FJELD AND STREAM.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 21, 19 October 1907, Page 5

FJELD AND STREAM.

. (BY * "OBT FLT.") Perfect weather Was • .experienced by ' the angling fraternity' last, week end. The li"ht southerly wind 'attracted 'a : large' faster"of anglers to the .Wairiui-o-mata. .Although'' the limit' was reached ;,by . at least half-a-dozen anglers, the fish rail'small. One creel of '0 weighing lGJlbs.,. was; got for two hours' fish- »'(.'• . ■...•■ ... .;.' The whara. owners on tho Wninui-o-mata, : who, some time 'ago, established a system of returning to the.,-water any fish not exceeding one pound in weight, wilt this season experience difficulty' in • reaching that average. The stream is simply'crowded'with small fish, running up to 'three-quarter pounders, but the, bigger ones'are either not there, or are carefully avoiding all artificial lures. The KoroKoro yielded.a nice,bag of 16 last Sunday; the largest' one-weighed. 2Jlb.'.'the'balance being under' a pound each. This little stream is more accessible since' the construction of the-reservoir, and is one of the many small watercourses, in our district where a moderate .bag can" usually be .got with fly. Two anglers who journeyed to the Porinia landed 11. weighing. 11 lbs. These were taken' between the Tawa ■I'lat' station and tho John.sonville viaduct. The southerly ; wind ■ suited tho Akatarawa last Sunday, but! although well patronised, tho only catch reported was one of eight fish taken with creeper: The South Karori,, which seldom oven the beginner,' was fished by. about'a , dozen last Sunday. The limit was got by'.four, and the. balan'coTiad accounted for bags ranging from 5 to 17. Tho fish taken included-many nine inchers, which the stream is. very" well stocked with: The bully fishing'in the 1 Hutt River, although very early, was tried by a Petonc angler last Wednesday night. Ho reports having had one or two touches or runs, but hooked nothing. Mention was . also mndq that the lcahuwai were commencing to show up in tho river. An angler, who refused-to divulge the stream where ho got 1", fish' of nbout a pound aver-' age, was a passenger by the. Manawatu. train last Monday evening:' As ,he made reference to the difficulty, in "overhead casting, and the I silly law prohibiting tho use of creeper in

certain streams, it is probable that this catci was from the Waikanac. .• '. . • /-. : . The- Duriedin Acclimatisation 'Society on October 11: proceeded against-four anglers for taking trout without a license:' Three of tin informations wore proved, and the defendants fined £2 each and costs. Another case against a man for allowing refuse from hi« sawmill to pollute a stream, resulted in da. tendant being fined £2 oa two separate charges, with costs. One southern angler had grassed a total"of 60 fistrfrom the Halcaia up to Labour Day. • Most of.the fish were taken with the greenback whitebait phantom, and the gold devon. bouthern anglers, according to the,"Press," are having a good time among the trout. Messrs. Milne; W. D. Lawrence, W. B. Cowlishaw, and W. H: Townend, fishing in the lliiknia during Inst week, had excellent sport. Xhe river was in< perfect order,'the weather p.lensant, and fish plentiful and in fair condition for so early in.the season.. Some of the nest bags.were, compiled on October 7. ' i lady angler from Christchurch on that day landed fish weighing 9jlb., 81b., 7Jlb., and 21b. j : ' Mr. Lawrences catch included fish-weighing ' ■Hlb. am' 311b.;' Mr. Milne obtained'"fifteen nice fish, and Mr. Townend caught fish weighlW- 7 ,9&'-^ li L 1, --- 4 * lb -' 41b., 331b., 31h.,2i1b. On October 6 Mr. Townend caught six fish aggregating 2711b.. On this day Mr. M'™! ".«■> .had Rood sport, obtaining a dozen. On Labour Day some grand sport was experi. enced. Mr.. Scott, of Sontliiridge, who had done well in landing twelve fish on October 3, beached twenty-two; Mr: Ciwlishawsgot two good fish; Mr. Townend nine, weighing 2lb. to 61b.; and tho lady previously mentioned caught severaLprctty trout. Mr. Cowlishaw got four up to. Sjlb. on October 10. ' . Hawcra had a good opening* for its fishing!'' season, and some excellent catches have been reported. T At the beginning of the season. Messrs. A. Xean and Hunter secured between 17 and JO trout from the Auroa stream. Re-.. contly Mr. B. Clements landed three fish from the Waingongoro, and Mr. A. Kean four from the Wnihi, the total weight of the'latter catch being 151b- The largest fish scaled 61b. Messrs. J. M'Eobbie and F. also reported to have-secured some acceptable catches from'the Tawhiti and Mangawhero rivers.' . ■ ~ , ; ; The following letter, from Mr. J. A. Hutche- '> ?.°£ v? fS 2, ntn B <"ied'n). appeared in the' Otago Daily : Times" last Tuesday :-Eeferring to • the letter by Mr. R.: Cowan, in which ho states that the seagull lives on trout taken from our inland streams, I can give'the Otago Acclimatisation Society positive proof that ■'." seagulls cleaned up, several fairly large stream* on, the Nevis, although some of the fish'were : too-large: to swallow, and, further, that a .certain shallow lake on the Otago Central was ■ denuded of. both perch and trout bv scagullo. I. have seen giills. at .work, and riot in tho V night-time. The only time gulls take the ' wing at night is when they have been shot jit on rocky 1 shelves or otherwise harshly treated. 'I: have seen from 60 to 100 gulls at work _on a 'stream' at once, and those who have .had the pleasure of seeing the sight will not deny that, the common seagull is an expert diver, turning head downwards with ' closed .-.wings from 30ft. -to 40ft.' above, tho waters and pinning a fish everv time. As for ■; their taking the eyes out of. lambs, I have seen seagulls gouging out the eyes of fu.llgrown sheep when they were alive and had got, down on their side and were unable to get up.- As for paying 3s. Gd. for'shags' heads, this is more than 1 can understand, while the gull,'in my opinion, is doing a hundred ; times more .damage If. tho Otago Acclimatisation Society's officers doubt any of my statements I can. give further information, from other- eye-witnesses who • saw a, 'gull ~. lake a trout along from one of the same streams I have mentioned, and eat half of it. while two friends of mine ate the other half.