90 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 29, 1898. 
The Fly-Casting Tournaments* 
D.URTMG the Ja&t Sveek tlie interest la the fly-casting 
.seeracd to increase, and on several occasions the tiers 
: of benches were crowded bj'- ladies as well as gentle- 
, men, and all \yere enthusiastic when a particularly long 
cast was made or a tecord broken. It was a reunion of 
' .anglers who seldom meet, and manj'- old friendships were 
... renewed. The number of old friends we met — men 
whom we had not seen for years — would require a col- 
, u-mn to record, and the hearty hand-shakings with new 
^■..35 well as Avith old friends was felt for days afterward. 
i_ . All distance records-are given in feet and inches. 
Monday, Jan. 17, at 3 P. M. 
Ctass F. — Ladies' fly-casting contest. For distance only. Unre- 
stricted. Open to all. No fees will be required in this contest. 
Judges, Fred Engle, Fred Mather. Referee, T. B. Stewart. 
MtBs Coi-a Leonard ....73.0 Miss Helen Stoddard 62.0 
Both ladies made graceful as well as long casts. Miss 
Leonard showed the style of those famous casters H. W. 
Hawes and R. C. Leonard in hardly allowing her line to 
touch the water before retrieving it, thereby lessening 
the strain in lifting the line, but at the same time risking 
a chance that the leader might straighten out. Miss 
Stoddard was handicapped by a blistered hand and a 
sore biceps from practice the day before, but her casting 
was much adinired, and she prstnises to heiEoifte an ex- 
pert. 
Monday> jan. 17, at S P. M. 
Class G. — Obstacle fly-casting contest. For delicacy and accu- 
racy. Open to all. There will be placed on the left side of the 
bank a bush overhanging' the water 3ft. and above the surface 3ft., 
■'distant from^the casting platform 30ft., and on the i-ight side of 
the tank a similar bush, under like conditions, distant from the 
platform 40ft. The contestant vvili be allowed five casts at each 
bush. The contestant who places the fly most delicately and near- 
est the side of the tank, under either of the bushes, shall take first 
aw^rd. The score is given in inches and tenths, biit the record 
of the ten casts is omitted. Judges, T. B. Stewart, H. R. Harris. 
Referee, Lody Smith. 
E R Hewitt 228 22.8 F N Peet 346 34.6 
G Poey 242 24.2 D Brandeth .372 37.2 
C M Roof 244 24.4 P C Hewitt 411 41.1 
B W Goodsell 297 29.7 D T Kennedy 501 55.6 
Geo Landman 310 .3.1.0 
This was a cumbrous way Off reckoning, and it took 
soih'e time to figure it up. Mr. K nnedy withdrew after 
the ninth cast, hence his score was divided by 9. There 
was great skill required in this cast, and the winner, Mr. 
E. R. Hewitt, showed that he could dodge his fly under 
a bush as well as cast it far in other contests. There 
\vas no applause becau.se none but the judges knew what 
the caster was doing, and even they have no record to 
compare it with until they figure it out. In this and 
ill all other contests we gis'e the names in the order of 
their record ajjd not in the order in which they may have 
cast. ■• 
Tuesday, Jan. IS. at 3 P. M. 
- Glass H. — Fly-casting contest. Distance only. Open oa]y to those 
who Inve never cast more than 75ft. in any .similar contest. Judges, 
Fred Engle, Fred Mather. Referee. T. B. Stewart. 
D Brandeth 81.0 W K Park 68.0 
W N Goddard 79.6 L Taylor 61.0. 
This brought in some new tfien, and while sUch a con- 
test'does not interest the public like a struggle between 
the champions, it encourages beginners. 
tnesday, Jan. IS, at 8 . M. 
Class I. — Switch or Pritchard style contest. Distance only. Open 
to all, Rods and length of leader tturestrict'ed. An obstacle, 12ft. 
high, will be placed loft, back of the contestants. Judges B. VV. 
Goodsell, E. S. Osgood. Referee, S. P. Kellogg. 
