140 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[July 25, 1908. 
That was the time the junior laughed at us. 
He had stayed with the borrow pits and came in 
with a long string. 
The next day we went home. We are going 
again. Better come out and go along. We 
promise to show you a good time and plenty of 
sport. No little ones; all big, fat, energetic 
cold-water fellows with several tons of fight to 
every pound weight. ■ 
I cannot close this sketch without telling my 
brethren of the rod and reel how to reach this 
spot. Medimont is on the Coeur d’Alene 
branch of the O. R. & N. railway between 
Harrison and Wallace. Take the train at 
Spokane or take the Interurban from the same 
place bound for Coeur d’Alene City. There 
take the lake steamer, which will land you in 
Harrison in time to meet the same train that 
you would take by leaving Spokane on the O. 
R. & N. There is no finer trip than the voyage 
across the lake. Lake Couer d’Alene is the 
Como of America. The regular steamers that 
ply its waters are marvels of elegance and com¬ 
fort. 
After the fishing trip is done come on up to 
the Coeur d’Alene mining district, to Mullan, 
and I will undertake to show you where over 
half the lead and silver mined in the United 
States is produced. Charles S. Moody. 
The London Casting Tournament. 
The eleventh international fly- and bait-cast¬ 
ing tournament was held in the Stadium at Shep¬ 
herd’s Bush, near London, England, July 9 and 
10. Twenty events were contested, but judging 
from the comments made in the Field, the entry 
list was small, as was the attendance. Nothing 
is said of Americans, so it is assumed none took 
part. Wilfred M. Plevins, who has twice taken 
part in New York tournaments, was a contestant 
in several events. 
On the first day wind, and on the second day 
both rain and wind i'nterfered with the accuracy 
casting. 
The only creditable score made in distance 
casting was that of J. T. Emery who cast a 2)4 
ounce weight 225 feet. In the trout fly and in 
the salmon fly events low scores ruled, although 
very heavy rods were used. It seems that the 
best cast, everything considered, was that of 
John J. Hardy, who scored 92 feet in the light 
rod event. The conditions called for rods of 
nf4 feet or less, and as these could weigh 2/3- 
ounce per foot of length, they were about like 
American heavy bass fly-rods, and nearly equal 
in weight to our heavy tournament rods. 
The winners in the principal events, and the 
best casts made by them, follow: 
Trout fly, distance, open to all.—J. H.. Lawrence, 11% 
foot 12-ounce rod, 96 feet. Amateurs.—H. J. Hardy, 
11 1-3-foot 10-ounce rod, 89 feet. 
Switch fly-casting, open to all: F. G. Shaw, 80 feet. 
Ambidextrous, trout fly, amateurs: R. D. Hughes, 86 
feet. 
Salmon fly, amateurs: H. J. Hardy, 17%-foot 42-ounce 
rod, 125 feet. All-comers: J. J. Hardy, 132 feet. 
Heavy bait-casting, 2%-ounce weights, amateurs: J. T. 
Emery, 225 feet. All comers: J. T. Emery, 201 feet. 
Half-ounce bait, amateurs: H. W. Little, 8-foot 5-inch 
8%-ounce rod, 141% feet. All comers: Percy Wadham, 
133 2-3 feet. 
Trout fly, light rod, all-comers: J. J. Hardy, 92 feet. 
All the fish laws of the United States and Can¬ 
ada, revised to date and nozv in force, are given 
in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
The Columbia River Muddle. 
Portland, Ore., July 5.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: In the early days the waters of the 
Columbia River and its tributaries fairly teemed 
with different varieties of salmon. The Indians 
gathered at their favorite streams to catch and 
dry enough to supply them during the winter 
months. Since the white men came, and the 
salmon industry has grown to such proportions, 
the numbers of fish have greatly decreased and 
are growing less year after year. 
The salmon industry has added one hundred 
million dollars or more to the wealth of Oregon 
and Washington, and until recently those con¬ 
nected with this business have been loath to 
believe that there is any immediate danger of 
extinction. But the salmon supply of the Colum¬ 
bia River grows less on account of the greed 
of the professional fisher. 
For years there have been two contending 
factions along the Columbia River, the gill 
netters of the lower Columbia and the trap 
men of the headwaters. Each lays the blame 
for the decrease in the salmon supply on the 
other. During past years each of these factions 
had its representatives at the legislative ses¬ 
sions, and in the factional fights no protective 
laws were made. The fishermen had their 
rights, but the salmon had none. 
