Oct. 3 i, 1908.] FOREST AND STREAM. 
I Fly- and Bait-Casting Contests. 
New York, Oct. 21. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: Buring the past year I have heard 
much discussion among casters and friends of 
the sport concerning the vexed question of pro¬ 
fessionals and their standing as competitors in 
1 tournaments held under the rules of the N. A. 
S. A. C. 
As there seem to be many different views 
upon the subject, will you not open up the matter 
in the columns of your paper—which I under¬ 
stand to be the official organ—in an endeavor to 
clear the air and straighten out what appears to 
be a decidedly mixed state of affairs? 
As it stands now the so-called professionals 
are barred from competing in tournaments held 
under the auspices of the National Association 
or its affiliated clubs “except in such events as 
may be provided for them,” while in some cases 
j they are barred altogether. 
At Chicago this year we beheld the absurd 
i spectacle of a National Tournament, open to 
I the world, wherein the winners of the different 
events were supposed to carry the championship 
and in which professionals were barred alto¬ 
gether! Now, I ask in all seriousness, why? 
Under the National Association rules a pro¬ 
fessional is defined as follows: 
(x) One who is or has been a teacher of 
!i casting for pay. 
(2) One who is or has been a market fisher¬ 
man. 
(3) One who is or has been a paid guide. 
(4) One who for pay casts or has cast with 
any rod, reel, line or device in the interest of 
the maker or seller thereof. 
(5) One who does or has done exhibition 
1 casting for pay, either directly or indirectly. 
(6) One who for pay conducts or has con¬ 
ducted any exhibition of casting. 
(7) One who is engaged in the manufacture 
I or sale of fishing tackle, 
i Again I ask, why? 
The high-sounding constitution of the National 
Association says in part: 
“Its objects are to promote interest in and 
appreciation of scientific angling through tourna¬ 
ment or contest casting—to encourage the for- 
| mation of clubs devoted to scientific angling and 
the art of fly- and bait-casting.” 
I ask again, is it “promoting interest” in the 
sport to thus throw out a class of men on ac- 
| count of their calling and say, “You can’t play 
i with us?” 
Does not this come perilously near being a 
“holier- than thou” doctrine, which is pretty gen¬ 
erally looked upon as the cheap subterfuge of a 
j petty sportsman? 
Under Section 7 of the rule I am classed as 
a professional and I do not like it—it does not 
taste good and it disagrees with my digestion. 
| I do not like the word nor what its meaning 
’l implies, but I am thus fired bodily into “outer 
i darkness” simply and solely because my busi¬ 
ness is the sale of fishing tackle. I have been 
a sportsman all my life, both afield and in 
I athletics, and always as an amateur, yet in this 
J one sport I am “taboo.” In all my sporting ex- 
i perience I have always understood a professional 
;• to be one who pursued a game or sport for pay, 
j and no other reason was valid. 
Why, then, drag a lot of hair-splitting and 
hocus-pocus into this clean, wholesome and gen¬ 
tlemanly sport? I know personally every caster 
of note in the East and many of the Western 
experts and not one of them is interested in the 
sport except through pure love of the game. 
It has been charged that the employe of a 
fishing tackle house has an unfair advantage 
over others for the reason that his firm will 
supply him with tackle without charge. Grant 
this, for the sake of argument, but how does 
it apply to the wealthy amateur who has means 
at his command to satisfy any whim or experi¬ 
ment and who generally has plenty of time at 
his disposal for practice, which the busy dealer 
lacks? 
Again, how does the rule apply to the ama¬ 
teur whose tackle is often “loaned” to him for 
casting in certain events by dealers in exchange 
for such advertising as they may get out of his 
success? Does not that come middling close to 
being paid for a performance? 
If you say 1 shall not cast because my firm 
supplies me with tackle, why not say that the 
millionaire caster shall not use a rod costing 
over $10, because certain less fortunate casters 
cannot afford the high-grade rods. Would it 
not also be ruling along this same line to say 
that because some casters were, perforce, com¬ 
pelled to use their old fishing reels, no high- 
priced tournament reels would be allowed? 
Again I ask, is it “promoting interest”-—is it 
fair—to compel a poor clerk in a tackle store, 
who is interested in the game, but who knows 
little or nothing about casting, to enter a con¬ 
test against the best men in the country? Yet 
under that same absurd ride he is a professional 
and has the fat chance of pitting his puny little 
casts against experts or of staying out of the 
game altogether! Now, I claim that the whole 
thing is not only wrong, but absurd and unfair, 
and as such has no place in American sports, 
for this is a big, broad-minded country whose 
sporting slogan has ever been, “May the best 
man win.” Who wants to win an event sup¬ 
posed to carry the championship and then have 
someone come along and say, “Oh, yes, you won 
it with So-and-So and What’s-his-Name barred 
out. They could trim you.” I do not want it; 
I do not believe -anyone wants it; certainly no 
sportsman wants it. 
