458 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Sept. 17, 1910. 
so rapidly that thousands of experienced men, 
as soon as snapper fishing is on, give up the 
heavier class—as surf fishing and bank boats— 
and devote a good share of their time to the 
higher sport. It is a most interesting sight to 
look out upon the boats in our rivers and see 
the happy women and children who enter into 
the pastime with zest. 
The method I have found most effective is to 
use a good light boat anchored just a short dis¬ 
tance. from the main channel of a stream and 
near to the point of a good sandbar where the 
sweeping of the water over the bar soon makes 
a pool or ripple at its base. It is just here that 
the wily snapper Loves to bask with quick eye 
ever on the alert for any victim which may come 
within his reach. The equipment should be about 
as follows, and to be clearly understood I will 
describe a rod I have used for many years and 
one of my own design, fl he stock or butt piece 
is of lancewood made from the tip of a heavy 
rod set in a stock in which the real seat is fas¬ 
tened ; the tip is of split bamboo six inches 
longer than the butt piece; the center ferrules 
are one-quarter inch in diameter, and all mount¬ 
ings of German silver. The angler can readily 
see that with a rod six feet six inches in length 
and one-quarter inch in diameter at center, the 
equipment is light, but answers a better purpose 
than the ordinary trout rod, being shorter and 
consequently more snappy. in action than the 
larger rod, which is desirable in making the 
strike against a tideway. 
The reel should be very small and of rubber 
and German silver, which should carry a line of 
the finest nine-thread special linen. This line is 
but little heavier than a stout sewing thread and 
is all that is to be desired. In salt water silk 
line is useless and should be avoided. I have 
never been able to find in the open market just 
such a float as is desirable in this class of fish¬ 
ing and have devised one constructed as follows: 
Take two bottle corks two and a half inches 
long and cement the ends together. 1 hen pass 
a piece of bamboo through the center. Shave 
and sandpaper down until the diameter is about 
as great as a stout lead pencil. This will make 
the most desirable float for this work, as it will 
nicely support the T-shot sinker and bait and 
will rest upright on the water and be easily seen. 
Besides, the diameter being small offers but little 
resistance where the strike is made. 
The ringed Carlisle hook is most desirable, as 
it has a needle point and is best for passing the 
spearing bait over. Into the ring of the hook 
should be twisted a section of hair wire at least 
six inches long, into the upper end of which a 
small brass swivel should be secured. The 
swivel allows the full play of the bait and pre¬ 
vents the untwisting of the line in a tideway, and 
the wire saves the loss of the hook as the razor¬ 
like jaws of the snapper work havoc with gut 
snells. 
A strong attraction for the snapper is found 
in the menhaden, ground or chopped fine and 
placed in a bag of muslin or other light fabric 
and hung from the side of a boat. Agitating or 
squeezing the bag at intervals sets free the oil. 
which creates a slick on the surface of the water 
and will he followed to its source, “no matter 
how great the distance. Once the fish are around 
the boat with tackle such as described, fastidious 
indeed must be the angler who cannot extract 
solid joy from the fierce little snapper as he 
takes the bait with a rush and a power which 
seems incredible for his weight. If it is not 
convenient to procure the menhaden as described, 
a good supply of spearing should be procured. 
A few of these chopped into very small bits and 
the flesh cast out oyer the water periodically 
serves as a strong lure and will hold the fish 
around the boat indefinitely. In baiting the hook 
with the whole spearing the point should enter 
the mouth, pass out at the gills, then down to 
the tail on the' outside, and there through the 
bait as. close to the tail as possible. 
To any who love the gentle art and have never 
tried this sport as described, I give the word— 
try it; with someone who knows the how and 
where, and I believe the verdict will be favor¬ 
able and the trial repeated at an early date. 
Leonard Hulit. 
All-round Casting Championships. 
New York Citv, Sept. 7 . —Editor Forest and 
Stream: At the National tournament in Chicago 
last month no event aroused so much interest or 
was so keenly contested as the standing for the 
all-around trophy. Unfortunately the system of 
scoring was such that it was practically impos¬ 
sible for either spectators or contestants to keep 
track of the standing. 
There was also considerable adverse comment 
on the method of classing the all-around con¬ 
testants by themselves, excluding all other con¬ 
testants in each event so far as their scores com¬ 
pared; that is to say, if there were twenty en¬ 
tries in a certain event and only two were eligi¬ 
ble for the all-around, these two were placed 
one and two in the all-around score, regardless 
of how their Scores, compared with 'the other 
eighteen contestants. The scoring was done as 
follows: In each event, counting only those 
qualified for the all-around, the high man scored 
1, next 2, next 3 and so on, the lowest total of 
points winning. 
Contestants to qualify for the all-around trophy 
must cast in a distance fly, a salmon fly, an ac¬ 
curacy fly, a distance bait and an accuracy bait 
event. There were two each of distance fly, ac¬ 
curacy fly, distance bait and accuracy bait events 
and contestants were allowed to select those 
events they preferred, or they could cast in all 
and select the best scores in each style of event 
to apply for the all-around. 
