Sept. 4, 1897.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
189 
and got his rod out with alacrity and was soon trying to 
believe he had miscalculated the day of the week, and was 
catching them as fast as he could cast. What fish ! Moose- 
head and vicinity have produced large trout, but never was 
such a string of fish caught which ran so uniformly lirge in 
size as these. We took twenty-one trout that day, averag"- 
ing a trifle over 31bs, each, the largest tipping the scales at 
5ilbs. 
I have not the space to write of our journey out and how 
we got lost, and how Mac climbed to the heights of a tall 
spruce to get the lay of the land: nor of how we were 
obliged to wear our rubber coats when we reached the settle- 
ment to cover the remains of our clothing, which literally 
had been torn from us by the bushes and undergrowth: nor 
of the envy with which our fish were regarded by the village 
fisherman, Ivory, the keeper of the hotel, who had been fish- 
ing every day for years, but who had never seen such fish as 
these. 
Levi has long since gone to his account. The Judge is 
now an old man, and his fishing days are over, while Mac 
and I are rapidly passing the middle age period, and busi- 
ness cares and responsibilities prevent the devotion of time 
to the .gentle art as in those days; but although it may be un- 
orthodox to say it, we do believe that trout will liae to the 
fly with singular avidity on the seventh day of the week, and 
that the catch on Indian Pond many years ago beats the 
record in this vicinity. T. N., Jr 
MEN I HAVE FISHED WITH. 
LIII.— Harry Prichard. 
Two PBicnARD brothers, Tom and Harry, came from 
England and started to make and repair fishing tackle in 
Fulton street, New York, so long ago that the nearest date 
I can fix for it is the one so dear to our childhood: "Once 
upon a time." They are not recorded in the Ghinese 
"Book of the Lily," which was written at the beginning of 
all things, and so must have come to New York after that 
period; but it was very long ago. The little shop upstairs 
was kept busy by anglers who knew of their skill, and also 
hy some of the large fishing tackle houses, whiflh found it 
more convenient than to send small jobs by express to 
their factories; and so the brothers found plenty of work 
to their hands while they lived. 
The little shop was. a place where one might drop in at 
any time and feel sure of meeting some of the old-time 
anglers of the city, and the talk would run on the nearby 
trout streams, rods, ferrules, flies, tho prospect of a run of 
weakfish, the tides, the last big catch of sheepshead at the 
wreck of the Black Warrior, and such other things as are 
discussed where anglers most do congregate. There is no 
such place in New York city now, and never will be until 
an anglers' club is formed. I meet anglers occasionally in 
the different fishing tackle emporiums, but they are there 
•pn. business and not for social talk, as was the case at 
Prichard's. We needed such a place then and we need a 
club now. 
Of Tom Pritchard I knew little; he was the eldest, wore 
gray muttonchop whiskers and attended to business; 
therefore, as Bame Juliana Berners says, "I write the less 
of him." AVhen I first knew Harry, some thirty years ago, 
he must have been a boy of about fifty years o'd, aS con- 
vivial as opportunity oftered and always ready to till a 
story, the impediment in his speech increasing as he 
neared the climax, when his jaws would work but refuse 
to deliver a sound until he pressed his fists into his hips 
and yelled the finale, and this added point to all his yarns. 
As he put it: "I can s-s-s sing and I can w-w-whistle, but 
I'm a s-s-sinner if I can t t-talk." Frank Endicott once 
made Harry this proposition: "If you can't talk, don't try; 
you're too old to learn new tricks. When you've got a 
fishing yarn to spin, just sing the introduction and descrip- 
tive part, and when you get to the last of it — where we are 
all willing to strain our credulity to believe you— just 
'whistle o'er the lave o' it,' as the Scotch song goes. This 
will be a great relief to you, and will leave much veracity 
to your credit with all of us." 
