Angling LITTLE SUCCESS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 12, 7 October 1937, Page 13

Angling LITTLE SUCCESS

Disappointing Opening of Season PROSPECTS ARE GOOD "VETERAN." Mplting snow was responsible fot the disappointment of many Hawke's Bay anglers who had looked forward to the "first." Although little. rain had fallen in the preceding fortnight, • on Friday all the main rivers were discoloured. During the week-end those in Gentral Hawke's Bay cleared quickly, and on Sunday a number of rods Were out on the Tukituki, but although the water waB only faintly cloudy the river was too high to offer'much chance of success. Of three other anglers met on Sunday not one had secured a fish, but in describing those which had been hoOked and lost. each angler showed good earlyseason form. After a fishless day, fishermen are sometimes despondent, but Sunday was a day of summer sunshine unspoilt by bliatering wind, and ended by a sunset so glorious that sevetal hardened anglers stopped casting to look at it. The writer was one; having caught nothing all day> r set on a log with one eye on the river and the other on the. sunset. ! As tiie glow faded from the- water 1 thero came the •'last chance," described. I in a previous issue. A iarge dorsal fin j appeared above the surface of a shallow> j and a Y-shaped ripple showOd where a j solitary brown trout was seeking his j ovening meal of small fry. On the ! chance of such an event a suitable fly j was ready on the cas't; as it workod : ! across in front of the fish he rushed at it, and about three minutes later the first trout of the season was on the bank. Only a brown trout, but quite a good one of 3£ pounds, and never was a fish clutched by a more grateful angler. Prospects for the coming season are brightened by the fact that last summer small trout of the 6-8 inch type were unusually numerous in local rivers, Many of these should this summer attaifi a weight of to 2 pounds." The rate at which trout grow is a common topic iu angling discussions, but among the fish kept for slripping purposes at the Hawke's Bay game farm there is a three-year-old specimen which weighs nearly f our pounds. At two years this fish weighed pounds. While a hand-fedj fish uiight grow more quickly than a wild one, this three-year-old sets a. useful standard for comparison. Tho, small fish which were pleutiful last summer will now bo two years old. From au angler 's point of viow it is unfortunate that so many of the lakes and streams of this district are too rnuddy to be suitable for trout. The lalces at Poukawa and Waipukurau at one time carried large stocks of carp, which iu England are classed as quite a desirable type of "coarso" fish. Up to the present time the New Zealand angler has been so fortunate in the amount of trout-fishing available that he still despises lesser fish such as carp. and perch, and our acclimatisation societies have been more careful about the importation of undesirable fish than in some other directions. The only district now troubled by an over-abundance of "coarse" fish is the Wairarapa. Some of the fishing waters in that locality, including that excellent trout stream, the Ruamahunga, contain so many perch that the local acclimatisation society is seriously per* turbed. A prolific and hardy fish, the perch is apt to oust the trout if allowed to become too numerous. When taken from a shingly river, he is a most attractive fish in appearance, and from a culinary viewpoint little inferior to the more sporting trout. The only objection to the perch is that, once hooked, he offers comparatiyely little resistance, but the time may come when we will regard him as a valuable trophy. It is probable that his formidably spiny back fin is an adequato safcguard against the hungry cormorant, If tho Ngaruroro bocomes fishablo during the noxt weok, it should offer more chance of sport thhn the other rivers. The Ngaruroro is usually well stocked with a smaller type of fish than those of the Tukituki or Tutaekuri, and iu the early p&ft of the season large trout are notoriously difficult to take. Iu eonnectiOn with the deprqdations of shags and eels, this will bq discussed next week,