H W Hawes 99.0 P C Hewitt 91.6 
R' G Leonard 9.5.6 -J. 
This was a fine contest in that most useful of all styles 
of getting out a fly. As Harry Pritchard was the one 
who introduced it in our tournaments the committee 
hondred him by calling it after him. The "obstacle" 
was a painted canvas screen representing trees and was 
20ft. high instead of 12. The record of Mr. Peter Cooper 
Hewitt was gratifying to those who hope to see the 
"amateurs" come up with the two who are looked up to as 
experts or "professionals" because they are rod-makers 
and- who contested with him. 
- Wednesday, Jan. 19, at 3 P. M. 
(Jlass J. — The Press fly-casting contest. Distance only. Open 
only to members of the press. Rods and length of leader unre- 
stricted. No entrance fees will be required in this contest. Judges, 
T. B. Stewart, H. \V. Martin. Referee, R. B. Lawrence. 
C H Mowry 7.3.0 E C Stokes 59.0 
W ,K Park 68.0 Fred Mather 55.0 
H R Harris 60.6 
This class is really intended to encourage young and 
sti'Uggling journalists, bitt several of them declined to 
enter against Mowry, who has a record. A well-known 
angling writer entered to cast against Mr. Mather. He 
withdrew and so did Mr. Mather after a few casts, using 
only a small portion of his time in order not to make a 
record, giving as a reason that he only wanted to beat 
M.r, W. C. H. and no other. 
. Wednesday, Jan. 19, at 8 P. M. 
Class K. — Singje-handed bait-casting contest. For distance and 
accWacy. .Open to all. Five casts shall be made with %oz. rubber 
frog, -tb'be furnished by t.he committee. Free running reel to be 
used. No, limit as. to rod or line, but the line must not be leaded 
or weighted. For accuracy five casts shall be made at a buoy placed 
60ft. from the casting point. The casts to be made with the V2OZ. 
rubber frog, and for each foot or fraction of a foot that the frog 
falls from the buoy a demerit of one shall be made; the sum total 
of such demerits, divided by five, shall be considered the demerit 
per cent.; the demerit per cent, deducted from 100 sliall be the 
accuracy per cent. The average distance cast, added to the per- 
centage of accuracy, shall constitute the score. 
This was the most complicated bit of mathematics 
that: the committee evolved.. It is possible that they un- 
derstood it, but it is a positive fact that few others did. 
We -merely give the list of winners, which were: R. C. 
Leonard, C. G. Levison, J. H. Bellows, F. N. Peet and 
B. W.. .Goodsell. It was a most unsatisfactory class and 
should never be repeated in the same way, i. e., adding 
the percentage of accuracy to the average distance cast. 
Thursday, Jan. 20, at S P. M. 
Cla^s M. — Fly-casting contest. Distance only to count. Rods 
and length of leader unrestricted. Open only to those who have 
never cast over 96ft. in any similar contest. Judges, T. B. Stewart, 
E. S. Osgood. Referee, Fred Mather. 
R C Leonard 110.6 I W Bellows 92.6 
H W Hawes 100.6 G W Goodsell 92.0 
P C Hewitt 98.0 Geo Landman 86.0 
T B Mills 97.6 
This was an exciting contest, because of the privilege 
of every man to enter who had never cast over 96ft. As 
yv-e go to' pi^ess we cannot search the records, but we 
think that some of the contestants have records of over 
96ft., unless the rule of "Rod and leader unrestricted" 
should be constrvted to show that there had been no 
"similar contest." Here again Mr. Hewitt crowded the 
champions. The contest was remarkable in the fact that 
Mr. Goodsell cast his five minutes without asking for 
time for repairs, and that Leonard's record last year in 
a similar contest was 101.6. A sliver on the side of the 
tank cut the leader of Hawes's and made him call for 
time. 
Thursday, Jan. 20, at 8 P. M. 
