366 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Sept. 20, 1913. 
George's Prize Fish. 
BY S. COLOGNE. 
George was a fine fisherman. He could beat 
everybody in telling hair-raising stories. He 
could have entertained the old Arabian king not 
a thousand and one, but ninety thousand and one 
nights. Every time we went fishing George told 
his tales about the big ones, but he never men¬ 
tioned the best adventure he had. 
One day we were on the ocean. George had 
told a story about a 50-foot whale he hooked and 
landed at the coast of Greenland while fishing 
for tomcods with a No. 11 sproat hook and a 
fly-rod. The excitement was so great that George 
was perfectly exhausted when he finished. He 
pulled off his rubber boots, bound his line to 
the reeling, and fell asleep. 
While George tried to imitate a sawmill, we 
pulled up his line, fastened one of his rubber 
boots to the hook and sent the boot to the bot¬ 
tom of the ocean. As soon as the sinker touched 
bottom, we woke George up with a kick near 
the end of his spine. 
‘ You have a bite!” we cried. 
George jumped to his feet, reached for his 
line, and gave a triumphant howl. "Hurrah! 
here comes the prize fish! Oh! it’s a twenty- 
pounder ! Give it up boys. Don’t try any longer 
for the prize. It’s in my pocket already.” 
He pulled his line in. It was hard work. 
A No. 12 high rubber boot filled with sand and 
ten gallons of pure salt water is not _ easy to 
pull up. George shouted like a madman. “Ha! 
It takes me to catch a fish like this one! Watch 
out, boys, you can learn something. Whoa, he 
is heavy! Now I have him well up - . Get the 
gaff! Get the gaff!” 
All eyes were turned to the spot where that 
big one would come out. With one hard pull, 
which nearly threw him off his feet, George 
succeeded in landing his fish. Some curious 
black monster fell on deck, and a roar of 
laughter filled the air. 
George stood as though hit by a bolt of 
lightning out of a clear sky. He cut the “twenty- 
pounder” off his line and threw him with might 
and anger far out into the green waves. He 
hasn’t told anything since. 
An Arkansas Eel Story. 
Quanaii, Texas, Sept. 8. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Some several issues back of your very 
interesting periodical I saw a number of experi¬ 
ences with the eel. I thought then I would give 
your readers one that I had had with an eel 
in Arkansas, but in the multiplicity of duties I 
have let the time slip away till now. I was visit¬ 
ing in the city of Hot Springs in 1875. In the 
country some eight miles lived an acquaintance 
of mine with whom I had played when a boy. 
He was exceedingly insistent every time we met 
in the city, that I go out home with him to 
enjoy a few days of fishing, a thing that has 
appealed to me from childhood up to now. So 
at last I consented to go. We reached his home 
in the afternoon, and nothing would do but that 
we must try our luck in a stream nearby that 
night. All arrangements were made to that end. 
We made our first effort, and the last for that 
night, at the head of a pool of water some 
twelve or more feet deep. We had been fish¬ 
ing but a little while when I got a strike of 
some considerable force and began to draw in 
my line. Whatever it was at the other end was 
giving me considerable amusement by the way 
it was playing. Eventually I landed about a 
three-foot eel. I had been instructed that the 
way to kill it was to wrap its tail around a sap¬ 
ling with much force, which I did. It ceased 
to wriggle, and to all appearances was entirely 
out of commission. I threw it up among some 
bushes behind me and resumed my fishing. I 
became interested in my effort to entice some¬ 
thing else to take the bait, and the fact that 
I had caught an eel had passed from my mind 
at the time. All at once I felt something wrig¬ 
gling under my leg. The only thing that could 
find place in my mind was—snake! Without 
taking time to argue the case, into the 
creek head foremost I went. By the time I 
came up from the ducking, the thought of snake 
had given place to that of eel. I crawled out 
in perfect disgust, wound up my fishing line and 
made for the house where I could get into some 
dry clothes, and from that day till this I have 
had no especial love for Mr. Eel. 
G. S. Wyatt. 
Fishing in California. 
BY GOLDEN GATE. 
The petition for a referendum on the fish¬ 
ing license measure that is to become a law on 
the first of the year has fallen through, and 
anglers will be called upon next season to pay 
a small license fee, the same as those who hunt. 
