818 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 25, 1907. 
THE CONTESTANTS AND A FEW OF THE SPECTATORS PRESENT ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. 
trifle short of that mark, and a protest was made 
but afterward withdrawn, as all the other con¬ 
testants refused to claim the advantage that 
might have accrued had Mr. Niccolls’ score 
been stricken out. Mr. Brotherton, a former 
member of the San Francisco Fly-casting Club, 
took the first cup offered by the club and an 
English dry-fly reel; Mr. LaBranche captured 
a cup and a fly-book; J. Rice, Jr., a fly-book; _Mr. 
Levison, fishing lines; Dr. Held waived his right 
to a tie for fifth place, and that prize went to 
Mr. Niccolls. Harry Friedman and E. H. 
Myers were the judges, and for want of others 
Messrs. LaBranche and E. B. Rice acted as 
referees, in turn. The scores, in points or de¬ 
merits, and the percentage, follow: 
Demerits, 
Total. 
Per 
Cent. 
T. W. Brotherton. 
... 2 
1 2 
0 2 
7 
1.40 
George La Branche. 
... 1 
1 1 
0 4 
7 
1.40 
J Rice, Jr. 
... 1 
1 0 
3 3 
8 
1.60 
C. G. Levison. 
... 7 
1 1 
1 1 
11 
2.20 
F. A. Niccolls, Tr. 
... 1 
2 0 
3 10 
16 
3.20 
R. J. Held. 
... 0 
1 3 
5 7 
16 
3.20 
R. B. Lawrence . 
... 1 
0 1 10 9 
21 
4.20 
H. B. Henderson. 
0 
0 10 
2 8 
22 
4.40 
E. B. Rice. 
... j 
1 1 
5 42 
50 
.... 
Perry D. Frazer. 
... 3 
5 12 
10 29 
59 
Cast-off: 
Brotherton . 
... 0 
0 1 
9 10 
20 
4.00 
La Branche . 
... 1 
2 3 
9 12 
27 
5.40 
Event 8, Accuracy Bait-Casting. 
This event attracted the largest crowd of the 
three days, and the greatest enthusiasm all 
around, for it was cast with short bait-casting 
rods, free running multiplying reels and the 
new half-ounce aluminum weights recently 
adopted by all the clubs affiliated with the Na¬ 
tional Association of Scientific Angling Clubs. 
The club’s target was moored close to the walk 
along the Mere, and the spectators got a better 
idea than in any other event of what the con¬ 
testants were attempting to do. The target has 
a white center and rings a foot apart, the de¬ 
merits counting o, or perfect; 1, 2, 3, etc., out¬ 
ward. All hands finished five casts each at 60 
feet before the target was moved to 80 feet. Dr. 
Held was high at 60 feet with only 8 demerits. 
At 80 feet Mr. LaBranche made the splendid 
score of 6, including three perfect casts, thus 
spoiling any chance Mr. Humphrey might have 
had to defeat him at the 100 foot mark. 
At 100 feet Mr. Humphrey scored 9, but Mr. 
LaBranche was so far ahead that, although his 
total was 17, he won the event handily. Dr. 
Luckey made the second best score for the dis¬ 
tance, 15, with Mr. LaBranche third. The latter 
won the club cup, a bait-casting rod and a special 
prize; Mr. Humphrey, a club cup and an im¬ 
ported vase; Mr. Levison. a bait-casting reel; 
Mr. Frazer, line dryer; Dr. Luckey, assorted 
fishing lines; Mr. Rice, wooden minnows; Mr. 
Friedman, six tournament casting weights. The 
judges were B. J. Bachman and T. W. Brother- 
ton ; referee, E. H. Myers. The scores, per cent.: 
Score 
Feet. 
Demerits. 
Per cent. 
G.M.L. LaBranche. 
60 
1 
1 
5 
2 
0— 
9 
80 
3 
0 
3 
0 
0— 
6 
100 
2 
2 
3 
4 
6— 
17— 32 
97 13/15 
A. 
B. Humphrey,J 
r 60 
0 
4 
2 
0 
4— 10 
SO 
3 
3 
3 
5 
5— 
19 
100 
5 
1 
2 
0 
1— 
9— 38 
97 7/15 
C. 
G . Levison... 
. 60 
5 
0 
6 
0 
1— 
12 
SO 
0 
8 
2 
9 
1— 
20 
100 
5 
1 
0 
6 
8— 
20— 52 
96 8/15 
Perry D. Fraze’r.. 
. 60 
7 
0 
1 
3 
3— 
14 
80 
4 
1 
6 
3 
4— 18 
100 
6 12 
1 
2 
3— 
24— 56 
96 4/15 
C. 
M. Luckey. 
. 60 
3 
7 
3 
2 
7— 
22 
80 
6 
6 
3 
7 
4— 26 
100 
4 
4 
0 
2 
5— 
15— 63 
95 12/15 
E. 
B. Rice . 
. 60 
0 
5 
6 
8 
7— 
26 
80 
2 
0 
3 
6 
8— 
19 
100 
6 
6 
6 
10 
5— 33— 78 
94 12/15 
Harry Friedman . 
. 60 
4 
5 
5 
5 
5— 24 
SO 
6 
4 12 10 10— 
39 
100 
13 14 
5 
5 
5— 
42—105 
93 
M. 
H. Smith. 
. 60 
4 
8 
5 
7 
2— 
26 
80 
25 
2 
1 
8 
9— 
45 
100 
5 13 15 15 
2— 
50—121 
E. 
