290 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
LApbil 10, 1897. 
ANGLING NOTES. 
At the Sportsman's Exposition. 
In one of the fly-casting contests Mr. C. H. Mowry, of 
Syracuse, was on the platform and casting as perfectly as, 
possible in eyerything but distance, and ifwas for distance ' 
that be was casting. His fly would come straight as a die 
out over the tank from 6 to 10 or 15ft. above the water at the 
end of the cast, and then die away or curl back on the 
leader or line. In no contest in which I served as one of the 
judges was the fly at the end of the cast so far above the 
wattr as when Mr. Mowry was casting The judges com- 
mented upon the fact that the fly did not do what it should 
in the way of dis'ance for such admirable casting so far 
above the water when (he limit of the cast was reached, but 
it was not within their province to tell the caster, and so a 
friend in the audience back of the judges informed him that 
there was something wrong with his shooting of the line. 
When he stepped down with a mark of 72ft. 1 told him that 
if his fly had had any push behind it he would have made a 
better record, and he said he knew it, but he could not un- 
derstand why his fly died away so, nor why his line would 
not shoot when his rod and line were straight and going 
]evel. 4fter the contest Mr. T. B Mills took up the same 
rod for practice, and after casting for a few minutes re- 
marki d that something was wrong, and reeled in to examine 
his tackle. He found that in about the middle of the tip the 
line passed through a rod ring and then around the tip before 
it passed through the next ring, making what might be 
called a cinch against record-breakina: Later I met Mr. 
Mowry on the floor and told him how he had been hoo- 
dooed, and he made some remarks which I will draw a cur- 
tain over. 
The Egyptian Goose. 
The exhibit of domesticated wild game birds was particu- 
larly interesting, and no single part of it was of so much in- 
terest to me as the Egyptian goose. This is how the geese 
appeared to a writer on one of the daily newspapers: 
"There are several specimens and they all seem unhappy. 
They look more like aquatic buzzards than they do like any- 
thing domestic. Of elongated legs and attenuated figures, 
their marbings are palpably cuneiform and their expressions 
sphinx like. The slate-^gray of their backs shades into the 
rich seal brown of their wings, and in their mottled bosoms 
is a dark-brown patch bearing a notable resemblance to a 
m^p of Abyssinia," 
I watched these birds for some time one day and I did not 
see them at all as the writer did whom I have quoted, and 
torday 1 could not recall anything about the color of their 
backs or wings if I had not noted what he said. In fact, 
a,bo\^t the only peculiarity I noted wag that each bird was 
t);earing on its breast and sides enough feathers to make many 
dozens of perfect imitations of the wings of the green-drake 
or May fly. Collectively those birds had feathers enough to 
make a thousand gross of the very best trout fly wir>g8. A 
friend, a physician, who was with me went into raptures 
OYer the various birds in the different boxes, looking at them 
entirely from the point of a gunner, while I saw only the 
feathers for artificial flies going to waste. He wished to 
s^^oot the birds flying, while 1 wished to pluck the feathers. 
A good imitation of a May fly, or rather of the green-drake. 
1.8 difgcult to obtain, and the Egyptian goose and the wood 
or summer duck furnish the best, because they furnish a per- 
feet feather that is undyed. I have been looking over the 
price lists of several European dealers who furnish feathers 
and skins for fly dressing, and not one quotes the feathers or 
skins of the Egyptian goose. The summer duck's feathers 
are quoted at 50 cents per dozen ; bu^ this duck furnishes but 
a very few feathers of proper mottling and color, while the 
goose furnishes hundreds. 
When Stanley returned from his last exploration of Africa 
ne was to complete his book, '-Darkest Africa," in Cairo, 
before he proceeded to England. Mr. Edward Maiston, of 
his flrm.of publishers, went to Egypt to meet Stanley and re- 
main until the MSS. were completed, and necessarily lie 
remained some time. As he was about, to leave London, his 
son, Mr. R. B. Marston, asked him to be sure and secure 
some Egyptian geese for the feathers to make May flies; but 
the elder Mr. Marston was obliged to return without a single 
feather, vphieh shows that his son did not send to the right 
place, for there were plenty of the birds in Madison Square 
garden. 
