8 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 4, 1896. 
ANGLING NOTES. 
Nature's Flies and Man's Fancy. 
Waters may yet be found where the trout will rise to 
a piece of red flannel tied to a hook as readily as to a well- 
made artificial fly, but they are remote and it takes time 
and money to fish them, and a dozen trout caught under 
such circumstances do not afford the pleasure that is given 
to the angler when he has outgeneraled a wary old trout 
in a Well-fished stream that has refused fly after fly be- 
cause it does not look like the real thing, or has not been 
presented so artistically as to deceive his royal spangles. 
Anyone who labors under the impression that trout cannot 
distinguish between a good and a bad imitation of a natural 
fly fools his face. There are times when trout will seem- 
ingly take any fly offered, and again they are so dainty 
and capricious that just the right fly, and that properly 
dressed, must be offered if it is accepted. Some years ago 
I told in this journal of a day's fishing when the trout 
would not deign to notice any fly I offered them but the 
green drake, refusing even the gray drake on the same 
cast, and a variety of other flies I presented to them to 
test their vision. 
Mr. Edward Marston, father of Mr. R. B. Marstoa, 
editor of the London Fishing Gazette, who writes so 
charmin&ily under the press name of the Amateur Angler, 
has something to say on this subject which is of interest 
to all who use the artificial fly: 
"With reference to the May fly, it has been maintained 
by a distinguished connoisseur in all matters pertaining 
to angling, that neither trout nor grayling care a fico for 
the mere color of your 'imitation' — and he suggested for 
a change that a May fly dyed pink or deep red might 
prove a brilliant attraction for the gay old stagers in our 
deep pools. 
"Accordingly I put this theory to a practical test. I 
But on my collar (in Yankeeland this would be leader) a 
lay fly of a brilliant red color. I tried it for an hour or 
more —placing it as seductively as possible over many a 
rising fish — and I am bound to say that my experience 
does justify me in recommending for general use this sin- 
gular departure from the more modest color with which 
nature usually paints her May flies. 
"You who are accustomed to watch the action of fish 
in a stream have of course noticed that dart-like and 
diagonal disturbance of the water which a big trout 
makes when you startle him from the bank on which you 
may be walking. 
"Weill no sooner had my red fly come over this rising 
fish than similar dart-Uke streaks could be seen in every 
direction. This fiery demon of a fly was a conspicuous 
object on the water for many yards around. Not only 
would my particular trout bolt like a shot, but every 
other fish in hi« immediate neighborhood would make 
similar tracks. 
"This, you v^l please to understand, was a scientific 
experiment, and from it I am led to believe that both the 
trout and grayling, and possibly many another kind of 
fish, can not only distinguish flies by their natural colors, 
but that of all the seven prismatic colors red is that 
which scares them like the very deuce. 
"Green drake and yellow drake and gray drake they 
take most kindly to; but I am well assured, from practi- 
cal experience, that pink or red drake they cannot and 
will not stand." 
It must be explained that Mr. Marston was conducting 
his experiment vrith his red drake on an English river 
during a rise of the May fly, and while the natural flies 
in their modest dress were rising on the river none of 
them were red except the one on Mr. Marston's cast, and 
as they had never seen the like they would have none 
of it. 
If Mr. Marston will send me bis red drake I'll warrant 
that I will kill good trout with it next September in the 
wilda of Canada, but not in a stream where the fish have 
been to school. 
Up or Down Stream? 
Split Shot asks, "Which method will insure the most 
and best trout — to fish up a trout brook or to fish it 
down?" 
This is a question on which there is a difference of 
opinion among the best of anglers, and the result would 
depend much upon the individual and the conditions ex- 
isting in the stream to be fished. In this country proba- 
bly 75 per cent, or more of the fishermen fish down 
stream in wet fly-fishing. In England, in the slow mov- 
ing rivers, the dry fly angler has to fish up stream, or at 
least cast his fly that it may fall above a rising fish, and is 
then carried over the fish by the current; and perhaps the 
majority of all anglers, wet fly or dry fly, fish up stream. 
In this country the character of our swift running 
streams makes it necessary to fish down stream, as in 
casting up stream the current would drive the fly back on 
the angler, and cause slack line perhaps at the moment of 
a strike. A rapid running stream can be fished up, but it 
is more difficult than to fish down, and so the latter is 
practiced. 
In a stream the trout lie with their heads toward the 
current, and the up-stream fisher contends that they can 
more easily see the angler as he comes down, and this is 
where the skill of the individual comes in. The up- 
stream fisher also contends that in wading a stream the 
down-stream fisher dislodges debris to alarm fish below 
him, which the up-stream fieher does not do. 
