ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 29 January 1908, Page 36

ANGLING.

Br Jocbl Scott.

To b« a p»rfeot flrteriaan you require more exoellenole«-th«ii M»uinslls to', be fouiid in »uob & «eu»11 ipace M It ailotud to A man's cavoa»iJ— -Parker Gilu our.

4tMder* are intlted to contribute Itetm or local B«hlac newt for insertion In tul» column For -iniertlon la the entalac uiu» lk*j ihould reaota Dunedm Uj Mondaj nlgbfi mall.

BANK NOTES

The Waitaki.— The North Otago Times says that one day a fisherman at the Waitajci RiveT took four fish weighing 391b. The Waiau.— A number of gentlemen were returning from Orepuki the other day when one, no doubt anxious to keep the fishing resources of 'the Waiau to the fore, related that he had that morning seen

Mr Wilson drive in an angler who had grassed a beauty that long — :— . The speaker drew his bands apart to the disi fcance of about 2ft 6in, and emphasised, his 1 remark by declaring the weight of the sard fish, judging 'by ■appearances, to be about IBlb. Scenting a fish story, another gentleman moved up, a-nd meekly said he presumed that when he got to Invercargill the fish would be 'that long . And he parted his hands tc a distance of about I oft 6in. The company laughed, and then got back to sober reasoning about the weight of the big fish brought that mornin from the Waiau. Assuming the length

to be 2ft 6m, one said it would be a 10pounder, another said it would be a 15, and a. third was of the opinion that it must be an 18-pounder. The argument was going strong, when one of the owners of the said fish ohanoed along, and settled matters by stating' that it had turned the scale at 181b. ' That settled the big fia&

aijgxunenbr Immediately ofta of the comI .pany told a good story about a specimen I trout that adorned the parlour of a oer- ' tain hostelry. It looked a real beauty. -There were a number of old frequenters of this hostelry who were Wont to descant at length to each nev» arrival on the weight of the specimen and narrate the grand sport the angler had in catchipg it. There were any number of variat tions of the storv^ until, when, visitors

