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FOREST AND STREAM. 

[Nov. 2, 1907. 

A Defense of Light Tackle. 
Mr. R. B. Marston, editor of the Fishing 
Gazette, of London, defends his criticism of so- 
called light salt water rods, which we reprinted 
recently, in the following article. The- italics 
are his: 
As will be seen from his letter published on 
Pp. 314 of this issue of the Fishing Gazette, an 
American angler, Mr. F. L. Harding, Correspond- 
ing Secretary of the Tuna Club, is very angry 
with some remarks I made in the Fishing Gazette 
of Aug. Io on the, as I think misleading way 
they describe some of the rods used in tuna and 
tarpon fishing—that is, they give prizes for fish 
captured on rods weighing so many ounces, but 
the weight refers only to part of the rod—that 
is, to a top joint which is stuck into a butt which 
can be any length or weight! I say it is mislead- 
ing, because to claim you have killed a fish on 
a rod of so many ounces or feet, and not to in- 
clude anything for the handle or butt, must be 
misleading, especially when killing fish on such 
rods is called “Making History.” 
As the editor of Forest AND STREAM takes prac- 
tically the same view as I do, I need not go into 
a long defense of my remarks; they were not in- 
tended to “disparage the trend toward light 
tackle,’ as Mr. F. L. Harding says. Every 
reader of the Fishing Gazette knows it has con- 
stantly advocated the use of reasonably light rods 
and tackle. The editor of Forrest AND STREAM 
says: 
“We do not consider that our publication of 
Mr. Marston’s remarks has injured the light 
tackle movement. * * * While the rods now 
used in angling for Pacific coast fish and buttons 
may well be called fishing rods, it is conceivable 
that in the future a six-ounce tip may be attached 
to a section of gas pipe, the whole to weigh five 
or six pounds. Attached to this unbreakable 
‘butt’ there may, under the rules, be a reel weigh- 
ing a couple more pounds. There is nothing to 
prevent this being called light tackle 
This is pretty much what I said, 
stronger. 
only a bit 
A Chain Lake Outing. 
DeKats, Ill., Oct. 26—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Recently a congenial party of out-of- 
door worshippers made things merry around the 
Granger Re agi and Rowley cottage on Chain 
Lakes. This pleasant outing place is about eleven 
ues from New Auburn, Wis. 
> Chain Lakes were well provided by nature 
to ae an ideal game fish preserve. There are 
numerous weed beds for the protection of fish, 
and as a consequence there will be sport in these 
waters when the clean lakes are fished out. In 
such places it requires persistent effort, and the 
sportsmen who stay by it usually get their re- 
ward. Fish weighing over twenty pounds are 
not caught anywhere every day, and by every 
one. The big ones may strike, but there is many 
a slip between a strike and the ice box. If a 
nonresident fisherman lands a few of this class 
anywhere in a lifetime he is doing better than 
the average. While there we saw captured plenty 
of splendid muskellunge. The largest weighed 
35 pounds. There were three that weighed 22, 
24 and 25 pounds Bh aan and one that 
ipped the beam at 18 pounds. There were about 
en that averaged between Io and 15 pounds, and 
a dozen or fifteen that weighed between 5 and 
10 pounds. 
The black bass were not biting briskly at this 
time. There was seldom more than three or 
four brought in at a time. Mr. Bardon, the 
hermit fisherman at Potato Lake, was very suc- 
cessful this year in his big muskie catches. He 
and his wife are the sole residents the year 
round on Potato Lake. Mrs. Bardon, while fish- 
ing alone, hooked the 35-pound fish on a drag 
line around her neck. She had no gun or gaff, 
and beached the fish, sat on it and beat it on the 
head with a rock that she picked up on the bank. 
Of the DeKalb party, Bert Shetter, with Mr. 
Fuller as guide, captured the largest fish. It 
was handsome and balanced the weights at 22 
pounds. Knodle had one of the same class on, 
but after towing it around for twenty minutes, 
more or less, it got away. Dr. Jacobson brought 
into the Granger resort an 18-pounder. 
tl 
t 
degree 
In other respects besides fishing there are in- 
teresting things in those parts to attract one’s 
attention. Some of the land is a perfect bed 
of ferns, and while the large fine timber has been 
cut off and floated down the lake to the saw 
mill, there are left some beautiful trees. There 
are groves of pines, birches, balsams and many 
varieties of the harder woods. On Mr. Rowley’s 
land there is a pine stump, some four feet in 
diameter, and out of the center of the same is a 
birch tree growing. In Mr. Clark’s garden 
across the lake there was once an Indian camp- 
ing ground and there are many relics of the 
stone age. 
There is good duck shooting and the sports- 
men since Sept. 1 are arriving daily with their 
decoys and guns. H. W. Fay. 
Illinois Bait-Casting Club. 
Oct. 16.—Editor Forest and Stream: 
averages of members, who have completed 
scores in the season’s series, together with 
buttons awarded, follow: 
CHICAGO, 
The 
their 