Eor years 1 have searched far and wide for the feathers of 
the summer duck to obtain material for dressing flies, and 
while 1 have obtained a comparatively small number I have 
liearned of far more that were wasted. 
"'Lady Fly-Casters." 
It was with pleasure that I learned during the week of the 
show that there was to be a class for "lady fly-casters," and 
it is to be regretted that it did not fill, and the management 
of the Sportsmen's Exposition will be wise if next year they 
provide a class for women fly-casters and announce it at the 
outset, for there could be no more popular feature of the 
shOiW. 
0.ne morning there were some ladies present, relatives of 
one of the men who was a prize winner, practicing on the 
water of the tank, and no more graceful casting was done 
during the show than by these ladies, confirming what 1 
long have believed, and advocated in print, that fly-castino- 
was particularly a sport for women. I learned of one 
woman in l^ew York who is very fond of fishing, and who 
can cast between 80, and 90ft. of line, and do it easily, for 
she has never e Hst for distance or in a tournament, as all' her 
practice has cc ae from fishing for fish and not for medals. 
Trout and Camera. 
During the show this thought came to me: Is the photo- 
graphic camera responsible for the decrease of trout or other 
fish, and if so in what degree? Will it be necessary in order 
to preserve our fish to insert in our game laws a section pro- 
viding that no fish of any kind, except for scientific pur- 
poses, shall be photographed ; or, not more than four trout, 
salmon, lake trout or black bass belonging to one man shall 
be killed and photographed in one day; or, any man who 
has his photograph taken with more fish than he can eat in 
fresh condition, or send to his friends, shall be sent to jail for 
six: months?' 
The desire to have one's picture taken with a lot of fish, 
more apparently than can be used as food, seems to be a dis- 
ease that is spreading, and it is a disease that should be dreaded 
as much as yellow fever. The camera fish hog is probably 
an own brother of the trout hog that Nessmuk used to write 
about. 
It is rather funny that in these photographs or reproduc- 
tions of photographs of people with a lot of fish that look as 
though they had just been taken from a net or a fishing 
smack, in spite of the rods, reels, bait, buckets and fly books 
that are put into the picture as properties, the people are 
never beardless boys, but men grown— men with gray hair 
and beards, men who look like intelligent men, and yet they 
will pose before a camera with a wagon load of fish like the 
hero of a great battle fought and won. 
How it may strike other flshermen 1 cannot say, but when 
I see a picture with a man or a lot of men photographed 
with more dead fish in their possession than the law of 
decency should permit, and read that the fish were caught 
in Trier Pond, near John Smith's Hotel, Trier Pond is the 
very last place that 1 would visit for the purpose of fishing; 
for if John Smith encourages the camera fish hog to adver- 
tise his hotel I should feel that all the fish from Trier Pond 
had been used for photographic purposes, and it would not 
be a good place to visit tor simple angling alter the camera 
had done its deadly work. We talk and scold about the 
poacher and net fisherman, and the spearer and set line 
fisher, but I sometimes think the camera fish hog should go 
in the list and be given a front seat. 
I have referred to a man's having his photograph taken 
with more fish than he can eat or send to his friends, but I 
never yet could see where I paid anv one a com pli ment by send- 
ing him trout that had been railroaded and packed from the 
wilderness to civilization ; so I never try to pay such a com- 
pliment, and never in my heart can thank any one to send 
me fish that are not fresh. 
Trout to be in their best condition must be eaten where 
they are caught, and you cannot bring trout from Canada or 
the Adirondacks and have them as fresh as when first taken. 