found that each habitue of the hostelry had his own particular yarn, and had to go through with it, they got very sick of that darned epecimen. Had there been no stories current about the specimen it i« probable that it would have been there to this day; but, on one occasion, while examining it, the curious person was horrified to find that it was not a fish, had never been a fish, but was only a somewhat rotten plaster oast of one, which crumbled to pieces as the result of the firm hold he took of it. It is alleged that the old habitues drunk that hostelry dry after that, because they could not nil in time telling the history of the plaster fish. — Exchange. — The story should be credited to_ Jerome K. Jerome in his "Three men in a boat." — J.S. Tapanui. — Fishing in the Pomahaka for the past few months has afforded only indifferent sport (writes my Tapanui correspondent), owing to the low state of the river, and at present a fresh is badly wanted. The local Anglers' Association held their principal competition early this month, Mr R. A. Rodger winning the gold medal with a nice basket. Another competition has been arranged for a date to be fixed as soon as the river is in order. The first ptize will be a trophy presented by Mr Alfred Anderson, of Dunedin, and Messrs Wilkie and Co. "give a second prize. There are 14 entries, and the river to be fished will be from the mouth of the Waipahi" to the Burning Plains. The Rankleburn hut has been well patronised this - season. Last week iMEessrs "W. "W. Mackie (Clinton), E. Pinder (Mosgiel), and Rev. R. Mackie {&. Dunedin) spent a couple of days there, and landed 66 fish ' for the party. On Tapanui Flat the anglers have been tfusy amongst the "sprats," and heavy baskets have been the exception. The river has been, very low. Messrs A. Mason and W. Perry are at present at the Waiau. Mr F. Lishner spent a couple of days there last week, and bad fair eport. The' Opihi iand Rangitata. — Some fine catches of trout were recorded at Temuka yesterday. Mr J, PoUook landed a beautiful specimen of the brown trout from the Opihi, weighing 17£Ib. At the Rangitata on Saturday Mr Aspinall obtained two quinnat trout, weighing 6£lb and 41b respectively. A correspondent states that this is the first time these fish ,have been in thie river. — Christchurch Press-, 22nd inst.— Anglers enjoyed some fine sport on the Opihi on Saturday night week, and some splendid trout were landed. Among them was a grand fish weighing 22£lb, caught by Mr J. Pollock, Temuka, and which later on was sent to 'Ohristchurch. Mr Pollock also previously caught 161b and il7lb fishes, and some fine fishes were ateo oaught by other anglers. The Ashley River.— The Lyttelton Times of the 24-th. inst. says:— "For the past fortnight the Ashley River bed has been completely dry for a considerable distance above and below the railway bridge. Opposite Fernside there is water, but this ie lost in the shingle. Four miles lower down the river near Coldstream, however, there is a good stream' flowing. Large numbers, of trout perished as the pools dried up." Competition at the Waiau. — Keen interest has been taken in the fishing competitions at the Waiau lately, and the latest one, held on Monday week, resulted in- Mr Murphy coming Ist, Dr Cantrell 2nd, and Mr A. Thow 3rd. Mr Sutherland secured the epeoial prize -for the heaviest "fish. There were 14 'entries for the competition. A Big One from the Aparima.— Mr A. Provan, of Heddon Bush, better known in racing circles as the owner of Office Girl, brought to Invercargill the other day a magnificent specimen of the trout soecies. The fish, -which was captured by Mr Provan in the upper reaches of the Aparima, an artificial minnow being the bait used, ie over 2ft 9in in length, with a girth of 2ft 4-in, and weighs 241b. The trout is being stuffed and mounted, and should henceforth be one of the most interesting trophies in the home of this Western District sportsman. The lucky fisherman states that such angling proved more exciting than racing. -The Ashburton.— An exchange says that some good baskets of fieh have been taken af the mouth of the Ashburton River during the past week. A few days ago Mr Snadden landed" seven fish averaging slightly over 31b. Mr John Thompson, Wakanui, who has been fairly" successful this season, landed, with the artificial fly bait, 18 fish averaging 31b. The Oreti.'— The wmton- Record, in a recent issue, says: — "Owing to the -present low state -of the river some big -baskets are "being obtained by local anglers. • Some visitors to the district' secured -a "12-pQnftder. it) the vicinity of Centre Bush a -fe'w days ago, besides. ,a large number of smaller fish. Several good baskets have been caught 'at this part' of the Oreti during the present .season." Remarkable Growth of Trout.— Under this headin" "PiecatoT" writes as follows to the ChristchuToh Press:—"Sir,—Having seen lately in several of the English papers some data on the growth of marked 6almon and other fish, I send you an account of the following remarkable case of a trout in New Zealand. A well-known angler, fishing at the mouth of the Rakaia the other evening, landed a couple of fish of about a pound in weight. 1 saw them myeelf, so there .can be no mistake about it. In the morning, when asked about them, he spoke of th&m as being "a eeven" and "a five." Now. his word is, of course, unimpeachable, so that this record is fortunately a thoroughly authentic one. I think you will agree with me. Sir, that such unprecedented, increases in weight in fish aa four and six ppunde in one night are worthy of publication." Tongariro River —The sight of fouT large trout, ranging in size from 141b to 20lb. lying side by side in a shop in Laanbton quay, Wellington the other morning made the swirt of angling look worth while (says the Post). They were a selection from a large catoh made by four anglers last Tuesday in Hie Tongariro River, which runs' into Lake Taupo at Tokanua. The catoh is the best recorded this season, and is? made up ac follows-:— One 2p-p©under, three 14--ponnders, two 11-poundera, four 10-pounders, a ninespoimder, an eisrbtpoundier, a five and a-haif, a three, and a two-pounder. bait used was the blue or brown phantom. The fortunate angle* who sucoeeded m hookirar the 20-ipounde* had occasion to use all his ingenuity and skill in landing the prize. For 47 minutes the monster >kept the angler busy, but at last the fish was brought skilfully to land. The BlaoK Shag.— : At a recen? meeting of the council of iihe Canterbury AeehmatisfltJioa Society a letter. jvas received; from

