and is very simple. I 

 am not in a position to get it patented myself, but would 

 like to be remunerated for the idea in some shape, so I 

 thought by writing you, you would put me in the way of 

 making something out of it, that is after it has been, ap- 

 proved of. Perhaps you would give an opinion. — G. F. 

 D. [We are decidedly in favor of anything to save the 

 wear and tear of spirit of a man whose fly is up a tree. 

 Any enterprisnig manufacturer who wishes it wdll be 

 furnished with the address of the writer of the above.] 



A Tournament at Indianapolis.— Indianapolis, Ind., 

 May 25. — Editor Forest and Stream: The Indianapolis 

 Fly-Fisher's Club held their first annual tournament at 

 Broad Cut, yesterday. A high wind prevailed and no 

 great casts were made. Messrs. H. S. New and M. I). 

 Butler tied at G3ft., the judges being Gen. Lew Wallace, 

 Hon. Byron R. Elliott, and Dr. George Hunt. In casting 

 the minnow for black bass Mr. Gus Behmer made 127ft. 

 twice and 113ft. once. He was allowed five, casts but 

 fouled his line in the other two. The attendance was 

 good and th e contests were witnessed by many people 

 who were greatly interested in this, the first angling 

 tournament ever held west of New York. The cast of 

 Mr. Behmer, in the minnow class, equaled the famous one 

 made by Mr. Dresel, at Harlem Mere, in 1885. 



A Plunge in the Fountain of Youth. — I have just 

 returned from my old stamping ground among the rocks 

 and hills of Haddam, Connecticut, very glad to be able 

 to report that a fair number of quail were left over from 

 last fall, and have survived the winter, blizzard and all; 

 and are as happy as quails can be, giving promise of good 

 shooting next fall, which your humble servant hopes 

 once more to enjoy. Wet a line and caught trout enough 

 for a breakfast for four persons in about three hours. 

 Had a splendid tramp over the old hill among the apple 

 blossoms, and feel younger by at least five years.— A. 



Lake Minnetonka.— New York, May 25. I have just 

 received a letter from my friend Mr. F. B. Mathews of 

 Minneapolis, in which he says: "Have just got in from 

 the upper lake (Minnetonka), first trip of the season. 

 Bass fishing poor, one 3jlbs. , one 2p>s. , one 21bs. Weather 

 cold, water ditto. Killed one pickerel, weight 19ilbs., 

 length 42in., girth 18in. This fish was caught in Cook's 

 bay, and breaks the record in this locality with rod and 

 reel. Tackle used, split bamboo minnow casting rod 

 (similar to Henshall pattern), weight about 8oz, , and a 

 No. 7 Skinner spoon."— Judge. 



Ionia, Mich., May 18.— I left Ionia May 14 at 4 o'clock 

 A. M., and arrived at Hart, Mich., at 12 o'clock with a 

 party of three gentlemen, Messrs. F. A. Bailey of Port 

 Huron, and Russell Ward and F. A. Sessions of Ionia. 

 We fished the 15th and 16th, and arrived at Ionia again 

 on the 17th, with 170 brook trout, the largest weighing 

 8£lbs. dressed; and we had several weighing lib. and 

 nibs. This we considered a large catch for the time we 

 were doing it, and the weather. I will write you again 

 after my next trip for black bass. — H. L. Bailey. 



Indian Rock, Me., May 25.— The ice is all out of 

 Rangeley Lake, and but little is in the big lake, except 

 Bemis Bay, which is jammed full and will probably stay 

 so until there is a heavy wind. Fishing better than 

 usual, so soon after the ice leaves. Quite a quantity of 

 snow in the woods. Water high. Parties are catching 

 more landlocked salmon than ever before. Sportsmen at 

 all the resorts, except those which cannot be reached on 

 account of ice.— C. J. Richardson. 



A Delaware Bay Weakfish.— On May 14 a trout 

 weighing 14jlbs. and measuring 34in. in length was 

 caught in a seine in Delaware Bay, off Bower's Beach. 

 This is the largest trout caught in this section for fifty 

 years. In the spring of 1838 a trout weighing 171bs. and 

 measuring 3Sin. in length, was caught at the mouth of 

 the Mispillion Creek.— Del. A. Ware. 



The South Side Sportsman's Club Handbook comes 

 to us from the secretary, Mr. F. O. de Luze, handsomely 

 illustrated with artotype views of the house old and new, 

 hatchery, and old mill. 



REMOVAL. 



The offices of Forest and Stream are now at No. 318 Broadway. 



New York, May 17. 1888.— 17. S. Cartridge Co., Lowell, Mass.: 

 Gentlemen— It affords us nmch pleasure to report upon your 

 latest Climax shells with strong primers received this morning. 

 We have tested them with Schultze powder, and find them simply 

 excellent in everv particular and practically equal to the best 

 adapted English primer. Two and a half drams to 3J4drs. of 

 Schultze powder in 12-bo»es and 3M to Mrs. m 10-gauge worked to 

 perfection in vour shells, loaded simply like black powder and 

 without ramming. Very truly yours (Signed), Von Lengerke & 

 Detmoed.— Adv. 



