FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. 7, 1908. 
742 
Angling Talks. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The angler never entirely recovers from the 
depression of spirit caused by the loss of ail 
enormous trout. Twenty years after the event 
his heart sinks when he remembers how that 
great shadow slowly sank and swam away. I 
met an old professional who sold his trout, soon 
after he had lost the seven-pounder that used 
to hide near Big Indian. The man was shaking 
all over as if with palsy. He never forgave 
himself for getting excited and losing his head. 
Look out for yourself when you strike a lazy 
leviathan that apparently has no fight in him. 
He will play you some scurvy trick and get 
away. In most instances he is poorly hooked. 
A perfect whale of a trout sailed out from under 
the bank and followed the fly down stream. 
At last it disappeared; he was hooked, and turn¬ 
ing around went to the bottom. There he lay 
in plain view, wagging his fins and tail and grin¬ 
ning at me. All the strain I dared to put on 
the drawn gut and No. 14 hook failed to move 
him; his avoirdupois was too great. He did 
not feel the hook at all; the water was warm 
and what was the use of fatiguing oneself? 
Then off he went. I forgot to take my finger 
from the line and the hook pulled out. He was 
only fit for boiling, anyway; so old that he was 
as black as your hat. It is strange that I can¬ 
not forget that miserable fish. 
These are only little talks about fishing, and 
will serve their turn if they remind a few ang¬ 
lers of their own sport in the past. It is a great 
resource to have a fund of pleasant memories 
to draw upon. It helps us over many a hard 
spot in the long road we must travel, particu¬ 
larly in the later years when our outlook upon 
life is not quite as rose colored and hopeful as 
it was in youth. 
But there is nothing like fishing for keeping 
a man youthful. It has Ponce de Leon’s foun¬ 
tain beaten out of sight. With modern fish cul¬ 
ture to fall back upon it is not difficult to have 
our large streams well stocked with brown and 
rainbow trout. I wish that the legal size was 
nine inches instead of six. All that is required 
is enough large fish to afford interesting absorb¬ 
ing sport. A few big shy trout are worth a 
thousand fingerlings, but they must be taken 
in a legitimate sportsmanlike manner. If other¬ 
wise, where are our happy memories? We must 
be ashamed, not proud of our success. It is 
amusing to remember the story of the man who 
for days exerted all his skill in trying to cap¬ 
ture a big trout. At last, in desperation, he 
contrived a snare, and slipping it over the fish’s 
head dragged the monster from the water. 
Gloating over his prize he discovered that he 
had landed an enormous sucker. 
Theodore Gordon. 
Cincinnati Casting Club. 
Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct. 19. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The results of the contest for the 
Groesbeck cup, held Saturday, are as follows: 
Avge both 
%-ounce. %-ounce. events. 
Latham . 98.12 98.7 9S.J9-30 
Hutchins . 96.5 95.9 95.14 
Lampe . 97.9 97.3 97.6 
Groesbeck . 98.2 96.10 97.13^ 
Tames . 98.3 96.10 97 . 6 y 2 
Kellog . 96.2 98.10 97.6 
Le Roy Latham won the first leg on the cup 
with an average of 98 19-30 per cent. 
The Norwood-Cincinnati contest (all contes¬ 
tants being member of the Cincinnati Casting 
Club) resulted as follows: 
Norwood Team. 
14-ounce. 
14-ounce. 
Avge both 
events. 
Latham . 
. 98.12 
98.10 
98.11-30 
James . 
. 97.10 
97.13 
97.13 
Sheldon . 
. 97.8 
96.3 
96.20 
Total team 
average. 
97.22 
Lampe . 
Cincinnati Team. 
. 97.11 
97.6 
97.9 
Groesbeck .... 
. 97.3 
97.2 
97.3 
*Kellog . 
. 96.5 
98.2 
97.3 
Total team 
average. 
.. 97.05 
*M. Hutchins cast for Mr. Kellog in the quarter-ounce 
event, which accounts for the low score. 
The Louisville Casting Club was the guest 
yesterday of the Cincinnati Casting Club, the 
occasion being a return match over the local 
target. A committee met the Louisville brothers 
at the train and after breakfast at the hotel 
escorted them to the residence of Telford Groes¬ 
beck, where the contest was to take place. Mr. 
Groesbeck has built what is believed to be the 
first perfect lawn target. It is set in a cement 
basin and is twelve feet in diameter; a movable 
casting platform is used. At noon lunch was 
served at the country club. Our visitors ex¬ 
pressed themselves as highly pleased with their 
visit. Following are the scores, half-ounce 
event, best two out of three: 
No. 1, 15 casts: 
Cincinnati. Louisville. 
De- 
Accur’cy, 
De- 
Accur’cy, 
merits. Per C’t. 
merits. 
Per C’t. 
Richards .. 
. 28 
98.2 
Kellog .. 
...44 
97.1 
Bond . 
. 38 
97.7 
Latham . 
...21 
9S.9 
R G Taffel. 
.124 
91.11 
T Groesbeck 30 
9S.0 
Talbot .... 
. 26 
98.4 
G Groesbeck 54 
96.6 
E Taffel .. 
. 36 
97.9 
Sheldon . 
...42 
97.3 
Motzge ... 
. 51 
96.4 
Lampe .. 
...37 
97.8 
R Taffel .. 
. 46 
96.14 
Murphy . 
...136 
90.14 
Calloway . 
. 42 
97.3 
Liston .. 