"Mr Edgar F. Stead! making- a plea fofl ■clemency towards the blaok snag, on whicli the society has set a price. The shag, M& Stead wrote, although he did eat trout* was deserving of muoh more consideratiorf from anglers than he received. The price* on shags' heads had caused their indis* criminate slaughter, and many birds wera killed that had never v eeen a .nrout in their lives. Some years ago he had shoß ■ 19 shags on the Lower Selwyn, and on| looking in their stomachs he found tha'S 17 contained eels, one a fresh water cray-* fish, and one a small trout about seven inches long. Being a bottom-feeding fis« the eel was an especial menace during ihet spawning season, and the damage done by' eels was not confined to depredations among the trout themselves, as they ate large" quantities of food that would otherwise^ serve as food for the trout. The shag hadl a great preference for eels, because pound " for pound the eel was more nourishing", and! a shagr could swallow a pound and a-half eel while it could only manage a one pound trout. It seemed to him 'that there were* many more eele at the mouth of the Selwyn;. now than there were 10 years ago, *hile> there; were unquestionably fewer shag?. The danger in many of trie streams . waanot of their depletion of trou*, but of. overstocking, and; a natural enemy in any. caso was necessary ,to bring, about the. survival of the fittest/ He suggested thajS the price of shags' heads should be, re« moved, as they were,, disappearing ' so. rapidly .that v before long they«?ould Ba*«l!entirely ' disappeared; Dr MoorelibuseT" moved that the- price should , be taken off shags' heads-. Mr G. F. Whiteslde inoveriV as an amendment, that no reward shouldj be paid for shags except those shot on\ the Rakaia west of the Gorge bridge and north of the Ashley River. The amend? ment was lost and the motion was carried. Modern Trout Fishing,— The following article is from the Timeru . Herald of ±ha 14th inst., and relates to a I)arbaroujsj poaching inpLement found in what i« Tcno\wH as "Mora's pond," Lower OpiU, recentlys' "It is with a feeling of regret that w6 direct the attention- of all interested. ii& the favourite summer aport of angling; to a. paragraph in our news column describing! the discovery of an illegal appliance foe ihe taking, of trout. In this instance a ie* presentative of the Serald was present! when, the appliance was given to Ms* Palliser, and can personally "testify "that Iti was a most deadly weapon to # hook tr» x uti with. The unfortunate part is that this incident is not a solitary one, for we have, it on the authority of reliable witnesses that other appliances have been, found which are quite as deadly. The use ofi these things is beoomin-sr as common as the seasons, and our -readers will no doubn remember that a visitor to -^the rfvera of South Canterbury drew attention to theyei illegal practices' in qur correspondenca column, last Bummer. The taking- of .troufeby illegal methods is coincident with th^. dry seasons, for the' streams being then)^ very Jow, the big .fish drop into the deej^pools in hundreds, and thus become .an easy prey to any " loaded '; appliance. Thfl taking of fish in suoh a manner w ,d?? liberate poaching. Some people. may oon> t«nd> -that the -matter is on© tor the ranger* If the reports of the common uso p! leaded baits are only bail -true, however^ it would take an army of rangers to wataht - the pools on the rivers. As matters now stand, almost every angler is euspi-eioiiß of. his neighbour, and were the ranger to> tackle one man, only -to find that fie -waa fishing in a thoroughly -aportsmanlikd manner, word would rapidly pasa alonff tha river, andi the man who was usinff illegal bait would' simply out adrift, and fish. fki& . while the rangier wae moving aoou*. Tha matter is one for the society io -deal witJ* in earnest, and we are /sure that iney will . take such steps as will either bring offenders to book, or put an, end to what baa withjn the past dry season become a scandal ul the -angling world o£ South Canterbury. 1 * A Collection of N.Z. Trou*. — Starting) \ with this heading, Mr A. H.. Shury, -oJS Ashbuirton, writes a lengthy communicatioti in which! he touches 'on a Taxiefcy of matters." He says: "A« I igava eight of the trout to -go home, which are now cq: view in George street. I should be clii-d to know if each trout is distinctly marked! to show the variety, and where taken* There were two or three greenbacks. Th ;^ is a trout never taken far from the oceanv They do not seem to go any distance up the river from the sea. They are fairly common in the Rakaia, Ashburton, and Rangitota, but I have not seen or heard of one being taken "tihie season, as they .only come into the rivers after Now YearT-buti anyone hooking one would know afohca! as they give snore play , than" the brow,nj . trout. The flesh ia cteep.T.ed, ancf.-they d<* not turn brown after dte&th,- like the browrt. trout, but keep a bluish green, hence the!' name "green back," .They seem to be •ji development of ibrown,^ tirout, but, thej^ differ from *3ie brown, trout -in. having, fevrf spots on them, >and! the spots do not comaout after death as they do in the sea-ram brown trout. — Instead of carrying a lump of wax in your pocket make a, few y»rag of wax end with saddlers' thread, and coif it round" the two first fingers "of the lere hand This will be found very ■useful in case of a broken top, and can be carriedl in the pooketbook. If you .get wax era your fingers dip them in kerosene and its will come off without trouble, and soapj and water will remove the kerosene.— Tha reserve for anglers at the Opihi. — We wer<a troubled in much the same way a* Balla- j tire." Mr Shury then goes on to apeak off telephonic service, and ft vaTietfy of troubles! experienced through those who were notf privileged to do so, attejnptinjr *« take possession of the camp. It would no* dc« judicious to publish much of -what ha writes. He then goes on to commend the», Aehburton County Council to* «te. assisf r ance it has given In connection witn tno Trout is plentiful and in good condition! this season.. From Rotofna to Wanganul Auckland anglejs have, found excellent* sport. Biff catches are reported fronj Rotorua, while an Auckland party wnldp vieitd Waimihia, near Taumarunur, olaim to have had rare eport.

A boa oonstrictor ijfciah escaped from A travelling show at Trento'fi, New Jeraoya , died after eating 17 ohiokenfl, five iabbita£ a oat. and half's barxol of Apt>leß. , Owing to the presence of silveries'at th<| mouth of the Ashbnrton River, herrings anal kawhai have Seen fairly jxleniftul -oOates Several fishermen and memokere, who hajr-ji pened to be on the spot when the fish came* up the mouth, succeeded in catching -ovedt 150 herrings each. In past years -.resident^ at Riverside have been in the habit of salt* Ing the herrings down, and treated ibu# tfiqy are«said to providi a tasty dish duringf the winter months.