Harry was the man who was fishing for black bass on 
Greenwood Lake when a drunken "guide" tried to bail 
out the perforated bait car which bung overboard, as has 
been related, but he had amplified the story with detail 
and climax until we enjoyed it as something of which we 
bad never heard. But this is a digression. 
*'N-now Hi'll tell you a t-t-true s-s-story, an' Hi don't 
c-care hif you b-b-believe hit or not. You halways puts 
m-me down for 1-1-lyin', hanyway, an' Hi d-d-do' know 
has hits hany use to t-t-tell you hanythink m-m-more, you 
wouldn't b-b-believe me, hanyway." 
"Go on, Harry said Endicott, "we always believe you 
when we are sure you are telling a truthful yarn, and we, 
as brothers of the angle, realize the fact that there is an 
angler's license as well as a poet's. Please unfold this 
truthful yarn; it will place a great balance to your credit." 
"Harry," said I, "the trouble with you is your excessive 
modesty. You evidently never expected me to believe 
that you killed a 40ft. shark on a 16oz. rod while fishing 
for small fish in the waters of India, but your glowing ac- 
count of your four hours' fight with the monster after it 
had dragged you from the boat, and how you reeled in 
and gave line while treading water, bore the stamp of 
authenticity. Then, too, your reeling the great fish in 
and getting on its back, drowning it by pulling ofi" your 
boots and jamming them into two of the gill openings, 
suffocating the fish with hands and feet in the other gill 
slits while you awaited death when the shark sank, is in 
memory as distinct as when you told it. I do not doubt 
the slightest detail, and have often rejoiced at your op- 
portune rescue by the native fishermen, and your restora- 
tion to your regiment in Her Majestj-'s service. Please 
don't think that we entertain doubts of the truthfulness of 
your stories, even if such, doubts sometimes cross your own 
mind." 
"T-t-that's good! You think Hi don't halways b-b-b-be- 
Heve my bown s-s-stories. P'r'aps Hi don't b-believe 
'em hev'ry time; hall Hi ask is for you to b-b-b-believe 
'em." 
"Let me explain," said I, "the- funny man of the press 
has done much to injure the veracity "of the angler. He 
has gone so far as to brand a palpable lie as a 'fish story,' 
thereby throwing discredit upon our guild. In his igno- 
rance that a whale is not a fish he, in his skepticism, goes 
back many centuries, but now, Harry, let me go beyond 
tbe latter-day reporter, who has exhausted his wit upon 
the appetite of the goat, the disturbing influence of the 
mother-in-law, and the wholly ficticious accounts of the 
wealth of the plumber and the ice-man, into the question 
of the truthfulness of the fisherman. Is he less given to 
exaggeration than his brother who handles the gun? Is 
he more unworthy of belief than men who engage in other 
forms of sport or of business? I'll answer my own ques- 
tions by saying that he is not, and in proof of this will 
point to the fact that I have even believed some of your 
stories." . 
"I move the previous question," said Mr. Endicott, "all 
this talk that Mather has shot off' is irrelevant and not at 
all to the point. If Harry has a story to tell it should take 
precedence of all. Go on, Harry, and tell your story. I'll 
agree to believe a third of it and Mr. Scott and Fred will 
believe the other two-thirds. In that way the whole story 
will be believed without injuring our capacity for believ- 
ing any stories that others present may inflict oji us. Let 
her go!" 
"Well, this here ain't much of a s-s-story, an' I don't 
care w-w- whether you b b-believe or not, cause it's as true 
as I sit 'ere on this stool, an' that's no lie. Y' see hi was 
a-fishin' for p-p-pickerel up hon Greenwood Lake, hall 
by my lonesome, ban I was a ketchin' s-s-small ones right 
fast han a keepin' c-c-count by sayin' that m m-makes 
nine ban' this un's t-t-ten, in that kind o' way ha 'avin' 
fun—." 
"Hold on, Harry," said Endicott, "we want more detail. 
How big were these small pickerel, and what bait were 
you using?" 