%-ounce, 44-ounce. General 
Bi ait. Bait. Average. Degree. 
Wm. Stanley 8.5245 Master 
L. E. De Garmo.. Expert 
Wed. Jamison... 7 Expert 
F. Hemminghaus....§ Expert 
Ame Witten Grill cle alors eis Expert 
E. A. Humphrey....97 Expert 
De aRawlins “i7.seen 97.08 Amateur 
H. R. Winfield.....95.65 Amateur 
E. H. Matthews....! Amateur 
J. P. Mohan Amateur 
HH, SB Rice ise Amateur 
J. E. Amann Amateur 
P. J. Linderman. Amateur 
A. D. Whitby Amateur 
M. Ranney 
Vee POMC sec oe ya alee 
J 
Bev 
C. - BE Chiford A 
W. W. McFarlin. ...96 
H.. .€. -Chapman:. ...94 
J. H. Schroeder... .9 
B. Greenwood....... 
bait, 
> 
> 
Distance, 

4-ounce, average five casts: 
General Highest 
Average. Single Avge. 
Wea Jie WAMUSOMLS... colce te volo einer 150 159 1-5 
E. AroHumphrey.\\. .iccees cn ee 141 9-10 164 4-5 
L.. Be Dé Acarnro sds. ceewe sce 121 1-2 148 4-5 
E, Hie Matthewsirescatcececnteer 118 9-10 33 2-5 
Pee Dy 9 JOmeSeme cccgis actlaetetet elas 114 1-10 33 2-5 
Js. Amaia basa ceaseehontaten ce 98 3-4 37 
Delicacy, Accuracy, General 
‘ly. , Average, Degree. 
Dr. Rawlins..... 97 10-30 97 15-60 Expert 
P. J. Linderman.96 6-30 : 96 Amateur 
Wm. Stanley..... 94 8-30 96, 15-30 95 23-60 Amateur 
High score button in bait: Wm. Stanley, 98.5245, 
High score button in fly: Dr, 
General high average in bait 
97.0375. 
Rawlins, 97 15-60. 
and fly: Dr. Rawlins, 
H. E. Rice, Sec’y. 
Santa Catalina Island Tuna Club. 
THE statistics of tuna catches for the season 
of 1907 are as follows: 
Number caught, 49 fish; 
100: pounds, none; largest, 
number caught over 
70 pounds; smallest, 
18 pounds; average weight, 41.3 pounds; first 
tuna caught, April 18; last tuna caught, Sept. 
28; blue buttons awarded, none; red buttons 
awarded, one. 
Summary by months: April 1, May 1, June 3, 
July 5, Aug. 29, Sept. 10, total 49. Number taken 
on light tackle under red button specifications, 9. 
A Recipe for Vacation. 
Take one suitcase and partly fill 
With oldest clothing and stoutest shoes, 
But mix no frills nor anything 
Which lack of care may spoil or lose, 
Add an angler’s hooks and fishing rod, 
Then a book or two, for an idle mood, 
*Tis when at length on the grassy sod 
One’s favorite author seems most good; 
Stock a fat lunch box, but never leave 
The savor of hunger’s sauce behind; 
Add the spice of adventure, a love of romance, 
To a heart at rest with itself and mankind. 
Then up and away, far beyond the blue hills, 
While the bosky woods are yet sweet with dew, 
Where Nature’s heart with her secrets thrills, 
And the sunshine filters one’s being through, 
At the ebb of day pitch a léafv tent, 
Let peace settle down from the sheltering sky, 
And rest, in this haven of Heart’s Content, 
While the drowsy pines croon a lullaby. 
—Mazie V. Caruthers in the Times. 