F. Todd. 
. 60 
2 12 
8 
8 
7— 
37 
80 
10 
5 12 
1 
8— 
36 
100 
6 10 20 
8 
9— 
53—126 
F. 
A. Niccolls, |r 
. 60 
2 
0 
5 
2 
5— 
14 
80 
35 
3 
7 
5 
2— 
52 
100 
12 
3 10 
6 55— 
86—152 
R. 
B. Ljwrence... 
. 60 
5 
0 
5 
0 
6— 
16 
80 
30 12 20 30 25—117 
100 
8 
5 
9 
9 
5— 
36—169 
R. 
J. Held. 
. 60 
1 
1 
3 
1 
2— 
8 
80 
7 30 
2 
4 
5— 
48 
100 
55 
, . - 
, . 
Withdrew. 
H. 
B. Henderson 
. 60 
15 
5 15 10 15— 
60 
Withdrew. 
W. 
G. Geety .... 
. 60 
2 
8 
7 
30 
4— 
51 
Withdrew. 
PRESIDENT LAWRENCE IN THE SURF-CASTING EVENT. 
Event 9, Trout Fly-Casting. 
The afternon was waning when the distance fly 
contest was called, and with the change of wind 
the measuring line had to be changed again. It 
was impossible, because of the curve in the 
shoreline of the lake, to stretch the line directly 
to leeward, and as a result all hands were sadly 
handicapped by a cross wind which interfered 
with the back cast and made it difficult for the 
judges to score accurately. The attendance was 
very large. As a general thing there were more 
residents of the vicinity than anglers, but on this 
Saturday afternoon a May party took the former 
away, while anglers were present in large num¬ 
bers. It was an appreciative audience that knew 
what was going on, but occasionally the tiresome 
query of “Mister, what’s running?” was heard. 
This event was open to all comers, with two 
cups for non-amateurs to compete for, and six 
merchandise prizes for the amateurs. There was 
no limit on rods or leaders, but the contestant 
had to take his own time to replace a lost fly 
or a snarled leader. Messrs. King Smith, N. S. 
Smith, Frazer, Held and Ehrich used 9 J 4 ounce 
rods 11 feet in length, the other rods varying 
slightly in length and weight. T. W. Brother- 
ton won in the amteur class with 109 feet. He 
received the club cup and a trout fly-rod. King 
Smith was second with 102 feet, taking second 
cup and a fly reel. F. A. Niccolls, Jr., and E. 
B. Rice tied for third place, ranking in the order 
named, one taking a fly-book and the other 
assorted flies. Messrs. Frazer and Held tied 
for fourth place, ranking in the order given, after 
tossing for place, taking a fly-book and a sub¬ 
scription to Forest and Stream, respectively. 
R. C. Leonard was first in the non-amateur class 
with E. J. Mills second, both capturing cups. 
R. B. Lawrence and E. H. Myers were the 
judges; referee, H. G. Henderson. The scores, 
feet: 
T. W. Brotherton 
King Smith . 
F. A. Niccolls, Jr 
E. B. Rice'. 
Perry D. Frazer . 
R. J. Held . 
N. S. Smith. 
W. H. Ehrich ... 
V. R. Grimwood 
John L. Kirk. 
J. D. Smith . 
Non-amateurs: 
R. C. Leonard ... 
E. J. Mills . 
L. S. Darling _ 
Best cast. 
109 
109 
ioiy 2 
102 
102 
94 
89 
94 
94 
94 
91 
9i 
92 92 
90 
92 
92 
91 
91 
90 
90 
90 
90 
88 
88 
87 
... 
87 
. Ill 
. 107 
. 81 
Event 10, Distance Bait-Casting. 
The closing match of the tournament was 
called under ideal weather conditions. The 
wind had gone down, the air was full of haze 
and the evening warm. It was marked by two 
great achievements; the breaking of the single¬ 
hand half-ounce bait-casting record, and the 
establishment of a new amateur record of 200 
feet. Reuben Leonard, casting fourth, first 
broke the lawm record of 198 feet 10 inches by 
scoring 203 feet on his second trial, and on his 
fifth scored 214 feet 7 inches. Charles Stepath, 
an amateur, and one of the charter members of 
the Anglers’ Club, casting last of all but one, 
scored 200 feet flat on his first attempt, follow¬ 
ing with 190, 190, 197 and 172 feet, winning first 
prize and the prize for best average, 191 4-5 feet. 
Not only does Mr. Leonard’s cast exceed the 
lawn record by several feet, but it is far better 
in point of fact, it being made on the water with 
a wet line. Furthermore, in this he exceeded 
his own 2jd ounce surf cast by 4 feet 7 inches, 
and Mr. Moran’s cast by 2 feet 7 inches. The 
weight fell among the spectators who were 
standing beyond the shore end of the measuring 
line, and the policemen on duty there forbade 
any person to touch it until Mr. LaBranche, 
chairman of the tournament committee, arrived 
and measured the cast with a steel tape. The 
judges had credited Mr. Leonard with 215 feet, 
but Mr. LaBranche made the distance 214 feet 
7 inches, measuring from the last mark on the 
casting line to a point opposite where the -weight 
fell (some 25 feet to the right of the line) 
Charles Stepath, who is a civil engineer, found 
Mr. LaBranche’s figures correct after formula; 
well known to members of his profession. Mr. 
Leonard averaged 194 feet 7 2-5 inches which we 
believe is the highest ever made. 
