TAUPO TROUT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1442, 17 May 1912, Page 5

TAUPO TROUT.

. , jj IN MAGNIFICENT CONDITION. f WHAT COL. WARDROP MOORE SAYS. I SMOKED .TROUT.

| Colonel Wardrop Moore, who left Welj lingioii yesterday to shoot quail in the I'ai Valley, Nelson, has visited the Bominion for Hie past six years, and having just concluded a two-months' stay at Taupo, aiiirins with greater emphasis than ever that there is no country on earth as good for sport as New Zealand. On being asked what he thought of General Sir Arthur forward's strictures on the trout of Lako Taupo, Colonel Moore slid he could not understand it at all, unless the General had fished too ©arly in tho season, and had had phenomenally bad luck/in catching diseased trout. It had been only during the last week or two that the trout had started to go up the rivers owing to the exceedingly bad summer and consequent late season. "Now the rivers arc simply teeming with fish," said the Colonel, "fish in magnificent condition with no sign of disease. I have been out here time after lime, and there has never been a better season. I don't say that there is no disease. As a matter of fact there is, but it is not common. It is so uncommon that it is an item of news when a disenscd trout is caught. Only the other day Mrs. TurnerTurner caught one at Wuihah.i Bay (Taupo end), which she said had the worm, but to say the trout of Taupo are generally diseased is absurd. Tho people of Taupo arc very indiguant about the business."

"Talk about Taupo—it is the most wonderful place on earth for trout. Two Irishmen who came for a month.caught a thousand fish. I caught three tons of trout last year, but did not fish nearly so much this year, and'only got about a ton." ~' '.

"Hob- do you weigh up?" "I always take a set of scales in tho boat, and weigh the trout as I catch them. It saves time and .trouble later."

"Do your friends at Home believe you when you talk of patching', tons of trout," asked the interviewer. ,-■■, ,

"It was hard to get them to believe at first," said Colonel Moore,",'lalighing, "but when I took Home half-a-dozen twentypounders (stuffed) they had to believe."

"Believe me, the trout are magnificent this season I don't see how they can well be otherwise, as the feed, brought down by the rivers, is wonderfully good. The average weight of the. fish I caught this season was 91b.—it \vas ' 10lb".. last year."

"Do you think the shags have anything to do with the disease in the trout?"

"Yes, I do. Tho shags have the worm —it is called the wire worm, a little red thing like a bit of rusty wire, and that is the kind which have been found in the trout."

"Are any means taken- to kill off the shags?" asked tho reporter. - "A great many are shot. I never go out without I have my gun- in the boat, and frequently have a" bang at them." "The chief trouble at Taupo is what to do with the fish that are caught. It seems a pity to see so much good fish go to waste. The Government should erect a big smoke-honse at Taupo—not an insignificant thing like they have at Rotorua—and go in for smoking the trout in a businesslike way. Do you know that smoked salmon fetches as much as ss. and (fo. per lb. in London, mid these trout of yours are every bit as good. There are'enough trout caught in Taupo to supply every town in New Zealand. I really wonder why the business is not taken up by tho Government." ~

"Colonel Moovc returns to England next month.

WHAT GENERAL DORWOOD SAID.

The' remarks referred to above as having been made by General Sir Arthur Dorwood are as follow :— "Major-General Dorwood, of the Imperial Forces.'Vh'o"hns'just: concluded five months' fishing in New Zealand, and who returns to England in the Orontes tomorrow, is staying at the Australia. "The major-general could not be drawn into a discussion upon military matter*;, but lie proved himself on enthusiastic fisherman, despifc the- fact that the expedition was not ns satisfactory as it might have been. "The general lias made several trips to the Dominion, and ho was disappointed this time, because, not only were the trout on an avcrago 2ilb. less weighty than they were two years ago, but they were in almost every case diseased. Nearly every fish ho opened had a worm in it, and the trouble, the officer said, seemed to have been allowed to go so far that it was now a' difficult problem to (leal with. The Government had, however, recognised.the need of action, and a commission had been appointed to investigate the trouble. "But the whole fisliery business wanted to bo systematically handled, and placed under expert control. Now it is-associat-ed with the Tourist liureau, and has been neglected. If something h not dono to rid the fish of disease, said the fishing general, New Zealand will cease to be regarded by English enthusiasts as a happy spot for them to holiday in."