"Hi was b-b-baitin' with live minners, or k-k-killes has 
they calls 'em bin the salt-water. Hi hain't got h-h-hany 
of 'em left to prove they was my b-b-bait, but Hi'll hask 
you to t-t-take my word for 'em. The p-p-picKerel was a- 
r-r-r-runnin' hextra small that d-d-day, ban' the first 
s-s-singular thing that struck me was their r-r-regular size, 
ban' I m-m-measured 'em. Hi'm a s-s-sinner hif they 
wasn't hall just heleven an' a barf h-h-hinches long to a 
fraction; and I sez to mys-s-self, sez Hi, this here's hall one 
s-s-school, hall hout o' one litter, but they're b-b-big henuff 
to take 'ome,' so Hi fishes on." 
"How many did you get on this remarkable day?" asked 
Mr. Scott. 
"Hi'm a c-c-comin' to that hif you'll gi' me a c-c-chance. 
Y' see, Hi was hout for three days' f-f-fishin', an' Hi wanted 
to keep my f-f-fish halive till I left for 'ome; so Hi 'ad a 
fish car halongside, ban' the p-p-pickerel were dropped into 
that as fast as Hi p-p-pulled 'em in. They was a-bitin' 
f-f-fast, an' about s-s-sundown Hi thought the car must be 
p-p-putty full, for Hi had counted f-f-forty-three, an' hi'd 
quit. One m-m-more took hold, ban' has e was a-kickin' 
hon the bottom of the boat Hi takes a look in the c-c-car, 
ban' what do you think Hi s-s-see?" 
"Well, Harry," said Endicott, "as I have followed the 
story, I should eay that you must have seen forty-three 
pickerel in a mass and nothing more, because you have 
not mentioned taking in snapping turtles and other mon- 
sters. What else could you have seen? There's nothing 
remarkable in your yarn so far, that you should preface it, 
as you did, with the remark that we might not believe it. 
As far as I am concerned, I am willing to believe not only 
the third, to which I agreed, but the whole story as well. 
What did you see?" 
"N-n-n nothing!" 
"But," said Mr. Scott, "you put the fish in the car; where 
were they?" - 
"Hin the b-b-boat. There was a slat hoflF the b-tt-bottraa 
of that c-c-car, ban' Hi'd been a-c-c-catchin' the same 
p-p pickerel hall day, han' 'e " 
Harry's vocal organs gave out. We gravely shook 
hands, remarked upon the state of the weather and left 
him trying to finish tbe story. 
We heard much of Harry's wonderful fly-casting about 
this time, and Mr. Endicott assured me that- he had 
seen him cast wonderful distances in private, but had 
no knowledge of the number of feet cast because the 
distance was not measured. There had been no casting 
tournaments in the vicinity of New York city and 
only a few in the State, some of which I had seen, 
but the New York State Sportsm.en'8 Association, called, 
I believe, the "Association for the Protection of Fish 
and Game," was to hold its annual meeting at Brighton 
Beach, Coney Island, in June, 1881, and after some days 
of trap-shooting, rifle and pistol shooting, there was to be 
a grand anglers' tournament, to include several classes of 
salmon, trout and bass casting, and I had been asked by 
President Abel Crook to superintend it. In those days, 
and for some years later, it was the rule to allow the 
shorter rods 5ft. of distance for each foot that their rod was 
shorter than the longest. In the salmon casting Keuben 
Wood, Ira Wood and Frank P. Denison all used the same 
rod, 17ft. lin., and Harry used a rod 15ft. Sin. Harry 
actually cast 9lft., but his allowance of 9ft. lOin. made his 
record 100ft. lOin. Reuben cast 110ft., Ira 101ft. and Deni- 
son 94ft. Under the rule Harry won third over Denison. 
This rule of allowance was abolished by the National Rod 
and Reel Association a few years later, it being held that 
a man should use the lod which suited him best and stand 
by its actual record. 