If a naan wished to send me a fish 1 would thank him most 
heartily for a fine salt mackerel, but no trout that have been 
toured. Last year a friend came from the Adirondacks and 
brought me three fine trout, that is, they had been fine trout 
in their youth, but age had stolen over them in consequence 
of being taken from the water; and even while he talked and 
told me of the sport he had in catching them, I knew the 
fish were going into the ash barrel as soon as he was gone. 
He meant well, but I fear he had lost his sense of smell. 
The camera and a desire to pay a worthless compliment to 
friends are together responsible for the slaughter of many 
fish that must be wasted. Look at the Maine Central publi- 
cation distributed at the Sportsmen's Show. Six men and 
sixty big trout and salmon are displayed in a reproduction 
of a photograph, saying that the catch was made in one 
afternoon. I presume all the fish may have served some 
good purpose, anyway I will assume that they did; but 
which is the better picture, and which will more quickly 
arouse the angler's enthusiasm: the sixty trout and six men, 
or the picture in the same publication of five trout weighing 
from to 3ilbs.? One is a genteel sufficiency, and the 
other is not. 
Last year I saw in a camp in Canada a lot of trout hung 
in festoons like sausages in a market. They had been hung 
for photographic purposes evidently, but the occupants bad 
left the camp and did not return till next day, when they 
packed and departed for good. 1 do not know anything 
about it for a certainty, but I presume all those trout were 
spoiled and wasted, if they were taken from the camp they 
could not have been good to eat, for the camp was a long 
way from a railroad or other transportation line, and doubt- 
less the trout served only to make a picture. 
A. N, Cheney. 
rCew Jersey Fishing. 
AsBUKY Park, N. J., April 2.— The trout season opened 
in this State yesterday, and the day was favorable for such 
as could improve the opportunity. Dr. Kinmouth, the most 
enthusiastic trout fisherman in this section, was on his favor- 
ite grounds earl;^ in the day. fie fished Pine Brook, the 
best stream in this county, and took seventeen fish. He re- 
ports the fl^h abundant, but running very small; he took a 
great many under the legal sizs and returned them to the 
water. This last can be depended on, for so enthusiastic is 
he that he would fight at the drop of the hat with any man 
who would kill an undersized trout. He says the good 
work of planting by our State Commission last year is in 
evidence, as it was not unusual to have a half dozen finger- 
lings at a time dash at his cast. 
White perch are now biting in the lakes and estuaries, and 
are welcome indeed after our long winter's wait. The fish 
is in no manner to be despised when taken on a fly rod. As 
is well known, he is a congener of the striped bass, and in 
consequence activity prevails among the bass fishermen; 
rods and reels are being put in order and tackle is being laid 
in for immediate use. I saw three beautiful specimens of 
bass which were taken at Salem on Tuesday night of the 
present week, in shad nets, the heaviest of which weighed 
47lbs. 
Owing to the disasters of the past season, fewer pound 
nets will be in use along the coast the coming summer. This 
should add to the angler's pleasure and secure additional 
gue&ts to the hotels. The same old fight has been carried on 
during the past few months in the Legislature against the 
pound nets, and the bill was lost by only one vote, which 
shows the trend of public opinion in relation to the indis- 
criminate destruction of food fish. The passing of the 
pound net in its present form is an assured fact in the not 
distant future. Leonard Htjlit. 
Charlotte Harbor Tarpon. 
It may be of interest to your readers who are tarpon fish- 
ermen to know that tarpon fishing has been very good in 
most of the waters of Charlotte Harbor during all of March. 
At Captive Pass, Matlaeha Pass, Marco and all below Myers, 
and about St. James and Blind Pass, a number have caught 
two in a day, and one or two three in one day. Quite a 
number of fishermen have caught ten tarpon in the month. 
There is an abundance of fish of all kinds, and this season 
shows that there will be good fishing some time to come. 
