WHEN FISH GO MAD.

Hokitika Guardian, 4 October 1923, Page 3

WHEN FISH GO MAD.

(By lea Walmsley. F.B.G.S. m ’‘Daily Mail.") Fish al e veiy l empci amenta! creatun.". 1 rain. fi.r example, during what to tne angler scorn ldcrl rmiations f> r feeding, will sulk at the hattom of lake or stream ignoring everything in the shape o', lend. Then. ~ r siuiic inexplicable i''N"iiwhen the conditions apparently arc most 1111 1' 11v0 1 11<1 1 > I limy will stall to rise, and i crimps fur an nour they will go nun! in their quest of ll.v or worm allhough not lie <-s-ai ily lho-e so oh- | hgingly oil,'led by tlm angler. When fish go mad the shy, -t cl them will do the most leckle-s things. A to" evenings ago I fishing atthe mouth of an I'll-" aler stream. Fi r two hours that stream mighl have l ean the waste pipe of a chemical luclmy tor all the signs of fish apparent in it. Then suddenly there came a quiet* stir of its surface, as though a thunder slm.ver was .ailing, and a number of sticklebacks shot into the air. followed b.v a large tnmi "ltirli fell back again with a resounding thwack. Noxi moment ike shallow- --■scarcely a couple of inches in dej t't wete :1 solid mass of fry. and the tioni were da-shiic' m among them " it!l surh ;|U utter disregard for safety, tlm their dorsal lins "ere out oi the "at,o’. | jg chap t it-lied inm the shc.l|,nv - s„ quickly he e.mtc clean on f l dime; another leapt into the air and stturned himself >'l " :UI hanging branch, falling back on tlm dry lobbies an inch from my landing

net. . . . Bv Pealing the water with a stick it would have been a simple matter to j have killed at least a d, zeit irent >b i- | iiig the ten liiinuU'S or to of their mat - , v .ss and to a primitive mind the ] tematati, n to do so weld have been j Strong, ter they would ! '■•'-< a, mother j |lv not artificial halt. Nor did t icy subsequently. When the stampede was over the -stream "as silent as it was Pcl'ore and in spite ot the I act that ,ho fty ,eni'iiiicd in the shallows I did not see another trout. This temporary madness of l! 'he- m sometiines of great :is-i-ian<e <> - wen.tine angler. At this turn; o. the vent the seas round the British ls.es contain great masses ot belt mg n - Relentlessly pursued by Porpoises. hsh•CS. and gulls, thev are driven into levs, and here, usually m the e.uly ,miming and Into oveuiug >kmds ,n mackerel. billet, codfish, even Hat,.-l will behave in a perfeetlv insane manner Thev will stun themselves mi tin rocks, drive themselves on shore, lot-c,-t the fatal movements ol the tides, ami he left stranded in po.ns at the The-e i-oves sometimes literally hod with fish and the angler may have won-d-rful sport. For tlm tune . amg the hig fish hunt entirely by sight. Anything which moves, attracts them. . have caught mackerel and cod wp pieces of silver paper, hits ot rag. eten just the bare hook a- lure.

But here, as with other fishing, the madness is hut temporary. For fifteen minutes one may he hauling m Its.i -is one’s reel will turn. I hen smhlec.lv the sea goes still and one may trv every lure in one repertory and not a fish will stir.