June 13, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



423 



INDIANAPOLIS FLY-CASTERS. 



THE second annual fly-casting tournament of the Fly- 

 Fishermen's Club of Indianapolis, Ind., was held at 

 Broad Cut on the canal May 31. Secretary J. D. Blair 

 writes: 



"The weather was very disagreeable to say the least* 

 still there wore seventeen entries. The card gives the 

 order in which they cast. The wind was strong all day, 

 making it very difficult to get the line out on the back 

 cast. Better records might have been made all around. 

 The inclosed taken from the Indianapolis Journal will 

 give further particulars": 



A stiff northwester that carried with it a cold rain was 

 blowing yesterday morning, but not strong enough to 

 prevent the mem hers of the Fly -Fishermen's Club from 

 holding their second annual tournament. Before 9 o'clock 

 the scientific anglers, wearing rubber boots, and coats of 

 like material, and with heads protected by proof hats, 

 began gathering along the banks of the canal at the St. 

 Claire street crossing, where the little steamer General 

 Mon is was w aiting to convey them to Broad Cut. Many 

 were late in reporting, and it was after 9 o'clock when 

 the start was begun, with about 100 members of the club 

 and their friends on board. The stars and stripes floated 

 from the little steamer, which, with the jolly crowd 

 aboard, attracted much attention as she steamed up the 

 narrow waterway. The bad weather was a great disap- 

 pointment to those who had anticipated a day of such en- 

 joyment that only a fly-caster can appreciate. It was ex- 

 pected that not less than 500 people would be present, as 

 many fishermen from various parts of the State had sig- 

 nified their intention of witnessing the sport. Nearly all 

 the participants in the day's sport had made arrange- 

 ments to bring their families with them, but the miser- 

 able weather defeated all their plans. Even the brave 

 fishermen, who are prone to expect bad weather when 

 they have planned to go out with rod and line, were al- 

 most tempted to turn back when they reached the Cut, 

 and postpone the contest until they were assured winter 

 was over. The success of their first tournament had been 

 marred by unfavorable weather, and it was fondly hoped 

 that the elements might be more favorable this year. It 

 was finally decided to go on with the contest, notwith- 

 standing the wind was blowing crosswise of the canal, 

 making it impossible to attain the best results. 



At 10 o'clock the judges, who were Judge Byron K. 

 Elliott, Dr. L. D. Waterman and Capt. DeWitt Wallace, 

 shielded from the rain by immense rubber coats and 

 umbrellas, took their place along the bank, ready to pass 

 upon the merits of each contestant's skill. There were 17 

 entries for prizes, as follows: A. C. Jameson, G. A. Mil- 

 lard, A. B. Piather, Q. Brown, B. B. Dilcline, M. D. But- 

 ler, Gen. Geo. F. McGmnis, Ed. H. Neunieyer, C. L. 

 Hanford. George McDougall, George Powell, B. G. Fisher, 

 F. T. Holliday, Dr. P. G. C. Hunt, B. C. Wright, J. H. 

 Blair and James Isgrigg. All but Mr. Powell were mem- 

 bers of the club and residents of Indianapolis. Mr. Powell 

 is from Shelbyville. The rules allowed each one ten 

 minutes in which to cast for distance, and he then stood 

 aside until called in his turn to cast for accuracy and 

 delicacy. No single-handed fly-rod exceeded 12ft. When 

 everything was ready Ray Wilhams, the time-keeper, 

 called the first contestant to come forward, and Alexan- 

 der C. Jameson, the oldest fly-fisherman in Marion county, 

 stepped out on the barge. There was a drizzle of rain, 

 and a wind blew directly across the direction in. which 

 the lines were cast. 



Mr. Jameson used a slender rod Il|ft. long and weigh- 

 ing 8£oz, The wind was so strong that it was several 

 minutes before he could make any headway with his 

 line, but after several attempts belaid the fly out 59ft. 

 Considering the wind he showed great skill. G. A. Mil- 

 lard came next with a rod 9j4' t. long and weighing 7foz. 

 After fouling his line several time he made a distance of 

 54ft. A. B. Prather, with a 10|ft. rod, weighing 7Jpz.., 

 showed considerable skill and reached a distance of 51ft. 