The down-stream fisher can as a rule better survey the 
water ahead of him than the one who fishes up; but there 
can be no hard and fast rule which will apply rigidly to 
either method at all times, to decide the question of Split 
Shot positively one way or the other. 
Here is the opinion of so good an English authority as 
the late Mr. J. T, Burgess, who writes of wet fly-fishing, 
for dry fly-fishing was not practiced at the time he 
wrote: 
"A learned discussion commenced as to whether a 
stream ought to be fished 'up' or 'down.' Since that time 
a great deal of ink and paper have been wasted on the 
subject, but it is not yet decided authoritatively either 
way. Excellent authorities can be brought forward to 
prove that each plan is the correct thing. My experience 
goes to show that, while it is more difficult to fish up 
stream and harder work, it is more scientific, and is likely 
to bring a greater weight of fish to the creel. Fish which 
generally lie wi h their heads up stream are less likely to 
see the angler when he is going up than when he is going 
down, and they can be struck easier, and in their subse- 
qnent struggles they are less likely to disturb the unfished 
water than when fishing down stream, as a trout gener- 
ally rushes downward when he feels the hook. To fish 
down stream is easier, is more common, and fair sport 
may be obtained. Perhaps, after all, it is best to avoid 
dogmatically adhering to either of these ideas. Fish up- 
ward whenever you can, even at a little inconvenience; 
but come down on the op^-osite bank when the fish are 
likely to be hungry." 
I have quoted Mr. Burgeas because he was ah up-stream 
fisher and tried to present both sides without prejudice: 
but his language shows that both methods were applicable 
to wide English rivers— by wide I mean wider than our 
mountain streams. Personally I prefer to fish down 
stream, and do so as a rule, because the most of our 
streams are built for that style of fishing, and I prefer to 
fish forthe head of a trout instead of its tail. If a stream 
is open, with no logs, no overhanging banks and "holes," 
with the entrance up stream, then it can be fished up 
stream by casting above the fish ; but it is no use fishing 
the tail end of a "hole" expecting a trout to "strike with 
its tail," as it has been claimed that they do on occasions, 
and if the trout is obliged to turn around and head down 
stream to take the fly the angler may be just as much in 
sight as though he were fishing down stream. 
Salmon. 
Mr. Archibald Mitchell writes me from the Restigoucbe: 
"Have had good fishing, and killed thirty-six salmon 
weighing 802^1 bs. Average 331bs. Only four under 
20lbs., and the largest weighed 30lbs. I got twenty-eight 
last week, killing eight on Friday and seven on Saturday. 
This is as good fishing as any man ought to have. The 
conditions have been very favorable on most of the waters 
I have fished this year." 
A salmon of 15lb8. was killed at the mouth of Saranac 
River in Lake Champlain, so I was told by a friend who 
a year or two ago informed me of the killing of several 
salmon at about the same place. This is the result of 
planting the streams in that vicinity with a few salmon 
fry by the State. It would probably be many years before 
any of the rivers in this State could be converted into 
salmon streams to afford such a score as Mr, Mitchell 
made in Canada with one rod in one week, but we have 
rivers that could be made into salmon streams if the State 
would provide means for the salmon to reach the head- 
waters after the fry or young Gah planted had gone to sea 
and wished to return for the purpose of reproduction. 
The apathy of our anglers and lawmakers on the subject 
is surprising to me, and I should not be surprised to see 
the Delaware converted into a salmon stream before the 
people of this State awake to the importance of the work, 
simply because the people of Pennsylvania seem to know 
a good thing when they see it at short range, 
Long-Distance Fly-Casting. 
For many years the record long-distance cast with a 
salmon rod was held in this country by Mr. H. W. 
Hawes, who made a cast of 138ft. in 1888, using a rod 
18ft. long. 
Last year at a tournament in England Mr. John J. 
Hardy acquired the championship of the world with a 
cast of 140ft. Sin., using a rod of 18ft. His competitor, 
Mr, John Enright, the Irish champion, was a good sec- 
ond; and a few days after the tournament he made an 
exhibition cast of 143ft. with a rod 19ft. long. I have 
published in this column Mr. Enright's letter to me ex- 
plaining his defeat at the tournament of 1895. At the 
recent ninth international fly-casting tournament, held 
at Wimbledon Lake, Wimbledon Park, London, in May, 
it was expected that the two great rivals for champion- 
ship honors would meet on water, as at the previous tour- 
nament the casting had been on grass. Mr. Hardy was 
absent from the contest through illness and because of 
his physician's advice, and Mr. Enright was practically 
alone in the championship class. With a rod 20ft. long 
he made a cast of 147ft. and won the gold medal. Two of 
his competitors made casts of 117 and 99ft. respectively. 