Why not obviate the whole thing by applying 
handicaps or casting in classes? .This, to my 
mind, should be the ultimate solution of the 
whole question and puts everyone on an even 
footing. Drop the terms amateur and profes¬ 
sional and turn them loose in the same field to 
share and share alike, but group them in classes 
or apply the handicap rule. Owing to the un¬ 
certainty and difficulty of handicapping, classes 
seem to be the logical choice and would at once 
stand every tub on its own bottom. There is 
absolutely no question but what this would stimu¬ 
late the game tremendously and bring out as 
active competitors at each tournament scores of 
casters who are ineligible in the novice events 
and who are hopelessly outclassed in the open 
events. 
Here your so-called professional lands at once 
upon his proper level and on equal terms of 
skill with his erstwhile amateur competitor. If 
he be one of the crackerjacks he is confined to 
the unlimited, or open events, while the poor 
clerk can enter and have a fair show in some of 
the lower classes. 
Class casting is easily applied to any of the 
events recognized by the N. A. S. A. C. and is, 
to my way of thinking, the only fair-minded and 
sportsmanlike way to settle it. Objection might 
be raised by some of the smaller clubs on ac¬ 
count of the increase in cost for tournaments 
owing to the greater number of prizes, but this 
need not be, as an overwhelming majority of 
casters care only for the spirit of the contest 
and the honor of winning—the intrinsic value of 
the prize is of slight consideration. 
Let me suggest, for the sake of argument, that 
the class rule be applied in some of the main 
events as follows: 
Distance fly, heavy rod—75ft., 85ft., 100ft.—Open. 
Distance fly—5oz. rod—75ft., 90ft.—Open. 
Distance bait, ^oz.—(average) 175ft.—Open. 
Distance bait, ^4oz.—(average) 125ft.—Open. 
Accuracy bait, %oz.—(per cent.) 9S—Open. 
Accuracy bait, *4oz.—(per cent.) 97—Open. 
Accuracy fly—(per cent.) 98—Open. 
Here you have every man competing on abso¬ 
lutely even terms of skill with the other com¬ 
petitors in his class, and a championship won 
under these conditions means something—there 
are no “ifs” or “buts” about someone else being 
barred. Besides this, there is the great incentive 
for the tyro to come out and get in the game 
without fear of gravitating immediately into a 
long string of “also rans,” which can have no 
other effect than to greatly increase the interest 
in this most clean and gentlemanly of all sports. 
Lou S. Darling. 
[With existing rules there is much dissatis¬ 
faction among amateurs as well as trade repre¬ 
sentatives. To pit one contestant who, through 
lack of time to practice, averages only 95 per 
cent., against others who average 98 ^ per cent. 
is not fair. The result is that the low-score 
** 
men will not take part in contests which 
they would otherwise enjoy. Will classifying 
contestants according to their skill draw more 
anglers into these interesting and instructive 
games? The views of anglers are invited.— 
Editor.] 
Newark Bait- and Fly-Casting Club. 
Newark, N. J., Oct. 24 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: A miss-and-out event was held to-day 
and proved exciting. It was cast with half-ounce 
weights. In the distance bait-casting, half-ounce, 
A. J. Marsh made a remarkable score of 201 3-5 
feet, the average of five casts. The results: 
MISS AND OUT, HALF-OUNCE WEIGHTS. 
Marsh . 1111110 Comppen .... 10 
Muldoon _110 Metcalf .0 
Darling . 1 1 0 Mapes . 0 
Champion ... 1 0 Endersby _0 
Eichlen .10 
HALF-OUNCE DISTANCE BAIT. 
Average, L’ng’st Cast 
Feet. Feet. 
A. J. Marsh. 201 3-5 210 
L. S. Darling. 186 2-5 210 
P. J. Muldoon. 142 165 
Eichlen . 95 125 
Endersby . 85 175 
Mapes . S3 150 
Metcalf . 69 125 
Comppen . 63 100 
Champion . 32 60 
SURF-CASTING, 2j/2-0UNCE WEIGHTS. 
Average, 
Best Cast, 
Feet. 
Feet. 
Currie . 
. 201 
215 
Peters . 
. 1S7 
240 
Muldoon . 
. 166 
210 
Eichlen . 
. 154 
ISO 
Comppen . 
. 124 2-5 
177 
The contests on 
Election Day will 
be open 
to members only, 
with the exception 
of the 
surf-casting event, which will be open to all¬ 
comers. Prizes, gold, silver and bronze medals. 
Fred T. Mapes, Sec’y. 
