ANGLING SEASON

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 368, 1 November 1932, Page 6

ANGLING SEASON

OPENING TO DAY FISH SHOULD BE IN GOOD CONDITION AFTER \ EARLY RUN - PROSPECTS PROMISING « - Although prophesying conditions f or the opening of th'e angling season is in much the same category as prophesying weather conditions at any time at all, indications are that the season which opens this morning for the Rotorua and Taupo fishing districts, should yield results fully on a par with those of last year when both the condition and numbers of the fish Haken were generally distinctly good. Probably .as a result of the dry winter season, the fish have run back to the lakes from the spawning streams even earlier 'this year than last and ■it is consequently expacted that the fish taken during the first month of the season will b'e in good condition. Surveys cai*ried out by rangers of the Internal Affairs Department and by private anglers indicate that there has been no scarcity of spawning fish in the streams, although the Gondition of the fish depends upon the amount and type of feed available. During the past few months/ there has been an almost complete absenee of floods or even of severe freshets in district streams and this should have ; a beneficial effect in promoting the growth of the minute insect and various forms of aquatic life which make up the food of the trout. Heavy floods disturb the beds of the^ streams, and the shallow reaches which are the principal breeding ground of the trout food so that the comparative absenee of this disturbance during the winter season may be taken as a favourable sign. It is reported that the highest rise in the Tongariro stream during the winter has been three feet. This is exceptionally low and as a result it has been noted that the fish have not run so far up stream as is usual during the spawning period. This fact is probably the cause of their early return to the lakes. Rotorua Lakes In the Rotorua lakes, and particularly in Labe Rotorua itself, the smelt, more commonly although incorrectly known as the inanga, have been running for three or four weeks. This early run of smelt always practieally coincides with the opening of the season and provides one of the principal feeding sources of the trout during this period. The run of smelt is reported to be heavy although not so large as that of last season, when the shoals of this fish in Rotorua were exceptionally large. •Generally speaking, the lakes in the district are at an even lower level than they were at the opening of the 1931 season. Lake Rotorua rose several inches this week a& a result of the rains while a rise was also racorded at Taupo but without further rains this will not be maintained. Lakes Rotoiti, Rotoehu, and Rotoma have all noticeably fallen. This fall in the lake levels has a direct 'effect upon the amount of trout feed available as it drains various lowlying areas on the edges of the water. This applies more particularly, however, in the case of the • shallower lakes of which Rotorua is the outstanding example. At this early stage it is impossible to obtain any reliable indication of the amount of trout food available but the department's rangers appear to regard the prospects optimistically. Good Prospects The Conservator of Fish and Game (Mr. A. Kean) stated yesterday that he considered the fish should be in good condition and that all the indications pointed to a most satisfactory season. Although the effect of the stocking carried out during the off-season, will not be apparent for three or four years at least, the record of liberations indicates that the department has- been working steadily along systematie lines to maintain the standard of the fishing. Over two niillion fry have already heen distributed in the various Rotorua, Taupo and Bay of Plenty lakes and streams and it is expected that when final liberations are carried out during the present week, the final aggregate will be in the vicinity of 2,500,000 fry. Detailed figures of the liberations are as follow: Labe Rotorua 650,000;' Rotoiti, 500,000; Green Lake, 125,000; Rotoehu, 50,000; Lake Okareka, 80,000; Lake Tarawera 100,000; Lake Okataina, 50,000. Approximately 600,000 fry have been liberated in the streams, etc., of the Taupo district.

Bay of Plenty Area Of late, years, the department has been making special efforts to develop the fishing in the Bay of Plenty streams' which are also under its jurisdiction. There are, in this district, a number of excellent trout streams with manyl miles of fishable water and with the systematic stocking now being carried out, sport in this area should! show a niarked' improvement. During the past few months, 100,000 fry have been. liberated in the Whakatane River, a similar number in the Waimana between Waimana settlement and Taneatua, 120,000 in the TTT1— II —

Rangitaiki River above the Waiohau bluffs and 50,000 in the* Tarawera while further consigmnents will be liberated in the Waioeka and other Bay of Plenty streams during the present week. Rangers report good prospects for the present season in the Bay. Both fish and food appear to be plentiful although in the streams it is a more difficult matter to guage the number of fish after the spawning season is past. Whitebait are at present running well in the Bay streams and it is reported that shrimps are particularly plentiful. During the past few weeks there has been reawakened activity at the various fishing camps in the Rotorua and Taupn districts and agents report that the sale of fishing licenses has been satisfactorily maintained. Saies have not been so heavy as at this period last year, however, principally due to the.' fact that in 1931, November 1 fell on a holiday with a eonsequent increase in the number whc honoured "the first." New Regulations The new regulations gazetted for the present season show few alterations in the boundaries laid down last year. The most important is the consolidation of the various fly-fishing areas which previously lay between the outlet of the Fairy Springs creek and the mouth of the Awahou stream. Last season, the fly-fishing restriction extended for a 300 yard radius from the mouth of each of the several streams which flow into the lake on that side but this season these areas have all been merged and the restriction will apply uninterruptedly between these two points and for a distance of 300 yards from shore. Anglers fishing the Waikato will be interested in the declaration of a new restricted area between the confluence of the Taahunaatara stream and the river and a point 'approximately two and a half miles below the bridge at Atiamuri. New fly areas have also been declared on the Whakatane stream between the concrete bridge on the Whakatane-Rotorua road and the railway bridge at Pekatahi and on the Waimana stream between its confluence with the Whakatane and its divergence from the main Opotiki-Roto-rua road at the foot of the Douglas hill. Other restrictions of interest are the increase in the minimum size of "takeable" fish from lOin. to 12in. and the prohibition of "harling" or "trolling" between the Huka falls and the Aratiatia Rapids. The only new area declaredTn the Taupo district is the application of the fly-fishing restriction to the stretch of the Waikato River lying between Hells Gate and the Huka Falls.