8 16 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 25, 1907. 
The Anglers’ Club Tournament. 
The fly- and bait-casting tournament, held 
May 16, 17 and 18 by the Anglers’ Club of New 
York, was a thorough success save for one un¬ 
pleasant feature due to the stand taken by the 
park authorities, which is mentioned further on. 
Ten events were contested with the greatest 
enthusiasm by a large number of anglers of 
New York and nearby States and cities; the 
weather, save on the first afternoon, was favor¬ 
able, the prize list large, and thousands of in¬ 
terested persons watched the contests at one time 
or another. 
This club, while young, has nearly ninety mem¬ 
bers, is growing steadily, and has so far held 
two large tournaments and several smaller con¬ 
tests. To-day its members are proud of the 
records made under its auspices. Last fall John 
Enright, the British champion salmon fly-caster, 
broke his own record in the club’s first tourna¬ 
ment, establishing a new record of 152 feet for 
eighteen foot salmon rods. Last Saturday Reuben 
C. Leonard, the veteran, established a new open 
record of 214 feet 7 inches with single-hand bait - 
casting rod and half-ounce weight, and in the 
same event Charles Stepath established a new 
amateur record of 200 feet. 
These two last mentioned performances mark 
the dividing line drawn between professionals 
and amateurs for the first time by this club, an 
action that has been sanctioned by the National 
Association of Scientific Angling Clubs, which 
declares in its constitution that amateurs and 
trade representatives shall be divided into their 
respective classes in all events contested for 
under its rules. Thus it is that Mr. Leonard 
holds the open record and Mr. Stepath the 
amateur record in half-ounce bait-casting. And 
both are better than our western friends have 
been able to make at their own particular style 
of casting, on a court laid out on a lawn. 
It is a moot question whether or not the aver¬ 
age angler can cast as far with a wet line on 
the water as he can cast with a dry line on the 
grass. Scores of anglers claim the lawn method 
should not be encouraged, as it resembles actual 
fishing only in that rod and reel are used, while 
the wet-line caster has to overcome the diffi¬ 
culties incident to actual fishing. The advan¬ 
tage seems to be in favor of the dry line, but 
the fact is that the longest casts have been made 
with a wet line. 
Last fall the club’s contest was held at the 
same place as the recent one, on Harlem Mere, 
in Central Park. It erected a casting platform, 
and a second and larger platform, both tem¬ 
porary, for contestants. It was difficult to pre¬ 
vent over-crowding these, and the throng of 
spectators was so large the police had difficulty 
in handling them, so that the only thing possible 
was for all hands to stand while watching the 
different events. In order to prevent this the 
committees in charge of last week’s tournament 
decided to build a still larger platform for con¬ 
testants, with a long, narrow one at the 
water’s edge for interested persons. This 
was not done with the idea of usurping pub¬ 
lic property for a private exhibition, but merely 
to provide seats near the casting platform for 
intending contestants and persons actually in¬ 
terested in the sport, it being conceded that the 
idle and curious would collect in crowds to 
watch a contest of any sort, and for them there 
were the hundreds of park benches. Perhaps 
it was a mistake to do this, but the margin of 
the lake at this point is a tar-and-pebble walk 
that is not comfortable to sit on, and the club 
was in. a way responsible for every small child 
that might fall into the two feet of water along¬ 
shore. At any rate the park superintendent 
flatly refused to permit the placing of a seat 
on this marginal platform, and for a day and a 
half all hands stood up. On Saturday, however, 
the park men formed a barricade of park benches 
along the water, with the backs toward the cast¬ 
ing platform. Someone attempted to turn one 
of these so that the people might sit down while 
looking on. This privilege was at first denied, 
then granted, and after that there were seats for 
a few weary anglers, although most of them 
were compelled to stand or squat on the plat¬ 
forms. 
The ultimate result was ludicrous in the ex¬ 
treme. Near the close of the last event on 
Saturday evening, while waiting for the judges 
to announce the result of R. C. Leonard’s record 
cast, the anglers in their enthusiasm collected 
in crowds on the big platform, and this groaned, 
swayed and brcke down at one end. The exodus 
was more sudden than dignified, and those who 
were furthest from the runway connecting the 
casting platform with the shore were wetted to 
CHARLES U. STEPATH, HOLDER OF THE AMATEUR 
RECORD IN HALF-OUNCE BAIT-CASTING. 
their knees in escaping. No harm resulted, 
however, as the water was shallow. One of 
those who got wet in the storm of Thursday, 
and who waded ashore when the supports gave 
way, declared he would bring along his waders 
and rubber coat next time. It was funny to see 
the anglers hesitate between safety in flight and 
their desire to take along their rods and out¬ 
fits, which were fortunately not wetted to any 
extent. As several thousand dollars’ worth of 
tackle was stored on the outer end of the plat¬ 
form, Ihis hesitancy was natural, but in the end 
all hands “saved themselves” first and went back 
afterward for their beloved rods and reels. 