A splendid run of salmon is now on at 
Monterey Bay and some heavy catches are being 
made there with hook and line. August Rath, 
of Santa Cruz, dean of the salmon anglers, re¬ 
cently landed twenty-eight fine fish in one day 
and has been taking from fifteen to twenty a 
day with great regularity. The run of fish has 
now reached the Golden Gate, and San Francisco 
anglers are having some good sport, but it is 
necessary to go outside the heads to secure it. 
One party recently spent a day at Tennessee Cove, 
and three salmon were landed, these being of 
large size, being 56, 46 and 26-pounders respec¬ 
tively. 
The lack of water in many trout streams is 
causing anglers to visit some of the promising- 
lakes of the high sierras, and many are now visit¬ 
ing Lake Tahoe, where large catches are being- 
made. Others are finding good sport in locali¬ 
ties in Northern California and Southern Oregon 
where the early season fishing was indifferent. 
Great - sport is now being enjoyed in the Big- 
Meadows country in spite of the fact that 
thunder storms have been of frequent occur¬ 
rence throughout the summer. A number of 
San Francisco anglers have been visiting the Wil¬ 
liamson River in Oregon of late, and some great 
catches are reported. James M. Oliver landed 
a sixteen-pound rainbow trout in that stream and 
Mrs. Oliver secured a eleven-pound fish in Short 
Creek. The one secured by Mr. Oliver was 
thirty-four inches in length and had a girth 
measurement of nineteen inches. 
Black bass fishing on the San Joaquin River 
near Stockton is commencing to be attractive, 
but the hot weather has served to keep anglers 
away. Some striped bass are also being taken 
there, an eighteen-pound fish being the largest 
to be landed this season in those waters. 
Interstate Casting Tournament. 
With rain all morning and threatening 
weather all afternoon, the Newark Bait- and 
Fly-Casting Club managed to hold its interstate 
tournament last Saturday at their Weequahic 
Park platform. Although few casters and spec¬ 
tators were present the events were started 
sharply at 9 o’clock in the morning. As the 
events were open to all, many experts from all 
over the State and this part of the country 
were expected, but the disagreeable weather kept 
them away. 
In the first event, namely, distance bait, each 
man had five tries, and the high average score 
took first position. To assure accuracy in meas¬ 
uring, the men cast out on the lawn instead of 
the lake. A. J. Marsh excelled with an average 
of 195 feet, best cast 209 feet. F. T. Mapes ran 
second with 158 1/5, best cast 186; John Doughty 
141 4/5, best cast 203; J. G. Jacobs, 141, best 
cast 151; Frank Gruver, 117 3/5, best cast 160. 
Prizes, consisting of fishing tackle, rods, etc., 
were awarded all contestants. 
In the unlimited rod, distance fly event, 
Perry Frazer broke both his own and the club 
record of 112 feet by casting 113 feet. F. T. 
Mapes ran second with 94 feet; J. Doughty, 
third, with 88 feet, and A. J. Marsh, fourth, 
with 86 feet. Each man was allowed eight 
minutes to cast, his best mark being scored. 
The third event, distance fly with five-ounce 
rod, was won by Perry Frazer, with a cast of 
98 feet; second position went to F. T. Mapes, 
with 84; third to J. Doughty, with 81; fourth, 
W. Fligby, of the New York Anglers’ Club, with 
78; fifth, D. Mercer, with 77.6; sixth, A. J. 
Marsh, of the Orange Rod Club, with 76. 
In the accuracy half-ounce bait event, which 
came next, the targets were 60, 70. 80. 90 and roo 
feet from the platform. Each man had three 
casts at a target, giving him fifteen casts in all. 
A. J. Marsh led, with 32 demerits; F. T. Mapes 
was second, with 40; Frank Gruver, third, with 
42; J. Doughty, fourth, with 44; L. Sands, fifth, 
with 51, and J. Jacobus, sixth, with 52. 
In the fifth event, accuracy fly, the targets 
were placed 50, 55 and 60 feet from the plat¬ 
form. Each contestant had five casts at each 
target. F. T. Mapes led with 14 demerits; A. J. 