Class M. — Fly-casting contest. Distance only to count. Rods 
and length of leader unrestricted. Open only to those who have 
never cast over 96ft. in any similar contest. Judges, C. M. Roof, 
S. P. Kellogg. Referee, F. D. Devine. 
B W Goodsell 92.6 E R Hewitt 85.0 
Geo Itandman 92.0 I W Bellows 82.6 
F N Peet ..90.6 D Brandeth 80.0 
In this contest Mr. Brandeth cast 94ft., which would 
have made him the winner, but he had several inches 
of the butt of his rod inside his cuff, and there was a pro- 
test against that style of casting. There was a nice 
question involved, but the judges left it to the referee, 
and he decided against Mr. Brandeth. The fact that 
tliese contests are entirely in the interest of fly-casting 
as an art, and therefore diametrically opposed to mug- 
hunting, makes it obligatory on the protestant to show 
that the judges have been unfair, and this is diffictdt, be- 
cause they volunteer to do the work con amore. 
Friday, Jan. 21, at 3 P. M. 
Class N.— Light rod fly-casting contest. Distance only. Open to 
all. The rod must not exceed 4oz. in weight, with an allowance 
to be made of %oz. for solid reel seat. Length of leader unre- 
stricted. Judges, Fred Engle, T. B. Stewart. Referee, Fred 
Mather. 
R C Leonard 92.6 1 M Bellows 8L0 
P C Hewitt 90.0 B W Goodsell 76.0 
H W Hawes .....88.6 
Here Mr. Hewitt again crowded the champions, and 
received the plaudits of his friends. The records of all 
the contestants are remarkable when the weight of the rod 
is considered, and a few years ago such a record would 
have been thought to be impossible. 
Friday, Jan. 21, at S P. M. 
Class p.T-^Fly-casting contest. For accuracy only. Distance 60ft. 
Open to all. Rod and length of leader unrestricted. After the 
contestant has signified his readiness he shall make five consecu- 
tive casts at the buoy. The distance in feet and inches at which 
the fly drops from the mark at each cast shall be noted, and the 
sum of these distances added together and divided by five shall 
constitute the score. The contestant having the lowest average 
shall be declared the winner. Judges, S. P. Kellogg, H. R. Harris. 
Referee, M. H. Smith. 
C M Roof 18.0 3.7 1-5 B W GoodseU 12.6 2.6 
FN Peet... 17.6 3.5 D Brandeth lO.S 2.13-5 
P C Hewitt 14.0 2.9 1-2 Geo Landman 5.6 1.3 1-5 
G Poey 13.6 2.8 2-5 J H Bellows Withdrawn. 
H E Robbins 13.0 2.7 1-5 
Mr. Landman was remarkably accurate at the 60ft. 
mark; his five casts measured as follows: 6, 14. 14. 14, 
I Sin. from the buoy. 
Saturday, Jan. 22, at 3 P. M. 
Class P.— Light rod fly-casting contest. For distance only. Open 
to all. Rods must not exceed 5oz. in weight, with an allowance to 
be made of %oz. for solid reel seat. Length of leader imre- 
stricted. Judges, G. Poev, W. C. Harris. 
R C Leonard 101.6 H W Hawes 93.6 
P C Hewitt 95.0 B W Goodsell ............... 87.0 
It will be noted that this contest was like that of the 
day before, except that the rods might be an ounce 
heavier, and the contestants were the same. Each man 
exceeded his record of yesterday by many feet. Good- 
sell by II, Leonard by 9, and Hewitt and Hawes by 5 
each. 
Saturday, "Jan. 22, at 8 P. M. 
Class R. — Expert fly-casting contest. Open to all. Distance only. 
Rods and length of leader unrestricted. Judges, T. B. .Stewart, R. 
B. Lawrence. Referee, J. L. Livingston. 
R C Leonard 120.0 P C Hewitt / 95.6 
H W Hawes 104.9 T W Bellows 89.0 
B W Goodsell 98.0 Geo Landman 84.6 
Leonard cast last, and the cheers which came from the 
lower end of the pool told that all records with a single- 
handed fly-rod had been broken. Then came a call for 
a tape-line, to measure the distance he had cast beyond 
the tank, which was iioft. from the stand. Then the 
Garden rang with cheers when 120ft. was announced. 