 Ignatius Brown handled a rod 10ft. lin. in length and 

 weighing 8oz. and made 56ft. B. B. Dildine used G. A. 

 Millard's rod and cast for the first time. He displayed 

 the skill of an old-timer and made 57ft. M.D.Butler, 

 who tied with H. S. New for first place in last 

 year's contest, next came out on the barge. He 

 handled a rod ltjft. long, weighing 9oz. He dis- 

 played remarkable skill and outdid all those who had 

 preceded him by putting the fly out 62ft. 6in. He dropped 

 the fly 60ft. out on the first throw he made. Gen. Geo. 

 F. McGinnis, another veteran fisherman, used a rod 1 lift, 

 long, weighing 9oz. The wind was blowing harder than 

 ever when he began casting, and when eight minutes of 

 his time was up it was raining so hard that time was 

 called. 



After dinner General McGinnis used two minutes due 

 him, and succeeded in getting the fly out 58ft. Ed H. 

 Neumeyer followed General McGinnis, with a rod lO^ft. 

 long, weighing 7oz. He reached a distance of 42ft. Then 

 came C. D. Hanford, who showed great skill. He had a 

 rod 111 t. long, and weighing 9^oz. He outdid all the pre- 

 ceding contestants, except Mr. Butler, and made a record 

 of 60ft. George P. McDougall followed with a rod lift, 

 long, weighing 9-|oz. He displayed skill, and succeeded 

 in getting the fly out 53ft. George Powell, of Shelbyville, 

 came next. The members of the club were anxious to see 

 what an outsider could do, and they were greatly sur- 

 prised when Mr. Powell came close up to Mr. Butler by 

 dropping the fly out 61ft. He was applauded, B. G. 

 Fisher, with a rod measuring lift, and weighing 9 Joz. , 

 reached 46-Jft., and F. T. Holliday, with a rod 12ift. in 

 length and 8Joz. in weight, made a record of 56ft. When 

 Dr. P. G. C. Hunt came out to cast, the rain had ceased 

 and the wind was lighter. He used a 9oz. rod, lift. long. 

 He handled the line gracefully and made one of the best 

 records, 57ft. B. C. Wright made 55ft. with a rod ll^ft. 

 long and weighing 9oz,, and J. H. Blair, with an ll|ft. 

 rod,~9oz. in weight, made a distance of 50ft. The last 

 man to cast was J ames Isgrigg, who used a rod 10|f t. 

 long, weighing 7oz. His distance was 55ft. 



The contestants were then recalled in turn, and con- 

 tested for delicacy and accuracy, in the following man- 

 ner: Each contestant was allowed twenty casts at an 

 object in or on the water, 40ft. distant from him. He 

 who reached a point nearest the object was adjudged 

 superior in delicacy. He was judged to be the superior 

 in accuracy who, on an average of all his casts, placed 

 his stretcher-fly nearest the mark. This contest was fully 

 as interesting as the casting for distance. C. L. Hanford 

 made the best average, while that of M. D, Butler was 



not so good, which greatly reduced his general average. 

 The score of the contest tells the whole story, as follows: 



Rod , Dia- Doli- Accu- 



Length. Weight, tanco. cacy. racy. Tot'l 



Ft.l 



11.06 



9 03 



10 06 



10 01 



9 07 



...11 06 



A. C. Jameson. 

 G. A. Millard . . 



A. B. Prather.. 

 I. Brown 



B. B.Dildiue ... 

 M. D. Butler... 



Gen. G. F. McGinnis 11 06 



fid. H. Neumever 10 03 



C. L. Hanford 11 00 



Geo. K McDougall 11 00 



Geo. Powell 10 03 



B. G. Fisher 11 00 



F. T. Holliday 11 06 



Dr. P. G. C. Hnnt 11 06 



B. C. Wright 11 (X! 



J. H. Blair 11 06 



J a s. Isgrigg 10 03 



Ft.ln. 

 59 00 



54 00 



•n go 



55 no 



57 00 

 62 06 



58 00 

 12 00 



00 00 

 53 00 



01 m 

 46 00 



56 00 



57 00 

 55 00 

 50 00 

 55 00 



16 17 93 

 16 18 88 

 Did not fast. 