The weather has been very warm, with plenty of wind, 
C. A. D. 
American Fisheries Society. 
Glens Falls, N. Y., March 37.— The twenty sixth an- 
nual meeting of the American Eisheries Society will be 
held in Detroit, Mich., June 17, 18 and 19. Members are 
requested to prepare papers to be read before the meeting, 
and send titles to the recording secretary as early as possible, 
80 that a notice of articles may be sent out with a later an- 
nouncement, giving place of meeting and headquarters of the 
Society in Detroit. A. N. Cheney, Recording Sec'y. 
Attean Liakes. 
In a note on the Attean Lakes, Maine, last week, the 
station Jackman was incorrectly printed Jackson. 
Wisconsin Lakes. 
Three Lakes, Wis , April 3.— The lakes will be open in 
ten days or sooner; and I think the fishing will be good. 
F. R. Fhesch, 
Mr. Mansfield's Record Cast. 
LAST Sunday was a great day for the San Francisco Fly- 
Casting Club. It was a day of" rejoicing; for it was the sec- 
ond time that a member of the club had broken the world's 
long-distance record. Last October Mr. H. C. Golcher raised 
the figures to 103ft".., and set the angling world to thinking. 
But last Sunday Mr. W. D. Mansfield fairly electrified the 
whole assemblage by smashing all previous records with 
the most apparent ease, and giving the whole world a new 
mark and a new champion. 
Following are the scores of the contests held on last Satur- 
day and Sunday in the long-distance cast, the longest cast of 
each competitor being given: 
SAN FRANCISCO FLY-CASTINO CLUB— CONTEST NO. 3. 
Medal contests, series 1897, held at Stow Lake, Golden Gate 
Park: 
Saturday Contest— Judges; Col. G. C. Edwards and E. A. 
Mocker; Referee, A. E. Lovett; Clerk, A. R. Crowell. 
Sunday Contest— Judges: J. S. Turner and F. H. Heed; 
Referee, A. B. Lovett; Clerk, A. R. Crowell. 
Saturday, March 13. 
Peet. 
W. E. Batcheller . 
Horace Smytli....,.,,. 
A. R. Crowell 67 
H. Battu mi4 
A. E Lovett............. 8 4^ 
C G.Young 69 " 
E A Mocker 71 
Col. G. C Edwards 77 
A T. Vogt'lsang 71 
J. P Babcock 73 
*W. D. Mansfield lOsS 
Dr. K. N. liOwry 80 
* Handicap, 53^ft. 
Sunday, March 14 
Fpefc. 
J. S Turner 69 
F. H. Keed 81U 
<W. D. Mansfield. ............ ,108;^ 
Horacs Smycu 76J^ 
Charles Huyck. 75 
H. F. Muller 81 
E. A. Mocker 76 
H. Battu 7-2!4 
C. G.Youner... 78 
A. E. Lovett ...^..i,.... 8=11^ 
A.T.Vogelsang,,.. 94 " 
A. R. Crowell 68 
A. B. Pinch 68 
H. Isenbruck..., 50 
Charles KleiQ 65 
J. P. Babcock 70 
In this issue we publish a half-tone of Mr. Walter Damou 
Mansfield, the champion long-distance fly-caster of the world. 
Mr. Mansfield is an attorney by occupation, and an expert 
angler by natural selection. In statue he stands bub 5Kf t. , 
and weighs ITOlbs., and is thirty-six years of age. It cannot, 
therefore, be said that he is of athletic build; but there is a 
muscular force of great elasticity in his make-up, and this, 
from his very toes to his wrist, is utilized to a wonderful 
extent in making his marvelous casts, not only in distance, 
but in accuracy and delicacy also. 