Mr, Enright is the maker of the Castle Connell rods 
bearing his name, and in another class at the same tour- 
nament, open to tackle makers, salmon casting with rods 
of 20ft., he made three casts of 124, 127 and 125 Jft. 
In the championship class, salmon casting, rods of 16ft., 
Mr. Enright's winning cast was 125ft, and his competitors 
made casts of 103, 92 and 87ft. 
In the championship class, single-handed rods, lift, 
long, Mr. Enright won with a cast of 86ft. 6in., and his 
six competitors made casts of 78, 76, 72, 60, 56 and 55ft. 
respectively. 
Except in the salmon class with 20ffc. rods the English 
casting was much below our record casts, and, except 
one year, I do not find a salmon rod of 20ft. used in any 
of our tournaments. With a trout rod weighing 53Z, 
Reuben Leonard made a cast of 95ft., and with a rod lift. 
Sin. long he made a cast of 102ift. 
Criticisms on the Castlngr. 
After the tournament at Wimbledon there was criticism 
offered because the casting was done from a platform ele- 
vated about 12in. above the water, and Mr. Enright made 
an exhibition cast on the Thames from a punt, so he was 
standing 2in. below the water level, casting 151ft. Sin. I 
suppose his rod was the same as used at the tournament — 
20 ft. long. 
Now, if Mr. Hawes or Mr. Leonard will show us what 
they can do in the way of exhibition casting with a rod 
of 20ft. they will have plenty of witnesses, and judging 
from their record work with shorter rods the odds would 
be a standard gold dollar to a ginger cooky that Mr. En- 
right would have to send his sign, "Champion of the 
World," across the ocean to be put up over a door in Cen- 
tral Valley, N. Y. 
Mr. John J. Hardy is very frank upon the subject of 
long-distance casting, as I have had occasion to show on 
previous occasions. Mr. Hardy is also a rod maker — one 
of the best in England — and a practical man withal. He 
sends me, since the tournament I have been writing about, 
a copy of a letter which he wrote for the London angling 
papers. 
Explaining by implication why the ordinary angler is 
such a poor second to the rod maker in casting contests, 
he says: "The angler who thinks he will have a 'shy in' 
at a tournament is not going to pay for an expensive rod 
to be used perhaps only once in a tournament, and then 
put away for good or used only as a specialty rod. As a 
matter of fact, few rods are built for tournament purposes 
except by rod makers, and hence the reason ordinary 
anglers are so far behind in making records, their usual 
rods being quite unfitted to lift record length lines. 
"What these tournaments have to do with fishing is quite 
another matter, and there are other points from which to 
view such a successful gathering as that at Wimbledon 
on the 9 th, besides the mere question. Is that a barge 
pole or a fishing rod a certain man may be using, or is 
this angling or athletic?? ' I think it was about a year ago 
that I quoted Mr. Hardy in regard to the construction of 
rods for tournament casting, that they were specially 
made for the purpose and were comparatively useless for 
ordinary fishing. 
In the letter just received he refers to lines for long-dis- 
tance casting in these words: "I may mention that lines 
generaUy used for casting are either short, heavy, parallel 
or double taper ones of dressed silk, spliced to a fine back- 
ing line. When this heavy silk is shot forward, it draws 
with it some yards of the fine undressed line, and this is 
called 'shooting,' In comparing casting records it is im- 
portant to bear in mind whether the cast was made by 
shooting or not." I-ast year when Mr, Hardy won the 
championship he was photographed, and one photograph 
shows the line coiled in the hand, or hanging from it, 
ready for the shooting process, Mr, Samuels, author of 
"With Fly, Rod, and Camera," photographed the casters 
at Central Park at one of the national rod and reel tour- 
naments, and in the book the picture of Mr. Lawrence 
shows the line held ready to be shot forward. Several of 
the original photographs, which I have, show very plainly 
the line ready to be shot. Mr. Hardy concludes his let- 
ter thus: "I regret if my plain speaking should offend any 
one, but I think it best to call 'a spade a spade' and let 
those interested know the facts as they exist." 
SIngle-Handed Casting. 
In the amateur class at Wimbledon, single-handed rods 
lOtt, long, Mr. Edgar S, Shrubsole won with a cast of 
90ft., beating Mr. Enright's oast of 80ft. 6in. with an lift, 
rod. Consequently in English records an amateur is 
placed above the winner in the "all-comers" class. 