10 

 10 

 17 

 18 

 7 

 18 



8* 



14 

 9 

 15 

 18 

 6 

 19 

 10 

 19 



86 

 76 



& 

 55 



9V 

 say, 



95 



Did not, east. 

 18 tiS 90 

 13 16 81 

 Did not cast. 

 5 6 61 

 17 15 87 



A strong breeze from the northwest was blowing during i he 

 casting, with occasional ruin. Inspector of tackle, G. H. Hull, 

 Lafayette, Ind; timer, M. B. Williams, Minneapolis. 



In the consolation match there were four entries. 

 Casts were for distance only. Dr. P. G, C. Hunt scored 

 59ft., B. B, Dddine 54ft., Ed. H. Neumeyer 47ft., J. H. 

 Blair, 45ft. A strong wind prevailed all the time of this 

 casting. The trial ended at 3 o'clock. 



The final scores of the contestants were determined by 

 adding to the distance in feet cast each had been adjudged 

 the score of points assigned for accuracy and delicacy. 

 The prizes were awarded in accordance with that aggre- 

 gate as follows: 



First, C, L. Hanford. Record: Distance, 60ft. ; accu- 

 racy, 18 points; delicacy, 19 points; total 97. 



Second, George Powell, Shelbyville. Record: Distance, 

 61ft.; accuracy, 15 points; delicacy, 19 points; total 95, 



Third, M. D. Butler. Record: Distance, 62£ft.; ac- 

 curacy, 17 points; delicacy, 15 points; total 94£. 



Fourth, Gen. Geo. F. McGinnis. Record: Distance, 

 58ft.; accuracy, 18 points; delicacy, 18 points; total 94. 



Fifth, Alexander C. Jameson. Record: Distance, 59ft. ; 

 accuracy, 16 points; delicacy, 17 points; total 92. 



Sixth, Frank T. Holliday. Record: Distance, 56ft.; 

 accuracy, 18 points, delicacy, 16 points; total 90. 



Seventh, G. A. Mdlard. Record: Distance, 54ft.; ac- 

 curacy, 16 points; delicacy, 18 points; total 88. 



Eighth, James A. Isgrigg. Record: Distance, 55ft.; 

 accuracy, 17 points; delicacy, 15 points; total 87. 



The ninth prize was awarded to George P. McDou'ralJ. 

 The consolation prizes were awarded to Dr. P. C. G. Hunt 

 and B. B. Dildine. Considering the extremely bad 

 weather, the records made were excellent. The club has 

 decided to hold a tournament in September or October. 

 But one prize will be offered, and that will be a medal 

 offered by Bingham & Walk, jewelers. Mr. Walk's pro- 

 position is that when the medal has been won twice in 

 succession by a contestant it shall become absolutely his 

 property. The medal will be given to the person attain- 

 ing the highest points for all-around excellence. The 

 club also voted to admit to membership fly-fishermen of 

 the State not residents of Marion county, upon the pay- 

 ment of one-half the regular initiation fee, and annual 

 dues. 



A QUARTER WITH A HOLE IN IT. 



TTAPPENING in the house of a friend a week or so 

 JLL ago, I mentioned the fact that an acquaintance of 

 mine had just caught, by trolling, a 25-pound salmon 

 trout in Meacham Lake, and that the reports of fishing 

 there, taken altogether, were so promising that I had 

 determined to spend Decoration Day there "and had per- 

 suaded three friends to go with me, all of us hoping for a 

 large trout. My expectations were laughed at by those 

 in the room, but they could not break down my* enthu- 

 siasm. Just before leaving some one said, "I'll bet you a 

 quarter with a hole in it that you don't catch a ten-pound 

 trout." Another, fairer-minded, suggested five pounds 

 as the limit. In my recklessness I agreed to split the 

 difference, and 7£lbs. of good solid trout under one skin 

 and that quarter should be mine. 



I shall not try to describe that ride up on the Hudson 

 to Rutland, St. Albans and Malone to Paul Smith's station; 

 my mind was for trout, and the beauties of river, lake 

 and wood I enjoyed in but a half-conscious way. We 

 jumped into the wagon for our 13-mile drive to Fuller's 

 on the lake, and how filled were we immediately by the 

 good luck that brought us to such a place. The sun now 

 seemed to glow with a kindlier welcome; the brooks 

 laughed loud and long as we asked how their bosom 

 friends the trout were; the trees nodded their bows to 

 ours, and the air, sensuous with pine and balsam, breathed 

 upon us from all sides. 



