ANGLING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 64

ANGLING.

'« -i Br Jock Scott. > -"■ w-> __^___ T« >c * perfect Brttrr.)»o you require more c-sccil-nciei man KU'icucui-riciin Gunooi. Staderi »re muted to contribute itemtoflocml Bihin 5 aeiri f«r ißierilon in this coluinu For iuseruou id th« ensumc itsut It*; «*ould reacb Duotdin h] Uoudaj uiflil • ■»!). BAKE NOTES. Tho Dynamitard.— This individual, like the poor, is always with us. He is not pecuiiar to any locality. Tho Western Star, in the far south, reports his existence in the following terms:— '"River dynamitards arc at work, and it is reported that they slaughter large numbers of trout. If j. man who commits an offence so venial as making a pun would pick a pocket, I should like to know what crime a dynamitard is not capable of." Nursing Trout. — The nursing of trout during the dry weather was recently fully demonstrated by Mr Wrati, of Wailiakaho. In the- stream which flows near his homestead were fully a thousand young trout, ahnost dying. Mr Wratt safely transferred them to a deop pool of water, and but for his promptitude the fish 110 doubt would have succunibed. The Ashburton.— The Ashburton River is • said to be providing very poor angling sport this season (says the Mail), owing to the water being so low. It i 6 ako stated that poaching and dynamiting have been extensively carried on all up the river, an \ that thousands of fish have Been secured inthis wcy. %f ßarbed" Wire. — A formidable weapon has reached the head office of the Tourist Department in Wellington. It is an uglyiooking spear, stout enough to be used eft'ecti\ely against a man or any animal. The amateur manufacturer has drawn out the end of a rod of iron, about a foot •Ion? and a third of an inch in diameter, and has fashioned a deadly barb. This instrument was used for spearing trout in Lake Taupo by a person who did not bother himself about licenses or the rules that have been framed for encounters with the lordly trout. The implement will have a place in a collection to show the methods adopted by the poacher. Still, the man Mho uses such a weapon is a paragon among sportsmen compared 1 with the foul fisher, for it may be only a flounder spear after all. Practical Jokers. — A good fish story conies from the Waitaki to the North Otago Times. Several enthusiastic fishermen caugh*- a large trout — a one-eyed gunner amongst the salmo trutta, lank and lean. — which they tied together artfully with the aid of flax. They propped it up with sticks under a bank, and then lay back to watch developments. The first fisherman that happened along saw tho tail wagging in tho running water, and. pulling out *»is gaff, he disdained the ordinary methods of the fisherman, and the fish was out on the bank in a trice, only to let the fisherman know that something was amiss. The practical jokers" assured him that his surmise wa« correct. The fish was replaced, and it was intimated to another disciple of oW Ike that he would meet with good £sh alonsr the bank. He wended his way thitheiward, and on seeing the trout, went through the same performance, only that, to make sure of his prey, he denuded himself of his coat and waistcoat. He also gan*e<l the fi=h out, obliterating from his rtimd the written admonition that fish r 'must 1 o taken with rod and line only." He nearly collapsed when he realised that he had been "had,"' and mediral aid was called in to save one of rho joki«ts from caohinnatoiy «pasms. The practical jokers are vnt debating whether proceedings fehould not be i&kon against the two fisher- j inert who had broken the Jaw. Effects of the Drought— Mai.y of the Greeks throughout the Catlins th-trict are dry, and the trout aie perishing in many places. Some of the creeks are lower than they were last year. , Before justices at Owaka. Sydney Barrett yas charged on Wednesday last with unlawfully fishing for trout in the Catlins River on December 22. According to Mr D. Stewart, who appeared for the society, Coiwtable Mackenzie caught the defendant fully" equipped with rod and tackle, and a "bag with three trout in- it. Asked if he )iad a license, he replied " No." Defendant, 'pleaded "Guilty," and said he borrowed •* rod from a friend to fish in the river ilongside his owji land, which he thought yas quite lawful. It was untrue he had %een fishing for 15 ycais without a license; vs a manor of fart ho had not fished at e\p»ot on tho day in question. Ho was 'ino<l £2 w"h co-N (court 7*, -olicitor's *ef> £1 1-) — A Yi-inn 1 - Imprp-«'on-= — \Fi Percy ,£E>ly iV wi'U known tScniih CVntc bni> ,]ion» i. 1 1 -"it b - X' w Yimi h-il.f'a-vV c ij o U- 't 5.1... if die >->r.h