' The absurdity of the allowance for short rods was shown 
in the trout contest, where Hier, 67^ft.; Endicott, 58ft.; 
Bryan, 45ft., and Elmendorf, 57ft., won the first five prizes 
in the order named, delicacy and accuracy adding some 
points, over J. S. Plumb and Major W. Holberton, who 
both scored 64ft. The judges reported Holberton perfect 
in style and accuracy, Bryan poor, Elmendorf fair, Endi- 
cott excellent, and Plumb good; yet Hier, with a 10ft. lOin. 
rod, won first over Holberton, whose rod measured lift. 
6in., and was most perfect in delicacy and accuracy. It 
took us about three years to kill this absurd rule and make 
a man stand by his chosen rod and what he could do with 
it. The "amateurs," or those who had never won a prize, 
having had an innings, the veterans locked horns again 
with trout rods. In this content Prichard cast 74ft. with a 
rod lift. 3in., but was beaten by Rube Wood by a foot 
with a rod 14in. shorter. 
Several years of study of fly-casting tournaments lead 
me to believe that in distance casting there is a proper 
length of rod for every man, and that no fly rod should 
exceed lOAft. A tall, long-armed man has no advantage 
over a short one, a strong roan over a weak man, nor can 
a man cast further if elevated 10ft. above the water than if 
on its level. Because there are men who do not believe 
these statements, I am disposed to give my reasons for the 
faith that is in me, and then, if they choose, they can state 
their side of the case, and let it go to the jury. 
My lOift. rod was a short one fifteen years ago. Now 
the average rod, in America, is shorter, because our tout. 
naments, now unfortunately discontinued, developed the 
fact that longer rods did no better work; and if Major 
Holberton should choose a single-handed rod for distance 
casting to-day, it would no doubt be fully 2ft. shorter thari 
the lift. 6in. which he used in 1881. In support of my 
second assertion, I will state the fact that poor little Thomas 
L, Prichard, nephew of Harry, about 5ft. 3in., weighing, 
about lOOlbs., and dying with consumption, made a good 
record in our Harlem Mere contest, in October, 18g4, against 
the powerful 6-footer Reuben Leonard,whousedtolayouthis 
fly away beyond the rest and scoop the first prize. Some 
philosopher has recorded the fact that "the longest pole 
knocks the persimmons/' but "young Tom" Prichard was 
short of body and of arm, and his "pole'* did not yaty 
much from that wielded by tbe stalwart Leonard. I can't 
give the details, for they are in storage now, but if any 
fellow believes that casting a fly a long distance requires 
merely strength because many of the men who have 
achieved reputation in that line are strong, and challenges 
my statement, I will dig out the facts of that only contest 
where that poor dying boy, small and weak, made a record 
against athletes. He died some six months afterward. 
My third proposition may not be so susceptible of proof, 
but while a man may throw a stone further from a house- 
top, he cannot cast a fly from it as far as if he stood in a 
boat at the level of the water. The conditions are differ- 
ent. The stone has weight, the fly has none. Tbe stone 
receives its impulse^from the hand, while the fly gets it 
from the spring of a rod which impels a line to continue 
its wave motion after it has dropped on the water, and to 
lay out a delicate gut leader of many feet after it is at rest. 
Draw your right hand over your left shoulder, with your 
body cast your elbow toward an objective point and then 
let your forearm unfold and then your wrist. You then 
get an idea of how the last third of the line and the leader 
reaches out after the elastic tip of the rod has done its 
work. 
Like poor Joe, in "Bleak House," "I didn't go for to do 
it," but my confounded pen has a way of getting the ink 
in its "nibs" and before I know it I must follow the blaze 
back to the trail. If I can hark back correctly, this story 
was to be about Harry Prichard, but some thoughts on fly- 
casting tournaments led me astray; or rather, my pen 
went that way. 