...37 
97.8 
Spangler .. 
. 53 
96.7 
James ... 
...25 
98.5 
444 
96 96-135 
426 
96 114-135 
No. 2, 15 
casts: 
Richards . 
. 25 
98.5 
Latham 
...31 
97.14 
Bond . 
. 57 
96.3 
Kellog . 
...32 
97.13 
R G Taffel 
. 77 
94.13 
T Groesbeck 55 
96.5 
Talbot. ... 
. 52 
96.8 
G Groesbeck 41 
97.4 
E Taffel .. 
. 31 
97.14 
Sheldon 
...68 
95.7 
Botzge ... 
. 53 
96.7 
Lampe . 
...104 
92.14 
A Taffel . 
. 41 
97.4 
Murphey 
...114 
92.6 
Calloway . 
. 36 
97.9 
Liston . 
...39 
97.6 
Spangler . 
. 54 
96.6 
James .. 
...34 
97.11 
426 
96 114-135 
518 
96 22-135 
No. 3, 5 
casts 
Richards . 
. 6 
98.4-5 
Latham 
...14 
97.1-5 
Bond . 
. 15 
97.0 
Kellog . 
...10 
98.0 
R G Taffel 
. 81 
83.4 
T Groesbeck 15 
97.0 
E Taffel .. 
. 7 
98.3 
G Groesbeck 18 
96.2 
Talbot ... 
. 21 
95.4 
Sheldon 
... 9 
98.1 
Botzge ... 
. 16 
96.4 
Lampe . 
...13 
97.2 
R Taffel . 
. 11 
97.4 
Murphey 
...42 
91.3 
Calloway . 
. 6 
98.4 
Liston . 
... 7 
98.3 
Spangler . 
. 30 
94.0 
James .. 
...15 
97.0 
193 
95 32-45 
143 
96 37-15 
Harry 
Walter Hutchins, 
Sec’y- 
Treas. 
Favors Classification. 
Boston, Mass., Nov. i .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: I am indeed pleased to see by your 
issue of Oct. 31 that Lou S. Darling has started 
the ball rolling in the right direction. 
The absurdity of the present rulings was very 
clearly shown at a tournament held here re¬ 
cently when, in the distance fly, there was a 
margin of twenty feet between first and second 
man. 
I heartily agree with Mr. Darling that the 
only way to have interesting contests is to run 
them off by classes. 
We are tired of this so-called professionalism, 
and were it not for the aid we got from profes¬ 
sionals over here our tournament would have 
been a failure. 
I say, have classes and let them be open to 
all comers. Call J. McCarthy. 
A Fine Catch. 
Vinton, Iowa, Oct. 19. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: A splendid lot of fish were caught in 
the Cedar River near here recently by Bert Bills, 
a jeweler in Vinton. There were twenty-three 
black bass weighing 45 pounds, the six largest 
weighed 18 pounds. They were caught by Mr. 
Bills in two hours. 
So far as can be learned this is one of the 
most remarkable catches of black bass made in 
Iowa for some time. Mr. Bills is a true sports¬ 
man and he declares that he would not take $500 
for the experience. 
The day on which these fish were caught was 
ideal. The sky was clear and the almost trans¬ 
parent waters of the rapidly flowing Cedar River 
reflected the densely wooded banks. 
Mr. Bills arrived on the scene of his conquest 
about 2 o’clock in the afternoon. He cast into 
a shady rock-bound bend of the river about 
twenty feet from the shore. His hook had 
scarcely struck the water when a bass, weighing 
3)4 pounds, the largest in the lot, snapped the 
tempting minnow. From that moment until the 
final catch the sport was thrilling. 
H. G. Kruse. 
The Cap Fitted Him. 
A young lady was rowing a small boat, in 
which her little brother was seated. The boy 
had a trolling rig out, but had caught nothing. 
He suddenly felt a tremendous strain on the 
line, and thinking the spoon was fast on the 
bottom, asked his sister to stop the boat. As 
soon as the young lady ceased rowing, the boat 
began to move in the opposite direction. See¬ 
ing that they had hooked a fish, the anglers 
pulled on the line. They could not get the fish 
near the boat, however, so they tried to tow 
the fish to the shore. After great exertions 
they succeeded in getting to land, the boy hav¬ 
ing lost his cap overboard in the struggle. On 
reaching the boat house the pair hauled on the 
line, but as soon as the fish got near the shore, 
the line broke and the fish took refuge under 
the wharf. A landing net was procured, and the 
fish was dipped out, when it was found that 
the boy’s cap was on the trout’s head. The cap, 
it is supposed, had prevented the fish from es¬ 
caping after the line broke. It is not stated in 
what manner the fish appropriated the boy’s 
cap, but the story is vouched for by a number 
of church members.—Toronto World. 
The Novice. 
He bought a rod and went to fish 
On a day he thought was “fine,” 
And caught—his tackle in some weeds 
And lost his hook and line. 
He fitted on another one, 
And fished with hopes more fond, 
Then caught—his foot against a tree 
And tumbled in the pond. 
Though wet, he had another try, 
This time to catch a trout, 
And caught—his breeches with the hook, 
And had to cut it out. 
This done, he went and sat to fish 
Upon a fallen log; 
“I’ll get a bite,” said he—he did, 
He got bit by a dog. 
i 
And then he wandered back again, 
(For anglers they will roam), 
And caught—the first train he could find 
To take him to his home. 
Cain Shum in the Fishing Gazette. 
