ANGLING NOTES.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19167, 25 November 1927, Page 14

ANGLING NOTES.

(BY "CREEL.") 11l spite of the thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon, quite a number of fish were caught particularly in the Number i.' stream. The average weight was between o and 61b each. Several good bags were also secured from the Lower Schvyn. The heaviest fish taken scaled 121b. The bully and large fly used as a lure are still the popular baits. Some good fish have been taken from the mouth of the river at Little River. Several anglers who have visited this locality lately report good results. Fishing in'the Temuka district is still good, and some excellent fish have been taken on the fly. The best flies are llofflands, Blue Dun, and Ked Upright. Lake Clearwater has been visited by quite a number of anglers since the opening, and fish are reported to plentiful and in good condition. During the past week some good bags have been secured from this Lake on the fly. Some of the best • killing flies are Demon, Claret, and lied Spinner. One party who visited Lake Lyndon recently averaged four fish each for the day's lishing, the weights ranging from 21 to 4-ilb. . L "The latest "Fishing Gazette" just to hand contains a long and interesting article on mako shark and swordfishing in New Zealand, by a recent visitor. The Waiau and Iluruuui rivers have been too dirty for fishing during the last two weeks. A deadly bait in these rivers is the silver and red spoon about 1} or ljin. long. Some good catches of moki and butteriish arc being taken from the rocks at Taylor's Mistake. As regards the likely places where a trout mav lie, it is easier to explain these by the waterside than to describe them oil paper; further, it is easier to pick out these places in a stream or running water than in a lake. 'The movements of trout in a lake are rather difficult to account for. One day you will find them on a certain shore, the next day that place will bo entirely deserted. Trout in a lake move about a great deal more than we give them credit for, their movements being regulated by several factors, e.g., the times of day, the seasons of the year, direction of the wind, the desire for food, and the position of favourable feeding grounds. If, however, there are islands in a lake, trout are usually found round and between them, and should there bo a stream flowing into it. you will generally find that they congregate at the point where the incoming force of the water ceases, and,- again, if the water of the stream is more coloured, warmer, or colder, than that of the lake, whero this water mingles with that of the lake is usually a good place for a trout. Sometimes an old stager will select a locality (a bay, a hole, or in a submerged ditch), and stick there for quite a long time, cruising about in search of food. In lake fishing, it is difficult to lay clown any definite rules, since, generally speaking, an angler can only learn by observation and experience when to fish the deeps or the shallows, when to fish close to the shore, and when to fish on the ledge or shelf between the deeps and the shallows. ..In a stream it is, as I ..said before, an easier matter, as there are, so to speak, more landmarks to guide one. A trout will lie in the "hang" of the stream, i.e., in the smooth water above the rapid bit, and attain below a rapid in the easy water when the current begins to get normal; in the "eye" of n stream, i.e., in the first eddy after it begins to shoot; at the mouth of a tributary or ditch; in the main stream at the sides of the currents, round rocks, weed beds, and little islands, andin the eddies formed in the stream by similar obstruction; and in anv irregularities in the river bed which offer shelter from the current. Finally, so far as the angler is concerned, anything which enables him to select a certain spot as a likely place for a trout, to cast his fly there, and then to find himself rewarded by catching a good fish, adds to his enjoyment, pleasure, and contentment, and this is what a knowledge of watercraffc undoubtedly does. There is great art in striking and. hooking. When a fish is seen to rise, the rod point should be smartly raised with a motion of the wrist, only, care being taken not to do this harshly, as rery little force, in fact the mere tightening of the line, is' sufficient to fix so sharp an instrument as a small fly hook in the mouth of the fish. In this you must be careful, as the momentary excitement of a rise generally causes young anglers to strike too hard, and so break their tackle.