The Washington Gun Club, of Brooklyn, were to have a 
picnic, with games, at Lake Hopatcong, in the northern 
part of New Jersey, some forty miles from New York city, 
and I was an invited guest and judged the boat races and 
the fly-casting in the morning. Harry had prepared to 
spend the afternoon in fishing, and so we left tbe party, 
fished all the afternoon and took a late train home. At 
the Coney Island tournament Harry showed us a new 
mode of casting a fly, which was barred from practice by 
the rules of the State Association, which required the line 
to be retrieved after each cast, the makers of the rule 
holding that if a man should cast more line than he could 
lift from the water and put behind him for another cast it 
should not be counted. Harry's new mode was well 
known in England, but new to us. It consisted of reeling 
off some 60 or 80ft. of line in the water, and then by suc- 
cessive whipping, without apparent advancement, the line 
would roll out like a wave and the flies would be straight- 
ened out in good shape. The advantage of this cast is ap- 
parent when there are trees or other obstacles in the rear, 
which would prevent the line from being thrown behind. 
Harry taught me how to make this cast, but 40ft was the 
best I could do at it; enough, however, for ordinary ang- 
ling. 
"Harry," said I, "such a commotion as this cast makes 
in the water at your feet would scare the trout away." 
"That's j-j-just where you're w-w-wrong, me boy. The 
more s-s-splashin' you m-mak' the m-more hit brings the 
t-t-trout to see what's hup. When you goes a s-s-skitterin' 
for p-pike d-don't you s-splash in your b-bait ban' make a 
fuss a s-s-skitterin' it hon the s-surface?" 
"Yes, that's all right for pike and pickerel, but I've been 
taught to keep as still as possible when fishing for trout. 
I've even re^d of m6n who dropped their flies on the 
water as lightly as a thistle-down falls; but outside of books 
we never find such casting. I know some of the best fly- 
casters in the world — men who, in the tournaments and 
on trout streams, are marvels in casting delicately and 
accurately— but they can't do the thistle-down act. 
Ordinarily we lay the line out on the water, the middle 
striking first and the rest following and going beyond, 
making a ripple on perfectly still water, but which is hid- 
den if there is a slight ripple." 
"C-can't you m-m-make your flies 'light on the water 
f-f-first?" 
"Yes, at 40ft. or less, but that's trick casting and of no 
use in fishing, for the line must come down on the water 
just after the flies do, and it makes as much disturbance 
of the surface as if cast in the regular way. It is done by 
making a high cast in the air and then checking the line 
with the rod; it merely serves to astonish those who have 
never seen it done." 
"Now that's j j-ju8t the c-case with a line s-s-splashin' iio. 
the w-water, no m-matter hif you're a-fishin' for p-pike or 
trout So long as you d-don't make hany noise in the 
b-boat or hon the b-bank, hits all right." 
While I am not prepared to endorse Harry's theory, I 
must say that he took' sixteen black bass to my fourteen 
that afternoon, and we were using the same fly, from dif- 
ferent sides of the boat. Once, to prove his theory, he 
took a 5-cent nickel from his pocket, threw it into the lake 
some 30ft. away, then put his fly on the same spot and 
hooked a bass a moment later. Some months after this 
affair the late Francis Endicott and I were in our favorite 
cafe comparing the merits of cranberry sauce and currant 
jelly when served with venison chops. We seldom agreed 
"upon any subject, and we did not upon this important one. 
We only agreed that it was pleasant to dine together, that 
Mrs. Vianest could cook a grouse better than a cAe/ in New 
York, make a chicory salad with such a delicacy of garlic 
that the chapon could be eaten without alienating all our 
friends, and that a rib chop from a fat deer was the 
choicest bit of venison that roamed the woods, even if the 
old-time hunters fed it to their dogs or left it in the woods, 
while they wrapped the "saddle" in the skin and took it 
home. We had each put an elegant polish on the rib of 
our fourth chop when I started in on a fish story, and it 
was that which is related above. 
Frank listened as be put tbe last bit of jelly on the last 
chop, and after placing the combination where he thought 