Since the initiative and referendum has been 
adopted in Oregon the power of securing ef¬ 
fective legislation has been thrown directly in 
the hands of the people. As a result we have 
two rival bills for enactment under the initiative, 
one proposed by the gill netters of Astoria and 
one by the wheelmen at The Dalles. It is said 
that the seiners and trapmen of the lower river 
near Astoria are allied with the gill netters. 
Each measure comes from a faction that de¬ 
clares the opposite party is exterminating the 
salmon. 
The purposes of the two bills are as follows. 
The Astoria bill prohibits fishing, except ang¬ 
ling, east of the Sandy River after Aug. 25, 1908, 
and thus abolishes all fish wheels on the upper 
river. It aims to put the wheelmen out of busi¬ 
ness entirely without placing a single check on 
the gill netters. 
The Dalles bill prohibits fishing on the Colum¬ 
bia River bar, stops Sunday fishing, limits the 
length of the nets to a hundred and fifty fathoms 
(nine hundred feet) and depth to four and one- 
sixth fathoms (twenty-five feet), prohibits fish¬ 
ing in navigation channels at night after Sept. 
10, 1908, and adds the months of October and 
November to the closed season. This bill makes 
the restrictions too severe on the gill nets, but 
in turn makes no restrictions on wheels. 
It will be noticed that each faction is advo¬ 
cating a bill to block the business of the rival 
faction. But on the other hand each faction 
has taken particular pains not to touch upon the 
most important element of salmon legislation; 
that is, of having the closed season at the very 
time it is most needed by the fish, somewhere 
between April 15 and Aug. 25. October and 
November closing is not important. The best 
salmon, the royal chinooks that have made the 
Columbia River famous, are caught in the spring 
and early summer. The greed of the salmon 
men is shown by the fact that they have always 
defeated legislation for a closed season at this 
period. It is their most profitable time, and 
they are loath to allow enough first class salmon 
to escape their clutches in order to reach the 
spawning ground. 
Although these bills are too drastic, many 
people will take pleasure in voting for both in 
order to give the salmon some protection before 
they are all canned. 
For many reasons the preservation of salmon 
in Oregon, Washington and Idaho would be 
better taken care of under Government control. 
The protection would be uniform throughout 
the Northwest. Local laws would not conflict 
with each other. Instead of one law for the 
fishermen at the mouth of the river and another 
for the upper river men, and a continual conflict 
which results in no remedial legislation, we 
would have a uniform law. The office of fish 
commissioner would be kept clear of politics 
under Federal control, and the Government 
would be much more effective against all viola¬ 
tors of the law. William L. Finley. 
Greenville Bait- and Fly-Casting Club. 
Greenville, Pa., July 16.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: At Lake Conneautee, Edinboro, Pa., 
June 30, I was fishing for bass, using a six- 
ounce five-foot casting rod with a floating arti¬ 
ficial bait when a big mascalonge took it. It 
was after 8 o’clock at night and getting rather 
dark, so you can imagine the fight he put up. 
He weighed fourteen pounds and was thirty- 
seven inches long. 
This year our club has planted two million 
yellow perch and pickerel fry in the Shenango 
River and we expect in the near future to put 
in a large number of black bass and bluegill 
sunfish, both fry and fingerlings. 
Our river is well stocked and well protected, 
very little illegal fishing being done. The super¬ 
intendent of one of our State hatcheries, while 
looking over our river about two weeks ago, 
said: “I have never before seen so many small- 
mouth black bass fry in public water. I wish I 
could see them like that in my bass pond.” 
Although the water has been high and muddy 
every day since the season opened, several good 
strings of bass, both black and calico, have been 
brought in. B. E. Mossman, Jr., 
, President. 
Louisville Casting Club. 
Louisville, Kv., July 12. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Louisvile Casting Club members held 
their weekly contest at the grounds of the South 
Park Fishing Club to-day. One-half-ounce ac¬ 
curacy, twenty-five casts, five casts at each dis¬ 
tance, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 feet. Score is as fol¬ 
lows : 
J. C. Bond. 
W. A. Calloway. 
C. F. Brotzge... 
D. J. Spangler.. 
R. G. Tafel. 
97.5 
96.1 
96.1 
96.0 
95.9 
Mrs. D. J. Spangler 
J. S. Clark..:...:... 
Raymond Tafel . 
Jas. Norton . 
Irvin Tafel . 
96.5 
92.0 
95.0 
95.9 
96.9 
D. J. Spangler, Sec’y. 
Newark Bait- and Fly-Casting Club. 
The date of the next club contest has been 
changed. It will be held July 25, commencing 
at 2 P. M., on Weequahic Lake, Newark, N. J. 
1 he events will be half-ounce accuracy, half¬ 
ounce distance, distance fly and accuracy fly. 
Fred T, Mapes, Sec’y. 