I claim that this system of scoring errs in 
several respects as follows: 
First—It does not show a contestant’s true 
all-around standing, as he is not compelled to 
cast in all events. 
Second—It does not show the relative all- 
around standing of contestants. 
Third—It does not provide for the exception¬ 
ally skillful contestant doing himself full justice 
in the score. 
Fourth—It does not provide a means of scor¬ 
ing so that each contestant’s standing may be 
determined from time to time as the tourna¬ 
ment progresses. 
No blame whatever attaches to the officers of 
the tournament on this account, as the all-around 
trophy was practically an innovation and the 
svstem of scoring was purely tentative and 
framed at short notice. As this event is bound 
to become popular at future tournaments and 
will be much soueht after, I submit that now 
is the time to revise the system of scoring, ad¬ 
mittedly incorrect, and get the views of casters 
throughout the country. 
I would propose a system of scoring similar 
to that used by the Amateur Athletic Union 
based on a standard score, with a certain num¬ 
ber of points scored on or off this, according to 
the caster’s performance. This would be both 
practical and simple and would obviate the four 
objectionable features of the Chicago system as 
follows: 
First—To qualify for the all-around contes¬ 
tants should cast in each event, else how can the 
true all-around standing be arrived at? Even 
if contestant be not compelled to do so, he 
naturally would enter every event to improve 
his score, hence more interest and more entries. 
Second—It gives the true relative standing of 
each contestant as compared to all contestants, 
as each man scores simply what he makes. 
Third—It provides for the exceptionally skill¬ 
ful caster in any one event obtaining the score 
his performance entitles him to. 
Fourth—It makes it possible for everyone to 
easily keep score on the all-around standing of 
any or all contestants. 
The system of scoring I propose would con¬ 
fer the all-around trophy upon the contestant 
making the highest total of points, based on the 
following standard scores: 
Salmon fly . 125 feet=10O points 
'(Each foot equals 1 point, plus or minus.) 
Heavy distance fly ... 100 feet=100 points 
(Each foot equals 1 point, plus or minus.) 
Light distance fly. 85 feet=100 points 
(Each foot equals 1 point, plus or minus.) 
Dry fly accuracy, 15 casts. 08 per cent.=100 points 
(Each 1-15 per cent, equals 1 point, plus or minus.) 
Regular fly accuracy, 15 casts..... 99 per cent.=100 points 
(Each 1-15 per cent, equals 1 point, plus or minus.) 
Half-ounce distance... 175 feet=100 points 
(Each foot equals 1 point, plus or minus.) 
Quarter-ounce distance. 135 feet=100 points 
(Each foot equals 1 point, plus or minus.) 
% or Vi ounce accuracy, 10 casts. 98 per cent.=100 points 
(Each 1-10 per cent, equals 1 point, plus or minus.) 
% or % ounce accuracy, 15 casts. 97 per cent.=100 points 
(Each 1-15 per cent, equals 1 point, plus or minus.) 
EXAMPLES. 
Score. ,—Points—^ 
Heavy distance fly. 109ft.=100+ 9=109 
Light distance fly. 96ft.=100+11=111 
Salmon distance fly. 130ft.=100-(- 5=105 
Dry fly accuracy .98.3%=100+ 3=103 
Regular fly accuracy .9S.5%=100—10= 90 
Half-ounce distance . 165ft.=100 — 10= 90 ; 
Quarter-ounce distance. 12Oft.=lO0 — 15= So 
Half-ounce accuracy, 10 casts.98.7%=100+ 7=107 
Half-ounce accuracy, 15 casts.98.7%=100+22=122 
To show how nicely this works out the exact 
relative standing of contestants we will take the 
following example, comparing the two systems 
of scoring: 
Competitive example, Chicago system vs. Dar¬ 
ling’s scale: 
CHICAGO SCALE (FIRST PLACE I POINT). 
14oz. %oz. Heavy Accy Salmon 
Dist. Dist. Accy. Fly. Fly. Fir. Score. 
Brown ....140 180 99.5 95 99.0 125 9 
Jones .139 179 99.4 105 99.6 140 9 
darling’s SCALE (POINTS IN PARENTHESIS). 
Brown 14O(105)lSO(105)99.5(115) 95 (95)99.0(100)125(100)=620 
Jones . 139(104)179(104)99.4014)105(105)99.6(106)140(115)=G4$ 
Here we see Brown has just nosed out Jones- 
in the bait events, but is badly beaten in the fly 
events. Under the Chicago scale the result 
would be a tie. which is manifestly wrong, as 
Jones has made a distinctly better all-around' 
showing and is certainly entitled to a win in¬ 
stead of a tie. 
The points in this scale have been carefully 
figured and will, upon trial, be found to be well 
balanced as regards fly-casters vs. bait-casters. 
It would be an excellent thing for some of 
the clubs to try it at the club or impromptu tour¬ 
naments and report results. Lou S. Darling. 