Reaching the dam at the outlet of the lake, we found 

 boats and guides, and sending our luggage to the hotel 

 still 3 miles away, we rigged our rods and then began 

 the search for the quarter with a hole in it. The Doctor, 

 the guide I had selected, was just about getting in his 

 fine work with the ash at his end of the boat and I was 

 waiting to begin mine with a piece of Chubb's bamboo in 

 the other, when thug I my line struck something. In a 

 moment I realized that something had struck my line. 



There I was, grasping an 8oz. split-bamboo rod with a 

 light casting line, single snell and three small trout flies 

 on it, while at the other end was something of an un- 

 known weight. It neither rose nor dove, swam nor 

 darted, shook nor winked for full fifteen minutes. What 

 was it ? The Doctor suggested a two-pound brook trout 

 as they are sometimes caught there, though later in the 

 season. I sat motionless. The Doctor eyed the curve of 

 the rod, and after taking a drink from the lake, ventured 

 to suggest that it was a turtle. I paid no attention to his 

 words of surmise; I just tried to look through the hole 

 of an imaginary quarter and calculate the size of that 

 fish, 



I had gotten him up to about 41bs. when— well, for 

 about five minutes we had it. He shook and I held; he 

 ran and I let him; he gave way and I wound him in, and 

 just once he came up to see what and how large I was. 

 I must have disappointed him for with a flip of his tail 

 ("A laker," remarked the Doctor) he rushed down again 

 and just sulked for another quarter of an hour, thinking 

 possibly that I would grow tired and let him go. For 

 long over an hour he kept up this see-saw of humor, 

 every rush making me tremble for my light tackle. 



The one comforting thing about the whole performance 

 was that he kept growing so rapidly. When I hooked 

 him he weighed about 21bs. Later he had grown at least 

 a pound with each rush, and his increased weight and 

 age were beginning to tell on him. 



"Doctor, that trout with one more rush will weigh be- 

 tween 7 and 81be. . and he has got to come in out of the 

 wet. He is just the right weight for my purpose." 



"All right;" and the professional man grasped his 

 murderous gaff with a determined look. The fish 

 tugged and sawed and circled and slowly came up to the 

 surface, his fat sides panting with his noble struggle and 

 his eyes facing into forgetful n ess. A cruel stroke of the 

 gaff, and the fish was in the boat ! We rowed the length 

 of the lake and were welcomed by Mr. Fuller, his guests 

 and a crowd of guides at the landing. How I tried to 

 look unconcerned as the Doctor told how that fish was 

 hooked, fought and captured, laying special emphasis on 

 the fact that it was done with an 8oz. fly- rod and single 

 leader, and that 1 had thus broken the record. 



When the scales were brought out I trembled. He 

 measured 26|in. in length, and — "Can those scales be in 

 good order?" I asked, for there were several ounces lack- 

 ing to make the required 7-Albs. The Doctor set my fears 

 at rest by asserting that a fish of that size always loses 

 several ounces when exposed to the air. I sent that 

 trout home and claimed my reward. The qestion now 

 remains, do I deserve that quarter with a hole in it? 



F'LIN. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



C1HICAGO,, June 6.— Messrs. C. D. Gammon, Wm. 

 ) Cribben, H. P. Thompson, H. D. Nichols and Mr. 

 Magoon, of the Rock Island Railway, started last night 

 for a two weeks' mascallonge camp on Lake Vieux Desert, 

 Wisconsin. They will meet great sport, and have more 

 fun than anybody. 



JuneS. — The extremely cold and. wet weather of the 

 past three weeks has hurt our fishing season seriously. 

 The weather is too dispu-iting f or even the boldest anglers, 

 and the results are discouraging to dealers in fishing 

 tackle and the keepers of the summer hotels at our 

 northern lakes. It is to be hoped that June will square 

 around and be June before long. 



