Oct. 20, 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
619 
REUBEN C. LEONARD. 
Mr. Leonard enjoys the distinction of being the most expert all-round fly-caster 
in America; and has a remarkable collection of medals (some of which are here 
shown), cups and other trophies won in casting competitions. 
drum ranged from seven to twenty-odd pounds 
each; in the Chesapeake the black drum is con¬ 
sidered a fairly good fish. Here we occasionally 
use one if under three pounds, but the large ones 
are killed (they destroy oysters), and thrown 
over. They put up a pretty fight, in a slow 
heavy way, though, and are hard to reel in. 
G. E. Mann. 
[Sciccnops occllatus Linn. is.variously called red 
drum, channel bass, redfish, bull redfish and pes- 
cado Colorado. Its length ranges from two to 
five feet and its weight 10 to 75 pounds. It is 
found all along the Atlantic and gulf coasts from 
New York to Texas, gaining in numbers south¬ 
ward. The black ocellated spot near the tail is 
often duplicated. Two spots, sometimes three or 
even more are found in some specimens. 
Among the sheepheads, Archosargus unimacu- 
latus Bloch, called by the Spanish-Americans 
salema, is common in the West Indies and north 
to Key West, while Gronow found it as far north 
as South Carolina. Sargo raiado is found all 
along the Atlantic coast as far north as Cape 
Cod, and along the gulf coast to Texas. It is 
the more common. Diplodus holbrookii Bean is 
common from Cape Hatteras southward to the 
Florida keys and along the gulf coast. Holbrook 
says the young swarm about the wharves of 
Beaufort, but no mention is made by him or by 
Jordan and Evermann of their breeding places, 
which, however, cannot be far distant from the 
places where the young are found. As our cor¬ 
respondent says, notes relative to our salt water 
fishes would be of interest to anglers fond of 
that branch of fishing.— Editor.] 
Anglers’ Club Casting Tournament. 
All things considered, the fly- and bait-casting 
tournament held on Harlem Mere, in Central 
Park, New York city, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 
12 and 13, was one of the most successful ones 
held in the East in many years. It was the first 
annual tournament of the Anglers’ Club of New 
York. 
In the first place, this club was organized by 
a few anglers less than a year ago; and in so 
large a city it was difficult to obtain a place where 
members could practice, and the privilege to use 
the Pool, on the west side of the park, was ob¬ 
tained but a short time ago, so that the members 
have never held a contest among themselves, and 
they practiced only three or four times in all. 
Less than a month ago word was received by 
members that John Enright, of Castleconnell, 
Ireland, who held the record for fly-casting with 
a salmon rod, made at the Crystal Palace, in 
London, was contemplating a visit to America, 
and it was thought that Walter D. Mansfield, 
who holds the record in this country for trout 
fly-casting, could come on from San Francisco 
to attend a tournament, if one could be arranged 
during Mr. Enright’s visit. The members got 
together and decided on the dates, then notified 
both of these gentlemen, and scores of others, 
hustled around for prizes, got out a preliminary 
and a finished programme, built a platform on 
the Mere, made an accuracy target and a measur¬ 
ing line, and did everything they could to. make 
the affair a success. They knew it would be 
almost impossible for anglers to come from a 
distance, because October is a busy month in a 
rush season, but it was then or not at all this 
year, and they went ahead. 
The success of the affair in due to the hard 
work of G. M. L. LaBranche, chairman; Charles 
W. Stepath and R. J. Held, of the tournament 
committee, and the assistance of other members 
and anglers who helped materially in many ways. 
The weather was very favorable, particularly on 
the second day. 
Mr. Mansfield could not attend the tournament, 
but the next day after Mr. Enright received word 
of the dates, he got a few rods together, packed 
his bag and took passage for New York, arriv¬ 
ing on the nth. He was met at the pier by Mr. 