Reuben had not cast his allotted five ininutes, but he 
stepped from the stand saying, "That will do for to-day." 
This beats his former record of 106, and also that of 
Mansfield of iii.,3, made in Chicago. Twenty years ago 
a man who could cast 6oft. was thought to be a wonder- 
ful caster. Mr. Leonard's great cast closed the tourna- 
ment, which had been interesting throughout. 
Fred Mather. 
[Next week Mr. Fred Mather will make some personal 
comments on the incidents and accidents observed dur- 
ing the contests.] 
Senator Quay^s Snappers. 
St. Augustine, Fla., Jan. 18. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I find by a scrap in the Tatler that Senator 
Quay and his party caught 800 red snappers from 10 to 
4olbs. each in one day at Jtiniper Inlet. Now all agree 
that the Senator is an able politician, but this case proves 
that outside of politics he's as thoughtless as a boy. 
He's too sensible not to know that there is no sport in 
hauling in fish by the hundred. No one will object to 
his catching tarpon, but the snapper is too valuable a fish 
to waste. 
When a Waltonite goes on a record-breaking ex- 
cursion and boasts of so many hundred trout to his in- 
dividual hook we may appropriately dub him a "trout 
hog," but when a respectable United States Senator runs 
his snapper score into the hundreds we hesitate to call 
him a snapper animal of any kind, though I wotdd like 
to ask him how long he thinks such sport will last if 
this record business is kept up. He may say it will make 
no perceptible diminution in their numbers, but St. Au- 
gustine can tell another story. The waters around here 
are so persistently fished with hook and net that no one 
but a very patient angler cares to waste his time in try- 
ing to catqh a fish of any kind. This record-breaking 
business I find is kept up at the different hotels along the 
coast and published as one of the chief attractions, but 
when they find the attraction oozing away thej^'ll come 
to the conclusion that thej^'ve acted about as wisely 
as the m^lLwho killed that famous Klondike goose. 
DiDYMUS. 
ANGLING NOTES. 
Lobsters Spawn Annually. 
Prof. E. E. Prince, Commissioner of Fisheries of the 
Dominion of Canada, has sent me a copy of his paper 
on the "Natural History of the Lobster," in which he 
takes the ground that the lobster spawns annually, and 
possibly twice in one year. The belief has heretofore 
prevailed that the lobster was a biennial spawner, but 
the observations of Prof. Prince refute that belief. He 
says: "A very erroneous opinion was in circulation 
some years ago that the female lobster spawns once in 
two years. * * * Prof. Garman, and more recently 
Prof. Herrick, have favored the idea, and Dr. Fullerton 
has also adopted it in his recent Scottish paper on 'Lob- 
ster Development,' though the evidence when analyzed, 
instead of establishing biennial spawning, all points the 
other way. * * * 
"We have, indeed, available the fullest scientific proof 
that a decapod, closely allied to the lobster, spawns not 
once in two years, but twice in one year. Thus the shrimp 
(Crangon vulgaris) spawns in April and May, as Avell as 
in early November. A valid inference would be that 
the lobster spawns not less frequently than once a 
year. * * * Mj' own observations, for which Canada 
offers opportunities incomparably greater than those of 
any other country, lead me to the view that lobsters as 
a rule spawn annually, and that a female lobster which 
has hatched her brood early in the season does in many 
cases produce a second crop of eggs later in the fall, 
which are carried all winter. The details of my examina- 
tion of a large number of specimens supporting this view 
cannot be given here, but will be published in due course 
elsewhere." 
