Fish story without evidence does not qualify

W. H. Tippets, editor and publisher of the Lake George Mirror, was known to publish an exaggerated fish story from time to time.

But when it came to an actual contest, fake news was not allowed.

H.A. Hall of Washington, D.C., a summer resident of Katskill Bay on Lake George, offered a prize of $20 cash, or a silver cup if the winner preferred, for the biggest fish to be caught from Lake George from July 29 on in the summer of 1893.

“In order that the weight of the fish made by contestants in this race for fame may be properly vouched for, the fish, pickerel or trout, must be weighed in the presence of the editor, and its weight properly vouched for in writing by at least three witnesses,” the Mirror reported on July 29, 1893.

On Sundays and Mondays, fisher folk could catch up with Tippets “down the lake, working up the shore from Rogers Park to Assembly Point.”

On Tuesdays he would be at either the Marion House or Sagamore hotels, and other times he could be found at Assembly Point.

“Katskill Bay fishermen can easily row over to the ‘Point,’” Tippets advised.

As of mid August, there were no entries.

“I heard of some large fish and some good fish stories, but the catchers of those monsters have not sufficient confidence in either themselves of their fish to enter for the Hall prize,” the Mirror reported on Aug. 19, 1893.

At the end of the summer there were still no entries.

“The editor of the Lake George Mirror has decided to declare the Hall fish prize off for the season of 1893. It will rest with Major Hall to decide whether he wishes to make the offer for another year,” the Mirror reported on Sept. 2, 1893. “For some reason, no entries have been made. Although the editor of the Mirror has heard of trout and pickerel weighing fifteen, seventeen and eighteen pounds, the catchers of these fish had not sufficient confidence in themselves or their fish to enter for the prize.”

Perhaps the superior taste of a Lake George fish was enough of a prize.

“Pickerel fishing will usually fill in the time if one must fish and nothing better offers, but really the pickerel from the clear, cold water of Lake George are good eating,” Mirror fishing columnist A. Nelson Cheney wrote in the Aug. 19, 1893 issue.