The Anglers’ National Tournament. 
As stated in these columns last week, the 
second annual tournament of the National Asso¬ 
ciation of Scientific Angling Clubs was an event 
of importance. Full details are given below, but 
two of the committee reports must go over until 
later issues, for lack of space. 
In Chicago there are three fly- and bait-casting 
clubs. The Chicago Fly-Casting Club and the 
Anglers’ Casting Club of Chicago are located on 
the west side of the city, while the Illinois Bait- 
Casting Club is made up of anglers who reside 
on the south side. Washington Park is their 
rendezvous, and there the national tournament 
was held on the 14th and 15th of August. 
In Washington Park one can walk for miles, 
and if the paths do not appeal to him, there is 
no one to forbid walking on the lawns or sitting 
under the shade-trees while watching the young 
people and children at their games. Here the 
archers practice at their straw targets, and 
many of them were tuning up during the anglers’ 
tournament for their own national meet the fol¬ 
lowing week. 
One will not walk far ere he comes to a nar¬ 
row waterway, or lagoon, as it is called in the 
West; not a lake, but a meandering waterway 
that starts nowhere in particular and has no end, 
1 just the sort of thing that is in keeping with 
this resting and recreation ground, where hurry 
is forgotten. 
At a place not too far from elevated and sur¬ 
face lines this waterway doubles, forming a 
sort of bay, and here the Illinois club has erected 
its casting platforms and anchored its practice 
buoys. To make casting more realistic, there is 
a patch of lilypads nearby, and the writer can 
| testify that there are bass in the vicinity, for they 
rose to his fly on several occasions. 
Beside this bay, and reaching away a long dis¬ 
tance, there is a close-cropped lawn where the 
distance bait-casting is practiced. This game ap¬ 
peals to only about a third as many men as the 
various accuracy games, but the few that are 
fond of it fancy they can cast further with dry 
than wet lines, and that their casts can be more 
accurately scored on the grass than on the water. 
Here and there in the water the practice buoys 
are moored. These are tin cans painted red 
and anchored with a large stone and a wire of 
proper length to permit only half the mark to 
appear above the surface. Then when one grows 
! tired of casting at these unknown distances, he 
I can take his bait- or fly-rod and practice at 
i strings of marks stationed every five or ten feet 
from twenty to one hundred feet. 
On Thursday anglers from as far West as 
Kansas City, as far East as New York, and as 
far South as Atlanta straggled into the park and 
passed the day visiting with old friends and prac¬ 
ticing on the lagoon and the lawn. Meanwhile, 
Captains Murrell and Ratiney worked like 
u beavers getting their equipments ready, while 
President Keiser, Vice-President Matthews, Sec- 
| • retary Rice and the various committeemen per- 
| formed their respective duties. 
Eight o’clock on Friday morning found an im¬ 
mense crowd on hand, and after the usual 
preliminaries were attended to, President Keiser 
welcomed the visitors and Captain Murrell re¬ 
ferred to the rules and a few minor changes that 
had been made. Then the dry fly contest was 
started, the first time an event of this sort had 
been held at a national tournament. The crowd 
showed at once that it understood and appre¬ 
ciated this beautiful exhibition of skill and 
superb delicacy. The accuracy fly contest that 
followed was a well-known game, though not so 
pretty to watch, but it held the interest. 
The quarter-ounce bait-casting for accuracy 
drew a large crowd and the excitement was in¬ 
tense because of the numerous ties, and the cast¬ 
off was spirited. It was followed by the single¬ 
Dry Fly-C&sting. 
1 he opening contest of the tournament was 
the dry fly event, which was called about <j 
o’clock the morning of the 14th. Each contestant 
was required to make five scoring casts. When 
ready he began at the 20-foot target, making- 
false casts in the air until confident that he 
could land the fly in the 30-inch ring. If it fell 
within the ring and floated it was scored a per¬ 
fect cast; if one foot or less distant, a demerit 
of 1 was scored; two feet, 2, etc. If it failed to 
float another demerit was recorded. The total 
demerits divided by 15, and the result deducted 
from 100, was scored as the percentage. Between 
targets the line was extended by dry casting,- but 
the fly could not touch the water on the retrieve: 
that is, every time it touched the water way 
E. P. SPERRY IN THE DRY-FLY CONTEST. 
Photograph by John R. Dishington. 
hand trout fly-casting for distance, darkness 
finally compelling a postponement. 
On Saturday, after the rain ceased and the 
sun came out, the half-ounce accuracy bait event 
was called and a recess was taken at noon, then 
the afternoon wore away before the many con¬ 
testants had finished, so that the long-distance 
event had to be hurried to give time for the sal¬ 
mon event. The temperature rose steadily 
meanwhile, black clouds gathered, a flat calm 
fell, and the air was so oppressive that breathing 
was a labor. Then a few drops of rain fell, a 
shower passed over and thunder and lightning 
warned all hands of what was to come. Officials 
and visitors scurried to a pavilion nearby and 
there witnessed the heaviest storm that had 
visited the region during the summer. 
The outcome proved that two days’ time was 
too short for an affair of this sort, and that in 
future at least a half day should be allowed for 
rain and other delays, and three days would he 
better. 
counted. One cast was made at each distance, 
20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 feet. The 20- and 60-foot 
targets were the most difficult ones. • The work 
of I. H. Bellows, who won the trophy, and Fred 
Peet and Uncle John Waddell, who followed, 
was applauded vigorously. It was a pretty ex¬ 
hibition. The flies used were not well adapted 
to the event, 
The result: 
as some 
of them failed to float. 
Score, 
Per C’t. 
I. H. Bellows, Chicago Fly-Casting Club, dia¬ 
mond trophy . 99 
Fred. N. Peet, C. F. C. C., 1st prize, rod. 98 4-5 
John Waddell, Grand Rapids Fly-Casting Club, 
2d prize, reel . 98 4-5 
N. C. Heston. C. F. C. C., 3d prize, reel. 98 1-5 
C. F. Brown, C. F. C. C., 4th prize, fly-book. 98 
Perry D. Frazer, Anglers’ Club of New York, 
landing net...... 97 2-5 
W. Branihall, subscription . 97 2-5 
T. 
L. 
C. 
B. 
H. 
P. 
E 
E. De Garmo, subscription.. 97 1-5 
F. Browne, Racine Fly-Casting Club, special 
prize, rod . 96 2-5 
L. Rawlins . 96 2-5 
W. Perce . 94 4-5 
T. Linderman . 93 4-5 
P. Sperrv. 92 1-5 
- ~ ■ "" 1-5 
William T. Church .. 92 
William McCowan . 92 
R. J. Held. 90 4-5 