California Fish and Fishing. 
SAN Francisco, Cal., Oct. 21.—Editor Forest 
and Stream: The San Francisco Fly-Casting 
Club, by a resolution unanimously adopted at the 
annual meeting on Oct. 10, started a movement 
which may have a far- reaching effect upon the 
future of angling on the Pacific slope. Henry 
T. Payne, president of the California Game and 
Fish Protective Association, delivered an in- 
teresting address on fish protection. He called 
attention to the beneficent effects of the gun 
license law in hunting, this law having placed 
approximately $80,000 in the hands of the State 
commission this year for the preservation, propa- 
gation and restoration of game. When the 
speaker had concluded the club members adopted 
a resolution recommending that the next Legis- 
lature impose a license tax of $1 on all anglers 
who take protected fish. These include trout, 
black bass, striped bass, salmon and _ steelhead 
trout. It was proposed also that the license for 
market fishermen be increased from $2.50 to $25 
per man. With the assurance that a considerable 
sum will be forthcoming every year under such 
a license law, the fish commission could make ex- 
tensive improvements and take steps toward re- 
stocking streams. 
General George Stone, president of the Cali- 
fornia State Fish Commission, reports the plant- 
ing of 4,000,000 trout fry, and he states that 
40,000 black bass will be distributed this year 
throughout the State. The latter are good sized 
fish and will spawn next year. 
A. D. Furguson, acting for the Shaver Lake 
Fishing Club, has planted 100,000 trout fry in 
the streams tributary to Shaver Lake, in Fresno 
county. The consignment includes rainbow, 
eastern brook and Loch Leven. 
Eighty thousand young trout have just been 
planted in the Arroyo Seco and its tributaries 
within the Monterey National Forest Reserve. 
Trout fishing is still excellent on the Truckee 
River, and was particularly so last week when 
the gates at Lake Tahoe were closed for a few 
days, shutting most of the water out of the river. 
During this time the Truckee was lower than 
it has been for years. The trout gathered in 
the deep pools and currents, and sportsmen who 
were on the banks casting flies and spoons, re- 
port having had great success. Several members 
of the San Francisco Fly-Casting Club are now 
at the new lodge on the Truckee. President 
Kierulff considers the money spent on the 
Truckee well invested, although it will strain 
the club’s finances somewhat to maintain such 
commodious quarters. 
Striped bass are running in San Pablo Bay 
and near the mouth of San “Antonio slough. The 
fishing there is of the best while it lasts, and a 
number of enthusiasts have gone to verify the 
late reports. A. Draper, one of the San Fran- 
ciscans, landed a striped bass which tipped the 
scales at 29 pounds. The fish was caught with 
light rod and tackle. Another man in the same 
party caught a fish weighing 22 pounds. The 
total catch of three rods. for a few hours’ fish- 
ing was eight striped bass with an aggregate 
weight of 92 pounds. 
The Southern California Rod and Reel Club 
has announced the winners in the late tourna- 
ment. The prize winners were as follows: 
Tuna, L. Breer, Jr., 35 pounds; yellowtail, F. 
C. Gay, 2834 pounds; white sea bass, F. C. Gay, 
Too pounds; black sea bass, F. C. Gay, 100 
pounds; albacore, Ed. Winfield, 33 pounds; 
striped bass, S. Simmons, 5 pounds; spotfin 
croaker, Sherman Baker, 7% pounds; corbina, 
Eugene Elliott, 614 .pounds; rock bass, F. C. 
Gay, 7 pounds; yellowfin, A. M. Morse, 3% 
pounds; halibut, Sherman Baker, 23 pounds. 
There was no question as to any of the awards 
except for striped bass. In this class Walter A. 
Geft had entered a fish w eighing I5 pounds, but 
as this was caught at Escalles in San Francisco 
Bay it was challenged, as the purposes of the 
tournament are to promote the sport in southern 
California. The decision in this case will be left 
to a jury of club members. AGED: 

All the fish laws of the United States and Can- 
ada, revised to date and now in force, are given 
in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 