The entire paper from which I have quoted is one of 
great interest, but I cannot quote at greater length from 
it in a note, not even what is said of the author s embryo- 
logical studies of the lobster, which go to support his 
view that they spawn annually, particularh' as he prom- 
ises fuller details later. Investigators doubtless make 
errors in their investigations of natural history subjects 
through lack of proper material or opportunity, or for 
other reasons over which they have no control, but they 
seek only the truth, and are quite ready to acknowledge 
any possible error when it is shown to be an error by 
one who has had greater opportunities for investiga:ting 
an}' particular subject. 
Prof. Herrick's paper on the "Habits and Development 
of the American Lobster" is most exhaustive^ and I have 
assumed it to be the surest guide to the life history of 
the lobster, as probably it is,, and in it he says that he 
has demonstrated on the ground of anatomy that the 
lobster did not and could not breed annttally, as com- 
monly supposed. Although such authorities disagree on 
this point, there is no reason to believe that they will 
not ultimately agree, when all the evidence is produced." 
An Explanation. 
A friend, writing me in regard to my photograph, re- 
produced in this paper of the Christmas is.sue, says: 
"The photograph of you is good, for I have seen yoti 
in a similar situation, with one exception, on a number 
of occasions — although your clothes look better than 
usual. But where under the sun did you get that arm- 
chair that you are sitting in? It looks like a property 
of a photographic studio. The balatice of the picture is 
real enough, even to the inevitable cigar between your 
fingers; but you will have to explain that chair." 
My friend is not the only one who has wondered about 
that chair, for I wondered about it myself when I fir.st 
saw it. The photograph was taken on the shore of Big 
Crooked Lake, Township 43, Herkimer county, a portion 
of what is known as the "Webb purchase," as it belongs 
to a tract of nearly 100,000 acres purchased of Dr. W. 
Seward Webb by the Fisheries, Game and Forest Com- 
mission to add to the State's holdings in the Adirondack 
Park. The lake is one of the Red Horse Chain of lakes, 
and the one most remote from Beaver River and rail- 
road communication. I took the capital photographer, 
Mr. Severance, up there with me to get some photo- 
graphs for the annual report of the Commission, and 
with three guides and two boats we made rather a hur- 
ried trip through the chain of lakes and over the con- 
necting trails. It was our intention to camp on Clear 
Lake, but when we got to that lake we foutid the camp 
in possession of Dr. Spruce M. Nash, of New York, and 
Prof. Richards, of Yale University, and we pushed on 
over the trail and across Summit Lake to Big Crooked. 
We found the camp practically as shown in the photo- 
graph, and it was nearly dark when we reached it, and it 
was raining. It was against the law to peel the trees., 
and, very naturally, I did not propose to break the law, 
even to make a dry place to sleep; and we fixed up the 
roof of the lean-to with such bark as we could find at 
the sides and on the ground. It was the first trip that 
Mr. Severance had made into -Any wilderness, and he 
was not as happy as he might have been. At the outset 
I told the guides that, while I was in a hurrj% I was a 
.heavy man and would go first over the trails, and I wottld 
not expect them to go faster than I did. Mr. Severance 
landed at the camp with two badly blistered heels, and 
the guides swearing that they had no idea that a heavy 
man with short legs could get over a trail like a jack- 
rabbit, and would not stop long enough to eat decently. 
That chair was in the camp when we reached it, and I 
learned by inquiry that it was made by one of Dr. Webb's 
game wardens who spent a winter on the shore of the 
lake, and had nothing else to do but watch for poachers, 
keep warm and make chairs. I am prepared to testify- 
that he made good, strong, comfortable chairs, and I 
heard that he preserved the fish, too, for the lakes af- 
forded good fishing when they were guarded by a private 
owner, but as soon as they came into possession of the 
State the fishing was not as good. There was no time 
to try the fishing, and I had no fishing tackle with me, 
but I heard from the campers and guides that the fishing 
had fallen off in a most mysterious manner after the tract 
became a part of the State Park. With the small num- 
ber of game protectors that the State has at command, it 
is quite impossible to guard all the lakes against net- 
ters. Dr. Webb preserved the fish because he had guard- 
ians living on the tract, and on his preserve alone he had 