Thursday afternoon was most unpleasant. 
There were two storms connected by a steady 
drizzle, and all hands were drenched. Friday, 
however, was ideal for casting, and Saturday 
was the first day of real spring weather in a 
long season of wintry days. The wind was the 
only disturbing factor, but it went down with 
the sun. Altogether the club is to be congratu¬ 
lated on its second successful tournament. 
Event 1 , May 16 . 
The weather conditions could not have been 
worse than they were when the opening event 
was called, shortly after 3 o’clock in the after¬ 
noon. The morning was intensely hot. follow¬ 
ing a night of rain, but the sky became over¬ 
cast at noon, and about an hour later a hard 
shower drove all those who were in the park 
to shelter. The sky brightened for awhile, as if 
to tempt contestants and spectators to return, 
then it grew black again and a steady drizzle 
set in. The first event was called, but before it 
could be started the wind, which had been blow¬ 
ing out of the east-southeast, shifted to the 
northeast, and the measuring line had to be re¬ 
set, to give the contestants the benefit of cast¬ 
ing down wind. William H. Ehrich was first 
to cast, and he left the platform after his allotted 
eight minutes with a score of 77 feet, much 
lower than his average in practice, due to the 
difficulty of “shooting” a wet line through the 
guides of an equally wet rod. He came away 
soaked through. 
Edward B. Rice followed, and although he 
started between showers, more or less rain fell 
during his inning. He scored 84 feet. Then Mr. 
Trotter scored 65 feet with the lightest rod and 
line used by anyone in the event. James D. 
Smith cast during another shower and got out 
86 feet, followed by Walter McGucken, who 
used a strange rod and fell below the average 
he puts up with his favorite rod. Midway of 
his inning the hardest shower of the day fell, 
driving all hands away the second time, but al¬ 
though they came back in half an hour and the 
event was resumed, there was no let-up. Perry 
D. Frazer was the last one to cast, and he had 
to be content with 84 feet 6 inches, and a 
thorough soaking. This event was for trout fly-cast¬ 
ing, open only to those who had never cast over 
60 feet in a club contest or open tournament. 
The weight or length of rod and leader was not 
restricted. Nearly all used 11-foot rods weighing 
9 Ya ounces or slightly less. The scores in feet 
and inches and the prizes: 
James D. Smith, cup and fly-book and flies. 86 
Perry D. Frazer, cup and fly-book... 8414 
E. B. Rice, landing net . 84 
William H. Ehrich, casting lines. 77 
Mr. Trotter, fly-book... 65 
Walter McGucken, Forest and Stream bear. 64 
Eight minutes was allowed each man, but no 
recess allowed for lost flies or snarled leaders; 
the longest cast to count. 
Even! 2, May 16. 
This was also cast in a disheartening down¬ 
pour jf rain. As an old fly-fisherman remarked, 
he had never fished in worse weather for a whole 
afternoon. It was single-handed bait-casting for 
distance with half-ounce weights and free-run¬ 
ning reels. Five casts were allowed, the longest 
one to count. It was open only to those who 
had never cast more than ioo feet in a similar 
contest. W. H. Ehrich was first to cast and 
scored 128 feet. He was followed by Harry 
Friedman, who got out 122 feet, and Edward 
F. Todd came next with 120. 
No one could cast creditably in such a storm, 
but not a word was said in favor of postponing 
this event or the previous one. Rods were 
slippery, lines dripped or threw miniature clouds 
of spray at every cast, the judges’ boat had to 
be bailed because of the excess of rainwater, 
and the crowds of spectators who were pre¬ 
paring to enjoy watching the two novice events 
were driven home. 
The scores, in feet: 
Edward B. Rice . 
.... 141 
Best Cast. 
141 
W. H. Ehrich . 
.... 110 
128 
128 
100 
60 
128 
Harry Friedman . 
.... 60 
81 
113 
19 , 9 . 
115 
199 
Edward F. Todd. 
. 95 
107 
113 
120 
110 
120 
W. G. Geety . 
.... 110 
80 
70 
90 
73 
no 
J. L>. Smith .. 
.... 50 
50 
65 
75 
78 
78 
Mu Rice won the Anglers’ Club cup and a 
steel bait-casting rod. Mr. Ehrich, cup and 
bait-casting rod; Mr. Friedman, bass line; Mr. 
Todd, a folding line dryer: Mr. Geety. a bait¬ 
casting reel; and Mr. Smith, a fly-book. 
Mr. E. H. Meyers and Dr. Heller were the 