LaBranche, who saw him comfortably settled at 
a hotel. Next day Mr. Enright was at the Mere 
and ready for practice. That day he broke his 
own record of 147 feet with a salmon fly-rod 
20 feet long, scoring 152 feet. Mr. Robert B. 
Lawrence, president of the club* established a 
new club record of 173 feet with half-ounce 
weight in bait-casting. On Saturday Mr. Enright 
broke his previous record for salmon fly-casting 
with a 14ft. rod, scoring 126 feet, and Reuben 
C. Leonard made a new record for the East with 
bait-casting rod and half-ounce weight, scoring 
187 feet. This cast, as well as all others, was 
made on the water, not on a lawn with a dry 
line, and there was not only no wind to assist, 
but the light was failing, as the time was near 
sunset. Mr. Leonard’s cast was 4ft. 2in. better 
than Abe Rabbers’ cast of 182ft. ioin., made on 
the grass at Kalamazoo., Mich., in the tournament 
held there last August, but the record made a 
year ago by E. B. Bartholomew, at Chicago— 
198ft. ioin. on the grass—still stands for distance. 
At a tournament of this sort there are always 
ten or more highly interested spectators for 
every contestant, but they come, not merely to 
look on, but to learn, and the benefit they derive 
is important in the gentle art of angling. Be¬ 
sides learning how the casting is done, they pick 
up all sorts of information valuable to them in 
fishing or practice casting, and are eager to 
know what make and kind of rod, reel, line, etc., 
the successful contestants use, and all the little 
wrinkles the latter take advantage of to make 
themselves more proficient. At this tournament 
there were scores of such men who would not 
cast in public for a fortune, but who picked up 
no little information for future use. The daily 
press had a number of reporters on hand, and 
the illustrated magazines sent their best men, and 
these were banging away half the time both days 
with big reflecting canfieras and fast shutters, but 
they all admitted that catching a split bamboo 
rod in motion was pretty difficult. Under Mr. 
Stepath’s direction the casting platform was set 
about sixty feet from shore, with a walk from it 
to a second platform nearer shore. This latter 
platform was crowded with anglers all the time, 
and why it did not go down with the weight was 
a mystery. As it was the police kept every per¬ 
son away who had no special interest in the 
tournament, but this was not an easy thing to 
do. Occasionally a member would attempt to 
distribute programmes among those in the crowd 
who were interested, but he was instantly mobbed 
and the police had to help him out of the tangle. 
On Saturday afternoon the lakeside presented a 
pretty sight with all the varied colors of the 
spectators’ garb, backed by the green trees and 
grass, and all reflected in the calm water of the 
Mere. 
Uncle John Waddell, of the Grand Rapids Fly- 
and Bait-Casting Club, Grand Rapids, Mich., was 
present, and he did everything he could to assist 
new men at this game, offering advice, pointing 
out their faults, and giving them the benefit of 
his long experience, all of which was very highly 
appreciated. 
In the fly-casting contests split bamboo rods 
only (with the single exception of Mr. Enright’s 
rods) were used, the preference being for six 
strip rods. In the bait-casting nearly all of the 
rods were split bamboo, the exceptions being one 
bethabara and two or three lancewood. In length 
these rods varied from 5)4 to 6F2 feet, with two 
under the former length. The preference was 
given to a trifle longer and more pliable rods 
in the accuracy event. All of the reels used were 
quadruple multipliers of the free-running type, 
differing from service fishing reels only in that 
most of them were smaller and with longer spools 
and shorter handles. By “free-running” it must 
not be understood that free spool reels were 
used, for all werq alike in mechanism to the 
ordinary fishing reel, in that the gears were 
always in mesh. 
The lines were the smallest obtainable—much 
smaller than “H” lines, although the sizes varied 
slightly. 
The line used for' measuring the casts was 
twisted galvanized wire an eighth of an inch in 
diameter. When it was in position the first mark, 
a red float with a numbered disk surmounting it, 