isLancl. ±le went (says the limaiu Herah from Wellington to Waiouru, and on 1; coach to Tokaanu, making the latter plat his base. He speaks most enthusia^tuall of the fishing, and had the be*t of luol The streams were lower than usual, <in the fish wore not in such fine condition s usual The weight of the average bask< was much heavier than is. the ca«e in tl south, brown trout from 151b to 251b bom; one might say. quite common. Mr Seal also speaks well of the Maori guide an sportsmen, and of the facilities the Touri: Department provide in the \va\ of map particulars as to fares, etc. The Shag. — The destructivoness of tli shag on trout was exemplified the otlic i day when a bird shot by Charlie Hassc in the Haka Valley was opened, and fioi its gullet wer>3 taken six trout, the large: - being eight inches in length. The circvin stance is substantiated by Mr J. J. Spier of Kurort-. One might be tempted t wonder how one bird could hold so man fish. It must have a convenienTly expansh gullet, and in the course of the 3 ear inns have accounted foi a long airay of trout. The Toko River. — A correspondent wtitc to the Milton Miiror thus — " Somethtn must, be done to stay the unmcrcifu destruction of trout in the Tokomainr River. On Friday, perhaps as you alread; know, not a live fish was to be seen a the Milton bridge in the early aiorning from about 7 o'clock. The water was toi blaok to sop tl*> bed of the creek, but th trout were floating dead upon the snrfac in dozens, and there wore some beautie too. "-What the cause is, I am unable t< say, but in looking for the reason the firs question that comes uppermost in my mini is, why the waters "becomes discoloured It was suggested as a probable cause o the trouble that the mill race was beiin cleaned out. Was that tho case this time?' Angling Anxieties. — Speaking of thi anxieties incidental to angling— anvietie which ruffle the temper temporarily am disturb the equanimity ephomerally^"lroi Blue' says in the Press :— "Anxietios whicl inav be called excusable are such as those probably fck by one of my friends, who after following a biy fish down a gorge found himself hemmed in by wal's of rock tho water beginning to inn over the top of his waders, and the force of the cun-en pushing him on into the deeo pool below Having said so much, I must" tell how ni] friend had to let the trout run, and e\entu ally managed to struggle up against the stream and pass the rod to me on a ledg( of rock above. Finding a landing place further on, he played his captive from th< rocky wall until he had guided him t< a piece below, where there was a ohanc« of my potting near the water's edge wit! the gaff I wish that I could tell of t satisfactory conclusion, but my opportunitj never came. It was a ncble fish, and ir the long fight the flay bad loosened from iti hold; as he neared the 6pot where fate in the shape of the gaff, was awaiting him there was a final flurry on the surface the fly drew gently away, and with « triumphant lash of his broad tail h< and then dashed swiftly up through the foaming water at the heaci of tho pool, on the way to his dwellingplace." Innocents Abroad. — One of tho firsi charges to be heard by Mr M'Carlhy, S.M.. in his new home at Napier was that in which ■ three men were charged' with using an explosive substance to catch or destroy fish in a public fishery — to wit, the Puki Puki River. The case is only worth mentioning at all because of thp innocence of the defence. The men wore caught rodhanded by the ranger, who was lying in wait. He heard them talking dynamite, saw them fixing a dynamite cap on the fu=e, strike a match, and throw the explosnr into -the water. Yet in the face of thi-s the accused had this to say : Went thevo to have a swim and see if he could cafe'i any flounders or cols. Had np\er p<<>vious to this used dynamite, and d d- noknow how to use it. They had no intention of killing fish, and simply did it out of curiosity to c cc if dynamite would go off in water. They found the cap. and wanted to see what it would do Had never hoard of fish being killed with dynamite. And so on. The historical dofpnee of the swaeger who was caught ki ling a sheep — "I'll teach the beggar to bite me" — was s'n;ply not in it with those guileless innocents. Small wonder that his Worship said that he was unable to adopt the view of the defendants that their action was an innocent one by way of experiment, aa their subsequent conduct belied this. If any more of these cases came before him he would deal with them very severely. Each of the defendants would bo fined £5 and costs (£2 6s 2d) ; and one of them, on a charge of obstructing the ranger whPe m the executior of his duty, was fined £2 and costs. Strange Mortality. — For a number of years there has been great mortality amongst trout about Christmas time, and the' angling fraternity ha\e advanced many theories as to the possible cause. It is nnfl generally attributed to either tutu poi=oinng or sunstrokp. Two Wellington anglers, while fishing in the Tauhcrinikau Stream during the Christmas holidays, had a strange experience, which throws a new light on tho unaccountable mortality. A trout between 21b and 31b in weight wa« obsersod to ri-^e with great vigour, and almost immediately thp fish boaan to swim down-stream vor\ slouh, tiavelling in Jarjre circle^. About fi\e minute* elapsed, when j the trout began to turn a whitish colou 1 ' ' and turned on it^ bark. The anglers secured the fish, and on examining it four<l there wa.s no food in tho stomach, and thp only mark about the tioui that was likely to cause t'io sudden death was a rod mark op the roof of the n^outh. As there wotp thousands of wasp* hoveling round in tho vicmitv , thp anglers' theory, that the (rout died from tho sting of a wa=p. pccms quite fpa^iblo. I should likp some anglers to say whothor any similar case has come under their notice.