MrDecantelle2

After his stay in England Decantelle worked for an English sailing company in Boulogne-sur-Mer and was soon raised to director of the Paris agency.

Lorsqu’il vint habiter la capitale, en janvier 1904, cela bouleversa complètement ses habitudes de pêche et il lui fallut se réadapter à son niveau milieu. Son premier soin fut de visiter les marchands d’articles de pêche en commençant par les frères Wyers, dont il était déjà client pour leurs devons à saumon « Reflet » et leurs mouches « Alerte » dont le double ardillon était selon lui une innovation intéressante. Il vit leur voisin Moriceau, qui avait surtout une clientèle de pêcheurs au coup, et quelques petits marchands des quais qui se bornaient à vendre des asticots et des vers de vase. Enfin, il découvrit la petite boutique de « Pêcheur Breton », qui était alors rue de Caumartin, puis celle, plus petite encore, du père Bissery, 3 rue de Rome. Il en fut émerveillé car il n’avait jamais vu, même à Londres, un si grand nombre de beaux articles de pêche réunis dans un si petit espace. Il y avait là les principaux modèles de cannes de Hardy, de Farlow, de Payne, de Mills, des moulinets de toutes marques et un choix invraisemblable de leurres.

Decantelle en décroche une belle à La Bonneville (Normandie)

He stated with his prospection that there were only few sport fishers in Paris and there were only two houses where to find them. Little by little he obtained useful informations about a lot of trouts rivers. Then Decantelle discovered many very interesting fishing areas in the near surroundings at first (Seine, Marne, Oise) and more distant then (Risle, Loue, Allier, the Gaves, etc...). He made the acquaintance of many great fishermen.

Then he could meet among others Louis Bouglé, Henry de France, Emile Beaumé, Tuckermann, Léon Seutin, René Orlhac, Perry and Prince d’Arenberg who was the creator and promoter of sport spinning competitions.

Le Prince Pierre d'Arenberg

Beginning 1909 under the impulse of Prince Pierre d’Arenberg, the Casting Club de France was created in Paris. It was an association similar to the Casting Club of England and which first spinning competitions that were firstly greeted with reserve had then obtained a complete success.

The registered offices of the new club were situated in an Automobile Club building on Place de la Concorde. The bookkeeper was Debut (a salmons fisher I had already met on the banks of the Canche).

The official meetings took place Place de la Concorde but Prince d’Arenberg was used to convening a few fishers friends from time to time in his private building in Rue de la Ville-l’Evêque where they talked about fishing while smoking British cigarettes and drinking whisky served by a lackey in full dress.

So I was invited one evening and I met there most of the sportsmen I had known in Saint-Hubert or along the rivers. There were a few others as Gaston Menier who was still at that time the owner of the Anticosti Island ; or as Wiessmann who made silk in Lyon, and Lucien Perruche who was chemistry preparer in Ecole Polytechnique.

The atmosphere was first very formal but d’Arenberg set everybody at his ease and not long after was the atmosphere the same as on the banks.

Louis Bouglé was the general secretary of the new club and d’Arenberg let him speak that evening. Then he explained with details the aim of Casting Club de France and announced the first spinning competition that would take place in Bois de Boulogne at the Tir aux Pigeons and would last several days.

A few well known British and Belgian sport anglers had already promised they would come. Prince d’Arenberg asked those he had convoked that day if they would take part in the competition because he thought they were the cream of the French sport anglers and for the planned show to be successful.

I promised as most of the present anglers and thus I began my training for the first spinning competition.