His method of casting is what might be termed a free-arm 
movement, aided by the muscular spring of body, legs and 
feet; throwing the body well back and the arm at an angle 
of not more than 40° from the horizontal in the back cast, 
he brings the arm and body well forward until the arm is 
nearly horizontal and the upper part of the body almost so in 
his forward ca=*t; the line gradually unfolding until at last 
the fly slowly flutters down at the end of a straight line like 
a falling snowflake, just in time to recover before much 
more than the leader touches the water. 
The tackle used in his wonderful performance of last Sun- 
day was originally an lift., dlgoz. Leonard rod. Recently 
this rod had been broken just below the ferrule of the second 
joint, and in repairing it it was shortened to 10ft. Sin. A re- 
pair also made at the handle increased its weight to lOoz. 
The line used was a double-taper "D" line, with a 9ft. taper 
leader and a No. 10 fly. The weather conditions could not 
have added to the chances of making great casts. The day 
was cloudy and somewhat hazy, with a moderate wind veer- 
ing with uncertain gusts. 
Nor was the cast by any means a chance one. Of the casts 
after time was called more than a dozen were over 100ft. 
After making the record of 108} four more were made as 
follows: 102, 104, 105 and 108^. 
Last October, when Mr. Golcher with his cast of 103ft. 
broke the world's record of 1023^f t. , then held by Mr. R. C. 
Leonard since 1888, we predicted that before a year from that 
time, with the rapid improvement being made and the skill 
shown, that 110ft. would be reached. But half of the allot- 
ted time has elapsed, and the record is but l^^ft. short of our 
prediction, and a new champion modestly wearing the 
honors. Either of these gentlemen is more than liable to 
reach our mark before the expiration of the allotted time. 
Mr. Mansfield has been a fly-caster all his life, never using 
under any circumstances either bait or spoon; but at the in- 
auguration of fly- casting tournaments on the coast he was 
but little, if any, better in a long-distance contest than any 
other members of the club, his longest casts only reaching 
from 70 to 77ft. He at once became much interested in the 
sport, and has studied the art from all its bearings; listening 
to the advice of others and trying all methods until from 
them all he has evolved a method of his own, which, wheth- 
er the best or not, has enabled him to place in the most 
delicate manner possible the frail little fly at distances never 
before reached by any other — a mark for many to reach for, 
and but few, if any, ever to surpass.— J?'iel(Z Sports, March SO. 
Salmon Fishing for Sale. 
Feeehold, on the best fishing waters of the southwest Miramiehi 
River (Burnt Hill). For terms and particulars apply to Thomas J. 
Oonroy, 88 John street. New York city. — jdt/i'. 
THE FORESTRY RESERVES. 
Cheyenne, Wyo,, March 25.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have read with much interest your editorial on the forest 
reserves, appearing in your issue of March 20. Upon mat- 
ters of interest to the West you have heretofore been so uni- 
formly fair that I feel confident you desire to be so in 
discussing this question. A correct understanding of the 
facts and existing conditions is a condition precedent to a 
candid discussion of this forest reserve proposition. Instead 
of having this knowledge, it appears that each side in this 
controversy is charging the other side with the grossest 
ignorance. An intimate acquaintance with the people living 
west of the Mississippi -^River, extending over a period of 
twenty-eight years, constrains me to believe that they are not 
given to "doing or saying wild things," or to "going off at 
half-cock" upon propositions where their own interests are 
nearly concerned. The Forestry Commission was com- 
pelled to make some sort of a defense to the severe criticism 
which their action called forth, but it is not satisfactory to 
us to have them attempt to quiet our apprehensions with 
promises of what they propose to do, while at the same time 
our alarm is attributed to ignorance of their plans, no inti- 
mation of which was given until after the storm had broken 
upon their devoted heads. The Commission had been 
warned of the danger of hasty and inconsiderate acliou, and 
its statements now appear to people familiar with the 
rules governing forest reserves not as reasons, but as ex- 
cuses 
As a friend of forest preservation, as the Governor of a 
State where, prior to the recent action of the President, nine- 
tenths of the people were active advocates of an adequate 