To go back to the tools employed by some long-distance 
casters, my friend Mr. Marston, commenting in his paper 
on the recent tournament, says: "In American tourna- 
ments no restrictions as regards rods is imposed, except 
as regards the length, and I hold if we in this country 
want to beat the American records we must adopt their 
method and use rods which have been specially made for 
casting. As was very clearly pointed out both in our 
columns and in the Field, the ordinary fly-fisher who 
does not go to tournaments and only reads that 90ft. 
have been cast with a 10ft. , and 147ft. with a rod of 20ft. , 
is quite mistaken if he supposes that these are perform- 
ances with ordinary fishing rode." 
I wish to say to Brother Marston that it will not be 
necessary for any English fly-caster to come across the 
sea to get wrinkles in long-distance casting, judging from 
what Mr, Hardy tells us, for I can assure him that I never 
heard of using a heavy dressed line backed by a fine un- 
dressed line to increase the distance cast by shooting, nor 
did I ever hear of putting lead in the butt of a reel until I 
was informed by Mr, Hardy and Mr, Marston of these 
two aids to success in long-distance casting, and I have 
served as a judge at our national rod and reel tournaments. 
It is true that our casters use a heavy line and shoot it for 
all there is in it, but the light line behind the heavy one 
is new to me. 
Weights of American Rods. 
The English records do not give the weight of rods 
used, but the American records do. When Mr, Leonard 
made his cast of 102ft. Bin. his rod weighed lOf oz. and 
was lift. Sin, long, not lift, 7in., as the Gazette has it 
taken from an American annual. Mr. Leonard's cast of 
95ft., light rod contest, was made with a rod weighing 
bicz. and 10ft. long. Mr. Hawes made a switch cast of 
102ft. with a rod lift, long \yeighing lOoz,, and he won 
the switch casting contest another year with a cast of 
94ft. with a rod lift. 4in. long, weighing SJoz, 
In 1889 there were five entries for the "light rod con- 
test." Mr. Leonard won with 90ft. Mr. T. B. Mills, Mr. 
James L. Breese, Mr. Cooper Hewitt and Mr. R. B, Law- 
rence cast 86, 86, 85i and 85ft. respectively. Each used a 
rod of 5oz. in weight and 10ft. long, except Mr. Leonard's 
rod was 9ft. 9in. The same year, in a contest limited to 
rods of lift. 6in., Mr. Leonard won with a cast of 97ft. 
6in., and his rod was 10ft. llin, long and weighed 9foz, 
Mr. James L, Breese and Mr. T. B. Mills tied for third 
place with 90ft. (Mr. Hewitt being second with 96ft.), and 
in casting off the tie Mr. Mills cast 100ft. and Mr. Breese 
96ft. Mr. Mills's rod was lift, long and 10|nz. in weiglit. 
Mr. Breese's rod was 10ft. llin. and l^^oz. in weight. 
I ordered a rod from England last year, and as I wished 
it made especially light Mr. Hardy said it would have to 
be specially made. When the rod came (it was a split- 
bamboo) it weighed about lOnz., so I imagine the ordinary 
fishing rods in England are quite a bit heavier than ours. 
The salmon rod with which Mr. Hawes made his record 
cast (for this country) of 138ft, was 18ft. long and 37oz, 
in weight. I have a Scotch salmon rod 18ft. long (green- 
heart, made by P. D. Maelach, of Perth) that weighs 
48oz, 
Some of the rods used in casting on this side may have 
been made specially for tournament purposes, but 1 know 
personally that a number of these were the ordinary fish- 
ing rods of their owners. If the Gazette will give the 
weights of winning rods on the other side and compare 
them with those I have given we can find which side uses 
the most timber, and then perhaps we can find out how 
much of the long-distance casting is due to the action and 
"hang" of the respective rods in this country and Eng- 
land, and how much due to weight of timber in the rods. 
Error In Printing Records. 
The Gazette has a table of "Best Recorded Perform- 
ances," and in the heavy bait-casting, as we call it (heavy 
spinning bait in England), the world's record is awarded 
to Mr. J. T. Emery, with a cast of 71yd8. 1ft, (214ft.) from 
the reel. Mr. W. H. Wood, of New York, is in the same 
list with a cast of 86yd8. 2ft. lin. (260ft, lin.), "Thames 
style." Mr. Wood cast from the reel, not Thames style, 
and his cast was 250ft., and to be correct the asterisk in- 
dicating "world's record" should be placed before Mr. 
Wood's name instead of Mr. Emery's. 
Other Critics. 
While I have been writing the Pishing Gazette for 
June 13 came in, and I am more and more convinced 