Last week I spoke of the great bass now on exhibition 

 at Spalding's, and called it a small-mouthed bass. It looks 

 to be one, and is so pronounced by many who should be 

 authorities. A denial of this, however, by one gentle- 

 man who has seen it leads me to think the assertion may 

 be a mistake, the more so after another examination of 

 the fish. The varnish of the taxidermist covers the skin, 

 and to some extent hides the "median line" of the sides, 

 while the mouth is so arranged that it does not seem to 

 exceed the size permissible to a small-mouthed bass of 

 that size; but the pendulous abdomen and the general 

 ugliness of outline are those commonly seen in the large- 

 mouth , although these might be approached by so aged a 

 specimen of the small-mouth. Until 1 can find some pro- 

 nounced authority who will decide this definitely, I can 

 at least claim the credit of having gone on record with a 

 first-class Chicago fish story. 



There are six changes in the new fish law from the text 

 of the old law. The first change is in Sec. 1, which pro- 

 hibits fishing within half a mile below a dam; the limit 

 \%as formerly 400yds. 



The second change is in Sec. 3, which demands a fish- 

 way which shall be approved and kept up in approval of 

 the Fish Commissioners: formerly a dam-owner could put 

 in a plain chute under his water wheel and evade the law 

 by claiming that he had put in a "fishway.*' 



The third change is the very important improvement of 

 granting police powers to fish wardens. 



The fourth change is the similar one conveying such 

 powers to the Fish Commissioners. 



The fifth change is in Sec. 6, and extends the lawful 

 seining season in navigable waters one month, or till the 

 first of April. Examination of the Illinois seining clause 

 will show that it practically prohibits seining all over the 

 State except below the Henry dam on the Illinois River, 

 and perhaps in a part of one or two other large streams 

 near the mouth. As seining is forbidden "above or below 

 £,ny private or corporate dams," even on "such rivers or 

 streams as are used for navigation wholly in the State," 

 and forbids it also in the "bays and lakes connected with 

 such navigable streams" (which is as legitimate a con- 

 struction of the text as that seining is permitted in such 

 bays and lakes), I am sure I cannot see how the seining, 

 netting and trapping which have devastated Swan Lake 

 district and all of Lake Senachwine district can any 

 longer be safely carried on. In any construction of the 

 law, these waters lie above "a private or corporate dam," 

 for doubtless the clam at Henry could so be shown to be, 

 and in that case the seining would be illegal at any season 

 there. 



The last change is in the same section, and clinches the 

 matter by making it a misdemeanor to have in possession 

 fish taken contrary to the provisions of above seining 

 clause. 



I am indebted for the correct copy of the fish law to 

 Mr. Geo. E. Cole, ane of the committee present at Spring- 

 field from the Fox River Fish and Game Association, and 

 a gentleman prominent in such work. I believe Forest 

 and Stream to be the only paper which has this right. 

 The copy is correct, although I have not checked back on 

 the old law to see whether the changes noted are stated 

 in full or in excess. Mr. Reed, who gave me the copy of 

 the game law, states that it is correct. The revised 

 statutes are not yet out. E. Hough. 



Fish Protection in Connecticut. — Editor Forest and 

 Stream: I inclose clipping from the Hartford Telegram- 

 Record, which will show that our association still oc- 

 cupies a position on this mundane sphere: "Detective 

 W. C. Fielding, of this city, who is employed by that 

 wide-awake, get-there game protective association called 

 the Connecticut Association of Farmers and Sportsmen 

 for the Protection of Game and Fish, secured evidence 

 enough to cause the arrest of Charles Morrison and Geo. 

 Soules, of Chapinville, for spearing in Twin Lakes. Last 

 week the parties were arrested by Sheriff W. B. Perry, of 

 Lakeville, and their fines amounted to $20 each. Presi- 

 dent A. C. Collins recently put Detective Fielding on. the 

 trail of some miscreants who have been using dynamite 

 in a pond in a neighboring county. The parties will be 

 arrested this week, as the association means war on this 

 style of fishing. The dynamite fiends have killed barrels 

 of black bass and pickerel this season by the aid of dyna- 

 mite." We have successfully prosecuted nine persons 

 for spearing in the Twin Lakes this season. We trust 

 that the Connecticut anglers will help us.— C. A. F. S. P, 

 G. F. 



